Criminology

Criminology is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour, drawing on sociology, psychology, political science, law, and other fields. It emerged as a modern academic discipline in the 19th century, with roots in the Italian School of criminal anthropology, which shifted focus from law to the criminal. The term itself was likely coined in 1885 by Italian law professor Raffaele Garofalo, while French anthropologist Paul Topinard used a similar French term. Criminology directs its inquiries along three main lines: investigating the nature and administration of criminal law, analyzing the causes of crime and the personality of criminals, and studying crime control and offender rehabilitation. It encompasses the work of legislative bodies, law enforcement, judicial and correctional institutions, and various social agencies. In the United States, criminology grew substantially in the early twentieth century, undergoing three phases: a Golden Age of Research (1900–1930) using a multiple-factor approach, a Golden Age of Theory (1930–1960) linking research to theory, and a period from 1960 onward marked by institutional expansion. Federal initiatives like the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration and the Law Enforcement Education Program fueled the growth of standalone criminal justice programs, straining ties with sociology. In 1963, some educators split from the American Society of Criminology to form the International Association of Police Professors, later the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. By the 1990s, many programs embraced a dual Criminology/Criminal Justice identity. Graduate education expanded to over 100 master's and at least 25 Ph.D. programs by the end of that decade. The journal *Criminology & Public Policy* launched in 2001 to bridge theory and applied research. As of 2020, nearly 50 criminology Ph.D. programs existed in the U.S. and Canada, and the National Research Council has recognized criminology as an emerging discipline since 2006.