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Annual Review of Criminology

Volume 5, 2022, review article, open access, analytic criminology: mechanisms and methods in the explanation of crime and its causes.

• Per-Olof H. Wikström 1 , and Clemens Kroneberg 2
• View Affiliations Hide Affiliations Affiliations: 1 Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 9DA, United Kingdom; email: [email protected] 2 Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology, University of Cologne, 50923 Köln, Germany; email: [email protected]
• Vol. 5:179-203 (Volume publication date January 2022) https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-030920-091320
• First published as a Review in Advance on September 23, 2021
• Copyright © 2022 Per-Olof H. Wikström & Clemens Kroneberg. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See credit lines of images or other third-party material in this article for license information

Criminology is a smorgasbord of disparate theory and poorly integrated research findings. Theories tend to focus either on people's crime propensity or the criminogenic inducements of environments; rarely are these two main approaches effectively combined in the analysis of crime and its causes. Criminological research often either avoids questions of causation and explanation (e.g., risk factor approach) or is based on research designs that yield highly partial accounts (e.g., place-oriented experimental work). To advance knowledge about crime and its causes and prevention, we argue that there is a need for an analytic criminology that allows key theoretical insights and central empirical findings about people's crime propensities and environments’ criminogenic inducements and their combination to be integrated based on an adequate action theory. In this review, we outline this approach and its main methodological implications and discuss how its focus on why and how questions leads to a characteristic integration of theory development, methods, and research.

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Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Disinhibition, Violence Exposure, and Delinquency: A Test of How Self-Control Affects the Impact of Exposure to Violence , Wyatt Brown

The Guilty But Mentally Ill Verdict: Assessing the Impact of Informing Jurors of Verdict Consequences , Erin Elizabeth Cotrone

The Relationship between Psychopathic Personality Traits and Lying , Jason A. Dobrow

Delving into the Heart of Victimization Risk: Examining the Interactive Relationship between Demographic Factors and Context , Amy Sheena Eggers

A Power Conflict Approach to Animal Cruelty: Examining How Economic Power Influences the Creation of Animal Cruelty Laws , Leonard J. Genco

The Role of Gender in Self-Control and Intimate Partner Violence , Laura Marie Gulledge

The Restrictive Deterrent Effect of Warning Banners in a Compromised Computer System , Christian Jordan-Michael Howell

Tactics of Sexual Control and Negative Health Outcomes , Anna Elizabeth Kleppe

The Applicability of Criminology to Terrorism Studies: An Exploratory Study of ISIS Supporters in the United States , Amanda Marie Sharp Parker

The Path to Violent Behavior: The Harmful Aftermath of Childhood Trauma , Nicholas Michael Perez

The Effects of Racial Bias on Perceptions of Intimate Partner Violence Scenarios , Batya Yisraela Rubenstein

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Reel or Reality? The Portrayal of Prostitution in Major Motion Pictures , Raleigh Blasdell

Psychopathy and Perception of Vulnerability , Barbara Joyce Dinkins

Effect of Empathy on Death Penalty Support in Relation to the Racial Divide and Gender Gap , Brian Godcharles

Exploring the Interactive Effects of Social Learning Theory and Psychopathy on Serious Juvenile Delinquency , Brandy Barenna Henderson

Tampa Electric Company's Big Bend Utility Plant in Hillsborough County, Florida: A Case Study , Lynne M. Hodalski-Champagne

Thirty Year Follow-Up of Juvenile Homicide Offenders , Norair Khachatryan

Organized Crime in Insurance Fraud: An Empirical Analysis of Staged Automobile Accident Rings , Chris Longino

The Role of Social Support in the Disclosure and Recovery Process of Rape Victims , Jessica Nicole Mitchell

Evaluating the Social Control of Banking Crimes: An Examination of Anti-Money Laundering Deficiencies and Industry Success , Erin M. Mulligan

Elite Deviance, Organized Crime, and Homicide: A Cross-National Quantitative Analysis , Carol L.s. Trent

An Evaluation of the Utah First District Mental Health Court: Gauging the Efficacy of Diverting Offenders Suffering With Serious Mental Illness , Stephen Guy VanGeem

Rape, Race, and Capital Punishment in North Carolina: A Qualitative Approach to Examining an Enduring Cultural Legacy , Douglas Wholl

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

The Tattoo: A Mark of Subversion, Deviance, or Mainstream Self-Expression? , Jocelyn Camacho

Juvenile and Adult Involvement in Double Parricide and Familicide in the U.S.: An Empirical Analysis of 20 Years of Data , Averi Rebekah Fegadel

Predicting Successful Drug Court Graduation: Exploring Demographic and Psychosocial Factors among Medication-Assisted Drug Court Treatment Clients , Autumn Michelle Frei

Experimentally Evaluating Statistical Patterns of Offending Typology For Burglary: A Replication Study , Lance Edwin Gilmore

Developmental Trajectories of Physical Aggression and Nonaggressive Rule-Breaking among At-risk Males and Females during Late Childhood and Early Adolescence , Eugena Givens

Predicting Fear of Crime using a Multilevel and Multi-Model Approach: A Study in Hillsborough County , Jonathan Maskaly

Public Knowledge and Sentiments about Elite Deviance , Cedric Michel

The Influence of Community Context on Social Control: A Multi-Level Examination of the Relationship between Race/Ethnicity, Drug Offending, and Juvenile Court Outcomes , Jennifer Peck

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Assessing the Relationship Between Hotspots of Lead and Hotspots of Crime , Kimberly L. Barrett

A Life-Course Approach to Sexual Offending: Examining the Continuity of Juvenile Sexual Offending into Adulthood and Subsequent Patterns of Recidivism , Maude Beaudry-Cyr

Examining the link between self-control and misconduct in a multi-agency sample of police supervisors: A test of two theories , Christopher Matthew Donner

The Impact of Hyperfemininity on Explicit and Implicit Blame Assignment and Police Reporting of Alcohol Facilitated Rape in a Sample of College Women , Sarah Ehlke

Rurality and Intimate Partner Homicide: Exploring the Relationship between Place, Social Structure, and Femicide in North Carolina , Amelia Kirkland

Self-Control, Attitudinal Beliefs, and White-Collar Crime Intentions , Melissa Anne Lugo

Zero Tolerance for Marginal Populations: Examining Neoliberal Social Controls in American Schools , Brian Gregory Sellers

State-Corporate Crime in the Democratic Republic of Congo , Veronica Jane Winters

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

The Walls Are Closing In: Comparing Property Crime Victimization Risk In Gated And Non-Gated Communities , Nicholas Branic

What Propels Sexual Homicide Offenders? Testing an Integrated Theory of Social Learning and Routine Activities Theories , Heng Choon Chan

A Deadly Way of Doing Business: A Case Study of Corporate Crime in the Coal Mining Industry , Charles Nickolas Stickeler

Deconstructing the "Power and Control Motive": Developing and Assessing the Measurability of Internal Power , Shelly Marie Wagers

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Assessing racial differences in offending trajectories: A life-course view of the race-crime relationship , Michael S. Caudy

Mental Health Courts Effectiveness in Reducing Recidivism and Improving Clinical Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis , Brittany Cross

General Strain Theory and Juvenile Delinquency: A Cross-Cultural Study , Wen-Hsu Lin

General Strain Theory, Race, and Delinquency , Jennifer Peck

Developmental Trajectories of Self-Control: Assessing the Stability Hypothesis , James Vance Ray

Explaining the "Female Victim Effect" in Capital Sentencing Decisions: A Case for Sex-Specific Models of Capital Sentencing Research , Tara N. Richards

A Multilevel Model of Police Corruption: Anomie, Decoupling, and Moral Disengagement , Ruth Zschoche

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

The Emotional Guardianship of Foreign-Born and Native-Born Hispanic Youth and Its Effect on Violent Victimization , Amy Sheena Eggers

The Influence of Narcissism and Self-Control on Reactive Aggression , Melissa L. Harrison

Is There an "Innocent Female Victim" Effect in Capital Punishment Sentencing? , Amelia Lane Kirkland

An Analysis of the Influence of Sampling Methods on Estimation of Drug Use Prevalence and Patterns Among Arrestees in the United States: Implications for Research and Policy , Janine Kremling

A Pathway to Child Sex Trafficking in Prostitution: The Impact of Strain and Risk-Inflating Responses , Joan A. Reid

Victimization Among Individuals With Low Self-Control: Effects on Fear Versus Perceived Risk of Crime , Casey Williams

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• DOI: 10.1080/10511253.2024.2353656
• Corpus ID: 270252747

“A Content Analysis of the American Society of Criminology’s Presidential Address, 1988–2022: A Qualitative Exploration”

• Phillip Shon
• Published in Journal of Criminal Justice… 2 June 2024
• Sociology, Political Science, Education

96 References

The future of crime data *, oral history in academic criminal justice: reflections from acjs “triple crown” luminaries, unraveling mass incarceration: criminology's role in the policy process *, an exploratory social network analysis of the “invisible college” of experimental criminology and criminal justice scholarship in the journal of experimental criminology, 2011–2020, changes in scholarly influence in major american criminology and criminal justice journals between 1986 and 2015, feminist criminology in an era of misogyny†, broadening the productivity lens in criminology and criminal justice: an exploratory study of the research contributions of master’s degree program faculty, 2014–2018, negligent criminology: alfred adler’s influence on bernard, sheldon, and eleanor glueck, inequalities and crime, gender composition of editors and editorial boards in seven top criminal justice and criminology journals from 1985 to 2017, related papers.

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Criminology Research Paper

This sample criminology research paper features: 6300 words (approx. 21 pages), an outline, and a bibliography with 49 sources. Browse other research paper examples for more inspiration. If you need a thorough research paper written according to all the academic standards, you can always turn to our experienced writers for help. This is how your paper can get an A! Feel free to contact our writing service for professional assistance. We offer high-quality assignments for reasonable rates.

Introduction

Criminology and measuring crime, time and space, social class, criminology and explaining crime, criminology and preventing crime.

• Bibliography

Criminology is the scientific study of crime as a social phenomena. Edwin Sutherland (1947) noted in an early analysis that criminology investigates the processes of producing laws, breaking laws, and responding to the breaking of laws.

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These processes are three aspects of a somewhat unified sequence of interactions. Certain acts which are regarded as undesirable are defined by the political society as crimes. In spite of this definition, some people persist in the behavior and thus commit crimes; the political society reacts by punishment or other treatment or by prevention. This sequence of interactions is the object-matter of criminology. (P. 1)

Consequently, criminology can be split into three subfields: the study of lawmaking, the study of lawbreaking, and the study of responses to lawbreaking. Because lawmaking and responses to lawbreaking are discussed in other research papers, we shall concentrate on the second branch, lawbreaking.

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Regarding crime, sociologists have investigated numerous avenues of inquiry. They have endeavored to identify crime patterns, i.e., the manner in which criminal conduct is spread over time, place, and social structure. They have attempted to explain crime by identifying the factors that not only distinguish criminals from noncriminals but also account for its occurrence. In addition, they have investigated how crime might be averted. We shall discuss each of these inquiries in turn. Prior to discussing the distribution of crime, however, we must analyze its measurement.

How do we know what we know? is a fundamental question of any intellectual field. The empirical nature of criminology necessitates the use of the scientific method to observe and record crime. To quantify the nature and scope of crime phenomena, researchers employ a range of methodologies. The majority of criminologists’ scientific approaches are quantitative, aiming to count the number and kind of crimes and their connections. Researchers utilize two key types of quantitative data: secondary data derived from official sources and primary data derived from self-reports of criminal activity and victimization.

Official statistics extracted from police records are the most important source of information used to measure the nature and scope of crime. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has sponsored a statewide endeavor to develop a statistical description of crime in the United States since 1930. Today, more than 17,000 police agencies engage annually in the Uniform Crime Report data collecting and reporting program (UCR). The UCR provides information regarding crimes that are known to law enforcement and offenses that have been cleared by law enforcement, typically through arrest. Criminologists sometimes utilize UCR data to calculate a crime rate based on offenses reported to the police or arrests made by the police. A crime rate is superior to a crime count since the rate takes population into account. For example, UCR data for 2003 in the United States indicate a total of 16,503 homicides known to police, a fairly high amount.

However, given the magnitude of the nation’s population—nearly 280 million people—the murder rate in 2003 was among the lowest in the preceding four decades, at 5.7 murders per 100,000 people (Federal Bureau of Investigation 2004). The UCR provides crime statistics broken down by area, community type, and locality. Information identifying the age, color, and gender of criminals is restricted to crimes that have been cleared by police and for which an arrest has been made.

Until recently, the UCR classed major offenses as “Index” or Part I offenses, and less serious offenses as Part II offenses. Index crimes include the following eight offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forceful rape, robbery, serious assault, burglary, larceny-theft, auto theft, and arson. Traditionally, criminologists, politicians, and the media have depended on index crime data to follow changes in major crime through time and geography. Index data are a composite that conceal substantial variances in the frequency of each infraction. For instance, larceny-theft accounts for more than 60 percent of all Part I offenses (Federal Bureau of Investigation 2004). Consequently, fluctuations in more severe crimes, like as murder and rape, may be obscured by the vast volume of property crimes, such as larceny. Researchers in the field of criminal justice are aware of this and often separate index crimes into two categories: violent crimes and property crimes.

The FBI is now implementing the National Incident Based Reporting System, a new data collection tool (NIBRS). The NIBRS is intended to build upon the UCR by providing police with more information about criminal events, including the nature of the crimes and the characteristics of the perpetrators. This strategy is novel in two ways. First, the NIBRS analyzes occurrences as its core analytical unit. Second, it extends on the UCR by providing more information regarding the nature and types of individual offenses in each crime episode, such as the victim(s) and offender(s) involved, the type and amount of property stolen, and the characteristics of those arrested.

Even though the UCR and NIBRS include a wealth of information, official records pose a number of challenges. A huge portion of every crime gets unreported to the police, which is perhaps the most serious issue. Unreported crimes are referred to as “dark figures” since their nature and scope are unknown. Another problem of official records is that they are compiled, documented, and reported by non-researchers, making them secondary data. According to Thorsten Sellin (1931), each layer of administration in the gathering of official crime data raises the possibility of distortion, bias, or inaccuracy, hence diminishing the data’s usefulness. The data collected from police records have also been challenged for being political artifacts that reflect the operational logics and goals of law enforcement agencies. In addition, the UCR data collecting rules apply a judgment rule known as the hierarchy rule of classification, which sacrifices data regarding criminal episodes involving many crimes. Frequently, when a crime is committed, multiple laws are broken. However, the hierarchy rule dictates that only the most serious offense is reported to the FBI. The rule produces systematic downward bias in UCR data. A final shortcoming is that government records provide inadequate information about the correlates of crime, such as the relationship between victims and offenders, the racial and sexual mix of offenders and victims, and the drug use of offenders. The NIBRS aims to improve official records in light of the last two concerns, notably the hierarchy rule and the limited correlations between crime.

