Criminology includes the study of all aspects of crime and law enforcement—criminal psychology, the social setting of crime, prohibition and prevention, investigation and detection, capture and punishment.
Criminology helps society understand, control, and reduce crime. ... It helps understand the mindset of criminals: Criminology helps understand the mindset of criminals, why they commit crimes, and the factors that affect them. This helps in the proper allocation of resources to control crime.
This relatively young field of study has three principal divisions:
(1) the sociology of law, which examines how laws are made and enforced;
(2) criminal etiology, which studies the causes of crime; and
(3) penology, which addresses society's response to crime and includes the study of the criminal justice system.
