Our free criminology essays cover many topics including crime and criminal justice, criminals and victims, criminological problems and theories, victimisation, responses to crime and deviance, policy questions both nationally and internationally, and much more. Use them to inspire your own research and writing in this fascinating field of study.
John Bowlby’s attachment theory, otherwise known as ‘maternal deprivation’ is a well-known psychological theory of delinquency. Attachment theory originated from John Bowlby (1940) in his study of the effects of maternal deprivation on personality development. Bowlby developed attachment theory from his observations of children’s response to the breaking of bonds with their primary care giver. … Read more
Within the United Kingdom initially work with offenders took the form of social casework with the focus on the relationship and the overarching aim of rehabilitation (Fitzgibbon 2007). However the 1907 Probation of Offenders Act enshrined in legislation the function of a Probation Officer to ‘advise assist and befriend’ (Canton 2011:5). This is incorporated into … Read more
Defining Terrorism The term terrorism is mired in a definitional quagmire. Although several definitions have been postulated by experts, policy makers and security agencies; no consensus has been reached. This lack of definition has rendered the term an “opportunistic appropriation” (Saul, 2008, P. 3); and an “essentially contested concept” – “concepts the proper use of … Read more
Cyberstalking is an extension of traditional stalking as the offender uses a high-tech modus operandi to commit the crime (Petherick, 2007). It is defined as, “the repeated pursuit of an individual using internet-capable or electronic devices” (Reyns et al., 2012, p.1). And, repeated pursuits include any unwanted electronic communications that may be intimidating, coercive or … Read more
In the span of a little more than 6 minutes, 17 lives vanished and another 14 lives were harmed by one gunman with an AR-15 rifle. This was the reality for the students and faculty members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018. It was Valentine’s Day, the day of love and … Read more
This essay will analyse the effects the murder of Stephen Lawrence, which lead to the Macpherson report had on changes in police procedures and policy; especially concerning ethnic communities. The report itself includes seventy proposals of recommendation to tackle racism in the police force; with the race relations legislation being an important policy to improving … Read more
The juvenile justice system has made many changes since it was first developed in 1899. Courts put much more emphasis on the rehabilitation and intervention aspect than today where all we try to do is punish and hold someone accountable. There was also much more anonymity to prevent children from being seen as criminals that … Read more
Introduction: A racial caste is a group that is locked into an inferior position. Once placed into the racial caste you are deemed as a permanent second-class citizen. Our system perpetuates a racist divide in our country by creating (and re-creating) systematic ways to maintain white supremacy and black subordination. The United States, successfully, has … Read more
This essay considers whether it is more effective to punish prisoners or rehabilitate them to reduce crime and re-offending.
The death penalty is a very controversial issue in the United States because there are multiple perspectives to look at it through and through the end it’s either you’re for or against the death penalty. While there are many supporters of it, there is also a large amount of opposition. Currently, there are thirty-three states … Read more
The idea of reductivism is, ‘the idea that punishment can be justified by its ability to prevent crime from happening again in the future.’ Therefore the justification theories of punishment instructs the understanding that this theory rationales and justifies the nature of punishment based on the efficiency, or the fairness of the punishment which conforms … Read more
When focusing on what crime is, it is regarded ‘’as an act that breaks the law’’. As criminologists, we focus on why certain actions committed by individuals result in them being criminalised. Tappan’s definition of crime is ‘‘an intentional act in violation of the criminal law committed without defense of excuse and penalized by the … Read more
Intelligence gathering has been in existence in society since throughout human history. Human beings are known to hide or conceal personal information away from unwanted access. However, the concealed personal information has always been revealed especially to the government and some private firms. The revealed information gathered is usually used by states and private firms … Read more
In 2000, The Terrorism Act was introduced to remedy problems of increased terrorism. In this Act “terrorism” means the use or threat of action where– (a) the action falls within subsection (2)….. (5) In this Act a reference to action taken for the purposes of terrorism includes a reference to action taken for the benefit … Read more
The word anarchy comes from the Greek αναρχία (anarchíā), meaning “without ruler.” It calls for a society without a ruler rather than without order. Anarchy often exists where there is no central authority that has the ability to rule over the people. An anarchist is often a person who wants no central authority to control … Read more
Criminology essays address various factors associated with crime i.e. its nature, victim, range of theories and other social theories in order to arrive at a conclusion that answers the question.