In large part as a result of concerns about the veracity of official data, academics have invented alternative ways for gathering data on crime. The majority of them are self-report questionnaires. The benefit of survey approach is that researchers directly obtain primary data from individuals in criminal activity. This gives researchers greater control over data collecting and facilitates testing of hypotheses. Typically, self-report questionnaires are available in two formats. One form requires people to disclose their own criminal behavior. The second sort of survey questions individuals about their victimization experiences.

A self-report survey of offending asks a sample of persons if and how frequently they have committed any of a variety of offenses during a certain time period. Thornberry and Krohn (2000) attribute the emergence of self-report methodology to Sutherland’s (1940) observation that respectable middle-class individuals are likely to commit crimes but are unlikely to be recorded in police files. Porterfield’s 1946 work was the first to utilize the self-report method in studies of criminal and delinquent conduct, maybe prompted by Sutherland’s observation. His work established the usefulness of self-reports for criminal and delinquent studies. Short and Nye’s (1958) research is primarily responsible for establishing self-reports as a methodological cornerstone of criminology. Throughout the years, criminologists have devoted significant efforts to enhancing the self-report method by creating strategies that increase the validity and reliability of self-reported crime and delinquency (Hindelang, Hirschi, and Weis 1981).

Self-report investigations of criminal behavior can be distinguished by their substantive focus and sample design. Using schools as sampling points is a frequent method for surveying teenagers. Monitoring the Future, an annual study addressing drug use undertaken with a nationally representative sample of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders, is one of the most renowned instances (Johnston, O’Malley, and Bachman, 1996). Other methods of surveying criminal or delinquent behavior include random samples of the broader population. Nationwide Youth Survey (NYS) is one of the most comprehensive national assessments of delinquency (Elliott 1983). The New York State uses a national probability sampling design to survey approximately 1,700 11- to 17-year-olds about their involvement in delinquency as well as a number of attitudinal and experiential issues. Similar to numerous other self-report surveys, the NYS supplies criminologists with data for addressing etiological questions. In addition, New York State utilizes a panel design, allowing researchers to track children through adulthood.

The other sort of self-report questionnaire is the victimization questionnaire. In this study, researchers ask a sample of individuals if and how frequently they had been victims of specific criminal crimes during a specific time period. The most well-known victimization survey is the 1973 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). This is a twice-yearly, national household survey. In contrast to self-report surveys of offending, which were motivated by the empirical restrictions associated with the police focus on crimes of the lower classes, the NCVS was motivated by the failure of individuals to report crimes to the police. Each year, around 85,000 families and more than 150,000 responders participate, giving the most accurate estimate of real crime in the United States. Unlike the UCR, the NCVS includes information about crimes committed against individuals, regardless of whether the crimes were reported to authorities. Questions address crimes suffered by individuals and their home, whether the offenses were reported to police, as well as victim, household, and perpetrator characteristics in personal crimes. In addition, respondents are asked about their perspectives on the criminal justice system and their motivations for reporting or not reporting crimes. Generally speaking, victimization surveys are limited to the more common and readily identifiable memories. Although it appears that respondents are generally accurate when reporting their experiences as offenders and victims, there is evidence that underreporting is a danger to the validity of self-report studies of both offending (Hindelang et al., 1981) and victimization (Hindelang et al., 1981). (Murphy and Dodge 1981). As a result of embarrassment or a desire to protect their privacy, some respondents may choose not to discuss their criminal past. In addition, respondents do not always recall the infractions they committed or those committed against them, and they may recall offenses as being more recent or more remote than they actually were.

Crime statistics are crucial to the criminological endeavour. They contribute to the establishment of the fundamental social facts of crime, which comprise the objects of explanation and give evidence for the evaluation of explanations. Unfortunately, crime figures are among the most unreliable and challenging of any social phenomenon statistics. It is impossible to correctly estimate the level of crime in any specific location or time period. As stated previously, many crimes go unreported, while others are identified but not reported to police or researchers, and yet others are reported but not legally documented. Thus, any record of crimes can at most be regarded an index of the actual crimes committed. This fact has prompted both caution regarding crime data sources and more research to validate and enhance empiricism in the sector. Comparing the “behavior” of crime indexes across several data sources is a popular solution. Figure 1 displays how victimization data compare to government figures since 1973. Although it is a violation of individuals and property. They dismiss crimes done on behalf of corporations, such as deceptive advertising and price-fixing, as well as “victimless” crimes, such as drug usage and gambling.

     Figure 1

Both types of self-report surveys offer advantages over official crime statistics and are an essential source of crime data. They have access to a wide range of violations, ranging from significant crimes to minor infractions that are unlikely to be reported to police. In addition, by measuring the personal and societal traits of offenders and/or victims, they can supply a wealth of information for evaluating crime theories. Both sorts of self-reports are subject to the same constraints inherent to the self-report method. The fundamental limitations of self-report surveys stem from the size of the sample and the precision of assessment. A survey’s sample size is determined by guaranteeing representative participation and obtaining cooperation throughout the survey questionnaire. Both data sources produce indices that react similarly (growing and declining) across this time frame.

Criminology and Patterns of Crime

Criminologists document crime patterns in order to comprehend the nature and scope of crime. While the general public views many crimes as random acts, criminological research demonstrates that crime is not dispersed randomly among individuals or groups. The focus of criminological research on crime patterns is the relationship between criminal conduct and dimensions of time, place, and social structure. Crime tends to be a “intrastatus” activity, which is a crucial understanding in tracking criminal tendencies. In a significant number of crimes, the statuses used to identify offenders also describe the victims. Criminology has paid considerable attention to a number of contextual and structural factors that explain the fundamental crime patterns. These include the spatial and temporal distribution of crime, as well as the age, gender, race, and social status of the participants.

Criminologists have always been fascinated by the social factors that influence criminal behavior. Social context is characterized by the temporal and spatial characteristics that are connected with criminal behavior. At least three time metrics have been of interest to criminologists: annual patterns, seasonal patterns, and daily patterns. According to historical studies of crime in the United States, significant crime grew in the decades preceding the American Civil Conflict and continued to rise after the war. From roughly 1880 until the 1930s, reported crime generally declined, with the exception of the years before and during World War I. Since then, major crime has generally increased modestly, with a sharper rise commencing in the late 1960s (Gurr 1981). It reached its highest point in 1981 and again in 1991, but then plummeted in the middle and late 1990s and has been slowly dropping ever since (see Figure 2).

     Figure 2

In addition to annual shifts, which reflect historical oscillations, criminologists have identified additional units of time in which crime fluctuates. For instance, crimes tend to increase towards the beginning of the month, when most people receive their paychecks. Most crimes occur over the summer, when youths are out of school and people spend extended periods of time outside and away from their homes. Murders are more likely to occur in the evening, when more people are at leisure, whereas domestic burglaries are more likely to occur during the day, when more people are at work or school and less able to monitor their houses.

Additionally, criminologists have attempted to document the spatial patterns of crime. Researchers have found that the rate of severe crime tends to increase as the population of a community grows. In general, urban areas have a greater crime rate than their suburban and rural counterparts. Consistently, victimization and self-report statistics indicate that crime is concentrated in major metropolitan areas (Sutherland, Cressey, and Luckenbill 1992:176–78). In the United States, however, the extent to which the urban crime rate exceeds the rural crime rate fluctuates over time. As improved communication and transportation have diminished the disparities between urban and rural areas, there is reason to believe that the disparities in crime rates have also decreased, with rural and suburban crime rates increasing more rapidly than urban crime rates. In local communities, crime is typically concentrated in areas characterized by social disadvantage. High-crime neighborhoods typically have higher-than-average percentages of poverty, rental and abandoned properties, single-parent households, and population mobility, all of which impede the organization of the community to prevent crime.

Youth engage in criminal activities. Researchers have found that age is the most accurate predictor of criminal behavior. The correlation between age and criminality is nonlinear. Criminal activity grows with age into adolescence, reaches its peak in late adolescence or early adulthood, and then drops rather rapidly with age before declining more slowly until death. Some have argued (Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1986) that the association between age and crime is constant, regardless of sex, race, and socioeconomic status, as well as across time and space (see Figure 3).

     Figure 3

Criminologists use the term “distance” to characterize the cessation of criminal action as age increases beyond the peak offending ages of late adolescence or early adulthood (Laub and Sampson 1993). Although the majority of offenders “age out” of crime by early adulthood, a small proportion continue to commit crimes throughout their lives. This observation has spurred attention in the significance of age in differentiating between various sorts of offenders. Research on the effects of age at first offense and the trajectory of crime over the life cycle reveals the existence of several types of criminal careers that vary in terms of commencement, duration, and intensity. Individuals who engage in criminal activity at a young age and those who have contact with the judicial system at a younger age are more likely to become chronic offenders or “life-course persisters.” Laub and Sampson (1993) shown that even among first-time and chronic offenders, recidivism can be avoided. According to research in this field, the most prevalent type of criminal career is “adolescent limited,” meaning that criminal behavior is typically confined to adolescence and early adulthood, after which desistance occurs swiftly.

Men have a higher crime rate than women. Frequently, comparisons of sex-specific criminal conduct are given as a frequency or rate ratio of male to female offenses. Although the disparity in the sex ratio of offenders varies by kind of offense, it is largest for more serious offenses. In the United States, the ratio of male to female murder arrests in any given year is approximately eight male arrests to one female arrest. In contrast, the ratio of male to female arrests for theft, one of the least serious offenses, is two males for every female. Self-report data suggest that males are more likely to be involved in criminal activity than females, however these data tend to reveal less disparity in the sex ratio of criminal offending than official data, particularly for less severe offences (Triplett and Myers 1995). Some criminologists claim that the disparity between arrest statistics and self-reports is due to the chivalrous stance taken by criminal justice officials when ladies are the target of law enforcement (Steffensmeier 1993).

The official statistics portray an arresting picture of criminal behavior by race. African Americans are significantly more likely than whites to be arrested, despite the fact that whites account for the vast bulk of arrests. African Americans are responsible for over 40 percent of arrests for major violent crimes and over 25 percent of arrests for significant property offenses, although constituting just 13 percent of the United States’ population (Federal Bureau of Investigation 2004). In contrast, Whites are arrested disproportionately for specific Part II offenses, such as alcohol and driving under the influence offenses. The racial discrepancy in arrests for serious crimes has decreased in recent years, but African Americans have a considerably greater chance of arrest than whites (see Figure 4).

     Figure 4

Some criminologists have proposed that racial prejudice in criminal justice may account for a significant portion of the reported racial discrepancy in official statistics (Tonry 1995). Others have argued that the judicial system and its agents are reasonably objective when processing defendants, implying that racial disparities in official crime figures reflect true racial inequalities in criminal behavior (Wilbanks 1987). Using self-report and victimization data, criminologists have attempted to settle this disagreement by examining race-specific involvement in criminal conduct. Self-report studies of delinquency among African American and white kids imply that racial disparities are significantly smaller than indicated by arrest statistics (Elliott and Ageton 1980).

Criminologists have long assumed a negative link between social class and crime: people at the bottom of the social hierarchy are more likely to be involved in criminal activity than those at the top. According to official statistics, lower-class status correlates with more criminal activity. Those convicted of a crime and sentenced to prison are more likely to be indigent, unemployed, or underemployed.

In spite of this evidence, criminologists have contended that the association between class and crime is less certain than indicated by official statistics. Sutherland was the first criminologist to examine the relationship between class and crime (1940). He noticed that white-collar crimes, or crimes perpetrated by respectable and high-status individuals in the course of their employment, are prevalent while being typically overlooked in official crime statistics. Sutherland’s discovery has led to numerous criticisms of people who believe a negative association between socioeconomic status and criminal behavior.

Conclusions regarding the relationship between class and crime may reflect the information source used. Self-report studies indicate that adolescents from all socioeconomic levels engage in delinquent behavior (Tittle, Villamez, and Smith 1978). However, these studies have been critiqued for failing to precisely define class status and for conflating delinquency with serious criminality (Braithwaite, 1979). (Farnworth,Thornberry, Krohn, and Lizotte 1994).

In conclusion, criminologists have committed significant effort in documenting crime patterns. These patterns are useful for evaluating and planning social responses to crime by policymakers. Correlating crime across dimensions of social context (time and geography) and social structure (age, sex, race, and social class) yields empirical facts that theory must explain.

Throughout the past two centuries, numerous criminology schools have flourished. A school of criminology is a body of thinking that combines a theory of crime causation with control methods required by the theory. In Europe during the eighteenth century, Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham established the classical school as one of the first criminology schools. According to the classical school, crime is a reasonable technique of maximizing one’s self-interest. Individuals are perceived as hedonistic, seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, and rational, calculating the pleasures and pains of possible behaviors and selecting those that promise the most pleasure with the least pain. Individuals will opt to commit a crime if they determine that it delivers the most joy and the least pain relative to other actions. To control crime, the state need merely persuade individuals that committing a crime would result in more pain than pleasure, which can be achieved by raising the severity of punishments. When individuals discover that criminal behavior is less enjoyable, they will pursue more fulfilling activities. During the nineteenth century, the positive school of criminology emerged largely due to the contributions of Cesare Lombroso and his followers. The positive school, which is grounded in the physical sciences, views crime as the result of personal faults or diseases. It asserts that the physical constitution influences behavior and that flaws in biological structure or processes result in criminal conduct. The positive school maintains that punishment is ineffective in reducing crime because criminals do not weigh the pleasures and pains of different actions and choose the one that maximizes pleasure. Instead, it asserts that the only rational approach to controlling crime is to identify and influence its causes. Given that crime is the result of a human defect or disorder, it follows that the most effective method of crime control is to treat the defect or condition in question. This school fell out of favor at the beginning of the twentieth century as the sociological school, which views crime as a product of the social environment, gained popularity. Over the course of the twentieth century, the sociological school has matured and grown to dominate scientific efforts to explain crime.

