Sociological Theory of Crime and Criminology

Description

Crime and criminology is an older larger field of sociology dealing with matters related to crime and criminal behaviour. It includes fields such as crime statistics, criminal psychology, forensic science, law enforcement and detective methods. It adheres to the natural science model and borrows heavily from philosophy, psychology and sociology. According to social learning theory, juveniles learn to engage in crime in the same way they learn to engage in conforming behaviour through association with or exposure to others. Primary or intimate groups like the family and peer group have an especially large impact on what we learn.
In fact, association with delinquent friends is the best predictor of delinquency other than prior delinquency. However, one does not have to be in direct contact with others to learn from them; for example, one may learn to engage in violence from observation of others in the media. Some theories in criminology believe that criminality is a function of individual socialisation i.e. how individuals have been influenced by their experiences or relationships with family relationships, peer groups, teachers, church, authority figures, and other agents of socialisation.
The book will be of immense value to students and researchers in the subject as well as to social scientists, law enforcement personnel, psychologists and members of the justice system.