Criminology Overview

Our Vision

To take criminology from learning in the classroom into a vocational aspiration and reality.
Criminology is a subject which combines elements of Law, Sociology and Psychology to look at different aspects of crime; including types of crime, why people commit crime and ways in which crime is dealt with.

Through the study of Criminology at Aylesford School students will achieve their potential and acquire the skills required for:

• Independent learning and development
• a range of generic and transferable skills
• the ability to solve problems
• the skills of project based research, development and presentation so important in the work place
• the fundamental ability to work alongside other professionals, in a professional environment
• the ability to apply learning in vocational contexts

Changing Awareness of Crime

• Not all types of crime are alike. What different types of crime take place in our society?
• What kinds of crime exist about which we know very little, or which are simply not reported to the police and the media?
• How do we explain people’s reluctance to come forward about crimes of which they have been the victim?
• Some crimes which seem inoffensive, such as counterfeiting of designer goods, have actually been linked to the funding of more serious crime such as terrorism and people trafficking; so why do people turn a ‘blind eye’ to these ‘mild’ crimes?
• What methods have governments and other agencies used to raise social awareness of these crimes?/

Criminological Theories

• How do we decide what behaviour is criminal? What is the difference between criminal behaviour and deviance?
• How do we explain why people commit crime? What makes someone a serial killer, or abusive to their own families?
• Criminologists have produced theoretical explanations of why people commit crime, but which is the most useful?
• Are these theories relevant to all types of crime? What can we learn from the strengths and weaknesses of each?
• How can these theories be applied to real life scenarios and real life crimes?
• Knowing about the different types of crime and the criminological approaches to theory will give you a sharper insight into the kind of thinking used by experts and politicians to explain crime and criminality

Crime Scene to Courtroom

• What are the roles of personnel involved when a crime is detected?
• What investigative techniques are available to investigators to help to identify the culprit?
• Do techniques differ depending on the type of crime being investigated?
• What happens to a suspect once charged by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)?
• What safeguards are in place to ensure a suspect has a fair trial?
• The criminal trial process involves many different people and agencies. Learning about the roles of these will give you a clearer insight into what happens once a crime is detected and the process that leads to either a guilty or non-guilty verdict.

Crime and Punishment

• Why do most of us tend to obey the law even when to do so is against our own interests?
• What social institutions have we developed to ensure that people do obey laws?
• What happens to those who violate our legal system? Why do we punish people?
• How do we punish people?
• What organisations do we have in our society to control criminality or those who will not abide by the social rules that most of us follow?
• We spend a great deal of taxpayers’ money on social control, so how effective are these organisations in dealing with criminality?