The sociological school predominantly emerged in the United States. Sociologists have conducted the majority of systematic studies of crime and criminals since the late nineteenth century, when criminology was recognized as a topic of study by the expanding sociology departments of universities. A 1901 survey found that criminology and penology were among the first courses taught under the label of sociology in American colleges (Tolman 1902–1903), and the first issue of the American Journal of Sociology included papers and book reviews on criminology. At the same time, though, American sociologists were impressed by a number of the positive school’s claims. Not until approximately 1915, after the publication of Charles Goring’s The English Convict (1913), was a strong environmentalist perspective developed. This pattern likely caused John Gillin (1914) to make his observation,

The longer the study of crime has continued in this country, the greater has grown the number of causes of crime which may be described as social. This is the aspect in the development of American criminology which has given to that study in this country the title of “The American School.” (P. 53)

The core thesis of the sociological school is that criminal behavior is the outcome of the same conditions and processes as other forms of social behavior. There are two types of analyses of these factors and processes in relation to crime. First, criminologists have attempted to establish a link between variances in crime rates and differences in social organization. Several socioeconomic circumstances, including social and economic inequality, political and economic ideology, and culture and normative conflict, have been studied in relation to differences in the crime rates of societies and units of society. In an early sociological study, Clifford Shaw (1929) utilized the Chicago School’s ecological method, which strongly drew on Durkheim’s analogy of society as an organism, to comprehend the metropolitan distribution of delinquency. He noticed that delinquency was concentrated in specific regions of the city and attributed this to social disarray. He viewed delinquency as a pathology endemic to urban slums, not the individuals who resided there. These regions had high mobility, heterogeneity, and conflict, factors that fostered social disorganization, a condition in which traditional means of social control are ineffective and individuals are free to engage in criminal conduct. In particular, Robert Merton’s (1938) anomie theory was significantly influenced by Durkheim’s functionalist concepts regarding the causes and implications of change in social solidarity. In a seminal remark, Albert Cohen (1955) asserted that differences in the access of social classes to legitimate means of obtaining success correlate with differences in their rates of delinquency. In American society, lower-class children are encouraged to seek the same goals as middle-class children and are evaluated using the same criteria. However, they lack the cultural and economic capital required to effectively compete with children from middle-class families. As a result, many children from disadvantaged backgrounds suffer failure, and in response, they may develop and participate in delinquent subcultures. These two arguments—that high rates of crime can be explained in terms of a breakdown of social organization and that high rates can be explained in terms of a conflict between culturally induced aspirations and structurally limited opportunities—have figured prominently in much macro-level contemporary theory.

Second, criminologists have worked to uncover the mechanisms that lead to the criminalization of persons. In general, their investigations link criminality to socialization differences. One view, advanced by Travis Hirschi (1969) under the umbrella of control theory, holds that criminality is the outcome of a breakdown in socialization. According to this perspective, criminal behavior is a manifestation of inherent instincts. When a person’s connection to society is weak, it is doubtful that he or she will absorb the values and conventions of society or be attentive to the needs and desires of others. The individual lacks control and is therefore free to participate in criminal activity. Edwin Sutherland (1947) and Ronald Akers (1998) expand the notion that criminality results from social learning. According to this viewpoint, criminal behavior is not a manifestation of inherent instincts. Rather, a person learns to engage in illegal behavior similarly to how they learn to engage in noncriminal behavior. The content of education, not the method itself, determines whether a person becomes a criminal. These arguments, namely, that criminality results from a breakdown in socialization and that criminality is a product of socialization, continue to dominate micro-level thinking about crime.

In recent decades, criminologists have pursued alternative methods of analysis. In the 1960s and 1970s, some criminologists began to rethink the key assumptions and themes that had been used to organize criminology. They noticed that criminality is not an inherent quality of a given conduct and that the breach of a criminal statute does not invariably result in the capture and punishment of the offender. Instead, an act is criminal because legislators have made it so, and those who violate the law are selectively captured and punished (Becker 1963). This moves the focus from the criminal to the mechanisms of defining and responding to disruptive behavior (Quinney 1964; Turk 1969). Consequently, criminologists have increasingly focused on patterns of selective law enforcement, asking what types of offenses and offenders are most likely to be treated as crimes and criminals and why? In the course of demystifying the legal system, criminologists also considered the consequences of being labeled and treated as a criminal, arguing that stigmatization reduces a person’s legitimate opportunities for success and alters his or her identity, thereby promoting chronic criminality (Kitsuse 1962; Lemert 1972:62–92).

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, a number of criminologists attempted to develop comprehensive theories of crime. Traditionally, criminologists have evaluated hypotheses by pitting at least two against one another in a “theory competition” (Akers and Sellers 2004:267). Recognizing that there is nothing to be gained from such rivalry, criminologists have increasingly sought to develop more effective explanatory models by combining aspects of two or more distinct theories of crime. John Braithwaite (1989) incorporated elements of control theory, social learning theory, and labeling theory into his theory of reintegrative shaming, and Charles Tittle (1995) incorporated elements of control theory, social learning theory, strain theory, and Marxist theory into his control balance theory of deviance. Despite the significance of integration initiatives, caution must be exercised in this endeavor. As Akers (1989:24) correctly highlighted, if ideas are combined without respect for their incompatibilities, “theoretical mush” can arise.

Over the years, three crime prevention strategies have been utilized: punitive, defensive, and interventionist. Punitive tactics are predicated on the premise that criminality and crime rates can be lowered by instilling in individuals a strong fear of being penalized for committing crimes. It is believed that inflicting great suffering on criminals both reforms those who are punished (specific deterrence) and discourages others from committing crimes (general deterrence). Much of the legislation that aims to significantly reduce crime is merely an effort to improve the severity or certainty of punishment (Beckett and Sasson 2004). Methods of defense are based on the premise that crime can be decreased by making it difficult for individuals to commit crimes. These solutions include lighting streets, securing doors, and putting valuables in safes (Felson 2002:144–64). The confinement of criminals inside bars so that they cannot victimize strangers is another example of defensive measures. The premise of interventionist tactics is that punishment and defense are insufficient. Rather, it is assumed that criminality and crime rates can be efficiently lowered by identifying and altering the factors that produce them. Methods based on the premise that offenders lack basic interpersonal skills aim to develop their competence in empathy, problem solving, impulse control, and anger management, whereas methods based on the premise that offenders have learned criminal behavior aim to teach them lawful forms of behavior (Cullen 2002). Generally speaking, interventionist tactics think that high crime rates are a result of economic, political, and social organization and that it is folly to leave this structure intact and try to reduce crime rates by punishing or defending against criminals produced by it. Instead, the objective is to reform the economic, political, or social system in order to lower crime rates (Currie 1998).

There is substantial evidence that intervention is or may be the most effective method of reducing crime (Cullen 2002; MacKenzie 2000). As more is discovered about crime, interventionist approaches will have a stronger foundation. If consistently followed, these regulations would safeguard society against crime in three ways.

First, they would ensure the segregation of those whose recurrent involvement in major crime has shown their threat. Although segregation would not change these criminals, it will safeguard society by incapacitating them and demonstrating disapproval of significant lawbreaking. Currently, we are unable to dramatically alter the societal conditions that produce some chronic offenders or their behavior. We can only protect ourselves against this small group of dangerous individuals.

Second, interventionist policies would integrate into law-abiding society a greater number of citizens, including the majority of those who have committed a crime but have not proven to be dangerous. It is generally accepted that social control is derived from the benefits of lawful behavior rather than direct fear of punishment. The effective deterrent is not the dread of legal penalties per se, but rather the fear of status loss (Grasmick and Bursik 1990). However, fear is not what stops criminal action. Rather, a law-abiding citizen is someone who believes that certain actions, such as stealing from a neighbor or attacking a coworker, are inconceivable. In order for crime prevention strategies to be effective, more people must have a stake in adhering to the rules that prohibit criminal behavior.

Thirdly, interventionist policies would identify the social circumstances from which criminal activity is most likely to emanate and make it possible to abolish those circumstances. Instead of eliminating the economic, political, and social attitudes, conditions, and injustices that cause crime, political leaders have decided to rely on fear of punishment (Currie 1998). Punishment appears to be less expensive, but this is not the case. In addition, the emphasis on punishment detracts from the necessity of creating the environment required for household tranquility. If attitudes of shared respect for certain values could be fostered, punitive legislation relating to these values would be unneeded. If, for instance, all members of a community had an equal stake in the concept of private property, it would no longer be necessary to coerce individuals into upholding property rights.

In short, crime would be decreased by absorbing those criminals who can be absorbed, isolating those who cannot be absorbed for defense, and reducing the conditions that are most conducive to crime and hence necessitate the need to absorb some criminals and isolate others. As much as punishment would, the vigorous execution of such rules would demonstrate society disapproval of criminal behavior. Rather than punishment, approval and disapproval of criminals deter crime among the majority of citizens, including the majority of the poor and disadvantaged, from whom the vast majority of criminals originate.

Our knowledge of crime is elementary. Certainly, we have a sense of how crime is distributed along a variety of structural, temporal, and spatial dimensions; we have a sense of the principal variables that affect the occurrence of crime and development of criminality, as well as the general ways in which these variables operate to produce crime and criminality; and we have a sense of the types of methods that appear to be effective in controlling crime. However, more effort must be done before a solid comprehension of crime can be attained.

When we consider criminology in the twenty-first century, we observe that the field is evolving in multiple directions. There are persistent efforts to develop and enhance the methodological tools for documenting crime, testing theories of crime, and evaluating initiatives to combat crime. There are also ongoing efforts to create integrated theories of crime, theories that incorporate not just sociological, but also biological and psychological, factors. Integrated theory is advancing criminology down a path that may eventually identify it as an interdisciplinary field of study as opposed to a sociological specialty. These two streams, one methodological and one theoretical, will become more linked. The analytical state of the art, for instance, enables a broader and more rigorous range of theory-testing initiatives, which promotes the development of theory. Lastly, there are ongoing initiatives to employ criminological knowledge to improve social welfare by reducing rates of first and repeat offenses in a manner that is fair to offenders, victims, and the broader community. These trends are not exclusive to the criminological enterprise. In fact, they reflect sociological tendencies in which sociologists attempt to refine methods, develop unified theories, and apply research to educate public policy and enrich community life.

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PRIMARY RESEARCH PAPERS 

These primary criminology research papers are written by some of the most up and coming criminologists in their fields. It should be noted that although these criminology papers are not anonymously peer reviewed, like those in our articles section of the journal, primary research papers are reviewed and edited by the General Editor and members of the Editorial Board to ensure they meet the high standards of the Internet Journal of Criminology.

To download the articles please click on the the title of the articles below.

Dr. Charles Scott’s Role as an Expert Witness in the Nikolas Cruz Sentencing Trial                   by Professor Dina Lenore Cirigliano

On Valentine’s Day of the year 2018, a nineteen-year-old man by the name of Nikolas Cruz entered his alma mater, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, located in the Miami suburb of Parkland, Florida. With “an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle” (Laughland, et at, 2018) in hand, Cruz gunned down thirty-four people and traumatizing all within the building. Authorities stated that Cruz was equipped with three-hundred-thirty rounds of ammo when he crossed the threshold of the school and had carved swastikas onto the magazines. At the end of his rampage, seventeen were wounded and seventeen were deceased on account of this mass murderer’s actions. 

Richard von Krafft-Ebing’s Psychopathia Sexualis & Jacob Appel’s The Mask of Sanity                      By Professor Dina Lenore Cirigliano

In the year 1886, a medical doctor who was “recognized as an authority on deviant sexual behavior and its medico-legal aspects” (Kupferschmidt, 1987) published Psychopathia Sexualis. This expert was Richard von Krafft-Ebbing, a University of Heidelberg graduate who practiced psychiatry within asylums across Germany. One-hundred-thirty-one years later in the year 2017, a Bronx-born lawyer/bioethicist/physician who specializes in emergency psychiatry published Mask of Sanity. This professional is Jacob Appel, professor of psychiatry and medical education at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. While Krafft-Ebing’s Psychopathia Sexualis is a German-printed, non-fictional piece classified as a medico-legal reference, and Appel’s Mask of Sanity is an American novel of the fiction genre, both pieces are scribed by authorities in their field and both publications address individuals who suffer from pervasive mental disorders steeped in criminality. 

Are Non-Scientists Qualified To Be Blood Spatter Analysis Professionals?

By Dina Cirigliano, Plaza College, Forest Hills, New York

While blood spatter analysis has indeed developed and expanded with the passage of time, there have been notable setbacks in the field as of late. These setbacks come in the form of questionable credentials of those permitted to offer expert testimony regarding blood spatter in courts of law. Particularly in the last half decade, blood spatter analysis has come under the inspection of some watchful eyes, as the qualifications of supposed experts are more and more often being viewed as subpar. The purpose of this paper is to establish whether or not non-medical doctor and non-scientific researcher blood spatter analysis professionals deserve the scrutiny they have been facing for the past five years.

Advances in Forensic Science: Deoxyribonucleic Acid Breakthroughs in the Last Five Years

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has come a long way since its discovery by Swiss chemist, Dr. Friedrich Miescher, in the year 1869. It has subsequently been recognized as presenting in three-dimensional, double helix form, has been utilized to exonerate the accused but not-guilty, and has been applied as irrefutable scientific evidence to convict offenders in criminal court, regardless of their lack of admission of guilt. Scientific discovery is a continuum of knowledge to be acquired with each passing year, especially within the field of genetics. The purpose of this paper is to explore what the last five years of DNA research has brought forth.

From 1860 Miescher to 1986 Jeffreys: A Times Past View of Forensic DNA Analysis    

B y Dina Lenore Ciriligiano, Plaza College, Forest Hills, New York

The purpose of this piece is to highlight the major events throughout the short history of DNA, specifically 1) the first discovery of its existence, 2) Watson and Crick’s discovery of its three-dimensional double helix form and more, 3) Dr. Alec Jeffreys’ and the first conviction in a criminal case using DNA as scientific evidence, and 4) the recognition of identical twin DNA and the doubt it brings forth. 

From Galton to the First Repository: Fingerprint Analysis During the Pre-AFIS Period By Dina Cirigliano, Plaza College, Forest Hills, New York

At the present time, fingerprints are utilized to confirm or refute an individual’s identity within the confines of criminal justice systems throughout the world. Today, fingerprints are used to identify individuals who were present at crime scenes even after fleeing, to link one crime scene to another by comparing prints from both locations, often connecting them to the very same individual, to differentiate inmates housed in correctional facilities, to track the criminal record of repeat offenders, and to even ;put a name to the face of many a John and Jane Doe in the custody of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). All of this comparing, tracking, differentiating, and linking is done with advanced computer technologies whose system houses an infinite repository of fingerprints and identities the individuals to whom each print belongs. However, this high-tech database known as the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) did not come into existence until the year 1980 (Crime Scene Forensics, 2018).  Prior to that, anything regarding fingerprint analysis and sharing was done the old-fashioned way. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the establishment of fingerprint usage during the pre-AFIS period, specifically 1) Sir Francis Galton’s concepts of minutiae, 2) Sir Edward Henry’s pattern classification, 3) the William West conundrum, 4) the Thomas Jennings case, and 5) the growth of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s fingerprint repository.