The below sections give you fundamental guidelines on how to write a criminology essay.
Before writing the criminology essay, it is advised to divide the work into following steps:
Prior to writing, it is necessary to understand the question by asking ourselves about the requirement. Recollect whatever information you know about the question and indentify relevant sources from where you can get additional information that can address the question appropriately. Criminological essays are more often related to types of crime or associated theories. So it is necessary to understand the question beforehand, consider the various parts of the questions and try to explain the inter-relationships among them. Compare the objects in questions, present an argument and make critical observations on how a particular question needs to be answered. For example, if the question is to analyse various criminological theories in respect to a particular crime, you are being asked to present an argument on available theories and find correlation to the crime in question. There are valuable resources on key essay terms published by the University of Manchester and it may be a useful resource before beginning the essay.
Analyzing the question is an important activity before beginning to write the essay. Once you have detailed analysis of the questions, you are aware of the terms that need to be researched, what sort of information will be required and what method should be used to collect the information which can form the basis of answering the question. Gathering information becomes easier when you know the exact term that needs to be researched. For instance, in the above example, various criminological theories need to be analysed in particular. ‘Criminological theories’ needs to be researched from various sources which brings us plenty of information. Well, sources for criminology research are numerous for e.g. ISI web of knowledge, BUBL link catalogue, Criminology research council, Institute of Criminology and many other agencies. Nevertheless, the internet provides links to websites where papers on criminology are published and are available for free as well as on subscription.
After thorough research is done on the topic and necessary information collected, the next step is to design a structure in such a way that the gathered information is grouped under various themes and organise the themes into a meaningful order. The information should be organised under different sub-heads so that it’s easy to use the information without confusion. Such arrangement will help you in deciding what you are going to say in the essay. This will form the introduction and will lay the basis for argument in the coming sections. The Introduction should demonstrate the understanding and importance of the research question and how the writer is going to present the answer. The next thing is to ‘say whatever you want to say’ about the topic in question and present a valid argument through critical analysis. Then note down every point from the resources, and whatever you intend to say in the introduction and body, which will finally conclude the answer providing befitting response to the question.
Formatting in essay writing is of paramount importance. There are certain institutions, universities and other agencies that set guidelines regarding margin, font size, style and the way of presentation. Nevertheless, it is necessary to ensure that essay is formatted using classic fonts like Times New Roman or Arial, sized at 10 or 12 with line spacing of 1.5 or double and that the margins are 1″ on all sides of the A4 paper.
Knowing how to write a criminology essay is not only about writing the actual essay. It is also about the content you use, and your use of spelling and grammar. Once you feel that paper has been completed, read through the paper so as to ensure that any missing content or unnecessary statements are deleted or added and to rectify spelling and grammatical errors.
Because you have to refer to various sources that include books, websites, articles, periodicals, etc, it is inevitable that we are going to use the information collected from these sources. It is necessary to acknowledge the rightful author whose information has been used through appropriate citation and referencing. This is necessary to avoid plagiarism which is a serious offence and continuous instances of plagiarism will result in failure and dismissal. Using a free tool such as https://www.plagiarismchecker.net can be helpful to ensure you haven’t accidentally plagiarised.
There are guidelines that have been set by institutions like Modern Language Associations (MLA), American Psychological Associations (APA), Harvard, etc. which determine the style of in-text citations and referencing. Therefore, be sure to cite the sources and provide the full list of sources used in the referencing section. In text citation can be as follows:
Labeling theory is discussed by (Author, date)…
Similarly, this statement can be presented as: Author (date) mentioned labeling theory as…
For instance, if direct quotations are used in the text, it can be presented as:
“Labeling theory is the work of…” (Author, Date, Page Nos).
All the sources mentioned in the text are required to be presented in the reference list on the final page like:
For Book
Last Name, Initial (year) Title of the Book, Ed. Place: Publisher’s Name
For Chapter in a book:
Last Name, Initial (Year) Title of the Chapter, In Initial (Ed) . Title of the Book, Place: Publisher’s Name
Journal Article:
Last Name, Initial (Year) Title of the Article Journal Title, Volume No., Page No.
We hope you liked reading our free ‘how to write a criminology essay’ guide.
