CSS Criminology Foundations of Criminology Syllabus

Foundations of Criminology syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Foundations of Criminology in CSS Criminology, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Introduction to Criminology

   5 topics

   • Basic Concepts of Crime, Criminality and Criminal Behaviour
   • Definition, Meaning and Scope of Criminology
   • Criminology and Criminal Law
   • Crime as a Social Problem
   • Schools of Criminological Thought
2. 2

   Deviance, Norms and Security

   4 topics

   • Deviance, Sin, Vice and Evil
   • Norms and Values
   • Social Control and Conformity
   • Dimensions of Security
3. 3

   Measurement and Distribution of Crime

   4 topics

   • Sources of Crime Statistics
   • Dark Figure of Crime
   • Victimization Surveys and Self-Report Studies
   • Crime Trends and Patterns in Pakistan

Foundations of Criminology flashcards for CSS Criminology

18 of 50 cards from the Foundations of Criminology deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. Define 'crime' in the legal sense.

   An act or omission that violates a law in force, forbidden by the state, and punishable upon conviction. It must involve actus reus (guilty act) and usually mens rea (guilty mind).

2. What is the difference between 'crime' and 'criminality'?

   A crime is a specific law-violating act; criminality is the underlying propensity, tendency, or disposition of an individual or group to commit crimes over time.

3. What is 'criminal behaviour'?

   Conduct that breaches the criminal law and is liable to prosecution and punishment by the state; the observable actions through which criminality is expressed.

4. What are the two essential elements that generally constitute a crime?

   Actus reus (the guilty/prohibited act or omission) and mens rea (the guilty mind or criminal intent).

5. Who coined the term 'criminology' and in what year?

   Italian law professor Raffaele Garofalo coined the term 'criminologia' in 1885; the French anthropologist Paul Topinard used the French equivalent 'criminologie' around 1887.

6. How did Edwin Sutherland define criminology?

   As the body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon, including the processes of making laws, breaking laws, and reacting to the breaking of laws.

7. What are the three principal divisions of criminology according to Sutherland?

   (1) Sociology of law (making laws), (2) Criminal etiology (the causes of crime / breaking laws), and (3) Penology (reaction to law-breaking, i.e. punishment and treatment).

8. What is the scope (subject matter) of criminology?

   It studies the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behaviour, including law-making, law-breaking, the offender, the victim, and society's reaction to crime.

9. Is criminology a pure or applied science, and why?

   It is largely an applied, multidisciplinary social science: it draws on sociology, psychology, law, anthropology, and biology and applies knowledge to prevent and control crime rather than producing universal laws.

10. How does criminology differ from criminal law?

    Criminal law defines what acts are crimes and prescribes punishments (a normative legal discipline); criminology scientifically studies why crime occurs and how to control it (an empirical social science).

11. How does criminology differ from penology and criminal justice?

    Penology focuses specifically on punishment, corrections, and prison management; criminal justice studies the agencies (police, courts, prisons) that process offenders; criminology is broader, studying crime as a whole social phenomenon.

12. What does the phrase 'crime as a social problem' mean?

    Crime is treated not merely as individual wrongdoing but as a condition produced by social structures and conditions that harms society collectively and requires collective social solutions.

13. Name key social conditions associated with crime as a social problem.

    Poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, inequality, rapid urbanization, family breakdown, weak social control, and political/economic instability.

14. What is the 'consensus' view of crime?

    The view that laws reflect shared societal values and that crime is behaviour that violates the consensus norms agreed upon by the majority of society.

15. What is the 'conflict' view of crime?

    The view that laws reflect the interests of the powerful, and that crime is defined and applied to control and disadvantage the less powerful groups in society.

16. What is the 'interactionist' (labelling) view of crime?

    The view that no act is inherently criminal; behaviour becomes crime only when society's powerful moral entrepreneurs define and label it as such.

17. What are the major schools of criminological thought, in historical order?

    Pre-Classical (demonological), Classical, Neo-Classical, Positivist, and modern critical/sociological schools.

18. What is the core idea of the Classical School of criminology?

    Humans have free will and act rationally by weighing pleasure against pain; crime is a rational choice, so punishment must be proportionate and certain to deter it.

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