The Last Five Years In Blood Spatter

By Professor Dina L. Cirigliano / Plaza College / Forest Hills, New York

Blood spatter analysis by forensic science experts began one-hundred-twenty-eight years ago and is therefore, by no means, a new specialization. The maturity of this concentration of forensic science has increased over time. That is quite evident with the professionals’ ability to establish categories of blood spatter as passive stains (droplets, flows, and pools), transfer stains (wipes, swipes, footprints, shoeprints, handprints, glove prints, and body drag marks), and impact stains (cast-off and arterial gush), their ability to identify the bloodshed event (sharp-force injury, blunt-force injury, or gunshot injury), their ability to determine the trajectory of a projectile, their ability to establish the locations and positions of victims and offenders, their ability to bring forth chemiluminescence with a mere spray of aerosol Luminol, and their ability to to recreate crime scenes by utilizing simulation software. While blood spatter analysis has indeed developed and expanded with the passage of time, there have been notable setbacks in the field as of late. These setbacks come in the form of questionable credentials of those permitted to offer expert testimony regarding blood spatter in courts of law. Particularly in the last half decade, blood spatter analysis has come under the inspection of some watchful eyes, as the qualifications of supposed experts are more and more often being viewed as subpar. The purpose of this paper is to establish whether or not non-medical doctor and non-scientific researcher blood spatter analysis professionals deserve the scrutiny they have been facing for the past five years.

Innovations in Forensic Fingerprint Analysis Over the Last Half-Decade By Dina Cirigliano, Plaza College, Forest Hills, New York

The study of fingerprints has come a long way from its meagre beginnings in 1892, when Galton introduced the world’s first fingerprint analysis publication. So much had happened in the field since then that by the year 1980, the database known as the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) was not only founded, but up and running, so that print sharing between law enforcement agencies could occur seamlessly. Today, forty-three years after the establishment of AFIS, fingerprint research is still at the forefront of forensic scientists’ focus. The purpose of this piece is to highlight advances in fingerprint science in the last five years, particularly 1) how and when fingerprints develop on the bulbs of human fingers, 2) the role of INTERPOL in fighting international crime, 3) the recognition of irregularly rare fingerprints, and 4) the ability to estimate the sex of an offender or victim based on the ridge density of the fingerprints left behind at the crime scene.

Blood Spatter: The History of Analysis

Blood spatter analysis is, at the present time, a well-established subcategory within the field of forensic science. In today’s world of innovative technologies and highly-sophisticated equipment, attorneys can rely on the testimony of blood spatter experts in the form of forensic scientists, to make or break their cases. However, this was not always so. Blood splatter analysis was not always in existence, let alone as evolved as it is at the current time. The purpose of this piece is to highlight the major milestones throughout blood splatter analysis’ historical timeline, specifically 1) its origin with Dr. Eduard Piotrowski, 2) its breakthrough into the American legal system as accepted scientific proof presented during trial, 3) its popularity among researchers enacting the establishment of the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts, 4) its introduction of Fred Carter’s blood simulation software, and 5) its use of detection Luminol to reveal weaponry used along with the locations of the victim and offender.

EXAMINING AN ECCENTRIC NECROPHILE

By Dina Lenore Cirigliano. Plaza College.

As far back as historical documentation goes, necrophilia has always been a macabre constant. In earlier times, Herodotus (who lived from 484 BC - 425 BC), documented in his record writings that bodies of remarkably stunning women were no longer embalmed immediately after their deaths in Ancient Egypt, to deter a repetition of a situation where it was exposed that an embalmer had intercourse with the corpse of a freshly deceased woman. Hundreds of years later, the Babylonian Talmud (3rd–5th centuries AD), records a chosen maiden killing herself to avoid marrying King Herod of Judea, as she had no desire to be with him. It continues to state that following her suicide, the king had her corpse conserved in thick honey for seven years so that he may have sex with her body at a later date. Later still, Gilles de Rais, a knight, lord, leader in the French army, and companion-in-arms to Joan of Arc, was “noted to have sexually violated the dead bodies of his victims”  until his death in October 1440. Continuing onward in time, notable criminologist Herschel Prins, proved that up until the 19th century, if an engaged woman in passed away in Central Europe prior to her marriage, the male betrothed to her may copulate with her body. Again, necrophilia has plagued every era throughout history and will continue to do so throughout the future, as paraphilias are neither preventable nor curable. They are, in fact, “innate, driven by some complex interactions between androgenization of the brain and neurohormonal changes”.  

EVOLUTION OF AUTHORIZED DEATH DEVICES: PROGRESSION OF SANCTIONED KILLING MACHINES, TRENDS THEY YIELD, AND WHAT THESE DRIFTS INDICATE ABOUT THE NLAC LASER AS THE FUTURE OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IMPLEMENTATION  

By Dina Lenore Cirigliano, Plaza College

This article illustrates the progression in the sophistication of death devices with regard to both materials utilized and apparatus design, from times in ancient history through modern days. The article will illustrate the fact that when examining the development of death penalty constituents and contraptions, as the means by which the convicted are condemned to death become increasingly technologically savvy, they also become decreasingly gruesome and less time-consumingly torturous. With the passage of time and the rise of innovative methods of execution comes a change from primitive, bloody, lengthy agony to state-of-the-art, minimally-gory, swift humaneness. This alteration shows a definite surge in moral and ethical responsibility. If this trend is to continue, the questions for corrections professionals are as follows: 

1.    What will the capital punishment device of the future be?   2.    In what ways will the future death apparatus continue the ongoing movement toward innovative technology, morality, ethics, and humaneness and away from bloody displays and drawn-out suffering?  

THE EXPERIENCE AND TREATMENT OF WOMEN PRISONERS AS VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE

By  Rezia Begum,  Loughborough University

This research was undertaken for my PhD thesis. The aim of the research was to gain access to women’s prison in the UK in order to undertake qualitative research into two specific issues: women prisoners’ experience of domestic violence; and what treatment or management programmes are in place to deal with this issue, both whilst women are in prison and upon their release. 

‘It’s Life But Not As We Know It’.  An Impact Study Looking At Youth Offending Practitioners Interactions With Their Service Users By Antony Peter Gadsby, Nottingham Trent Universtity, UK

In recent years, studies that aim to understand the experiences of youth justice practice have tended to focus on the practice as a whole using quantitative methods and statistics to explain the trends in offending behaviours rather that the impact this has on the practitioners themselves (Burnett & Appleton, 2004). There has also been a tendency to concentrate solely on the offending behaviour rather than the individual’s behaviour, which is portrayed mainly in negative ways, resulting in even less emphasis on the impacts and implications for practitioner and client relationship. For this very reason, a single participant case study utilising Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, aimed to look into the experience of a practitioner within a youth offending team, to understand the psychological impacts both positive and negative that may occur, in work related situations. The study’s main aim was to extract rich idiographic data, in order to give the researcher a clear and richer understanding of their experiences and coping mechanisms needed to efficiently manage their daily activities. The participant Trevor (pseudonym) was a white male with extensive experience working with young people, also with a youth working background. A youth offending office such as the one in the study was a very busy environment, and unexpected events occurred frequently from the initial observations during part 1 of the interview. Due to the nature of the work, the interview with Trevor had to be conducted in 2 parts to facilitate the study. There was a main theme in the interview, whereby time constraints and adhering to procedures affected the way relationships were built up. Other emerging themes from the semi-structured interview reflected on a reactive practice, whereby immediate action was required, uncertainty in daily planning of duties, resulting in what Trevor described as ‘fire fighting’. However, where policies and procedures are in place, in inter- agency organisations such as youth offending teams, the mix of historical, professional and cultural traditions (Eadie & Canton, 2002) may unfortunately do little to alter these working practices for the foreseeable future, but measures may be introduced to ease these working practices.

Field Observations of Australian Private Investigators Conducting Fraud Investigations

By Michael King, Brisbane North Institute of Technical and Further Education, Australia

It has been over a decade since the last study was conducted investigating the nature and role of the private investigation profession. To fill this gap, this study uses semi-structured interviews and field observation of private investigators working within the metropolitan area of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia to obtain data to further this field. This study focuses on the investigative methods used by private investigators to conduct their investigations and examines the ethical and legal issues arising from their work. Despite some advances in training and licensing, the industry is still prone to investigators adopting questionable ethical practices such as deception to solve cases. The objective of this paper is to provide a greater insight into this little understood profession. 

Police interviewing of criminal suspects: A historical perspective

By Karl Roberts, Macquarie University, Australia

This paper provides an historical overview of the development of police suspect interviewing. The paper highlights how different approaches developed based upon the prevailing needs of the time, from early approaches involving torture and threats, simple question and answer approaches, through to methods incorporating knowledge from the behavioural sciences such as persuasive interviewing. The paper highlights some of the problems associated with these approaches in particular risks of unreliable information and potential miscarriages of justice and discusses more recent ethically oriented interview approaches developed to minimise some of these risks. The paper stresses the importance of sensitivity to the rights and needs of suspects even when carrying out interviews under pressured conditions. 

Youth Offenders and Functional Literacy By Edward Thomas, Middlesex University, UK

One of the key findings of the Department of Communities and Local Government’s Report into the 2011 riots found that a significant causal issue amongst those persons convicted of criminal offences during the riots of August 2011, was their lack of ‘Functional Literacy’. This article looks at longitudinal study of convicted youth offenders from 1995 and 2006. It sets out to establish that there has been sufficient academic writing from Rutter (1975) to Goodman & Ruggeiro (2010) coupled with the findings of successive Government Reports, including The Moser Report 1999, that have gone virtually unheeded by Governments of all political persuasions. These findings have been left to gather dust during periods of financial growth as well as recession for over more than thirty years. Why should the Department of Communities and Local Government’s Report fare any better? 

Portsmouth Community Safety Survey 2012

By Nick Sandford-Smith & Tom Ellis, Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, Portsmouth University, UK

This is a summary report of the key findings from the 5th Portsmouth Community Safety Survey (PCSS). Previous surveys were carried out in 2001, 2004, 2007and 2009 by Ipsos MORI. This 2012 survey has been carried out by second year research students in the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies (ICJS). It was designed to gather opinions from Portsmouth residents on: quality of life; perceptions and experience of crime and anti-social behaviour; and fear of crime in relation to particular areas of Portsmouth. This summary report was commissioned by Portsmouth City Council to inform the Safer Portsmouth Partnership Strategic Assessment (SPPSA) and the Safer Portsmouth Partnership Plan (SPPP). Both of these documents identify the community safety priorities for the partner agencies involved and provide the evidence on which the allocation of relevant resources and the commissioning of associated services within Portsmouth are based. 

Sentenced to Work: From Retribution to Rehabilitation

By Keith Price, Anthony Pierson and Susan Coleman, all at West Texas A&M University, USA.

Inmate work has been an important feature of prison systems in the United States from the colonial period until today (Fox, 1972), and work has been seen as a method to accomplish several correctional objectives (Hawkins, 1976). Prison labor was initiated for disciplinary reasons and retribution in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, extended and expanded for financial profit with the development of the industrial prison in the nineteenth, and maintained for its alleged therapeutic and educational value as a part of rehabilitation in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries (Conley, 2001).  

In Pursuit of the Beast: 

Undergraduate Attitudes Towards Sex Offenders and Implications for Society, Rehabilitation and British Psychology Education By Craig A. Harper, University of Lincoln, UK

Positive attitudes toward sex offenders can lead to favourable treatment outcomes and with psychology students being among the most likely graduates to move into offender rehabilitation, it is important to investigate the attitudes of this group. Students from British psychology and non-psychology courses read vignettes depicting an adult and a juvenile committing a contact sexual offence on a child, and completed modified versions of the attitudes towards sex offenders [ATS] questionnaire. The adult offender was viewed significantly more punitively than the juvenile offender, but no significant differences were found between subgroups of participants. It was concluded that undergraduate psychology degrees do not go far enough to address some of the stigmatised views held by the general population towards sex offenders. Implications for media reporting, recidivism and psychology education are discussed.  

Criminal Attitudes of Ex-Prisoners: The Role of Personality, Criminal Friends and Recidivism  By Daniel Boduszek, University of Ulster and Dublin Business School, Christopher G. McLaughlin, University of Ulster and Philip E. Hyland, University of Ulster and Dublin Business School, Ireland

Previous research suggests that those who enter prison with a low level of criminal attitudes tend to acquire more deviant attitudes during their sentence due to persistent contact with criminal others, and moreover, presence of criminal personality may be sufficient to develop criminal attitudes. The aim of this paper is to determine which of the independent variables: age, education level, marital status, number of children, location, recidivism, association with criminal friends, and personality traits could be used to explain why ex-prisoners hold criminal attitudes.

Policing in the Pacific: Why the Wontok Sysytem of the Solomons Encourages Corruption

By Jason Paul Sargent, JP. SJP. B Policing. Grad Dip Psych. FSA. MAIPIO, Kathleen Lumley College & Adelaide University, Australia

Jason Sargent spent 4 months serving in the Solomon Islands in 2003 as part of the (RAMSI) Royal Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands, when he was a uniformed member of the Australian Federal Police in the Protective Service section. This paper will examine how policing in the Solomon Islands will always face the reality of corruption due to the tribal system known as the Wontok system of family association and protection.

Multi-ethnic Comparisons of the Predictors of Delinquency Among Urban Adolescents

By Tia E. Kim, Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University, USA and Michiko Otsuki-Clutter, Ph.D., University of South Florida, USA

The purpose of the present study was to examine the roles of parental and peer influences on adolescent delinquency in a multiethnic sample of European American, Asian American, and Latino youth. The study utilized survey data on parental monitoring, peer delinquency, and delinquency on 187 high school students (10-12th grade). Overall, we found that when controlling for ethnicity and other demographic variables, both parental monitoring and peer delinquency independently predicted participants’ delinquency. In addition, peer delinquency functioned as a mediator between parental monitoring and delinquency. Findings from our study also show that correlates of delinquency differ among European American, Asian American, and Latino adolescents. Our findings suggest that prevention and intervention programs should acknowledge ethnic differences and should gauge whether steps can be taken to tailor programming to specific ethnic grou

A Global Crime: Why Transnational Sex Trafficking Networks are Succeeding in the 21st Century

By Peter Mameli, Associate Professor, Department of Public Management, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, U.S.A.

This article explores the relationship between increasing environmental complexity born of globalization processes and transnational criminal activity. In particular, the phenomenon of transnational sex trafficking is spotlighted for review. Initially, this review sketches the parameters of the problem and the main actors involved. Next, an analysis of how transnational criminals function examines why changes in organizational form have unleashed operational capabilities that public sector entities in law enforcement are finding difficult to overcome. The study closes suggesting productive paths forward to combat this growing scourge.   

