1st Lecture for criminology states that criminology is a ‘rendezvous but a specialist discipline; a study
of crime and criminal activity that serves as a meeting point for Social Science disciplines, we learn
that criminology can be…
- The Grand Convergence
Criminology stands at the crossroads, uniting diverse Social Science fields in a unique blend.
- Deep dive into crime
Delve into the intricate layers of criminal activity going beyond mere definitions to the very heart of
societal challenges.
- Question the obvious
Challenge and deconstruct everyday beliefs and what really shape our understanding of crime?
- A world awaiting exploration.
Embark on a journey through Criminology’s vast landscape, uncovering topics and issues that will
intrigue, challenge, and inspire.
- Media’s crime narrative
Contrast popular media portrayals with the real work intricacies of the criminal justice system and
what is known has facts and fiction?
Legal Perspective vs. Moral Framework vs. Culture
As its core, this statement underscores the difference between what is legally defined, what Is
culturally acceptable and what is morally perceived. Laws are societal constructs, codified rules that
dictate what is permissible and what is not within a given jurisdiction and an example would be an
action or omission which constitutes an offence and is punishable by law and this was said in the
Oxford Dictionary in 2023.
Morality on the other hand is a set of beliefs about what is right or wrong, often rooted in cultural,
religious, or personal values and for instances actions can be legally classified as crimes but might not
be universally seen as moral wrongdoings an example would be …
- In several middle Eastern nations, homosexuality is still criminalised, with punishments
ranging from fines and imprisonments to in some cases corporal punishment or even death.
These laws are often rooted in religious beliefs and traditional cultural, religious, and societal
norms.
- However, temporal relativity plays a role and the latter half of the 20 th century saw significant
movements for LGBTQ+ rights in the many Western countries and the Stonewall riots in 1969
in the United States of America (USA) marked a turning point, leading to the gradual
decriminalization of homosexuality and the fight for equal rights, however, in many parts of
the world, the struggle continues with LGBTQ+ activists facing significant challenges.
Criminology: The meeting of Minds
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, ‘Criminology can be seen as a rendezvous discipline, a site at which social scientific disciplines
interact. We approach the distinctions between the different social sciences in dialogic mode,
not seeing the differences as barriers but rather as opportunities for debate and
development. Such debates may usefully occur about the meaning of concepts which have a
strategic place in more than one discipline. Currently the concept of globalisation provides
such a site for debate’ QAA – Subject Benchmark for Criminology (2007:20)
When defining criminology there are a lot of diverse ways and criminologists that will have different
definitions and here are a few ones…
➢ Garland (2002:8) “I take criminology to be a specific genre of discourse and inquiry about crime
– a genre that has developed in the modern period and that can be distinguished from other
ways of talking and thinking about criminal conduct.”
➢ Newburn (2017:4) ‘Criminology is a strange beast. With origins in applied medico-legal
science, psychiatry, a scientifically oriented psychology and in nineteenth-century social
reform movements, for much of the second half of the twentieth century British criminology
was dominated by sociology or at least a sociological approach to criminology. Time is
changing again, however, and a new strand of technical and highly policy-oriented ‘scientific’
criminology has been emerging more recently.’
There are eight subjects that matter when it comes to the aspects of criminology and this was said by
Coleman and Norris in 2000, this includes…
- The attempt to describe and analyse the extent, nature, and distribution of various forms of
‘crime’ and ‘offenders.
- The analysis of the ‘causes’ of crime
- The study of the formulation of criminal laws
- The study of the processes of law enforcement, criminal justice and this includes the
policing, sentencing and prisons.
- The analysis of policy and practice in punishment
- The study of attempts to control, reduce and prevent crime.
- Investigation of the victims of crime
- Attitudes and reactions to and representations of crime and the public, politicians, and
media.
Criminology as an academic discipline
‘Criminology, like all academic subjects, is constantly developing. As such, the importance attached
to different historical and contemporary theories continually changes. The constant emergence of
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,new theories generates new areas of criminological enquiry and Criminology courses can benefit
from the development of new modules informed by the research interests of teaching staff. Such
new areas of enquiry may also be informed by changing political, economic, and social concerns, or
by changes within other subjects such as sociology, social policy, law, politics, or philosophy. Despite
this constant production of new knowledge, however, the core of the subject area remains constant.’
QAA Subject Benchmark Statement Criminology (2022:3)
There is a triad of criminology (Case at all., 2021:8)
Issues with criminology
1. Crime had no ontological reality.
2. Criminology perpetuates the myth of crime.
3. Crime consists of many petty events.
4. Crime excludes many serious harms. #
These issues listed were said by Hillyard and Tombs (2004:10)
[Criminologists] like leeches, live off an exceptionally large body on which they are parasitic.
In the same way that our courts, prisons, probation officers and police ‘need’ crime, so does
the criminologist. The gap, though, between the real world of crime and the artificial world
of criminology is enormous. One reason for this is that the mere existence of something
called criminology perpetuates the illusion that one can have a general theory of crime
causation.’
Cohen (1988:46)
Contemporary issues in criminology
- Immigration
- Sexual offending
- Domestic abuse
- Inherent discrimination in criminal justice and society
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, - Environmental / green issues
- Cyber based crime
- International trafficking of goods, drugs, and people
- Policing
Guest Lecture – Forensic Science
The science in the investigation of crime by Amoret Whitaker
The ‘forensic’ in forensic science is known has the art of debate also known has a forum and there is
an argumentative discourse which is the adversarial system relating to the court of law, and there is
an application of scientific knowledge to legal problems.
The ‘science’ in forensic science is known as various practices and this could include…
- Pathology
- Anthropology
- Chemistry
- Medicine
- Genetics
However, any ‘expert’ or ‘specialist’ can be called upon to contribute to an investigation, whether
they work in science or not.
The public perception of science is that it offers the hard facts, definite conclusions, and
uncompromised objectivity, however, ‘experts’ are allowed to give ‘opinion evidence’ and an
example would be conclusions based on their opinion as opposed to hard facts within the limits of
their expertise.
They will be expert witnesses and there will be expert witness reports created and they need to go to
court appearance. There will be a declaration on expert witness report and in 2011, the UK Supreme
Court abolished immunity for expert witnesses from being sued for negligence “All experts must
make sure they do a thorough job. This judgement marks the end of the amateur expert.”
Forensic scientists are people who work full time as Crime Scene Investigators, Report Officers,
Laboratory Technicians, and many ‘experts’ work in forensics as an extension of their normal job, it
could be someone with specialist technical knowledge and expert Advisers Database held by the NCA
which is known as the National Crime Agency.
Forensic Ecology can be studied and observed inside the Natural History Museum in London, and
something interesting they did was a collaboration between different disciplines and an example
would be Cannabis seized in New Zealand, 1982.
What is science?
Pure science uses research to understand the physical world for its own sake, applied science uses
the physical principles discovered to obtain a desired goal and forensic science is applied science and
using science to answer a particular question.
Hypothesis testing
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