161 Criminology Essay Topics

🏆 Best Essay Topics on Criminology

1. Criminological Theories in the Case of Chris Watts
2. Use of Statistics in Criminal Justice and Criminology
3. How the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights Were Influenced by the Classical School of Criminology?
4. Forensic Science: Killing of JonBenet Ramsey
5. Theories of Crime in Forensic Psychology
6. Criminological Theories on Community-Based Rehabilitation
7. Contemporary Theories in Criminology

✍️ Criminology Essay Topics for College

1. Criminology Discipline and Theories

   The discipline of criminology helps to understand why individuals commit particular crimes. This essay will examine routine activities theory and situation choice theory and their relation to crime.
2. Chapter 9 of “Criminology Today” by Schmalleger

   According to the conflict perspective, conflicts can never be resolved since they are essential in social life. Social order rests on law, which is controlled by the powerful.
3. Feminist Perspectives’ Contribution to Criminology

   The principles of gender inclusivity, equality, and cultural implications bear fundamental roles in the development of criminology perspectives.
4. Robert Merton’s Strain Theory in Criminology

   Robert Merton’s strain theory explains the link between crime and adverse social conditions and how the former may be precipitated by the latter.
5. Criminology: Femininity and the Upsurge of Ladettes

   In recent years, women in highly industrialized countries are drinking more and behaving more badly than men. These women are called ladettes.
6. Hernando Washington Case. Criminology

   The history of humanity has seen multiple cases of extreme violence, and such instances can hardly ever be justified by any factors.
7. Correlational Design in Forensic Psychology

   Correlational designs are actively used in forensic psychology research in order to determine the meaningful relations between different types of variables.
8. Criminological Theory: Crime Theories and Criminal Behavior

   Criminal behavior is a type of behavior of a person who commits a crime. It is interesting to know what drives people to commit crimes and how to control these intentions.
9. Criminology Today by Frank Schmalleger

   This paper discusses the first chapter from the book Criminology Today by Schmalleger that tells about the basic topics and defines the basic term.
10. The Rise of Criminological Conflict Theory

    Three key factors that explain the emergence of conflict theory are the influence of the Vietnam War, the rise of the counterculture, and anti-discrimination movements.
11. Labeling Theory and Critical Criminology: Sociological Research

    Sociologists are researching offense and deviance to gain more knowledge about the motivations and attitudes of people involved applying theories of criminology based on sociology.
12. Classical and Positivist Schools of Criminology

    General and specific deterrence use the threat of negative consequences for illegal acts to reduce crime rates.
13. Stabbing Cases in London in Relation to Durkheim’s Criminological Theory

    The two main questions about criminal and deviant acts are what constitutes such an act and whether it should be punished.
14. Forensic Psychology and Criminal Profiling

    The paper seeks to explore insight into the nature of criminal investigative psychology and a comprehensive evaluation of the practice in solving crime.
15. Criminology as a Science: Cause and Effect

    Criminology is a study of the nature and degree of the problem of crime in society. For years criminologists have been trying to unravel criminal behavior.
16. Full-Service Crime Laboratory: Forensic Science

    Forensic scientists study and analyze evidence from crime scenes and other locations to produce objective results that can aid in the investigation and prosecution of criminals.
17. Variance Analysis in Criminal Justice and Criminology

    The paper states that there are several limitations associated with the ANOVA technique. It may be not suitable against a specific hypothesis.
18. Criminological Conflict Theory by Sykes

    Sykes identified three important elements, which he used to elucidate the criminological conflict theory. Sykes highlighted the existence of profound skepticism towards any theory.
19. Criminology: The Peace-Making Model

    The purpose of this article is to consider the peacekeeping model in criminology as an alternative to the criminal justice system to solve the problem of a growing crime rate.
20. Postmodern Criminology: The Violence of the Language

    According to Arrigo (2019), postmodern criminology recognizes the specific value of language as a non-neutral, politically charged instrument of communication.
21. Levels of Measurement: Criminal Justice and Criminology

    The choice of a specific level is predicated on the type of analysis that must be conducted given the present objective.
22. Criminology and Impact of Automation Technology

    The sole objective of this study is to determine to what extent automation is embraced by law agencies and authorities to solve crimes with a faster and more accurate technique.
23. The Use of Statistics in Criminal Justice and Criminology

    This paper discusses small-sample confidence intervals for means and confidence intervals with proportions and percentages in criminal justice and criminology.

👍 Good Criminology Research Topics & Essay Examples

1. Criminological Theory: Context and Consequences. The Notion of Criminality and Crime

   The exploration of the notion of criminality and crime is essential for the prevention and management thereof.
2. “Criminological Theory: Context and Consequences” the Book by Lilly, J., Cullen, F., & Ball, R.

