INNOVATIVE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Malitbog, Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro

CRIMINOLOGY DEPARTMENT

INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY
MELODY C. DIMAPILIS

I. OBJECTIVES

At the end of this lesson, the student should be able to:

 Trace the brief history of Criminology Education in the Philippines.
 Know the importance of, purposes, nature and scope of criminology as a field of interest.
 Explain the concept of criminology

II. TIME FRAME

Week 1 – August 9-13, 2021
3 hours

III. TOPIC

CHAPTER 1

OVERVIEW OF CRIMINOLOGY
Criminology as a field of study is relatively new, considering that its inception only began in the mid-
1700s in Italy until it became a full blown field of study in the mid1800s. At present, it has achieved universal
acceptance as a legitimate body of knowledge and a rich area of research for the benefit of society.

There is no universally accepted definition of the term criminology because different reference books
give a variety of definitions. However, the most commonly used is the one given by Edwin Sutherland, a noted
American criminologist, in this book, Principle of criminology, published in 1939 in the United States of
America. According to him, criminology is a body of knowledge regarding delinquency and crime as a social
phenomenon; it includes within its scope, the making of laws, the breaking of laws and the reaction toward
the breaking of laws.

According to Tradio (1999), criminology can also be defined as the scientific study of cause of crimes
in relation to man and society who set and define rules and regulations for himself and others to govern.

Criminology is a body of knowledge regarding crimes and the efforts of society to prevent and repress
them. This definition may be found in the classic book, Fundamentals of Criminology, by Attorney Gerardo
V. Madlinao, former dean of the Philippine College of Criminology (PCCr). This book was the prescribed
textbook for the subject in PCCr for quite a long time and had been widely used as textbook and reference by
other criminology schools as well.

Etymological, the term criminology came from the Latin word, crimen, which literary means
accusation, and from the Greek word, logia, which means to study. The term criminology was coined in 1885
by Italian Law professor Raffaele Garofalo as criminologia. Around the same time, but later, French
anthropologist used the analougs French term Criminology.

Introduction to criminology | Melody C. Dimapilis Page 1 of 4

 There is a wide array of definitions of criminology and all definitions contain the same basic terms:
body of knowledge, field of study, causes of crimes, control of crimes, criminals, law and society. And from all
this definitions, it can be said that criminology is a field of study which tries to find the answer to the following
questions: what is a crime, what makes an act a crime, what causes people to commit crimes, how can crimes
be controlled, and who is responsible for controlling crimes?

SUB-FIELDS OF CRIMINOLOGY

Sociological Criminology – the study of crime focused on the group of people and society as a whole.
It is primarily based on the examination of the relationship of demographic and group variables to crime.
Variables such as socioeconomic status, interpersonal relationships, age, race, gender, and cultural groups of
people are probed in relation to the environmental factors that are most conducive to criminal action, such as
time, place, and circumstances surrounding the crime.

Psychological Criminology – the science of behavior and mental processes of the criminal. It is
focused on the individual criminal behavior-how it is acquired, evoked, maintained, and modified. Both the
environmental and personality influences are considered, along with the mental processes that mediate the
behavior.

Psychiatric Criminology – the science that deals with the study of crime through forensic psychiatry,
the study of criminal behavior in terms of motives and drives that strongly relies on the individual.
(Psychoanalytic Theory - Sigmund Freud – traditional view). It also explains that criminals are acting out of
uncontrollable animalistic, unconscious, or biological urges (modern view).

PRINCIPAL DIVISIONS OF CRIMINOLOGY

Criminology as a subject matter is so broad that its study is dived into three division, namely, criminal
etiology, sociology of law and penology.

CRIMINAL ETIOLOGY (origin) deals with the scientific study of the causes of crimes. It tries to find
the explanations as to what causes a crime behaviour in an individual and determine the different factors that
contribute to crime causation.

SOCIOLOGY OF LAWS refers to the study of nature of criminal law and its administration. It is the
scientific analysis of the conditions under which criminal laws develop as a process of social control.

PENOLOGY is the study of the control of crimes and the rehabilitation of the offender. It is a branch of
criminology which deals with the treatment, management and administration of inmates.

NATURE OR CHARCTERISTICS OF CRIMINOLOGY

1. Criminology as a applied science

Applied science is defined as the application of the scientific knowledge transferred into a physical
environment.

Criminology is an applied science because criminology as a body of knowledge has already established
universally accepted principles and concepts and these are used by other fields of study.

