criminology

noun crim·i·nol·o·gy \ ˌkri-mə-ˈnä-lə-jē \

|Updated on: 14 Jul 2018

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of criminology

: the scientific study of crime as a social phenomenon, of criminals, and of penal treatment

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criminological

play \ˌkri-mə-nə-ˈlä-ji-kəl\ adjective

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criminologically

play \ˌkri-mə-nə-ˈlä-ji-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

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criminologist

play \ˌkri-mə-ˈnä-lə-jist\ noun

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Recent Examples of criminology from the Web

Craig Pallardy received a bachelor’s of arts in criminology and law studies.

— michelle mullins, Naperville Sun, "Naperville People in the News," 29 June 2018
Charis Kubrin Charis Kubrin is a professor of criminology, law and society at the University of California, Irvine.

— charis kubrin, Scientific American, "Immigrants Do Not Increase Crime, Research Shows," 7 Feb. 2017
Lopez, 18, a senior at Taft High School, is considering going into criminology.

— staff report, chicagotribune.com, "Shout Out: Ethan Lopez, matching customers with video game classics in Harwood Heights," 4 Apr. 2018
Richard Rosenfeld, the lead author of the NIJ paper and a criminologies at the University of Missouri–St.

— jesse singal, Daily Intelligencer, "The White and Black Murder Rates Are Both Rising, But for Different Reasons," 10 Jan. 2018
The analysis was conducted by Northeastern University criminology researchers Jack McDevitt and Anthony Braga.

— milton j. valencia, BostonGlobe.com, "Here’s what the early findings of Boston’s police body camera program show," 10 Jan. 2018
Lesley Reid Lesley Reid is a professor and department chair of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Alabama.

— charis kubrin, Scientific American, "Immigrants Do Not Increase Crime, Research Shows," 7 Feb. 2017
This avocado-carrot caper, which was apparently first identified by Emmeline Taylor, a criminology professor at the University of London, has so far been observed in both Australia and the UK.

— refinery29.com, "We Now Have Definitive Proof That The Avocado Obsession Has Gone Too Far," 7 June 2018
One wants to teach, and the other wants to study criminology.

— eugene scott, Washington Post, "Stacey Abrams’s victory speech, annotated," 23 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'criminology.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

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. Thus, many of the people involved—legislators, social workers, probation officers, judges, etc.—could possibly be considered criminologists, though the word usually refers only to scholars and researchers.