UNIVERSIYT of DAR ES SALAAM Anthony Peter Criminology and Penology

THE UNIVERSITY OF DAR-ES-SALAAM
SCHOOL OF LAW
LW 517: CRIMINOLOGY AND PENOLOGY

Student Name: Anthony, Anthony Peter
Student Registration No#: 2010-04-04001
Date: 15TH January 2014

1.0 Who is a Criminologist?
There is no clear source that defines who a criminologist is, unlike a “policeman or taxi
driver”, a legal determination that only the criminologist can use to define himself in his
or her field1. There is however plenty of effort in defining what the field is, and it is from
this that a profile can be had, in identifying who is a criminologist.
Aeminov provides for us partly that a criminologist is a person tackling criminological
problems of crime prevention”2. It can be seen that the key words in this broad definition
is that a criminologist can be anyone dealing with “crime as a phenomenon”3 and
learning and building knowledge on it, which distinguishes a criminologist to other
stakeholders such as criminalist experts or a police officer.
It is true in fact that criminology itself has no agreed definition as a field of study, though
the consensus is that it is “a scientific study of crime as a social phenomenon” 4. Another
aspect of this is that the study is of both “crime” and of “criminals” 5 and that the study is
“systematic”6.
Another understanding of criminology is a field where people are “committed to the
achievement of an understanding of the roots and manifestations of different aspects of
behavior that violate criminal law”7.
But it should also be remembered, that because there is no legal determination of who
is a criminologist, it necessarily implies that the training that these individuals undergo is
not centralized. There has only been recently a large correlation between disciples of
sociology and criminology, but previously, this wasn’t necessarily so. The pioneers like
Cesare Lombroso (1835 – 1909) or William Healy (1869 – 1965) were trained in other
disciplines, in the mentioned cases, a physician surgeon and a psychiatrist
respectively8.
1
Dr. Ayman Elzeiyn, “Introduction to Criminology”, Egypt
2
Aeminov A. et al., “Criminalistics”, 1984, ISBN 5-01-001753-9
3
Sutherland & Cressey “Principles of Criminology” 6 th Edition, 1960
4
Barlow H. D., “Introduction to Criminology”, 3 rd Edition, 1984, ISBN 0-316-08117-5
5
Webster’s New International Dictionary of the English Language, 2 nd Edition, 1959
6
Clyed Vedder et al., “Criminology: A Book of readings”, 1955
7
Walter B. Miller, “Ideology and criminal justice policy: current issues”, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology,
64 (1973)
2
And another factor in who is a criminologist, and the kind of work they do, is dependent
on their values. Like “other fields of scientific inquiry, values and beliefs impact the
decisions made about what to investigate, what questions to ask, and what to do with
the knowledge acquired”9.
One showcasing of the role that values plays in producing different types of
criminologist, is by comparing two categories of criminologists, the radical and the
conservative. The radical or Marxist is a one who sees the law as an instrument of the
elite class against the poor, the proletarian, and that crime in this perspective is “class
oriented” and a “corruption of capitalist socioeconomic class structure” 10. On the other
hand, the conservative criminologist incorporates an idea that criminals are morally
defective, based on reasons of “personality, biological and environmental factors” with
the criminal law being the codification of “moral precepts” 11.
Therefore the test that can be discerned from the above is that a criminologist is
probably a trained sociologist or interdisciplinary, specializing in phenomenon of crime
and criminals, which means looking at who is “arrested, convicted, imprisoned and
executed”12, and is someone who then takes consideration of their background or
jurisprudence in tackling the etiological questions, in any approach, that can be
“statistical, historical, clinical, or case study” 13, whether it is radical for instance, and
applying that knowledge to “programs of social order and crime control” 14 i.e. to crime
and crime prevention.
She or he can be found at research institutions such as the Australian Institute of
Criminology, government agencies including law enforcement agencies (for policy or
political considerations), criminal justice agencies (including the Attorney General or
State Attorney’s chambers), in Border Protection and Intelligence agencies, and even in
Non-Governmental organizations such as Transparency International or Human Rights
Watch.
8
Barlow H. D., “Introduction to Criminology”, 3 rd Edition, 1984, ISBN 0-316-08117-5
9
ibid
10
Louis A. Radelet, “The Police and the Community”, 4 th Edition, 1986, ISBN 0-02-397420-6
11
Ibid at 6
12
Ibid at 8
13
Marvin E. Wolfgang, “Criminology and the Criminologist”, 54 J. Crim. L. Criminology & Police Sci. 155 (1963)
14
Ibid at 6
3
2.0 The Role of a Criminologist in 3 rd World Countries
Having some idea of who a criminologist is, this section inspects the role that a
criminologist plays or can play in a 3 rd world country. A third world country is seen as a
less developed country. And one that is poor and lacking many of the social services,
which includes education, infrastructure and also effective deterrents on crime such as
sufficient prisons or police forces. These nations are also characterized by high crime
rates, overcrowded prisons and most lack an emphasis on rehabilitation of offenders.
It is in this framework that criminologists can play a vital role in third world countries.
The role of a criminologist therefore in these countries involves several key activities.
The first can be said, is to provide these countries a counterbalance or a scientific
equivalent to the theories developed in more developed countries, which might not be
as relevant or applicable to the third world countries. This is due to the differences in
income, social classes, and demographics just to mention a few.
This first role is merely to provide representation of these specific scientists within the
third world countries, much like it would argued that having heart surgeons in third world
countries, help shift the balance of better medical care to those countries.
The second role which directly arises from the first is to then develop new theories of
crime causation amongst others that are relevant to that specific country. These
theories have the probability of being more accurate and relevant to that society,
especially in taking consideration of the relevant physiological considerations, such as
social learning, personalities or the cognitive development of the population. This can
be especially relevant in the topic of penology, which requires an understanding of the
effectiveness of the penal measurements, as part of the social control of the nation, or
whether a path to rehabilitation is available and or relevant.
The third role is to collect crime statistics relevant to that country, in order to provide a
quantitative approach in any programs targeting social order and crime prevention.
Many nations as provided are under budgeted and heavily dependent on foreign aid, to
an extent that investment in statistical and or sociological approach of the crime and of
the criminals in the state, would be impossible.
A fourth role of a third world criminologist is to contribute towards the building of
knowledge of crime within that country. This is because, due to the many research and
investigative nature of the field, knowledge acquired is built up by criminologist, either in
the form of crime statistics or the new theories mentioned above.
The fifth role, arises somewhat indirectly from the third, and is to use the knowledge
built up from the third world country and specifically relevant to them, to provide
recommendations, policy, legal and or political strategies to address crime and criminals
in the country, taking into consideration, the values and jurisprudent of the criminologist.

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THE UNIVERSITY OF DAR-ES-SALAAM

LW 517: CRIMINOLOGY AND PENOLOGY

Student Registration No#: 2010-04-04001

Date: 15TH January 2014

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