In like manner, criminology as a field of study also makes use of the different principles of other science. In the
study of the causes crimes, knowledge regarding anthropology, physiology, sociology and other natural sciences
are applied, while criminal investigations, the different scientific concepts and process of chemistry, medicine,
physics, mathematics, ballistics, polygraphy and questioned document examination are utilized.

Introduction to criminology | Melody C. Dimapilis Page 2 of 4

2. Criminology is a social science.

Social science is defined as a branch of science that studies the society and human behaviour in it,
including anthropology, communication studies, criminology, economics, geography, history, political science,
psychology, social studies and sociology. From the definition itself, criminology is included among the many
social sciences.

Criminology is a social science because it studies crime as a social phenomenon. Crime is a social problem
which has a great impact to society.

3. Criminology is dynamic.

The word dynamic is used to described something that is always in motion and always active.

As year pass by, new ideas are introduced, new knowledge is discovered and new concepts are formed.
Technology and its application are continuously upgraded. Social conditions also change as a result of changes
in law, economics and cultures. And because criminology is dynamic, it is able to change to adapt to these
changes. The concepts of criminology and their applications adapt to the changing times.

4. Criminology is nationalistic.

This means that the study of criminology takes into consideration the history, the culture, the social
norms and the law of the country. Crimes are studied in relation to the criminal laws applied in the country or
place where these crimes are committed. Each country has its own set of laws and crimes are defined by the
laws of the country.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY OF CRIMINOLOGY

As mentioned previously, the study of criminology is related to other sciences and fields of study. Criminology
as a body og science is so broad that it can be subdivided into several areas. Some of which are the following:

1. Study of the Origin and Development of Criminal Law

One cannot study crimes without having to study criminal law because it is criminal law whick makes an act a
crime in the first place. An act to be considered a crime must have a law defining it as prohibited, and therefore
illegal. In the absence of criminal laws, there will be no crimes.

2. Study of the Causes of Crimes and Development of Criminals

Criminology by simple definition is the study of crimes and criminals. It studies the etiology of crimes, or the
causes of crimes, the multiple factors that increase or decrease the possibility of commission of crimes and how
these factors affect individuals and cause them to commit crimes.

3. Study of the other science that examine criminal behavior using scientific methods, such a:

a) CRIMINAL DEMOGREAPHY – the study of the relationship between criminality and population.

b) CRIMINAL EPIDOMIOLOGY – the study of the relationship between environment and criminality.

c) CRIMINAL ECOLOGY – the study of criminality in relation to the spatial distribution in a

community

d) CRIMINAL PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY – the study of criminality in relation to physical

constitution of men.

e) CRIMINAL PSYCOLOGY – the study of human behavior in relation to criminality.

f) CRIMINAL PSYCHIATRY – the study of human mind in relation to criminality.

Introduction to criminology | Melody C. Dimapilis Page 3 of 4

 g) VICTOMOLOGY – the study of the role of the victim in the commissions of a crime (Maglinao,
2006)

DEVELOPMENT OF CRIMINOLOGY

The study of criminology began in Italy, Europe with the writings and ideologies of Cesare Beccaria and
Jeremy Bethanm, both influential figures in their respective fields. Their writings on the legal system during
their time were the foundation of what is called the classical school of thought in criminology.

Several decades later, a new school of thought was brought to life, with ideas and methods totally
different from that of the classical criminology. This was the positivist school of thought in criminology. This
opened the doors for the different scientific approaches in the study of crimes and criminals, which gave birth to
biological, psychological and sociological determinisms. It was through this school of thought that Cesare
Lombroso came to be known as the father of modern criminology.

The theories formulated during the early days of criminology were basically born in Italy mostly by its
Italian proponents, thus, these theories are also collectively referred to as the Italian school of criminology.

The field of criminology further expanded when it reached shores of the other parts of the world where
through the years, modern explanation of crime causation continue to emerge.

The historical development, the different schools of thought in criminology as well as their pioneers, and
the approaches in criminology are discussed in length in chapter 4 and chapter 5 respectively.

IV. COMPREHENSION CHECK-UP

1. What is Criminology?
2. What are the scopes of criminology?
3. What are the principal divisions of criminology, explain.
4. Distinguish criminologist from criminalist?
5. Is criminology a science? Why?

Checked by:

MELODY C. DIMAPILIS
Department Head

Introduction to criminology | Melody C. Dimapilis Page 4 of 4