UNIVERSIYT of DAR ES SALAAM Anthony Peter Criminology and Penology

8/12/2019 UNIVERSIYT of DAR ES SALAAM Anthony Peter Criminology and Penology

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THE UNIVERSITY OF DAR-ES-SALAAM

SCHOOL OF LAW

LW 517: CRIMINOLOGY AND

PENOLOGYStudent N!e: Anthony, Anthony Peter

Student Re"#$t%t#&n N&': 2010-04-04001

Dte: 15TH January 2014


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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. !t can be seen that the key words in this broad definition

is that a criminologist can be anyonedealing with crime as a phenomenon3 and

learning and building knowledgeon it, which distinguishes a criminologist to other

stakeholders such as criminalist experts or a police officer.

!t 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 ". Another

aspect of this is that the study is of both crime and of criminals#and that the study is

systematic$.

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%.

&ut it should also be remembered, that because there is no legal determination of whois a criminologist, it necessarily implies that the training that these individuals undergo is

not centrali'ed. There has only been recently a large correlation between disciples of

sociology and criminology, but previously, this wasn(t necessarily so. The pioneers like

)esare *ombroso +1-# 1/0/ or 2illiam 3ealy +1$/ 1/$# were trained in other

1Dr. Ayman Elzeiyn, Introu!tion to "riminolo#y$, E#y%t

2Aemino& A. et al., "riminali'ti!'$, 1()4, I*+ 5-01-0015-(

*utherlan / "re''ey Prin!i%le' o "riminolo#y$ thEition, 1(0

4+arlo H. D., Introu!tion to "riminolo#y$, rEition, 1()4, I*+ 0-1-0)11-5

53e'ter' e International Di!tionary o the En#li'h 6an#ua#e, 2nEition, 1(5(

"lye 7eer et al., "riminolo#y8 A +oo9 o reain#'$, 1(55

3alter +. :iller, Ieolo#y an !riminal ;u'ti!e %oli!y8 !urrent i''ue'$, Journal o "riminal 6a an"riminolo#y, 4


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disciplines, in the mentioned cases, a physician surgeon and a psychiatrist

respectively.

And another factor in who is a criminologist, and the kind of work they do, is dependent

on their values. *ike other fields of scientific in4uiry, values and beliefs impact the

decisions made about what to investigate, what 4uestions to ask, and what to do withthe knowledge ac4uired/.

5ne 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 6arxist 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. 5n 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 precepts11.

Therefore the test that can be discerned from the above is that a criminologist is

probably a trained sociologist or interdisciplinary, speciali'ing in phenomenon of crime

and criminals, which means looking at who is arrested, convicted, imprisoned and

executed1, and is someone who then takes consideration of their background or

7urisprudence in tackling the etiological 4uestions, in any approach, that can be

statistical, historical, clinical, or case study1-, whether it is radical for instance, and

applying that knowledge to programs of social order and crime control 1" i.e. to crime

and crime prevention.

8he or he can be found at research institutions such as the Australian !nstitute of)riminology, government agencies including law enforcement agencies +for policy or

political considerations, criminal 7ustice agencies +including the Attorney 9eneral or

8tate Attorney(s chambers, in &order :rotection and !ntelligence agencies, and even in

;onaelet, The Poli!e an the "ommunity$, 4thEition, 1(), I*+ 0-02-(420-

11Ii at

12Ii at )

1:ar&in E. 3ol#an#, "riminolo#y an the "riminolo#i't$, 54 J. "rim. 6. "riminolo#y / Poli!e *!i. 155


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2.0 The ole o! a Criminologist in 3rdWorld Countries

3aving some idea of who a criminologist is, this section inspects the role that acriminologist plays or can play in a - rdworld country. A third world country is seen as aless 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 assufficient prisons or police forces. These nations are also characteri'ed by high crimerates, overcrowded prisons and most lack an emphasis on rehabilitation of offenders.

!t 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

e4uivalent to the theories developed in more developed countries, which might not beas relevant or applicable to the third world countries. This is due to the differences inincome, social classes, and demographics 7ust to mention a few.

This first role is merely to provide representation of these specific scientists within thethird world countries, much like it would argued that having heart surgeons in third worldcountries, 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 ofcrime causation amongst others that are relevant to that specific country. Thesetheories 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 canbe especially relevant in the topic of penology, which re4uires an understanding of theeffectiveness of the penal measurements, as part of the social control of the nation, orwhether 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 a4uantitative approach in any programs targeting social order and crime prevention.6any nations as provided are under budgeted and heavily dependent on foreign aid, toan extent that investment in statistical and or sociological approach of the crime and ofthe criminals in the state, would be impossible.

A fourth role of a third world criminologist is to contribute towards the building ofknowledge of crime within that country. This is because, due to the many research andinvestigative nature of the field, knowledge ac4uired is built up by criminologist, either inthe form of crime statistics or the new theories mentioned above.

The fifth role, arises somewhat indirectly from the third, and is to use the knowledgebuilt up from the third world country and specifically relevant to them, to provide

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recommendations, policy, legal and or political strategies to address crime and criminalsin the country, taking into consideration, the values and 7urisprudent of the criminologist.

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UNIVERSIYT of DAR ES SALAAM Anthony Peter Criminology and Penology