Criminology cannot be considered as a science because it has not yet acquired universal validity. It is not stable and homogeneous as it varies from one time and place to another. The arbitrary defi

Question: The Various Aspect of Criminology Criminology cannot be considered as a science because it has not yet acquired universal validity. It is not stable and homogeneous as it varies from one time and place to another. The arbitrary definition of crime is made by the legislature and not drawn up by the scientist for scientific purposes. Nature of Criminology Criminology is maybe treated as a science when applied to law enforcement and crime prevention under the following nature; 1. It is an applied science in the study of the causes of crimes, anthropology, sociology, psychology and other natural sciences may be applied. While in crime detection, chemistry, medicine, physics, mathematics, ballistics, polygraphy, legal medicine, questioned documents examination may be utilized. This is called instrumentation. 2. It is a social science-in as much as the crime is a social creation that it exist in society being a social phenomenon, its study must be considered as a social science. 3. It is dynamic - criminology changes as social conditions changes. It is concomitant with the advancement of other sciences that have been applied to it. 4. It is nationalistic - the study of crimes must be in relation with the existing criminal law within a territory or country. Important Personalities who contributed in the Study of Criminology 1. Dr. Charles Goring - an English statistician, who studied the case of 2,000 convicts and found that heredity is more influential as determiner of criminal behavior than environment. 2. Alphonse Bertillon - one who originated a system of classifying criminals according to bodily measurements. 3. Edwin H. Sutherland- an authority in criminology, who in his book "Principles of Criminology," considers criminology not a science, but it has hopes of becoming a science. 4. George L. Wilker argued that criminology cannot possibly become a science. Accordingly, general propositions of universal validity are the essence of science; such proposition can be made only regarding stable and homogenous units but varies from one time to another; therefore, universal proposition cannot be made regarding crime, and scientific studies criminal behavior are impossible. 5. Raffaele Garofalo,- another Italian authority in criminology that developed a concept of the natural crime and defined it as a violation of the prevalent sentiments of piety and probity. 6. Willem A. Bonger - an international authority in criminology, who classified crimes by motives of the offenders as economic crimes, sexual crimes, political crimes and miscellaneous crimes with vengeance as the principal motive. 7. Henry H. Goddard advocated the theory that "feeblemindedness" inherited as Mendelian unit, causes crime for the reason that a feebleminded person is unable to appreciate the consequences of his behavior or appreciate the meaning of law. 8. David W. Maurer an American authority in police administration who, in his book "The Big Con," once said "the dominant culture could control the predatory cultures without difficulty, and what is more, it would exterminate them, for no criminal subculture can operate continuously professionally without the connivance of the law." and 9. Peter Rentzel - established a workhouse on 1669 in Hamburg at his own expense because he had observed that prostitutes and thieves were made worse instead of better by pillory, and he hoped that they might be improved by work and religious instruction in the workhouse. 10. John Howard - the great prison who wrote, "The State of Prisons in England in 1777, after a personal investigation of practically all the prisons in England. Write a reflection about this.