From the USA to the ROK, CSI is Getting Airplay :

An Exploratory Study of the Presence and Popularity of American Criminal Justice Dramas in Northeast Asia 

By Ben Brown, Criminal Justice Department, The University of Texas at Brownsville, U.S.A.

Considerable research has focused on media presentations of crime and the criminal justice system in the United States, but little attention has been afforded to the popularity of American criminal justice dramas in foreign nations. This study utilizes a mixed methodological strategy to examine the availability and viewing of American criminal justice dramas (television programs and movies) in South Korea. An analysis of daily programming on several networks available in South Korea shows that American criminal justice television dramas such as CSI and American movies about crime and justice such as The Fugitive are frequently broadcast. An analysis of data obtained from a survey of South Korean college students shows that more than half the students watched an American criminal justice dramatic television program at least once and that more than one out of ten of the students watched American criminal justice dramatic programs on a regular basis. The implications of the data for future research are discussed.  

The Women of Stormfront: An Examination of White Nationalist Discussion Threads on the Internet

By Tammy Castle, Ph.D, James Madison University and Meagan Chevalier, B.A, George Mason University, USA

Although a plethora of literature exists on hate or extremist group activity, the role of racist women remains an unexplored area. The current study sought to explore one method of communication for racist women, the Internet. The researchers conducted a content analysis on 227 discussion threads provided on one of the oldest extremist websites on the Internet, Stormfront. The purpose of this study was to investigate the content of the discussion threads described as ‘For Stormfront Ladies Only.’ Of primary interest to the researchers was whether the content discussed by women in this ‘White Nationalist’ cyber community supported the assertion by some scholars that the role of women in racist activities is undergoing a transformation and the implications of this study in that regard are discussed.

Criminal Justice Department Chairs' Attitudes Towards Homosexuals and Curricular Issues

By Alexis J. Miller, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, and Danielle McDonald, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Northern Kentucky University, USA

Criminal justice students have stronger negative attitudes toward homosexuals than do other social science students (Cannon 2005; Miller 2001; & Olivero and Murataya’s 2001). The current research surveys criminal justice department chairs’ attitudes toward homosexuals and the number and nature of courses in their departments that deal with gay and lesbian issues. Results show that male chairs and chairs that are older and white tend to have more negative feelings towards homosexuals. Furthermore, while chairs’ believe that some gay and lesbian issues are also criminal justice issues, courses covering issues facing homosexual in the criminal justice system are lacking.  

Betting Shops and Crime: Is There a Relationship? 

By Professor Mark Griffiths, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, U

Gambling and its link with criminal activity is an area of growing research interest. Studies from various regions worldwide have suggested an association between criminal activity and easily accessible gambling, yet, despite growth in the commercial gambling industry, relatively little is known about the nature, extent or impact of gambling-related crime. Such information is critical in the current UK climate as some gambling establishments (particularly betting shops) are prevented from getting operating licenses on the basis of police objections that they are likely to become ‘crime hotspots’. Therefore, this paper briefly overviews to what extent betting shops cause, facilitate, or attract crime. It is concluded that only two types of betting shops can realistically be associated with crime arising from problem gamblers who use their premises and with criminal behaviour occurring within or in the immediate environment of the premises itself. Although a few studies have shown associations between gambling and crime there is no empirical evidence showing that gambling venues (including betting shops) cause crime. Most of the empirical evidence concerning the relationship between crime and gambling concerns the criminal consequences of problem gambling (including those ‘addicted’ to gambling). In order to be a cause of crime, betting shops must be both a necessary and sufficient condition for the crimes in question to occur. This paper finds that they are neither.

Public Perceptions of the Police: Effects of Police Investigation and Police Resources

By Andreas Cebulla, Research Director at the National Centre for Social Research and Mike Stephens, Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Social Policy at Loughborough University, UK

Since the 1980s, successive UK governments have sought to increase efficiency in, and effectiveness of, policing through what has been described as “cycles of reform” (Reiner, 2000, p. 204). The reforms typically involved exerting greater central control over regional police forces. Many of the early initiatives met with resistance from within the police and, as a result, were not fully implemented (McLaughlin and Murji, 1995). By the late 1990s and early 2000s, however, more effective and direct control over police performance was finally established. This took the form of a centralisation of police management, which resulted in the introduction of more uniform measures of monitoring police performance, including the regular recording of crime and crime detection rates among police forces. Performance targets were set and the public’s satisfaction with the work of the police in their local area became one of several performance indicators.  Performance targets and measures to generate greater cost efficiency in service provision, however, can have unexpected, sometimes perverse side effects. Two of these are focus of this paper. First, it explores how shifts in the police’s focus on specific types of crime in response to the introduction of performance targets affected the public’s reporting of crime. Second, it asks whether, in the light of efforts to achieve efficiency savings in the police, public spending on police forces has had any bearing on the public’s perception of the quality of local policing.   

Socio-Cultural Determinants of Criminal and Anti-Social Behaviour of Agaba Groups in Calabar Metropolis, Nigeria By Moses U. Ikoh, PhD, Graduate School, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria and Prof. Joseph O. Charles, PhD, Department of Sociology, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria.

This paper explored the involvement and arrest of street boys (popularly called Agaba boys) in 19 criminal and anti-social behaviours. Using the General Strain Theory (GST) to guide discussion, the study administered questionnaires on 80 Agaba members drawn purposively from four groups in Calabar Metropolis. It equally held Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with group leaders. Chi square statistical tool and multiple regressions were used in analysis. The results revealed differences in the four groups’ involvements in the 19 criminal and anti-social behaviours that were tested. Socio-economic activities found in their residential areas were the major determinants of type of criminal and anti-social activities they specialized in. The study argues that socio-demographic backgrounds that the boys found themselves exerted significant effect on their subsequent behaviours. It suggests the creation of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative that would deliberately create employments which require low and manual skills that could help in taking most of the boys from the streets. 

Perception of Smuggling Among the Yoruba People of Oke-Ogun of South Western Nigeria

By Oladeji, Matthew Olaniyi, Senior Principal Lecturer, The Polytechnic Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Smuggling, defined by Nigerian law as criminal, is rampant in Oke-ogun area of Southwestern Nigeria. Consequently, a research project was conducted among the people of the area to determine; how the people perceive smuggling. Also, to see the relationship that exists between the smugglers and the border town dwellers as well as between the smugglers and the law enforcement agents. Furthermore, it was meant to investigate the relationship between the level of education and perception of smuggling by the people of the area. The major instruments used were structured questionnaire, key informant method and in-depth interview. The study established that most residents did not see anything bad in smuggling as they profit from smuggling activities; and most of the services they provide are not without rewards. A positive relationship also exists between levels of education and perception of smuggling among the people of the study area. 

Spinach, Iron and Popeye: Ironic lessons from biochemistry and history on the importance of healthy eating, healthy scepticism and adequate citation  By Dr Mike Sutton, Reader in Criminology, Nottingham Trent University, UK

To inform knowledge in research methods and dissemination ethics for the natural and social sciences, this article reinforces the importance of citation to support all assertions of fact. New findings are presented for the history of biochemistry, nutrition, psychology, medicine, and the social sciences. Bio-chemistry papers and scientific news reports from the 1930’s seriously undermine a long standing truism that in the 1920s and 30s, bio-chemists, nutrition experts, public health policy makers, and E. Segar the creator of the newspaper comic strip Popeye were misled either by a decimal place error in 19th Century published research, or else by erroneous interpretation of 19th Century scientific findings, to exaggerate the iron content of spinach tenfold. Further, the failure to study original sources is evidenced in a multitude of completely erroneous publications claiming that these apocryphal errors caused Segar to choose spinach for Popeye’s super human strength. In fact, Segar chose and promoted spinach for its vitamin A content alone.   

Relationship between Psycho-demographic Factors and Civil Servants’ Attitudes to Corruption in Osun State, Nigeria By Adebayo O. Adejumo, Department of Psychology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria and a member of Nigeria’s National Health Research Ethics Committee

This paper examines the relationship between psycho-demographic factors and attitude to corruption (ATC). The cross-sectional survey included 600 local government civil servants following multi-stage sampling. A 58-item self report validated questionnaire was used for data gathering. There was significant relationship between; personality, fraudulent intent, N-Ach and ATC. Fear of crime had an inverse relationship with ATC, personality was shown to be the most potent predictor of ATC and there was significant relationship between age and ATC. This study provides insight to the role of these psychological factors and age as fundamental to improving public servants’ ATC, especially in Nigeria. Utilisation of these findings could be useful in staff recruitment and reduction of corruption in private and public administration in other settings.   

Male Inmate Perspective on Reducing Recidivism Rates Through Post-Incarceration Resources By Misty Malott and Ali Fromander, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Univeristy of Wisconsin, USA

Most people who are incarcerated come from the community and ultimately will return to the community (Andress, Wildes, Rechtine, and Moritsugu, 2004). What are some unmet needs post-incarceration that could be addressed to reduce their risk of reoffending? This nonrandom pilot study investigates inmate perspectives regarding perceived access to resources post-incarceration that could reduce their recidivism, by surveying 102 male inmates at three Midwestern jails. It was hypothesized that male inmates would agree that accessible resources, treatment, and/or support services, post-incarceration would help reduce their recidivism. Major findings supported the hypothesis. The survey data was statistically analyzed using frequencies, means, and a reliability analysis. Implications for practitioners and future researchers were addressed.   

Crime and gambling: A brief overview of gambling fraud on the Internet

By Dr. Mark Griffiths (BSc, PhD, PGDipHE, CPsychol), Professor of Gambling Studies and Director of the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University, UK

Although there is an association between crime and gambling there is relatively little information and research on the topic. One area that appears to have become more prevalent over the last five years is that of fraudulent gambling activities on the Internet. This paper briefly outlines how many frauds and scams have moved into technological media such as the Internet and overviews a number of these including: (i) lottery scams, (ii) fake gambling site scams, (iii) betting software scams, (iv) gambling ‘bonus’ scams, (v) ‘twofer’ scams, and (vi) prize scams. It is concluded that gambling fraud on the Internet is a growth area because many gamblers themselves want to get a huge reward from a small outlay (just as the fraudsters do). As long as there are people who are prepared to risk money on chance events, there will be those out there who will want to fraudulently take their money from them. Given the complete lack of empirical data on these fraudulent practices, there is a need for research to be initiated in this newly emerging area of criminological concern.   

A Physicist, a Philosopher and a Politician: What penologists can learn from Einstein, Kant and Churchill 

By Dr. Curtis R. Blakely, Assistant Professor in the Justice Systems Department at Truman State University, and Alice Walkley, Justice Systems major at Truman State University, USA

For the past three decades scholars, politicians and prison officials within the United States have collectively ignored offender rehabilitation as a legitimate penal pursuit. This has stifled the development and use of treatment initiatives. The absence of a treatment objective signifies a state of ideological imbalance. Prison specialization is offered as a potential solution to restore this balance while helping to break the criminogenic cycle. In looking at the feasibility of prison specialization, attention is given to three great thinkers, Albert Einstein, Immanuel Kant, and Winston Churchill. Both Einstein and Kant suggested that creative and innovative thinking can produce immensely rewarding results regardless of the field under consideration. Likewise, Churchill specifically lobbied for the creation of a specialized prison system.   

Bias Motivation in Crime: A Theoretical Examination

By Erica Hutton, Criminal Justice PhD Program, Capella University, USA

This paper assesses the social problem of racially motivated crime that occurs within our communities. Racially motivated crime is also known as bias motivation and this type of offense is personal in nature, pertaining to one’s race, ethnicity or nationality, religion, disability, or sexual orientation. There are various categories of bias that influence an individual to participate in the execution of a hate crime. The Labeling Perspective and the Constructionist Perspective are examined to assess a theoretical interpretation of this complex social problem. There is substantial controversy in regards to what exactly constitutes a hate crime and how this discrimination of one another effects members of our communities, affecting behavior as well as shaping social norms, violations, and deviant behavior correlated to the occurrence of bias acts of criminal activity.   

Cameras in the Courtroom: A Comprehensive Examination

This paper will examine the utilization of cameras within the courtroom and will discuss the historical context of broadcasting court proceedings as well as the current legal regulations pertaining to the use of cameras in and outside of the court. The strengths and weaknesses of utilizing cameras in court are explored. A section is devoted to the discussion of the diverse implications associated with utilizing cameras in court proceedings as well as the precarious influences correlating to the members thereof. An assessment of the behavioral and theoretical perspectives will be considered in regards to the sociological, psychological and criminological aspects of the community, citizens, and members of the criminal justice system.   

Pakistan: Far-Right Islamist Militants and a Resurgence in the Illicit Opiates Trade 

By James Windle, Midlands Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice, Loughborough University, UK

Between the mid-1970s and late-1990s, Pakistan was a major source of illicit opium and heroin to the global market. By 2001, development and law enforcement activities where successful in creating a business environment in which Pakistani opium poppy farmers could not compete with their Afghan counterparts, resulting in Pakistan being declared ‘opium free’ by the UN Office of Drugs and Crime. Since 2003, there has been a gradual increase in illicit opium production in Pakistan, however, the state has been able to eradicate as much as 77 percent of all crops; this was not the case in 2008, mainly due to the redeployment of resources from counter-narcotics to counter-militancy operations. This paper posits that the current high levels of violent conflict between the state and far-right Islamist militants could act as an impetus to an increase in illicit opium production in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas.   

Family Structure and Juvenile Delinquency: Correctional Centre Betamba, Centre Province of Cameroon 

By Ilongo Fritz Ngale, Institute of Education, National University of Lesotho, Lesotho-Southern Africa

The relationship between family structure and juvenile delinquency was explored in a purposive probability sample of 120 adolescents of the Betamba children’s correctional center using a questionnaire. The use of quantitative statistical analysis revealed the following significant relationships: (1) Juvenile delinquents mostly come from homes in which the parents are married; (2) The moral education of juvenile delinquents is undertaken more by others than their biological parents; (3) Most delinquent children come from the lowest socio-economic stratum of society; (4) About two-thirds of the juvenile delinquents come from homes where 7 persons and above live under the same roof; (5) Most parents of our respondents have low paid jobs which keep them for long periods away from their children. A growing number of parents need additional socio-economic support, development of vital skills of responsible parenting, in order to adequately manage periods of rapid social change and simultaneous multidimensional challenges.   

