Why criminology is a science
Answer and Explanation:
Yes, criminology is one of the social sciences. It is an interdisciplinary field, and makes use of the knowledge and methods used by sociologists, psychologists, as well as other academic and professional disciplines. Criminologists study criminal behavior.
What does a criminologist do?
The individuals who study crime, criminologists, engage research on virtually every imaginable aspect of illegality and society’s reactions to it, ranging from the development of theories of crime causation, the roles and uses of social control (e
g
, police, courts, and corrections), crime prevention, and victimization
What is the difference between criminology and Penology?
Victimology is a specialty area concerned with the role of the victim in the criminal process, and especially how society responds to the needs of victims
Finally, criminologists are also involved in examining social control mechanisms in society; penology is the study of the punishment and treatment of criminal offenders
Thus, according to Theodorson (1969: 437), a theory is a generalisation intermediate in degree of verification between a law and a hypothesis. With these concepts of science and scientific method, criminology may be described as a science because it uses the method that is defined as science.Is criminology a science Why? Contemporary criminology self-identifies as a science. Its emphasis is on empirical research and scientific methodology. The use of scientific method to study crime and criminal behavior developed in the late nineteenth century with the emergence of the positive school of criminology.With these concepts of science and scientific method, criminology may be described as a science because it uses the method that is defined as science. However, if ‘science’ is referred to in terms of the ‘content’, i.e., “the body of scientific findings”, then criminology is not a science.The scientific method in the hard or natural sciences has been used to analyse and solve issues to explain how social problems develop and has an affect on an individuals such as crime and criminality and to understand difference between criminal and non-criminal individuals. The biological approach also emphasises that criminology is a science.Wilker said that criminology cannot possibly become a science due to lack of universal proposition of crime and scientific studies of criminal behavior is impossible. It is an applied science – in the study of the causes of crimes, anthropology, zoology, psychology, sociology and other natural sciences may be applied.
