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- Hi there. This is Margaret
from criminologyweb.com.

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And in this video,

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I'll answer the question
of what is criminology?

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One question that I get asked
a lot is what criminology is.

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Criminology is a scientific study

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of several different aspects of crime.

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Namely, first, the nature
and extent of crime.

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This asks questions such as,

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how much crime is there in our society,

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what crime types are there, et cetera.

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The second field is the causes of crime

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and this includes questions like

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why do some people commit crime

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and why do others not commit crime?

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Or why does crime happen at
some places and not at others?

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The causes of crime is without a doubt

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one of the most studied
areas in criminology.

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Another area of criminology
is the consequences of crime.

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Crime affects a large
number of people, offenders,

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and the reasons why they commit crime

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often receive the bulk of the attention.

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But many more people are involved

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in one way or another.

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Of course, the victims
of crime can experience

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a range of consequences,

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including potential injuries,
psychological consequences

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and inability to work or
pursue other activities

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and financial damages among others.

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And besides the victims,
the people around them

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such as their families,
entire communities,

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and even society as a whole
are affected by crime.

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Another sub area is
the reactions to crime.

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This covers responses to
crime by law enforcement.

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For example, it covers the police

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and how they handle crime,
the practices that they use,

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the decisions that they make

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while they're doing their job,

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and the way in which they treat offenders.

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It also looks at the way

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in which courts sentence offenders,

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how judges make decisions
and process cases,

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and whether and how different offenders

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are treated in different ways.

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And finally, this subfield

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focuses on different types of punishment

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on what happens after imprisonment

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such as when offenders are
on parole or on probation.

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And also on prison life,
like on prison practices

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and how inmates experience
day to day life in prison.

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And finally, criminology
concerns the prevention of crime.

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There are many strategies that
are claimed to prevent crime

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and some of these may be
effective, but others may not.

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And so, it requires good research

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to test out which programs are effective

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so that we can invest in those

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and not invest in programs that
do not work to reduce crime.

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One thing that I've always found useful

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when defining criminology is
to see it as an object science.

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The idea here is that there
are many different sciences

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that study crime.

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So, crime is the object of study

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across those different sciences.

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Criminology is very diverse

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because people look at crime

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from very different perspectives.

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For example, lawyers, sociologists,

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economists, biologists, anthropologists,

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psychiatrists,
psychologists, philosophers,

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political scientists, and historians

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have all contributed to criminology.

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But they all come from
their own background

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and have different views
on crime, on methods.

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and theoretical perspectives.

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Some people think that that
creates problems for criminology

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because it's very difficult to create

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a sort of integrative framework.

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But others think and I feel that way too,

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that it makes criminology so interesting

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because it's so multidisciplinary.

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Here are a couple of examples

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of how different
disciplines look at crime.

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When looking a crime
from a law perspective,

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it deals more normatively
with the conditions

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under which punishment may be imposed.

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Sociology is about groups
and social relationships

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and how crime happens
within these relationships,

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for example, in youth groups and gangs.

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Psychology is all about human
behavior and experiences.

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Biology about the natural
basic conditions of life,

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And economics looks, for example,

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at the costs and benefits
of criminal behavior.

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And history deals with questions like

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how is the course of crime
over the past centuries?

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How do people deal with
offenses in the past?

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And have there been any changes

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in what is considered to be a crime?

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So, all of these disciplines

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offer their own unique lens on crime,

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and that is what makes criminology

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so incredibly interesting.

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For more fascinating criminology
and criminal justice stuff,

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subscribe to this channel
and turn on the alarm bell

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or go to criminologyweb.com

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and find new posts there every week.