www.dotcomhunter.com What are the Basics of Critical Criminology? While criminology is the scientific study of the interactions that inh erently occur between criminals and the public or the criminal element s and society, critical criminology is slightly different. This conce pt of criminology has a solid foundation in the belief that a singular crime is considered to be criminal due to the historical and social b eliefs at the time. For example, one famous illustration of this is t hat homosexuality was considered to be illegal for individuals in the United Kingdom. This type of interaction between individuals was decl ared legal for men over 21, but this was not until 1967. Since there i s nothing within the act that changed over the years, the only thing t hat changed was the judicial government at the time and what they beli eved was morally right or wrong. Overall, there is nothing deemed inh erently wrong about the act itself. One of the main questions that in dividuals interested in critical criminology need to ask themselves wh ether or not an act is a crime because it is wrong or whether it is me rely a crime because someone with the elected power decided to make it so. Within critical criminology, there are a number of theories that have been formed. Conflict theories were never very popular within the Uni ted States, in part due to the fact that during the late 1970’s, when critical criminology was more popular, there were many criminology dep artments that were closed due to political reasons. Other critical cr iminologists were concerned that conflict theories did not properly ad dress the different issues that faced society. Critics of conflict th eories that exist in criminology maintain that these individuals ignor ed some important differences in the level of criminal activities betw een socialist and capitalist societies. Japan and Switzerland are two countries that are socialist in nature, but they have extremely low r ates of crime in their countries, as compared to capitalist societies like the United States of America. In feminist theories, individuals attempt to give another dimension t o criminology, in the form of gender. The supporters of these theori es are for the most part trying to bring a new form of awareness to t he way crime is viewed. Instead of focusing on criminals who are mal e performing crimes against other males, it is argued that criminolog ists need to investigate more how the female affects this preconceive d approach to crime. Many parties concerned with this type of critic al approach to criminology also try to educate other female criminolo gists. This is important to this group of individuals because too ma ny times, female criminologists will adopt the male perspective and p erpetuate the same cycle of applying male concepts on females in the world of crime. A gift from www.dotcomhunter.comwww.dotcomhunter.com While there are other theories that are applicable in the field of cri minology, such as postmodern and peacemaking theories, the conflict an d feminist theories are the most prevalent ones within the world of cr iminology at large. By looking at the way that different theories can be applied to criminology and the different areas that fall under the term, individuals are able to learn more about the society in which t hey live. Another point that can be explored would be how the crimina l relates to the society in which the crime is committed. A gift from www.dotcomhunter.com