Social Science is a very diverse subject, it covers all aspects of society. It makes sense of various phenomenon that takes place within society. It is divided into many sub-categories such as psychology, sociology, anthropology and criminology. It’s study affects all aspects of society. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss how social science theory , specifically criminology can help reduce crime. Criminology & Penology is the branch of social science that deals with occurrences of crime, their causes and their consequences.
It is the study of crime within society. In society an activity that occurs outside the boundaries of the law, is considered to be a crime. “ Crime” in society varies by perspective. For example, German criminologists might look at an abortion as a criminal offence, whereas Chinese criminologists look at abortions as conform behavior. Whether a society looks at an activity as a crime or not, depends on it’s laws, and values. “ Since ” crime” is a matter of judgment, it is necessary that analysis is concerned with the interpretations and definitions of situations and actions.
This analysis is not possible with quantitative methods. The inquiry of ” crime” is inseparably tied to the analysis of social control through (mainly) criminal law and its institutionalized practices (police, public prosecution, court, prison etc. ) of segmentation, typifying, classification and judgment. ” Crime” is constituted through the definitions of situations that are negotiated between different parties (offender, victim, witness, policeman, judge etc. ) in processes of social interaction.
These definitions determine if an incident is noticed, if it is registered as a case, and if the case is classified as ” criminal” on its way through the criminal justice institutions. ”(http://www. qualitativeresearch. net/index. php/fqs/article/ view/1119/2484) It has been shown that the economic status of an area is indirectly proportional to the crime rate in that area. In India for example, the slum areas of Bombay are well known to have a very high crime rate, and places like Juhu are known to be peaceful.
The cause for this is that the lack of opportunity in the less fortunate areas leads the people to turn to crime because they have nowhere else to go. This is an example of the social disorganization theory. In some cases the strain theory can also apply here. Individuals within certain social structures commit crimes, just so that they can “ fit in”. Recently, the government has started taking initiatives towards giving the impoverished population more opportunities than they normally would have, opportunities to get jobs, proper education and become productive members of society.
If more people have jobs and don’t have any need to resort to crime, then crime rates will go down. Another example of how criminology theory can help reduce crime is crime mapping. Crime analysts identify the spots in cities where crimes are more likely to occur. Officers of the law can use this part of theory to help them reduce crime, simply by paying more attention to the areas that are more like to have “ incidents”. They know to send the bulk of their patrol officers to these areas. Many governments have made an effort to give the youth positive role models.
They are implementing the use of the social learning theory. According to this theory if people see their role models getting achieving their desired outcomes through certain activities, then the people are likely to replicate those activities, in order to achieve the same outcomes. Those were some examples of how social science theory can help in reducing crime. There are endless applications of social science in various forms of law enforcement. Their uses are practical, and some uses are not. It has helped various forms of society to reduce crime in the past, and it will continue helping in future.
