The Differences Between Criminology and Criminal Justice

The Differences Between Criminology and Criminal Justice

I have always been intrigued by a life of crime. No, I am not a criminal in training, however I have always wanted to know what makes people do the things they do. what are the causes of crime? What makes a person who commits crimes, with various laws set into place, still commit those crimes even when the punishment can be deadly? To help to understand criminal behavior, Criminologist has been asking these questions and many more for ages. What is criminology and criminal justice? What are the differences, if any, are there in these two subjects of crime and its causes.

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According to the Legal dictionary, criminology is defined as (2008) “the scientific study of the causation, correction, and prevention of crime”. It’s the scientific approach of study criminal behavior. This definition is explained in more detail by preeminent criminologist Edwin Sutherland and Donald Cressey. They state, “Criminology is the body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon. It includes within its scope the processes of making laws, of breaking of laws…. The objective of criminology is the development of a body of general and verified principles and of other types of knowledge regarding this process of law, crime, and treatment” (Seigel, 2013). Criminology is sub-divisions of behavior discipline such psychology, economics, political science, natural science, and biology. Criminology arose in the mid eighteenth century, when many social philosophers gave thought to crime and law. Many social philosophers thought that the criminal justice and penal system was cruel and inhumane and wanted to change it.

“The leading theorist of this classical school of criminology, the Italian Cesare Bonesano Beccaria, argued that the law must apply equally to all, and that punishments for specific crimes should be standardized by legislatures, thus avoiding judicial abuses of power. Both Beccaria and another classical theorist, the Englishman Jeremy Bentham, argued that people are rational beings who exercise free will in making choices” (2008).

Criminogy and crimal justice are to words that seem like they are similar but they have many key difference. In the text book, Criminology: Theroies, patterns and Typologies, it states, “