Sociology & Criminology for a Changing World
Criminology is the interdisciplinary study of crime, its causes, manifestations, and the societal reactions to deviant behavior. It combines insights from sociology, law, psychology, political science, and philosophy to analyze both individual acts of deviance and the broader structures of social control. This section offers an overview of key criminological theories, foundational texts, and ongoing debates that shape the discipline.
Criminology is not only concerned with understanding why people commit crimes, but also with the social construction of deviance, the role of power in defining crime, and the impact of criminal justice systems on individuals and communities.
Explore the key works of influential criminologists such as Edwin Sutherland, David Garland, and Erving Goffman, and discover how contemporary criminology critically engages with issues of social inequality, neoliberalism, and governmentality.
Institutional Anomie Theory (IAT) argues that high crime rates result from a cultural emphasis on economic success combined with institutional imbalance. When economic values dominate other social institutions—such as family, education, and politics—social control weakens, leading to higher levels of utilitarian, self-interested behavior and, ultimately, crime. Key Points Institutional Anomie Theory (IAT) Main Proponents: Steven
Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory (GST) extends and refines the classical anomie and strain approaches by broadening the range of sources of strain and by offering a more nuanced, psychologically informed explanation of how strain leads to crime. Unlike Merton, who focused on the disjunction between culturally valued goals and socially legitimate means, Agnew emphasized
Émile Durkheim’s concept of anomie describes a condition of social disintegration that emerges during periods of profound structural change, such as industrialization and the rise of the division of labour. In such times, traditional norms and shared moral frameworks weaken, leading to a breakdown of collective consciousness. This erosion of social cohesion results in a