Research work · 2018
1. Introducing criminology
Criminology: A Very Short Introduction
Abstract
‘Introducing criminology’ explains that according to American criminologist, Edwin Sutherland, criminology is the body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon including within its scope the process of making and breaking laws, and reacting to the breaking of laws. Criminology dates back to the late 18th century when small groups of people developed an interest in explaining crime alongside their main occupations such as running asylums or collecting statistics on prisons or court proceedings. There was no form of collective enterprise until the end of the 19th century. During the 20th century, ‘criminology’ gradually formed and solidified. Its constitutive disciplines include sociology, history, psychology, law, and statistics.