Moral Remediation, Multi-Systemic Therapy and Effective Interventions for Serious Juvenile Offenders

By David Sortino, Sonoma County Probation Department, Director of the Center for Moral Development, Values and Character Education, USA

Our juvenile hall population is at an all time high, 2.2 million inmates at an average cost of about $35,000 per inmate (OJJDP, 2006). In fact, we lead the world in incarcerated juvenile offenders and the juvenile system is fast becoming a breeding ground for adult prisons. In Washington State alone, 73% of adult inmates served time in a juvenile detention facility (OJJDP, 2005). This paper describes how a “Moral Remediation” program could be employed as an adjunct to the most successful intervention programs as defined by a recent study in the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Bulletin (April, 2000). The Bulletin defined 200 intervention programs and the methods they used to lower the recidivism rates of serious juvenile offenders in non-institutionalized and institutionalized facilities. 

Identity Crisis? Negotiating Blackness in the British Police Service: a Regional Perspective 

By Barbara Perry, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, USA and Catherine John-Baptiste, Nottingham Trent University, UK

Our paper will address preliminary findings from a pilot study in which we will interview a sample of black police personnel from Nottingham, UK. Our goal in this project is to uncover the mechanisms by which police officers as well as other police staff negotiate their black identities in the context of their roles within law enforcement – an entity that clearly been historically characterized by systemic racism.   

How Prolific Thieves Sell Stolen Goods 

By Mike Sutton, Nottingham Trent University, UK

Aiming to reduce acquisitive crimes and associated offending, Nottinghamshire Constabulary is considering adopting the Market Reduction Approach (MRA) to tackle stolen goods markets in order to reduce theft. As a first step, this report provides a review of findings from a study of local stolen goods markets in Nottingham and Mansfield. The study examined the ways that local stolen goods markets operate and their influence upon local theft levels and criminal careers. Funding for the study was provided by Nottinghamshire County Council’s Communities Department. The findings in this report come from in-depth interviews conducted in the summer of 2006 with 20 offenders under supervision by Mansfield and Nottingham’s prolific offender units. Some interviewees admitted that they were active offenders. Others were making a concerted effort to remain out of trouble. Most had recently completed a spell in custody.   

Differences at the Border: Views of Crime, Criminals, Punishment, and Treatment Among Canadian and U.S. College Students  By Eric G. Lambert, Kasey A. Tucker and David N. Baker, University of Toldeo, USA

Crime is universal; views about crime and how to control it vary widely in different cultural and political climates. This study examined cross-cultural views of crime, criminals, punishment and treatment for offenders. Specifically, this study compared Canadian and U.S. college students and their perceptions of these issues to determine whether cultural differences exist and to what degree. Both the independent t-test and ordered ordinal regression indicated that U.S. students tended to be more punitive than their Canadian counterparts on a majority of the indicators. This attitude may be due to the fact that U.S. students were more likely to perceive a higher crime rate.  

Handling Stolen Goods: Findings from the 2003 Offending Crime and Justice Survey 

By Mike Sutton, Nottingham Trent University, England, Sarah Hodgkinson, Leicester University, England and Mike Levi, Cardiff University, Wales

This paper presents findings from a systematic analysis of stolen goods markets, based upon scholarly research and criminological theory, with a toolkit for implementing Sutton’s MRA. The MRA has been implemented in several UK police forces including Kent, Thames Valley, The Metropolitan Police. Derbyshire, Manchester and West Mercia. Other forces use MRA techniques, while Nottinghamshire and Cheshire currently seek to build it into routine policing. Independent academic evaluators, commissioned by the Home Office to evaluate the MRA in 3 police force areas: Kent; Greater Manchester and West Mercia, found MRA theory to be sound, referring positively to police using this report as ‘The Sutton Bible’. This Primary Research Paper presents important analysis.   

Counter-Terrorism and Democracy Transition in Russia

By Anna Tabolina, Far Eastern State University, Vladivostok, Russian Federation

The purpose of this essay is to open up East and West dialogues by critically discussing the measures that Russia is undertaking in order to tackle terrorism and to discuss how this impacts upon the provision of security in a nation recently undergoing such relatively rapid change.  

Targeted Intervention Effects on Antisocial Behaviour

By Dr Boaz Shulruf, Faculty of Education, University of Auckland, New Zealand

The current study reports on an evaluation of a school-based intervention aimed at altering at-risk primary students’ self-perception and social awareness as an avenue to mainstream citizenship rather than delinquency and criminal activity. Fourteen students participated in a pilot intervention programme operated once weekly over four months. Programme activities were focused on raising awareness of antisocial behaviours and awareness of personal life quality. The evaluation applied a mixed-methods approach using both quantitative and qualitative data. Evidence for improvement in children’s self-perception was identified as well as effective methods facilitating such changes. Implications of the findings for further intervention programmes and evaluations are discussed.  

The relationship between community attitudes and recent racial vilification laws in Victoria Australia: A comparison of a legal and extra-legal classification model. By Kristine Muraca and Terence P Bartholomew, School of Applied Sciences, Forensic Psychology Program, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia

This study assessed the level of consistency between the elements prescribed in Victoria, Australia’s Racial and Religious Tolerance Act (2001) and the criteria utilised by a sample of the general population in that state. A random sample of 197 adult Victorians was asked to provide their opinions about a hypothetical vignette where seemingly racist comments were made. Based on existing research and theory, it was anticipated that participants’ classifications of conduct as racial vilification would be better predicted by factors not included in the legislation, than legislatively-defined considerations. Results indicate that the legal model, which included the elements of ‘incitement’ and ‘basis of race’, was a significant predictor of classifications of racial vilification. However, the proposed ‘extra-legal’ model, which included ‘race of the target’, ‘race of the perpetrator’, ‘intention’, and ‘perceived seriousness’, also emerged as a significant predictor of respondent classifications. Although the legal model did in fact emerge as a more effective predictor, a hybrid model including the legally prescribed elements as well as ‘perceived seriousness’ had the greatest predictive ability. It is concluded that the public, as potential jurors, show a preference for grounded ‘act-based’ factors when determining whether a behaviour constitutes racial vilification or not, and that the tenets of Victoria’s Racial and Religious Tolerance Act (2001) largely reflect these intuitive criteria.   

The Effect of Initial Meeting Context and Video-Mediation on Jury Perceptions of an Eyewitness 

By Chris Fullwood, Amy Marie Judd, and Mandy Finn, School of Applied Sciences, University of Wolverhampton, UK

Video-mediated testimony in the courtroom has become more widespread since introduced as a method to aid vulnerable witnesses. Despite many benefits, research indicates that individuals are perceived more negatively over video links in comparison to face-to-face contact. Studies have also shown that an initial face-to-face meeting can improve subsequent person perceptions across video. The current study compared participant perceptions of an eyewitness in three conditions: face-to-face testimony, video testimony and video testimony with an initial face-to-face introduction. Results suggest that although impressions of the eyewitness were more negative when the testimony was given via video (compared with face-to-face), this did not impact upon the jury’s decision to convict the accused. Furthermore, the initial face-to-face meeting did not significantly improve the jury’s perceptions of the eyewitness. Video-mediated impressions may be more negative due to social distance and the attenuation of visual cues.  

“If They Are Dead, Tell Us!” A Criminological Study of the “Disappearances” in Kashmir 

By Teresa Crew, Postgraduate Student, University of Wales, Bangor

Cradled in the lap of majestic mountains of the Himalayas, Kashmir is one of the most beautiful places on earth. This paradise is now hell for many Kashmiris due to the prolonged war between India and Pakistan since the end of the British Empire and subsequent partition of the Indian Subcontinent. This paper focuses on the enforced disappearances in Kashmir. The aim of this study is to further develop the study into the victims of State harm. In order to do this, Kauzlarich et al's 'Victimology of State Crime' is utilised, and their general propositions of State crime are tested with reference to the disappeared in Kashmir. This study holds with Kauzlarich et al's assertion that State crime victimology is a different phenomenon from that of street crime as victims are doubly victimised by the state - once during the actual harm inflicted and then again by the criminal justice process. Whilst the majority of Kauzlarich's propositions were consistent with the situation in Kashmir, the concept of secondary victimisation was underdeveloped throughout the original Kauzlarich et al paper. This concept, in relation to Kashmir, is developed in this paper. 

The Public Discourse on Corruption in Greece

By Effi Lambropoulou, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Greece.

Perceptions of corruption have significant impact on a country’s awareness of the issue and thereby on the success of any prevention measures. This paper provides a brief overview and summary of preliminary findings from an on-going study funded by the European Commission to examine issues of corruption in 8 EU countries. The study examines the perceptions of political and administrative decision-makers in the various countries, of the representatives of various institutions and authorities, as well as of citizens and media in the European societies. Overall, the project attempts to investigate the difference between institutionalised prevention policies, how they are perceived in daily practice and how effective they are.  

Honour-Related Violence (HRV) in Scotland: A Cross- And Multi-Agency Intervention Involvement Survey.  by Dr. Roxanne Khan, University of Central Lancashire, UK

This paper documents the results of a small-scale pilot study, which represents the first step towards further research in this overlooked area of violence against women and represents a first step towards responding to widespread calls for multi-disciplinary research to be conducted in this area. ‘Honour’ killings and ‘honour’ related violence is a neglected area in criminology. Such killings and acts of violence are assaults committed against women both by female and male family or community members, for what is considered ‘immoral behaviour,’ that might include women choosing their own marriage partner, allegations of premarital or extramarital sex, being a victim of sexual abuse or rape and even talking innocently with a man who is not a relative. This paper highlights the lack of provision for females facing this specific type of family violence and problems faced by agencies who attempt to help them. This Primary Research Paper provides insights that will remind/inform readers that because this form of violence is shrouded by notions of ‘honour’, there are girls and women living in the UK who are outwardly living calmly in what are effectively dangerous and violent family- and community-governed environments.  

Are Reality TV Crime Shows Continuing to Perpetuate Crime Myths?

By Elizabeth Monk-Turner, Homer Martinez, Jason Holbrook & Nathan Harvey, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Old Dominion University, USA

This article examines the portrayal of gender and race in the USA reality television program COPS. Fifty one police officers apprehending sixty perpetrators were content analyzed into four categories including race (of both officer and perpetrator), gender (of both officer and perpetrator), US Uniform Crime Report (UCR) type offense (type I or type II), as well as the specific type of crime depicted. The vast majority of police officers shown on COPS were white male (92%) and the majority of offenders were nonwhite males (62%). Black men were most likely to be shown engaging in a crime of burglary or theft or crimes involving drugs. Hispanic men were most likely to be involved in UCR Part I offenses; however, they were in a distinct minority on these episodes. On the other hand, the most likely scenario for white offenders is to be shown committing an alcohol related offense or causing, or being part of, a domestic disturbance. Few white women were included on the show. One was a police officer and among the other five, one was looking for a lost child and the others were picked up for a variety of relatively minor violations (driving under the influence, drug possession, stolen bike, animal disturbance). No minority women were shown on COPS during this period of evaluation - as either an officer or perpetrator of a crime. The authors argue that media images depicted in COPS are at odds with UCR official crime statistics and reinforce stereotypes and myths about the nature of crime in the United States.  

Culture, Violence and Rape Adjudication: Reflections on the Zuma Rape Trial and Judgment 

B y Sarah H. Krieg, Ph.D. fellow, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany

This paper offers contextualised reflections on the role of cultural arguments during the rape trial of South Africa's former Deputy President, Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma. In conjunction with an analysis of International and South African Law on violence against women, it establishes and applies a gender and culture sensitive framework with which rape adjudication and other criminal law judgments can be examined.  

Anti-social Behaviour: Concerns of Minority and Marginalised Londoners 

B y Andrew Millie, Lecturer in Criminology and Social Policy, Loughborough University

In the UK there is currently a lot of political and media attention on what has become known as anti-social behaviour (ASB). Concerns about ASB appear to be higher in deprived and/or urban areas. In particular, people living in London are more likely to suffer from ASB. There is undoubtedly real ASB in London; however, this article argues that people will have different expectations of urban living and use of public spaces, resulting in contested notions or tolerances of what is acceptable or anti-social behaviour. This has implications for people’s acceptance of difference or ‘otherness’. With this in mind, evidence is drawn from 10 focus groups with minority and marginalised Londoners. The article argues that our beliefs and expectations of urban living need to be challenged as this is what urban living is all about. Similarly, we should take on board the focus group participants’ assertion that all can be anti-social - rather than focusing on certain groups that ‘don’t fit in’ and entrenching their social exclusion.   

Police Administrators in Indiana: A Descriptive Study of Attitudes, Perceptions, and Stressors 

By Billy Long, Ph.D., Indiana University Southeast, and Officer Courtney Yerington, Owensboro Police Department.

Surveys were sent to 308 police chiefs and sheriffs in Indiana in the USA - resulting in 229 being returned for a response rate of 74%. The survey device measured six areas of policing: 1) demographics of police executives; 2) departmental characteristics; 3) stressors (external); 4) stressors (internal/work-related); 5) police executive attitudes toward the current use of police resources; and 6) police executive perceptions of the efficacy of current police strategies and tactics. Results showed that Indiana police departments and sheriff’s offices are mostly small departments with little turnover and are rarely accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). Civilian Review Boards and Early Warning Systems are rarely used to address police misconduct. Indiana departments are overwhelmingly white and male and attempts to increase diversity have failed. Police executive stressors were highest in the area of perceiving courts as too lenient, the criminal justice system as ineffective and media reports about police as overly hostile. Similarly, they indicate significant sources of stress in the areas of financial resources for the department, poor equipment, and dealing with complaints about their officers. Chiefs and sheriffs indicate strong support for the use of police resources for tracking sex offenders and enforcing drug laws. Problem areas were identified in that police executives are not familiar with research on policing. These misunderstandings result in stress on the part of police executives. Areas of misunderstanding include the effectiveness of random patrol and enforcing anti-marijuana laws. Policy implications are discussed.   

Race, Diversity and Criminal Justice in Canada: A view from the UK 

By David Denney, Department of Health and Social Care, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK, Tom Ellis, Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, University of Portsmouth, UK, and Ravinder Barn, Department of Health and Social Care, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

This article examines the way in which those employed in the Canadian criminal justice system perceive race and diversity, and how such perceptions could affect professional practice. By drawing on research carried out under the Canadian High Commission Institutional Research Program, the paper has a number of purposes. Firstly, to explore the possibility that disparities in the outcomes of courtroom proceedings could be related to the perceptions and practices of those who play a key part in the sentencing process. Secondly, to examine the nature of current anti-racist criminal justice practices in one province of Canada. Thirdly, the paper also makes recommendations for the development of future antiracist training. Finally, the paper discusses the implications of the findings with respect to developments in the British criminal justice system.   

