Development of criminology

The discipline of criminology has evolved in three phases, beginning in the 18^th century. Although crime and criminals have been around for as long as societies have existed, the systematic study of these phenomena did not begin until the late 1700s. Prior to that time, most explanations of crime equated it with sin—the violation of a sacred obligation. When scholars first distinguished crime from sin, they made possible explanations of criminal behavior that were not theological (religious). The development of this study is known as the era of classical criminology.

The second phase, which began in the 19^th century, is referred to as modern criminology. During this era, criminology distinguished itself as a subspecialty within the emerging disciplines of psychology, sociology, and economics. Scholars formed criminological societies and founded criminology journals. Criminologists conducted empirical tests (observations or experiments) of their theories, rather than relying solely on speculation, and consequently developed a wide range of theories.

The third phase, beginning in the second half of the 20^th century, may best be called independent criminology. During this period, criminology began to assert its

independence from the traditional disciplines that spawned it. In Western Europe, the United States, and Canada, criminologists expanded their professional associations and published an increasing number of journals. A number of universities developed graduate programs in criminology. Criminological theories have become more multidisciplinary (spanning various fields of study) because independent criminologists seek to understand crime itself rather than study crime as one aspect of an overall sociological or psychological theory.

Ex.1. Areas of study in criminology include the following subtopics. Match the terms on the left with their definitions or explanations on the right.

1. crime statistics 2. penology 3. juvenile delinquency 4. crime prevention

5. victimology 6. deviant behaviour management

a) ___________ refers to children who act against the law

b) _________ is the scientific study of victimization, including the relationships between victims and offenders, the interactions between victims and the criminal justice system

c) ________ is applied specifically to efforts made by governments to reduce crime, enforce the law, and maintain criminal justice

d) ________ is a section of criminology that deals with the philosophy and practice of various societies in their attempts to repress criminal activities. Contemporary ________ concerns itself mainly with criminal rehabilitation and prison

e) ________ attempt to provide statistical measures of the crime in societies

f) ________ in a sociological context describes actions or behaviours that violate cultural norms. It is the remit of sociologists, psychologists and criminologists to study how these norms are created, how they change over time and how they

are enforced.

Ex.2. Match the terms from the list to their Russian language equivalents.

a) collusive behavior b) delinquent behavior c) police behavior d) disorderly behavior e) official behavior f) evil behavior g) felonious behavior h) potential criminal behavior i) disruptive behavior j) criminal behavior k) good behavior l) bad social behavior m) indecent behavior n) illegal behavior o) neglect behavior

1. антиобщественное поведение

2. действия, направленные к сговору

3. преступное поведение

4. делинквентное поведение, делинквентность

5. нарушение (общественного) порядка

6. поведение, нарушающее порядок судебного заседания

7. злостное поведение

8. преступное поведение, отвечающее признакам фелонии

9. хорошее, надлежащее поведение; правомерное поведение

10. противозаконное поведение

11. непристойное поведение

12. небрежение; небрежность

13. поведение по должности, официальное поведение

14. образ действий полиции; полицейская практика

15. потенциально преступное поведение

II. Discuss in pairs the following problems.

Student A’s questions: put them to your partner

1. Are there any places you are afraid to visit because of the high crime rate? If so,

where?

2. Do you think police TV dramas are realistic?

3. Have you ever done anything illegal? If so, what did you do?

4. If a person steals a loaf of bread because he needs to feed his starving family,

should he be punished?

5. Why do you think crime is more prevalent in some societies than in others?

Student B’s questions: put them to your partner

1. Do you walk alone at night in your home city?

2. Do you think that police dramas can teach people how serious certain actions can be?

3. Under what situations would you think of committing a crime?

4. What are some things people can do to protect themselves from crime?

5. Do you believe that violence in television programs leads to violence in our

society?

III.Translate the following text into English.

Криминология – социолого-правовая наука, которая изучает преступность, личность преступника, причины и условия преступности, пути и средства ее предупреждения. Криминология исследует данные о преступности в целом, а также по отдельным видам и группам преступлений и по отдельным криминологическим проблемам (например, преступность несовершеннолетних, рецидивная преступность, групповая преступность). Криминология учитывает связь преступности с иными формами антиобщественного поведения: с пьянством, наркоманией, уклонением от общественно полезного труда, моральной распущенностью – исследует эти явления, их влияние на преступность. Предметом криминологии являются также причины преступности, т.е. те социальные факторы, явления и процессы, которые влияют на существование преступности в целом и на совершение конкретных преступлений.

IV.Use the word given in parentheses to form a word that fits in the space.