   Criminological Theory addresses not only the evolving and expanding topic of trends in criminological thought but also tries to achieve a level of explanation.
3. Incorporating Criminological Theories Into Policymaking

   Criminological theories, primarily behavioral and social learning, are pivotal to the policymaking process. They provide insights into certain situations.
4. Chapter 7 of Statistics for Criminology and Criminal Justice

   Chapter 7 of Statistics for Criminology and Criminal Justice analyzes populations, sampling distributions, and the sample related to criminal-justice statistics and criminology.
5. Marxist Criminological Paradigm

   The essence of the Marxist criminological paradigm consists of overthrowing the bourgeoisie, as a ruling class, and establishing the so-called dictatorship of the proletariat.
6. Criminology and Victimology: Victim Stereotypes in Criminal Justice

   The paper shall look at this matter in relation to female perpetrated violence as well as male experiences of sexual violence and racial minority victims.
7. Chapter 8 of “Criminology Today” by F. Schmalleger

   According to social process theories, criminal behavior that an individual acquires remains lifelong because it is strengthened by the same social issues that have caused it.
8. Experimental Psychology and Forensic Psychology

   Psychology is a powerful field of study aimed at addressing a wide range of human problems. The field can be divided into two specialties. These include experimental and forensic psychology.
9. Chapter 10 of “Criminological Theory” by Lilly et al.

   This paper elaborates on the problem of feminism and criminology. The paper addresses chapter 10 of the book “Criminological Theory” by Lilly et al. as the source material.
10. Forensic Psychology: Important Issues

    Forensic psychologists consider that task of determining insanity extremely difficult. There is a difference between insanity as a psychological condition and a legal concept.
11. Ethical Issues in Forensic Psychology

    Psychologists face many moral dilemmas in law due to the field’s nature because they are responsible for deciding people’s fates, which puts pressure on them.
12. “Introduction to Criminology” Book by Hagan

    In “Introduction to criminology”, Hagan explains survey research and uses it to investigate essential questions that the criminal justice system faces.
13. Sexual Assault: Criminology

    This paper discusses an act of sexual assault. The paper gives the definition of rape, social, personal, and psychosocial factors.
14. Integrity as a Key Value: Criminology and War

    Integrity is included in the list of the LEADERSHIP values, which exist to direct military servicemembers toward appropriate conduct.
15. Forensic Psychology Practice Standards for Inmates

    It is vital for the inmates to have frequent access to psychological assessments because the majority of the inmates end up with psychological problems.
16. Forensic Psychology and Its Essential Feature in the Modern World

    The essay defines the origins of forensic psychology, analyzes its role in various fields and spheres, and identifies its essential feature in the modern world.
17. Researching Environmental Criminology

    Environmental criminology is the study of crime and criminality in connection with specific places and with how individuals and organizations form their activities in space.
18. Three Case Briefs in Criminology

    This paper gives three case briefs in criminology. Cases are “Macomber v. Dillman Case”, “Isbell v. Brighton Area Schools Case”, and “Wilen v. Falkenstein Case”.
19. Analysis of Forensic Psychology Practice

    The important feature of the whole sphere of forensic psychology practice is the ability to testify in court, reformulating psychological findings into the legal language, etc
20. Feminism and Criminology in the Modern Justice System

    Feminist research is a promising method for studying the psychography of crime, motivation, and the introduction of women’s experience in the field of forensic science.
21. Juvenile Forensic Psychology: Contemporary Concern

    The present juvenile forensic psychology system has many pitfalls that have compromised the wellbeing and development of the young offenders admitted within these institutions.
22. Statistical Significance and Effect Size in Forensic Psychology

    Nee and Farman evaluated the effectiveness of using dialectical behavior therapy for treating borderline personality disorder in the UK female prisons.
23. Criminological Theory: Context and Consequences

    The theory of social control seems logical and valid despite controversies and the diversity of theoretical approaches to the reasons of crime.
24. Forensic Psychology and Criminal Behavior

    This essay aimed to apply forensic psychology and criminal behavior to address dissociative identity disorder, antisocial behavior, and depersonalization disorder.
25. Death Penalty as Viewed within the Framework of Retributive Justice

    Modern society strives to develop compassion and understanding and reduce cruelty, as the value of human life and individuality is steadily growing.

