The Role Of Criminology And The Criminal Justice System

(Adler, 20) While they do share the same methodology, the focus of the two disciplines differs in a very drastic way. Criminology by definition is the study of crime and the components of crime. It is a social science that shares many characteristics of sociology and psychology. Criminologists are information seekers, searching for the reason behind why crimes are committed and ultimately, how they can be prevented in the future. Criminology is based on extensive research and analysis, and a network of research facilities and researchers collecting, quantifying and sharing data.

Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, cause, and control of criminal behavior (Siegel 4). Criminology is not just understanding criminal actions but also studying how to correct and prevent crime, overall. There are five major Criminological theories, (1) Classical Theory, (2) Positivist Theory, (3) Marxist / Conflict Theory, (4) Sociological Theory, and (5) Multifactor / Integrated Theory.

In the United States of America, there is a system referred to as the criminal justice system. This system assists in managing crime and helps to control society through rules and regulations. If these guidelines are disobeyed, there are consequences that follow. These consequences consist of being arrested by law enforcement, going to court to pay a fine or to be sentenced, and even going to jail or prison (Bohm & Haley, 2014).

Criminology is a complex subject chock-full of theories that attempt to explain crime and criminal behavior. Each base theory has several branches of theory which expand upon and compliment their predecessors. Even some of the sub-theories have branches of theories.

To what extent has the media shaped your understanding of crime and the criminal justice system?

The criminal justice system is a diverse system used around the globe. When in consideration of what the definition of the Criminal Justice system which is a law enforcement that is directly involved in apprehending, prosecuting, defending, sentencing, and punishing those who are suspected or convicted of criminal offenses ("criminal justice system: definition of criminal justice system in Oxford dictionary (American English) (US)," n.d.). Here have been many historical events that have led up to today’s way of handling the criminal trends. So many factors come into play. In order to control or make order of society you need laws and guidelines within the country and as well amongst the international countries.

Criminology targets why individuals commit crimes and why they behave in certain situations. By understanding why a person commits a crime, you can develop ways to control crime or change the criminal to a certain extent. There are many theories in criminology. Some characterize crime to the individual. They believe that an individual weighs the pros and cons and makes a choice whether or not to act criminally. Others believe it is the community’s responsibility to make sure that citizens do not commit crime by offering them a safe place to live in, in society. Some argue that some individuals have specific traits that will determine how they will react when put in certain negative conditions. Overall, the determination of a criminal can be done through criminal profiling.

1). Criminology arose from the social scientific community over the year and has since come into its own discipline, it examines the entire process of lawmaking, law breaking, and law enforcing” (as cited in Akers, & Sellers, 2013). Criminology seeks to discover the depth of crime at both the micro and macro levels, from the individual’s natural biological and psychological characteristics, the nurturing of social and structural institutions, to policy, prevention and control.

In the criminal justice system, there are many different aspects and actors, such as the police, courts, and corrections, each with very different but equally important roles in handling crime and dealing with law-breakers. Each of these aspects play an equally important role in making sure the criminal justice system runs smoothly and effectively. There are many different things that can influence a person’s beliefs about the criminal justice system such as television, school, family, friends, and the media. Personally, television shows and media have been the largest contributor to my beliefs about the criminal justice system. From the moment of initial contact with the police, an offender might then have to go through the court system. Depending on the outcome in the court system, a person may be sentenced to prison, therefore leading them into the corrections aspect of the criminal justice system. Within in the criminal justice system, the police have many different and important functions such as service, law enforcement, order maintenance, and implementing the mandate, which help to determine their effectiveness (Cole, Smith, & DeJong, 2011). Many people think of the court functions as just what happens in the courtroom during trial, however there are many types of pretrial procedures, such as plea-bargaining, that happen before a case may even make it to trial. Like the other parts of the system, there are many different types of corrections. For example, a person

Criminology is a subdivision of sociology and it draws information from psychology, biology, and statistics that dwells mostly on expanding knowledge on the real causes of criminal activities among the people. Moreover, its findings are very crucial in that they influence legislatures in making the law, judges in giving out justice, lawyers in defending their client, and prosecutors in prosecuting people in a court of law. Those professionals are able to understand crime in a different angle hence developing more efficient and humane sentences and treatment of criminal activities in the society. In criminology, investigating why people engage in crime is very crucial so that it will help to come up with ways of preventing crime (Conklin, 1981).

The process of law setting, implementation, monitoring and regulation is a responsibility of a body called the justice system. Additionally, crime control and prevention are also among its fundamental duties. It is established in every country of the world and functions with an objective of ensuring the noble conduct of the people. It also intends to serve as a decision-making body when people violate the rules by penalizing them. It is to make them responsible citizens and to ensure that the society remains a hospitable and safe place for other people to survive (Cole, Smith & DeJong, 2015).

Criminology is a study of crime, criminals and criminal justice. Ideas about criminal justice and crime arose in the 18th century during the enlightenment, but criminology as we know it today developed in the late 19th century. Criminology has been shaped by many different academic disciplines and has many different approaches. It explores the implications of criminal laws; how they emerge and work, then how they are violated and what happens to those violators. Laws are relative and historically shaped; they vary from time to time and from place to place (Carrabine et al, 2009).

Criminology is the scientific study of crime and criminals. Criminological theories have provided empirical insight into factors that explain crime. However, as research developed they noticed that not just one theory can adequately explain crime and delinquency. In the early stages of research, they found the neoclassical theory that evolved from the classical school theory that made the assumption of “free will,” and that humans acted on rational choice. It was later developed that biological theories rejected the idea of “free will” and believed that human behavior could be due to genetics or human development starting at a young age. I will be going into better detail about the theories and their underlying assumptions, and how both theories play a significant role into our current knowledge of crime today.

Laws serve several purposes in the criminal justice system. The main purpose of criminal law is to protect, serve, and limit human actions and to help guide human conduct. Also, laws provide penalties and punishment against those who are guilty of committing crimes against property or persons. In the modern world, there are three choices in dealing with criminals’ namely criminal punishment, private action and executive control. Although both private action and executive control are advantageous in terms of costs and speed, they present big dangers that discourage their use unless in exceptional situations. The second purpose of criminal law is to punish the offender. Punishing the offender is the most important purpose of criminal law

Criminology is the scientific study of crime as an individual and social phenomenon. Criminological research areas include the incidence of crime as well as its causes and consequences. They also include social and governmental regulations and reactions to crime. Nation master.com (2013) highlights that “in criminology the positivist school has attempted to find scientific objectivity for the measurement and quantification of criminal behaviour”. The Positivist School of thought presumes that criminal behaviour is caused by various internal and external factors which are outside of the individual 's control. The scientific method was introduced and applied to the study of human behaviour. Positivism can be broken up into three segments which include biological, psychological and social positivism Nation master (2013)