crime studies Essay

Submitted By nedwards877
Words: 361
Pages: 2

Crime is a behavior that is taboo or unacceptable in society because it is harmful to oneself or others, the environment as well as society as a whole or simply deemed as improper conduct based on behavioral standards. Criminalization is the process of creating a perception that a behavior should be prohibited according to societal norms, mass media and politics to create and perpetuate a negative connotation surrounding the activity so that engaging it can be outlawed and legislation can also be made to support the illegality.
It is most difficult to agree on a clear definition of crime because the definition of crime changes as the world evolves and technology progresses creating more activity that can be manipulated and criminalized. According to law in the modern society the current form of society, bureaucracy and standards in place based on culture and politics. The advantages of using incarcerated individuals for criminological research are the authenticity of their life experiences, their criminal knowledge annd their easy accessibility/availability. Working with convicted criminals as a source can also be disadvantageous as their credibility can be easily criticized and their willingness to participate and lastly their inability to go engage themselves without compromising honesty for integrity. It also can be viewed as opportunistic on the part of the criminologist from a ethical standpoint to "use" incarcerated individuals whose participation benefits them.