🌶️ Hot Criminology Ideas to Write about

1. Reasoning Errors: Criminal Justice and Criminology

   The analysis of the review of conclusions in the systems of expert institutions of various departments indicates that experts make various kinds of mistakes and omissions.
2. Researching of Emerging Technologies in Criminology

   This paper reviews the advantages and disadvantages of computer technology for crime investigation and law enforcement and concludes that the former outweighs the latter.
3. Criminology: Legal Rights Afforded to the Accused

   The essay discusses the police actions of arrest and the main features of the arrangement process. The case of John Doe shows criminal procedure specifics.
4. Statistics for Criminology and Criminal Justice

   Dispersion is important as it is not enough to merely know the measures of central tendency to make assumptions about a distribution.
5. Overview of the Theories of Criminology

   Criminology refers to a body that focuses on crime as a social phenomenon. Criminologists adopt several behavioral and social sciences and methods of understanding crime.
6. Broken Window Theory In Criminology

   In criminology, the broken window theory is often used to describe how bringing order into society can help to reduce crime.
7. Theories That Explain Criminal Activities and Criminology

   Academicians have come up with theories that explain why people engage in crime. The theories are classified which may be psychological, biological, or sociological.
8. Criminology: The Aboriginal Crisis

   The aboriginal people have been living under confinement, in the reserves for a long time. These laws are still under a lot of legal constraints.
9. Are Marxist Criminologists Right to See Crime Control as Class Control?

   Marxist criminology is comparable to functionalist theories, which lay emphasis on the production of continuity and stability in any society.
10. Extinction Rebellion: A Criminological Assessment

    The paper aims at exploring whether Extinction Rebellion protestors are criminals using the narrative criminology framework, transgression theory, and green criminology theory.
11. Forensic Science: Psychological Analysis

    Human behavior can be evaluated by studying the functioning of the human mind. This is important information in crime profiling among other operations in forensic psychology.
12. Criminology: About Corporate Fraud

    This article focuses on fraud: professional fraud and its types, accounting fraud, and conflicts of interest are considered.
13. The Due Process: Criminology

    The due process clause has been a very essential clause to the ordinary citizens since it is a means of assurance that every freeman has the freedom to enjoy his rights.
14. Green Criminology: Environmental Harm in the Niger Delta

    This essay analyzes environmental harm in the Niger Delta, Nigeria using the Green Criminological analysis of victimization and offenders.
15. Criminology: Four Types of Evidence

    There are basically four types of evidence. Every piece of evidence should be analyzed several times throughout the actual investigation by following all the required steps.
16. Criminology: The Social Control Theory

    For criminologists, the social control theory means that an effective approach to reducing crime might be to change not individuals but their social contexts.
17. The Role of Forensic Psychology in the Investigation

    Confidentiality is an essential feature of a therapeutic bond. Forensic psychologists are bound by a code of ethics to safeguard clients’ information.
18. Forensic Psychology: Graham v. Florida and Sullivan v. Florida

    The question in the two cases Graham v. Florida and Sullivan v. Florida was juvenile sentencing. The offenders claimed their life prison sentences for rape and robbery.
19. Forensic Psychology: Subspecialties and Roles

    Of my specific interests have been basically two subspecialties of forensic psychology. These include correctional psychology as well as police psychology.
20. Legal Insanity in Criminology

    In America, defendants are said to be legally insane if they suffer from cognitive disorder or lack the capabilities to abstain from criminal behaviors.
21. Forensic Psychology in the Correctional Subspecialty

    Psychological professionals have the role of ensuring that the released convicts have gathered enough knowledge and understanding for them to fit in the society.
22. Criminological Theories Assessment and Personal Criminological Theory

    This essay aims to briefly cover the various criminological theories in vogue and offer the author’s own assessment as to which theory deserves greater credibility.
23. “Criminological Theory: Context and Consequences”: Evaluation

    The criminal law system works in such a way that all offenses are stopped, and corresponding penalties provided by the law are implemented.
24. Linguistics and Law: Forensic Letters

    This paper review articles The Multi-Genre Analysis of Barrister’s Opinion by Hafner and Professional Citation Practices in Child Maltreatment Forensic Letters by Schryer et al.
25. Frank Hagan’s Textbook “Introduction to Criminology”

    Throughout the chapters, Frank Hagan deliberately made reference to positivism criminological theory as such, which was largely discredited.
26. Assistance of a Forensic Psychologist in Legal Cases

    Forensic psychologists are commonly invited to provide expert consultation and share their observations that might be useful to the judicial system.

