Criminology

Introduction Merton used functional analysis as a strategy for his researches to study the socioeconomic conditions facing the current society. He expanded on Durkheims views to explain the reasons that lead individuals to commit crime in society. Durkheim claimed that crime mostly happens in societies that are experiencing changes in their structure and organizations as a result of the lack moral norms (Merton, 1957, VBS). Merton expanded this to cover the adaptations that individuals practice...

The investigation evaluates the effectiveness of training for police officers in controlling behaviours that lead to the excessive use of force in the conduct of their work. The evaluation study will respond to the questions on whether training specific to excessive use of force helps decrease precursor behaviours to excessive use of force and on whether the behavioural effects of training are sustainable. The research will employ quasi-experiment with two groups of 30 patrol officers each, from...

Behind every crime committed, there is a theory that drives it. Crimes are intentional and they are not random. The opportunities that pave the way to the commission of the crime are also not random. Crime opportunities may come from unsuspicious occasions or events like daily routines, urban structures and social networks. Lack of control of elements provides opportunities for crimes. Each crime has its own complexity that is related to the offenders, the victims, and the environment of the crime. First...

Certain action plans have been done to address the problem of unequal protection under the law. One of such action plans is the Aboriginal Justice Plan which is a response to the observed overrepresentation of members of the Aboriginal Community imprisoned for offenses where bail can be made. The study centers on New South Wales (NSW) where the Aboriginal community is the largest. Statistics and data on the number of offenses by Aborigines and the rest of the population of NSW will be taken and...

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are used to gauge crimes extents as well as establish which type of crimes prevail within a certain region for instance slums, street intersections, etc., as GIS allow quick examination of the types and number of offences, arrests, etc., within a particular radius, enabling quick elimination of excess information. GIS also allow analysts to determine the types and number of offences happening within a certain radius for example within 2 kilometres of all schools...

Crime mapping applications have become increasingly integrated and sophisticated. The use of geographical information system (GIS) has become the hallmark of the modern era. It is expected that the next generation will witness more integration of technologies that were once separate such as digital photography, orthophotography, digital videography, global positioning systems and other local databases with critical information into one cutting edge technology (Harries, n. d). This paper will give...

Policing has evolved from the traditional force-led structures characterized by menacing, uniformed and heavily-armed police officers patrolling the streets looking for criminals to a more intelligence led affair which makes it possible for police officers to analyze crime data to isolate centres of high crime intensity and even predict, with varying levels of success, spots where crimes are most likely to occur. Modern-day policing professionals understand the need to identify crime hotspots and...

In this country, there is the need for criminal justice systems to be capable of providing the required level of change as far as the offenders are concerned so that the emphasis is moved away from just seeking to deal with the problem of crime by treating symptoms to dealing with its root causes. However, there is also the need to make any such system as sustainable as possible because it would be an absolute waste of resources for a lot to be invested in criminal justice systems that are incapable...

There are three interdependent agencies (law enforcement, courts and corrections) which work at the federal and local levels. The present criminal justice system is based on three theories retributive, rehabilitative and restorative theories. These are basically the steps that an offender must go through in order for the system to succeed. (Thomas 2005) Probation and parole in correction The use of parole and probation is governed by two competing philosophies positivism and classicalism. Classicalists...