Black and Asian Police Officers and Support Staff: Prejudice, Identity, Agency and Social Cohesion

By Mike Sutton, Nottingham Trent University, Barbara Perry, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Catherine John-Baptiste, Nottingham Trent University and Glen Williams, National Black Police Association

This primary research paper presents a review of research that finds that the British Government’s new social cohesion agenda does hold promise for racial and ethnic prejudice reduction – but that social cohesion policies and practice must include at their core policies to reduce institutional racism in British police services. Analysis of the literature reveals that considerably more research is required to examine the precise nature and dynamics of institutional racism within the police services. There is a need to understand how racism against Black and minority ethnic (BME) police employees, and police racism against BME communities, influences social cohesion. That this is important, given the British government’s current social cohesion policy agenda, is patently clear. Considerably more research is about to be undertaken in this area by the authors of this paper and the results will be published in the academic press, disseminated at conferences and presented in training programmes. 

Reasons for Supporting and Opposing Capital Punishment in the USA: A Preliminary Study 

By Eric G. Lambert, and Alan Clarke (both at Utah Valley State College) and Janet Lambert

The death penalty is a controversial subject in our society. Research has explored why people support or oppose capital punishment. Most the literature to date looks at the reasons provided one at a time. In this study, a multivariate analysis was conducted to see which reasons best explain the observed variation of support and opposition for capital punishment. It was found that emotional retribution, emotional opposition, morality, and law and order, were the only reasons which had statistically significant effects on the degree of death penalty support among college students at a Midwestern university. Other variables, such as fear of crime, religious measures, other punishment ideologies, and personal characteristics (which earlier studies found statistically significant using bivariate analysis) were not statistically significant in this study. The results suggest the need for greater attention to and more study of death penalty attitudes using multivariate analysis.  

Just Deserts: University Students' Inclination to Nullify the Law 

By Morris Jenkins and Bradene Moore, both at University of Toledo, USA  Professors Jenkins and Moore present findings from a groundbreaking small-scale exploratory study of circumstances that might influence juror’s decisions not to follow the law in their determination of a trial verdict.

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INTERNET JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGY

428 Criminology Research Topics & Questions for Students

As you might already know, criminology is the study of crime. To be more precise, criminology studies crime as a social trend, including its origin, various manifestations, and its impact on society.

Criminology research influences how the police work, how society treats criminals, and how the community maintains law and order. In this article, you’ll find top criminology research topics for your inspiration. We’ll also look into the main criminology theories and research methods and explain the difference between criminology and criminal justice.

🔝 Top-10 Criminology Research Topics

🔤 what is criminology.

• 🔎 Criminology Research Methods
• 📝 Research Topics for Assignments

🦹‍♂️ Crime Research Topics

• 🚔 Topics in Law Enforcement
• 🕵️ Criminal Investigation Topics

⚖️ Criminal Law Research Topics

• 🔒 Topics to Research in Crime Prevention

🧑‍⚖️ Criminal Justice Research Topics

• 🆚 Criminology Vs Criminal Justice

❓ Criminology Topics: FAQ

🔗 references.

• Criminology as a science: criminology theories.
• The importance of eyewitness evidence.
• The issue of racial bias in the investigation.
• Crime propaganda on social media.
• The leading causes of college violence.
• The benefits of private prisons.
• The debate around gun control.
• The analysis of power abuse among police officers.
• Drunk driving and how to prevent it.
• The importance of forensic psychology in the investigation.

Criminology is the study of crime and criminal behavior, supported by the principles of sociology and other sciences, including economics, statistics, and psychology.

Criminologists study a variety of related areas, including:

• Characteristics of people who commit crimes.
• Reasons behind committing different crimes.
• Impact of crime on individuals and communities.
• Measures for preventing crimes.

Criminology Theories

Criminology theories have appeared as an attempt to answer the question, “What is criminal behavior, and what causes it?” The answer to this question affects how society responds to and prevents crime. Proposing new theories and testing existing ones is essential for criminologists to continue working toward understanding the causes of criminal behavior.

Let’s consider the most relevant criminology theories.

🔎 Research Methods Used in Criminology

There are many research methods used within criminology. Usually, they are divided into two groups: primary and secondary research methods.

Primary Research Methods in Criminology

Primary research in criminology is any type of research that you collect yourself rather than based on secondary sources, such as articles or books. Examples of primary research methods in criminology include the following:

• Surveys and questionnaires. Survey research collects information from individuals through their responses to questions. It is considered one of the most widely used research tools in criminology.
• Experiments. For experiments , researchers take large samples of people who might become or have already been involved in crimes as victims or offenders. Then, they divide these samples into two groups, each receiving a different treatment.
• Interviews. An interview requires participants to answer a set of open-ended questions, often on sensitive topics, such as victimization or criminal behaviors. This method allows criminologists to gain more valuable insights into the research topic.
• Focus groups. A focus group is a small number of demographically similar people gathered to discuss a particular crime-related topic. This method allows criminologists to analyze people’s views, attitudes, and perceptions concerning crime.
• Observations. Observations involve a researcher studying groups or individuals in their natural setting without interfering. It is a common research method within the social learning theory.

Secondary Criminology Research Methods

Secondary research methods use information that was collected by someone else so that you can analyze it and identify the trends. Here are the two leading types of secondary research in criminology:

• Secondary analysis of data. A secondary analysis occurs when a researcher uses data collected by other researchers. You can obtain secondary data from surveys, official crime statistics, or official records.
• Literature review. A literature review involves reading, analyzing, evaluating, and summarizing literature about a specific criminology topic. It helps scholars identify research gaps and problems that need to be addressed.

📝 Criminology Research Topics for Assignments

To write an outstanding research paper on criminology, choose a topic that will spark your interest. Below you’ll find excellent criminology topic ideas for college students.

Criminology Research Paper Topics

• Criminology theory and its main elements.
• Criminology discipline and theories .
• American crime trends and criminological theories.
• The significance of criminological studies in the US.
• Criminology: legal rights afforded to the accused .
• The impact of violence and crime on the tourism industry.
• How did US crime rates change over the last 20 years?
• Classical and positivist schools of criminology .
• Should abortion be treated as a crime?
• Official and unofficial instruments within the criminal investigation.
• Criminology: femininity and the upsurge of ladettes .
• Criminal rehabilitation programs and their significance.
• Shoplifting and how to prevent it.
• Emerging technologies in criminology .
• The effects of illegal immigrants on crime rates.
• Drug trafficking by organized crime groups.
• Criminology and victimology: victim stereotypes in criminal justice .
• Can genetics lead to crime?
• The procedures of crime scene investigation.
• Labeling theory and critical criminology: sociological research .
• Hate crimes in modern society.
• The phenomenon of white-collar crime and its causes.
• How to prevent crimes in the workplace?
• Criminology: the social control theory .
• Stereotypes that surround serial killers and their crimes.
• The comparison of organized crime in New York and Chicago.
• Prevention strategies for small business crimes.
• Criminology: four types of evidence .
• Relations between crime, justice, and the media.

Criminology Research Proposal Topics

• How to prevent intellectual property crimes in cyberspace?
• Identity theft and cybercrime in modern society.
• Contemporary theories in criminology .
• The problem of racial profiling in the US.
• How has criminology contributed to the study of terrorism ?
• Possible solutions to the issue of street harassment .
• Postmodern criminology: the violence of the language .
• Gender bias in the investigation: pink-collar criminals.
• The phenomenon of digital terrorism and how to prevent it.
• How do immigration services help fight against terrorism?
• Green criminology: environmental harm in the Niger Delta .
• How has marijuana legalization influenced crime rates?
• Tools for collecting and analyzing crime evidence.
• How does international law manage war crimes ?
• The due process: criminology .
• What are victimless crimes ?
• The relation between crime rates and poverty.
• National system for missing and unidentified persons.
• Three case briefs in criminology .
• The impact of mental illness on criminal behavior.
• The effectiveness of rehabilitation programs in reducing crime rates.
• The use of AI technology in crime prevention and investigation.
• Sexual assault: criminology .
• The role of media coverage in public perception of crime.
• The impact of community policing on reducing crime rates.
• The impact of mass shootings on gun control laws.
• The impact of automation technology on criminology .

Criminology Thesis Topics

• The role of juvenile justice in preventing future criminal behavior.
• Feminism and criminology in the modern justice system .
• The effectiveness of mandatory minimum sentencing in the US.
• Drug laws : fighting crime or fueling it?
• Police brutality : a systemic problem in criminal justice.
• Criminology: USA Patriot Act overview .
• The impact of hate crimes on marginalized communities.
• How does organized crime affect the global economy?
• The significance of DNA evidence for criminal investigations.
• Use of statistics in criminal justice and criminology .
• The ethics of plea bargaining in criminal cases.
• Mental illness and criminal behavior: breaking the stigma.
• The impact of social media on cyberbullying and harassment.
• Robert Merton’s strain theory in criminology .
• Causes and consequences of police corruption .
• The role of restorative justice in repairing harm caused by crime.
• The effectiveness of treatment programs in reducing drug-related crimes.
• Hernando Washington case: criminology .
• The negative effects of human trafficking on global communities.
• The role of forensic science in crimes investigation.
• The effectiveness of community-based alternatives to imprisonment.
• Integrity as a key value: criminology and war .
• The relationship between poverty, education, and crime rates.
• Cybercrime : the dark side of the digital age.
• Hate crimes: motivations and impact on modern society.
• Feminist perspectives’ contribution to criminology .
• The impact of incarceration on families and communities.

Criminology Research Questions for Dissertation

• Can criminal profiling accurately predict offender behavior?
• How do hate crimes affect individuals and communities?
• How were the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights influenced by the classical school of criminology ?
• What are the psychological effects of cyberbullying on victims?
• What factors contribute to domestic violence , and how can it be prevented?
• How have organized crime groups evolved over time?
• How is statistics used in criminology and criminal justice ?
• Is the death penalty an effective crime deterrent?
• What motivates individuals to engage in white-collar crime?
• What are the consequences of police corruption for society?
• What is variance analysis in criminal justice and criminology ?
• How does drug addiction contribute to criminal behavior?
• How does gender influence criminal behavior and justice outcomes?
• What drives individuals to commit mass shootings?
• What is the broken window theory in criminology ?
• What are the biggest challenges facing criminal justice reform efforts?
• How do urban gangs perpetuate violence and criminal activity?
• How do criminal law and procedures protect individual rights and liberties?
• What is the impact of corporate fraud ?
• What challenges do individuals with mental health issues face in the criminal justice system?
• How can society combat human trafficking and exploitation?
• What measures can be taken to enhance cybersecurity and protect against cybercrime?
• What is the aboriginal crisis from a criminology perspective ?
• How can victimology help us better understand the experience of crime victims?
• What are effective crime prevention strategies for different types of crime?
• What is legal insanity in criminology ?
• How does environmental crime impact communities and the environment?
• How is the peace-making model applied in criminology ?

A significant part of criminology research is dedicated to various types of crimes and their reasons. Consider our crime topic ideas that will spark instant interest in your readers:

• The psychological impact of kidnapping on victims and their families.
• The racialization of crime and cultural panic .
• The ethical considerations surrounding ransom payments in kidnapping cases.
• The effect of burglary on small businesses and their ability to recover.
• The impact of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on homicide rates and patterns.
• Shoplifting: a crime of convenience .
• The effectiveness of different types of anti-theft devices in preventing motor vehicle theft.
• The role of forensic science in investigating arson cases, including the use of accelerant detection dogs.
• The concept of natural legal crime .
• The psychological profiles of white-collar criminals and their motivations.
• The psychological effects of burglary on victims and their sense of security.
• The concept of juvenile crime .
• The role of social media in facilitating and preventing kidnappings.
• The use of forensic evidence in homicide investigations and the challenges of prosecuting homicide cases.
• Sex crime recidivism rates.
• Illegal immigrantion and its effects on crime .
• The effectiveness of international efforts to combat money laundering .
• The efficacy of community watch programs in reducing burglary rates.
• The role of corporate culture in facilitating or preventing white-collar crime.
• Crimes in America: the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks .
• Technology in motor vehicle theft: GPS tracking and remote disabling systems.
• Human trafficking and the exploitation of vulnerable populations.
• Crime and criminals: general characteristics .
• The ethical and moral implications of capital punishment as a response to homicide.
• The effectiveness of fire prevention and education programs in reducing instances of arson.
• US gun control measures and crime rates reduction .
• The use of cryptocurrency in money laundering and illegal activities.
• White-collar crime and the abuse of power in corporate and financial settings.
• Cargo crimes and threats: government accountability office .
• The rise of cyberstalking and its impact on victims’ mental health.
• The effects of pollution on communities and the legal response to environmental crimes.
• Cyber-bullying and cyber-stalking as crimes .
• The effects of society’s reaction to crime.
• The use of technology in financial fraud schemes .
• Crimes against property and their characteristics .
• The intersection of racism and hate crimes against Asian Americans.
• The impact of deforestation on indigenous communities and wildlife.
• Crime types and their harm to society .
• The prevalence of domestic violence and the legal response to it.
• The exploitation of child labor in the fashion industry .
• Race and crime among minorities in the US .
• The ethical implications of using artificial intelligence in law enforcement.
• The psychological effects of hate crimes on victims and their communities.
• How does local television news viewing relate to fear of crime ?
• The evolution of cybercrime and its most common types.
• Parental responsibility for children’s crimes.
• The sex crime: influence of childhood experiences .
• Prostitution : a victimless crime.
• Sociology and media representation of crime.
• The profile of a crime victim .
• A theory of gendered criminology: women’s crime.

🚔 Research Topics in Law Enforcement

Another exciting area within criminology to investigate is law enforcement and police jobs. Have a look at the list of burning and controversial topics we came up with:

• The impact of community policing on crime rates and public trust.
• Law enforcement: online crimes and social media .
• Do body-worn cameras reduce police misconduct?
• The effects of implicit bias on the police use of force.
• Law enforcement cameras as an invasion of privacy .
• The impact of police militarization on community relations.
• Why is mental health training essential for police officers in crisis situations?
• Law enforcement officers’ attitudes regarding body-worn cameras .
• The role of police in addressing hate crimes and bias incidents.
• The effectiveness of community-based alternatives to traditional policing.
• Organizational changes in law enforcement agencies .
• The efficacy of police-community partnership in addressing gang violence.
• The impact of police officer diversity on community relations and trust.
• Local, state, and federal law enforcement in the US .
• The role of police in addressing cybercrime and online harassment.
• The effects of police body language and nonverbal cues on public perceptions.
• Cumulative career traumatic stress in law enforcement .
• Social media and its role in shaping public perceptions of police behavior.
• The role of police discretion in enforcing drug laws and addressing addiction.
• Mindfulness practice in law enforcement .
• The effectiveness of hot spot policing in reducing crime rates.
• Organizational culture in the police department.
• Stress in law enforcement officers and available programs .
• The role of police leadership in promoting ethical behavior and accountability.
• The effectiveness of community-based justice programs for juvenile offenders.
• Law enforcement in colonial America .
• Police-community partnerships for addressing domestic violence.
• The role of police in addressing human trafficking and exploitation.
• Misrepresentation of law enforcement by media .
• School safety and the police.
• How does stress affect the performance of law enforcement officers?
• The law enforcement: verbal communication as the best form of interaction .
• The significance of federal and state law enforcement mechanisms.
• The adverse effects of toxic leadership in quality law enforcement.
• Balance between effective law enforcement and personal liberty .
• The importance of discipline in public services.
• The connection between police salary and rates of police brutality.
• Role of police agencies in law enforcement .
• Police investigative questioning and techniques.
• The issue of corruption in law enforcement.
• Significance of computer forensics to law enforcement .
• Case study: police response to the Ningbo protest.
• Police actions to stop school bullying .
• Law enforcement position in society .
• New technological advances within the police department.
• Do law enforcement cameras violate privacy right?
• Different types of evaluation designs in law enforcement .
• Recognition of women’s right to work as police officers.
• The effectiveness of foot and bike patrols of the streets.
• Firearms types and usage in law enforcement .
• The competencies of international law enforcement authorities.
• Comparison of police brutality statistics for different genders.
• Ethical theories in law enforcement practice .

