Defining Criminology 03/21/15

In this blog, I intend to define what criminology and crime is. By defining this, I will be able to gain a better understanding of what this subject is really about and what it entails. Having a solid understanding of this topic will help me further expand my research. I used the Auraria Library website to find some definitions and general information on crime and criminology.

http://0-go.galegroup.com.skyline.ucdenver.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3401801089&v=2.1&u=auraria_main&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w&authCount=1

This website contains information on what crime is in general. It also discusses crime and law during different time periods such as the Colonial Area, the nineteenth century, and the twentieth century. Furthermore, this site talks about the changes in crime policy as the years go on. Larry states that "crime is any activity for which the law prescribes punishment, such as a monetary fine or a term of imprisonment...  A person who commits a crime may be charged by a public prosecutor regardless of whether any individual victim complains. Conceptually, the public at large is the victim of criminal lawbreaking... Crimes are specified by statutes that are enacted by Congress or by state and local legislative bodies."

 http://0-go.galegroup.com.skyline.ucdenver.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3404400080&v=2.1&u=auraria_main&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w

This link is helpful in describing what the nature of crime is and how criminologists study crime and their methods in doing so. It also discusses the characteristics that criminals posses as well as "the big four correlates of crime: age, sex, race, and social class... Crime is, for the most part, a young person's activity... Males are more likely to engage in crime than females...  Most Americans when asked state that they believe that minorities commit more crimes than whites. This oversimplification is not only inaccurate, but it obscures important patterns... Many criminologists today believe that if we are simply considering the likelihood of breaking the law then there probably is not much difference by social class. But if the criminal domain being studied is serious violent offenses, then there probably is a negative association between social class and crime."

http://0-www.oxfordbibliographies.com.skyline.ucdenver.edu/view/document/obo-9780199756384/obo-9780199756384-0010.xml

This website contains an introduction to the topic of criminology. It provides links to other journals that go further in depth as well. However, this review mainly focuses on sociological criminology. " Criminology is a broad subfield drawing from a number of academic disciplines. Beyond its historically strong ties to sociology, criminology draws from scholars in psychology, economics, law, and political science, among others, and large, interdisciplinary criminology departments have grown more common in recent decades. This review is confined to criminology as practiced within sociology; interested readers, however, should be aware that the study of crime cuts across several disciplines".