SECTION I – CRIMINOLOGY: FOUNDATIONS AND PARADIGMATIC SHIFTS

Section I includes four modules: (1) Crime, Deviance, and Criminology as a Mainstream Discipline, (2) Criminology and Public Policy, (3) The Measurement of Crime, and the (4) The Social Construction of Crime. Collectively, these four modules provide an opportunity to understand the social construction for deviance and crime, which is an essential part of learning criminology because crime is a diverse matter and as such requires a plurality of influences; that is, multidisciplinary. As a social science, criminology is multidisciplinary and as an intellectual domain is derived from a variety of academic disciplines that include, but are not limited to, psychology, biology, anthropology, law, political science, and most specifically sociology. Throughout the section, particular attention is given to understanding the connection between criminology and public policy as philosophical underpinnings are inextricably linked to social justice issues and governmental control of society vis vie police, courts, and corrections. Examples of social policy that are impacted by criminological scholarship include ways to improve crime prevention, interdiction, enforcement, rehabilitation strategies, etc. Criminological inquiry contributes to a substantial base of understanding that provides the basis for informing social policy, which is one of the most significant yet often underappreciated aspects of the collective effort.