Criminology and Penology Theories on Crime and Punishment

Criminology is the study of crime and its effect on individuals and society. Criminology involves analyzing illegal human behaviors and crime prevention methods. The field of criminology blends social science and psychology with criminal justice. Penology is the study of prison management and criminal rehabilitation. As a part of the social science of criminology, penology addresses the theory and practice of societies and how they attempt to prevent criminal activity and apply the appropriate punishment. It deals with the treatment of convicted criminals and to rehabilitate them. This study addresses many different topics concerning the prison system, such as prisoner's rights, prisoner abuse, and recidivism, as well as theories about the purpose of punishments, such as rehabilitation, retribution, and deterrence. Those who study penology typically become what is called a penologist. A penologist is someone who works directly with inmates within the prison system. The job involves working with prison architecture, the treatment of offenders, inmate self-help programs, prison and jail management, evaluation of the prison system and suggests changes regarding prison policy. The chapters in this book are designed to investigate the state, impact, and future challenges of the discipline: What is criminology for? What is the impact of criminology? How should criminology be done? What are the key issues and debates in criminology today? The objective of this text is to provide depth understanding of dimensions of crime, crime causation, prevention of crime, penalizing the crime, functioning of penal institutions along with rehabilitation and protection of crime victims.