Written by: Thomas J. Bernard Last Updated

Criminology, police: police officer dusting for fingerprints [Credit: Bill Cooke/AP]police: police officer dusting for fingerprintsBill Cooke/APscientific study of the nonlegal aspects of crime and delinquency, including its causes, correction, and prevention, from the viewpoints of such diverse disciplines as anthropology, biology, psychology and psychiatry, economics, sociology, and statistics.

Viewed from a legal perspective, the term crime refers to individual criminal actions (e.g., a burglary) and the societal response to those actions (e.g., a sentence of three years in prison). By comparison, the field of criminology incorporates and examines broader knowledge about crime and criminals. For example, criminologists have attempted to understand why some people are more or less likely to engage in ... (100 of 5,248 words)

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