🕵️ Criminal Investigation Research Topics

The criminal investigation process is another criminology area worth discussing in your research paper. Below you’ll find the most intriguing criminal investigation topics:

• The history and evolution of criminal investigation techniques.
• Crime scene investigation in media and real life .
• The role of forensic science in criminal investigations.
• How does technology impact modern criminal investigations?
• The importance of preserving crime scenes and evidence.
• Crime scene investigation effect in the justice system .
• The ethics of interrogation techniques used in criminal investigations.
• Eyewitness testimony in criminal investigations.
• The role of criminal profiling in solving crimes.
• Organized business crime prosecution and investigation .
• How does media coverage affect criminal investigations?
• The use of informants in criminal investigations.
• The main challenges of investigating white-collar crimes.
• Undercover police investigations in drug-related crimes .
• The role of private investigators in criminal investigations.
• The impact of false confessions on criminal investigations.
• How is DNA evidence collected in criminal investigations?
• Importance of toxicology in crime investigation .
• The role of the FBI in national criminal investigations.
• The use of undercover operations in criminal investigations.
• The main challenges of investigating organized crime.
• Crime level investigation in the United States .
• Witness protection programs in criminal investigations.
• The impact of plea bargaining on criminal investigations.
• Surveillance techniques in criminal investigations.
• Investigating crime with age and mental illnesses factors .
• How are cybercrimes investigated?
• The role of international cooperation in criminal investigations.
• How do racial biases influence criminal investigations?
• Drug trafficking: investigation on Frank Lucas .
• Polygraph tests in criminal investigations.
• The main challenges of investigating terrorism-related crimes.
• Homicide investigations and forensic evidence .
• The role of victim advocacy in criminal investigations.
• Lie detector tests in criminal investigations.
• The role of forensic psychology in the investigation .
• The effects of community involvement on criminal investigations.
• The problem of false accusations in criminal investigations.
• Approaches in criminal investigation .
• The use of forensic accounting in financial crime investigations.
• How does the media shape public perception of criminal investigations?
• Key rulings on the conduct of investigators at the scene of a fire .
• The impact of political pressure on criminal investigations.
• The main challenges of investigating human trafficking.
• The Breonna Taylor case and criminal investigation .
• The role of victim compensation in criminal investigations.
• Behavioral analysis in criminal investigations.
• Procedures within crime scene investigation .
• Crime scene reconstruction in criminal investigations.

Criminology goes hand-in-hand with legal studies. If you’re interested in both areas, you should definitely write a research paper on one of the criminal law research topics:

• The evolution of criminal law in the US .
• Criminal law: stolen valor .
• The difference between criminal and civil law.
• Human trafficking and criminal law.
• Types of criminal offenses and the elements of crime.
• International criminal law and measures .
• The role of the burden of proof in criminal cases.
• Criminal defenses and their validity.
• The insanity defense in criminal law.
• Actus reus in English criminal law .
• The controversies around the death penalty.
• Juvenile delinquency and criminal law.
• Cybercrime and its legal implications.
• Criminal law – is graffiti a crime or not ?
• Domestic violence and criminal law.
• Hate crimes and their legal consequences.
• Restitution for victims in criminal law.
• Civil vs. criminal law and differences between them .
• Forensic evidence and its admissibility in court.
• Sexual assault and criminal law.
• The rights of the accused in criminal cases.
• Regulatory criminal laws in the criminal justice system .
• Receiving immunity for testimony in a criminal law case.
• The legal classification of criminal offenses.
• Self-defense in criminal law cases.
• How Canadian criminal law regulates deviant conduct .
• Sentencing guidelines and their impact on society.
• The use of DNA evidence in criminal cases.
• Eyewitness testimony and its reliability in court.
• Fundamental aspects of Canadian criminal law .
• The role of the media in criminal trials.
• The impact of social inequality on criminal justice outcomes.
• The future of criminal law and its impact on society.
• Criminal law in India and access to justice .
• International criminal law and its enforcement.
• Extradition and its legal implications.
• The impact of globalization on criminal law.
• Juvenile vs. adult criminal law .
• The importance of victim rights in criminal cases.
• Restorative justice and its benefits for society.
• Alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenders.
• Automatism as a defence in criminal law .
• The role of defense attorneys in criminal trials.
• The role of prosecutors in criminal trials.
• The right to a public trial in a criminal law case.
• Civil and criminal law penalties and differences .
• Car searches in criminal investigations by law enforcement.

🔒 Criminology Topics for Research in Crime Prevention

Researching crime prevention allows you to learn more about the strategies for reducing criminal behavior. Have a look at our outstanding crime prevention topic ideas:

• Understanding and explaining crime prevention.
• Theories that explain criminal activities and criminology .
• The effectiveness of community policing in preventing crime.
• The benefits and drawbacks of crime prevention in the US.
• How can education reduce crime rates?
• Crime prevention programs and criminal rehabilitation .
• Technological innovations and their impact on crime prevention.
• The importance of early childhood interventions in preventing criminal behavior.
• The relationship between poverty and crime prevention strategies.
• Youth crime prevention and needs assessment .
• The use of restorative justice in reducing recidivism.
• The effectiveness of gun control laws in preventing gun-related crimes.
• The impact of social media on crime prevention and awareness.
• Crime prevention program in Australia .
• The use of CCTV cameras in preventing crime.
• Evidence for crime prevention programs in developing countries.
• The role of mental health services in preventing criminal behavior.
• Crime prevention practices: overview .
• The effectiveness of community-based programs in reducing juvenile delinquency.
• The use of environmental design in preventing crime by shaping space and behavior.
• Victim support programs for lowering crime rates.
• Situational and social crime prevention approaches .
• The effectiveness of after-school programs in preventing juvenile offenses.
• Techniques for preventing situational and social crime.
• The impact of citizen participation in crime prevention.
• Computer crime prevention measures .
• The efficacy of community watch programs in preventing neighborhood crimes.
• The use of community centers for preventing gang-related crimes.
• The impact of sentencing policies on crime prevention.
• Biometrics recognition and crime prevention .
• The relationship between video game violence and youth crime .
• Social media and cybercrime prevention.
• The role of social workers in crime prevention.
• Three-strikes law for preventing violent crimes .
• Decreasing crime rates through education and medicine.
• The use of animal-assisted therapy for reducing criminal behavior.
• The effectiveness of aftercare programs in reducing recidivism.
• Capital punishment as ineffective crime deterrence .
• The main strategies for proactive crime prevention.
• The impact of domestic violence prevention programs on crime rates.
• The use of probation and parole in preventing criminal behavior.
• Juvenile weapon crimes and strategies to address .
• The role of faith-based organizations in crime prevention.
• The use of diversion programs in juvenile crime prevention.
• The distinctions between crime prevention and community safety.
• Preventing crime victimization in international students .
• The impact of agriculture and rural development on crime prevention.

Criminal justice might be a challenging research topic, but it is worth the time and effort. Consider our unique topic ideas for your successful research:

• The effectiveness of community policing.
• The use of statistics in criminal justice and criminology .
• Rehabilitation programs offered in prisons and their efficacy.
• The importance of defense attorneys in the criminal justice system.
• The code of ethics in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice .
• The significance of restorative justice programs.
• The impact of mandatory minimum sentencing laws.
• Criminal justice process: felony criminal charge .
• The role of judges in the criminal justice system.
• Probation and parole in the criminal justice system.
• Veterans in the criminal justice system .
• The comparison of prison privatization in the US and UK.
• The main issues women experience in the prison system.
• US terrorism and criminal justice decision-making model .
• The prison system in a democratic society.
• The role of psychologists in the criminal justice system.
• Transgender offenders in the criminal justice system .
• The impact of private prisons on crime rates.
• The effectiveness of victim compensation programs.
• The successes and failures to reform punishment in the criminal justice system .
• Community involvement in the criminal justice system.
• The main challenges of long-term prisoner rehabilitation.
• Technology application in criminal justice .
• The role of victim-offender mediation in the criminal justice system.
• Gender disparity in the criminal justice system.
• Recidivism in criminal justice: the American prison system .
• How does solitary confinement impact people in prisons?
• Legal and ethical issues in international intervention.
• Racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system .
• Do mandatory minimum sentences help or hurt?
• The effects of prison on children of incarcerated individuals.
• Psychopathy in the criminal justice system .
• The importance of mental health professionals in the criminal justice system.
• Techniques for influencing criminal justice system change.
• Non-inclusiveness of the criminal justice system .
• The impact of racial profiling on the criminal justice system.
• The effectiveness of diversion programs for veterans.
• False confessions in the US criminal justice system .
• Racism in the criminal justice system of the US.
• People with disabilities and criminal justice.
• Ethical dilemmas in the criminal justice system .
• Forensic psychology guidelines for criminal justice.
• The impact of technology on jury selection .
• Effective writing and criminal justice .
• The effectiveness of mandatory drug testing for probationers and parolees.
• The effect of wrongful executions on the criminal justice system.
• Discontinuity of care in the criminal justice system .
• The influence of media on criminal justice and community.
• The impact of cybercrime on the global criminal justice system.
• Criminal justice: coerced confessions .
• The role of private prisons in the criminal justice system.
• The effectiveness of diversion programs for people without housing.
• Criminal justice system and the problem of racism .
• What can be learned from the history of criminal courts?
• Comparison between American and British legislative frameworks.
• Criminal justice case: types of sentences, probation, and final decision .
• The overview of the modern justice system.
• The ethical issue of unwarranted arrests.
• Civil liability in criminal justice .
• The risk groups of juvenile recidivism .

🆚 Difference between Criminology and Criminal Justice

Students often confuse criminology with criminal justice because both areas study crime and criminal behavior. Understanding their main differences is essential before conducting research in any of these areas.

Is Criminology a Science?

Criminology can be considered as a science because it uses the scientific method. The scientific method involves five steps: stating the problem, forming the hypothesis, collecting the data, interpreting these data, and drawing conclusions. Within criminology, scientists use standard research methods, such as surveys, experiments, interviews, etc.

What Does Criminology Study?

Criminology studies crime, including its causes, methods of prevention, and responses from law enforcement. It relies on other non-legal studies, such as sociology, psychology, and statistics, to examine the characteristics of people who commit crimes and the effects of criminality on individuals and society.

What Are the Principal Areas of Criminology Research?

Four significant criminology areas include:

• The history of criminology . This area focuses on criminology founders and theories of crime and punishment development.
• Theory of crime causation . This aspect explores if a criminal’s behavior is determined by their social environment.
• Typologies of crime . This field describes different types of crimes and the reasons for committing them.
• Crime prevention efforts . This area studies crime measures that can curb crimes before they occur.

What Are the Principal Types of Research Methods in Criminology?

Criminology uses quantitative (analyzing measurements and statistics) and qualitative (analyzing non-numerical data) research methods to gain valuable insights. The most common scientific methods in criminology are surveys, experiments, secondary data analysis, interviews, historical/comparative research, and ethnography.

• Criminology and Criminal Justice: Pick a Topic | Marquette University
• Criminology Questions & Topics | David H. Kessel
• Topics | Ghent University
• Emergent Issues in Crime & Justice | University of Maryland
• Qualitative Research in Criminal Justice | University of North Texas
• Criminology, Law & Society | UCI Libraries
• What the Data Says (and Doesn’t Say) about Crime in the United States | Pew Research Center
• Types of Criminal Offenses | Justia
• Criminal Justice and Criminology Theses | East Tennessee State University
• Research Overview | The University of Alabama
• Criminology Research | University of Portsmouth
• Research | Arizona State University
• Research Themes | University of Surrey, Centre for Criminology
• Advanced Criminology & Criminal Justice Research Guide | Mardigian Library
• Criminology – Research Guide: Getting Started | PennLibraries
• Law and Criminology | University of Plymouth
• Topics for a Criminology Research Paper | Classroom
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California Today

Catalina Island Scraps Plan to Shoot 2,000 Deer From Helicopters

Officials of the conservancy that owns most of the island say they will try other ways to remove nonnative deer that are harming the ecosystem.

By Soumya Karlamangla

Typically quiet Santa Catalina Island, off the coast of Los Angeles, erupted in tumult last fall over a bold proposal to kill all the deer on the island using sharpshooters in helicopters.

The Catalina Island Conservancy, the nonprofit group that owns 88 percent of the island, said that the 2,000 deer on the island were ravaging native plants , hurting the ecology of the island and making it highly susceptible to fires. But many Catalina residents found the proposal shocking and inhumane, and began signing petitions and staging protests.

Now, conservancy leaders have stepped back from their plan.

In response to concerns from residents and from elected leaders in Los Angeles County, the conservancy said this week that it had dropped its proposal to kill the deer by aerial hunting. But its scientists are considering other ways to get rid of them.

“We’re still dedicated to doing this — we have to remove these deer in order to restore Catalina Island,” Lauren Dennhardt, the lead conservationist on the island, told me on Thursday. “We know that, out of any conservation action that should happen in California, this is the one that’s going to have the greatest biodiversity impact. So we’re dedicated to getting it done, even if the path bends and weaves a little bit.”

(Eradication projects to remove invasive species from fragile island ecosystems are not unusual: There have been more than 1,000 around the world, including some on Catalina.)

Mule deer are not native to Catalina; they were introduced nearly a century ago for sport hunting. And there is no natural predator on the island to control their numbers. According to Dennhardt, the deer are messing with the rare animal and plant life on Catalina, which is part of an archipelago so biodiverse that it is often called North America’s Galápagos.

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