Perspective of crime and criminology

1. Theoretical Perspective of
Criminology
(Concept of Crime)
Topic-1

2. What is
Crime?
The word crime comes from the Latin crimen
(genitive criminis), from the Latin root cernō a,
which means "I judge". Originally it meant
"charge (in law), guilt, accusation."

3. Historical Perspective of Crime
Church view- crime seen as an evil behavior, product of meddlesome, demonic possession or as
irrational thought- close association of crime with religion.
Classicists- Saw crime as a mere behavior, albeit outlawed by state, but just like other behavior, it
was chosen by its perpetrators.
Positivists- Challenged this narrow view of crime and differentiated crime from other behavior.
Rather, they viewed crime as extreme form of abnormal behavior, as product of defective minds or
defective bodies.
Contemporary criminologists- At present, crime is regarded as a social harm/ injury that is
committed against the public as a whole, it requires a voluntary action and is punishable by state.

4. Difficulty in
defining
crime
Important to have clear definition of crime, as
the policy decisions regarding social control are
based on a particular definition of crime
Hence, apart from the fact that society has its
norms and ways to define crime, a codified
definition is also required, which can clearly
help the agents of (formal) social control in
distinguishing between a criminal and non-
criminal action.
Appropriate definition of crime remains one of
the most critical unresolved issue in criminal
justice system today- Robert Bohm, 1999
Final definition of crime is impossible because
law keeps changing- Roscoe Pound

5. Approaches to crime
Ø Legal approach regards crime from the common law/
statutory perspective. It views crime as any culpable action or
omission prohibited by law and punished by state.
Ø Normative approach considers the complex realties
associated with crime and seek to understand the changing
social, political, psychological and economic conditions. It views
crime as a deviant act that violates prevailing norms and values.

6. Legal versus normative approach
Normative Approach
 Defines crime as a social deviance
 Delineates the role of morality, ideology
and religious faith in defining crime.
 It explains the relativity aspect of crime.
 Also reflects upon the causes and
conception of crime in different socio-
cultural context.
 Alleged to be vague since not based on any
codified and standardized rules
Legal approach
 Is more precise and less ambiguous
 Defines crime from law perspective.
 Actus rea and mens rea become important
components of crime.
 Entails stringent laws that clearly define
criminal offense, its classification into
various types.
 Indulgence in criminal act can lead to
punishment, its severity depending upon
the seriousness of the crime.

7. CRIME
MORALITY
SIN

8. Crime perceived in
Modern Society

9. Criminology
Nature & scope

10. Criminology
• the scientific study of crime or criminal behaviour.
• The field looks into the nature of the crime, its extent, law enforcement,
management, control, etc.
• The term criminology can be used in both in a general and specific sense.
• In broad sense criminology is the study which includes all subject that is
necessary to understand and prevent crime and to develop law together
with punishment or treatment of delinquent.
• In the narrow sense it simply study which attempt to explain crime

11. Reason for studying criminology
To understand why
certain people do
crime.
How to prevent crime
trying to understand
the social, economic
or environmental
factors associated
with crime and
criminal justice,
rather than just the
individuals involved.

12. IMPORTANCE
OF
CRIMINOLOGY
• I. The most significant purpose of
criminology is its concern for crime and
criminals. There is a basic assumption that
no one is born a criminal. (Check out the
Lombroso theory). Reformation is
therefore treated as the ultimate object of
punishment while “individualization” i.e.
according individualized understanding and
treatment is the preferred method for such
reformation.

13. Cont-
II. It is important for lawyers(when dealing with criminal clients it
helps to understand their mind set and particular circumstances for
purposes of giving proper legal advise as well as for pursuing a logical
line of defense), judicial officers(for purposes of awarding appropriate
sentencing, it is important for a judicial officer to not only understand
the offender, but the society/community’s perceptions and emotions
on given offences), law enforcement officers(for purposes of
investigations, prosecutions, surveillance and crime prevention, for
those holding criminals such as prison officers), social workers,
psychologists, etc to understand the criminal more.

14. Cont.-
• III. It enhances official understanding of criminals, offenders, the
types and prevalence of offences committed, generally or
specifically by a class of people or in certain localities. This kind of
understanding supported by data is important for crime detection
and control. The government is enabled to plan better in terms of
allocation of resources towards fighting different types of crimes.
• IV. The ultimate object of criminology is to render a crimeless
society. (This is of course a very remote possibility especially
considering how crimes are created).

15. Criminology and Criminal Law
Criminology
• Criminology is a discipline which analyses and
gathers the data of crime and criminal behaviour.
• The basic aim is to assess the nature of the crime,
statistics of crime, criminal behaviour that
motivates the person to commit a crime and
prevention of crimes.
• Criminology basically is specified into three further
branches. These are Sociology which deals with the
social aspect of the crimes, criminal etiology which
deals with the causation of crimes and penology
which deals with the mechanism of prevention of
crimes. The objective of criminology is to provide
a codified, organised and structural subject that will
try to find the cause of crimes and will ultimately
provide ways and remedies on how the crimes can
be reduced or eradicated.
Criminal Law
• Criminal Law are general penal actions which deter
any person to commit any sort of crime.
• Criminal law defines what can be constituted as
crime and thereby prohibits such types of acts. If
anyone is guilty of committing such forbidden acts
then appropriate penal sanctions are given in the
criminal statute.
• Criminal justice is an established legal system
which investigates crimes, arrests criminals, detains
them and prosecutes the guilty ones. Criminal law
is directly interlinked to law enforcement agencies
because their primary work is to detect the crimes
and arrest the people who are suspected of
committing any offence

16. Cont.-
• Criminology focuses on analysing
crimes and criminals in order to
understand their motives and find ways
to prevent future crimes. It also
analyses trends and the impact of
crimes on human societies. Another
important aspect of Criminology is the
evaluation of punishment and
rehabilitation methods in order to
determine their efficacy and ways to
improve them.
• Criminal Law deals with the criminal
code and the laws directly related to
criminal offences, charges, trials, and
punishments for convicted criminals.
The main focus of Criminal Law is to
determine if a suspect broke the law,
what were the consequences, and what
punishments they deserve if they’re
found guilty.

17. Criminology explains the etiology (origin), extent, and nature of
crime in society, whereas criminal justice refers to the study of
the agencies of social control—police, courts, and corrections.
While criminologists are mainly concerned with identifying the
suspected cause of crime, criminal justice scholars spend their
time identifying effective methods of crime control.

18. Thank
you