Criminology
Definition
The scientific study of crime, its causes and distribution across populations, the operation of criminal justice institutions, and strategies for prevention and control. It is multidisciplinary, drawing on sociology, psychology, law, and public health.
Related terms
- Dark Figure of Crime
- The gap between the actual volume of crime and the amount recorded in official statistics. Crimes go unrecorded when victims do not...
- Penology
- The branch of criminology concerned with the theory and practice of punishment and imprisonment. It examines the aims of punishment (retribution, deterrence,...
- Victimology
- The sub-field of criminology that studies crime victims: their characteristics, the victim-offender relationship, the impacts of victimisation, and the adequacy of legal...
- Actus Reus
- The guilty act: the physical conduct, the consequence, and the surrounding circumstances that the law forbids. Without a voluntary act there is...
- Civil Wrong (Tort)
- A breach of a private duty where the remedy is damages or injunction rather than imprisonment. A negligent driver may face both...
- Crime (Legal)
- An act or omission punishable by penal law; under BNS 2023 Section 2(15), an 'offence' is any act made punishable by the...
- Crime Prevention
- Strategies and interventions aimed at reducing the incidence or severity of crime before it occurs. Includes situational prevention (modifying environments to reduce...
- Deviance
- Behaviour that violates social norms, whether or not it is also illegal. Criminology studies deviance as well as crime because the boundary...
- Mens Rea
- The guilty mind: intention, knowledge, recklessness, or negligence as required by the section charged. BNS Section 3 sets out general explanations of...
- Recidivism
- The tendency of a person who has been convicted of a crime to reoffend. Measured differently across jurisdictions: by reconviction, by reincarceration,...
- Social Control
- The mechanisms, formal and informal, through which societies regulate individual behaviour and secure conformity to norms. Includes criminal law and policing (formal...
- Strict Liability
- A narrow class of offences (food adulteration, motor vehicle regulation, NDPS Section 35 presumption) where mens rea is presumed or not required.
Explained in these topics
- Crime, Criminology and the Classification of OffencesThe interdisciplinary study of crime, criminals, and criminal-justice responses, drawing on sociology, psychology, biology, and law.
- Criminology, Law, and Forensic ScienceThe scientific study of crime, its causes and distribution across populations, the operation of criminal justice institutions, and strategies for prevention an...
- What Is CriminologyThe scientific study of crime, its causes, its extent, and the social responses to it. A multi-disciplinary field drawing on sociology, psychology, law, and pu...