🎓 Most Interesting Criminology Research Titles

1. Transnational Crime and Global Criminology: Definitional, Typological, and Contextual Conundrums
2. Rational Choice, Deterrence, and Social Learning Theory in Criminology
3. Comparing Cultures and Crime: Challenges, Prospects, and Problems for a Global Criminology
4. The Distinction Between Conflict and Radical Criminology
5. How the Study of Political Extremism Has Reshaped Criminology
6. Contribution of Positivist Criminology to the Understanding of the Causes of Crime
7. Overcoming the Neglect of Social Process in Cross‐National and Comparative Criminology
8. The Development of Criminology: From Traditional to Contemporary Views on Crime and Its Causation
9. Racism, Ethnicity, and Criminology: Developing Minority Perspectives
10. Activist Criminology: Criminologists’ Responsibility to Advocate for Social and Legal Justice
11. The Challenges of Doing Criminology in the Big Data Era: Towards a Digital and Data-Driven Approach
12. Radical Criminology and Marxism: A Fallible Relationship
13. Ontological Shift in Classical Criminology: Engagement With the New Sciences
14. Hot Spots of Predatory Crime: Routine Activities and the Criminology of Place
15. The Criminology of Genocide: The Death and Rape of Darfur
16. Future Applications of Big Data in Environmental Criminology
17. Overcoming the Crisis in Critical Criminology: Toward a Grounded Labeling Theory
18. Toward an Analytical Criminology: The Micro-Macro Problem, Causal Mechanisms, and Public Policy
19. The Utility of the Deviant Case in the Development of Criminological Theory
20. In Search of a Critical Mass: Do Black Lives Matter in Criminology?
21. Crime and Criminology in the Eye of the Novelist: Trends in the 19th Century Literature
22. Income Inequality and Homicide Rates: Cross-National Data and Criminological Theories
23. Women & Crime: The Failure of Traditional Theories and the Rise of Feminist Criminology
24. Criminology Studies: How Fear of Crime Affects Punitive Attitudes
25. Recent Developments in Criminological Theory: Toward Disciplinary Diversity and Theoretical Integration

💡 Simple Criminology Essay Ideas

1. Critical Criminology: The Critique of Domination, Inequality, and Injustice
2. Anti-racism in Criminology: An Oxymoron?
3. Heredity or Milieu: The Foundations of Modern European Criminological Theory
4. Classical and Contemporary Criminological Theory in Understanding Young People’s Drug Use
5. Theories of Action in Criminology: Learning Theory and Rational Choice Approaches
6. Criminalization or Instrumentalism: New Trends in the Field of Border Criminology
7. Eco-Justice and the Moral Fissures of Green Criminology
8. The Impact of Criminological Theory on Community Corrections Practice
9. Feminism and Critical Criminology: Confronting Genealogies
10. Learning From Criminals: Active Offender Research for Criminology
11. Offending Patterns in Developmental and Life-Course Criminology
12. Big Data and Criminology From an AI Perspective
13. Psychological and Criminological Factors Associated With Desistance From Violence
14. Connecting Criminology and Sociology of Health & Illness
15. Assessment of the Current Status and Future Directions in Criminology
16. Using Basic Neurobiological Measures in Criminological Research
17. Green Criminology: Capitalism, Green Crime & Justice, and Environmental Destruction
18. The Foundation and Re‐Emergence of Classical Thought in Criminological Theory
19. Conservation Criminology, Environmental Crime, and Risk: An Application to Climate Change
20. Feminist and Queer Criminology: A Vital Place for Theorizing LGBTQ Youth
21. Criminological Fiction: What Is It Good For?
22. Investigating the Applicability of Macro-Level Criminology Theory to Terrorism
23. Criminological Theory in Understanding of Cybercrime Offending and Victimization
24. The Nurture Versus Biosocial Debate in Criminology
25. Developmental Theories and Criminometric Methods in Modern Criminology

❓ Criminology Research Questions

1. How Does Criminology Cooperate With Other Disciplines to Solve Crimes?
2. Is Criminology a Social or Behavioral Science?
3. How Does the Study of Criminology Relate to the Detection or Deterrence of Fraud?
4. What Are the Types of Norms in Criminology?
5. How Do Criminology Schools Differ?
6. What Is Criminological Research?
7. How Important Is the Role of Punishment in Neoclassical Criminology?
8. What Is the Life Course Theory of Criminology?
9. Who Is the Father of Modern Criminology?
10. What Did Early Criminology Focus On?
11. What Is the Difference Between Classical and Positivist Schools of Criminology?
12. Why Is Personal Identification Necessary for Criminology?
13. What Is the Difference Between Criminology and Applied Criminology?
14. What Is Evidence-Based Criminology?
15. Are Criminology and Criminal Justice the Same?
16. Who Rejected the Doctrine of Free Will in Criminology?
17. What Are the Fundamental Propositions of Feminist Criminology?
18. Is There a Difference Between Criminology and Victimology?
19. What Is the Bell Curve in Criminology?
20. Why Do People Commit Crimes, According to Criminology?
21. What Is the Difference Between Criminology and Criminal Psychology?
22. What Is Contemporary Criminology?
23. How Do Criminological Theories Relate to White Collar Crime?
24. What Are the Main Features and Concepts of Classical Criminology?
25. What Is the Positivist School of Criminology?
26. Who Are the Forerunners of Classical Thought in Criminology?
27. What Role Does Attachment Theory Play in Criminology?
28. Why Do Sociological Criminology Theories Help With Our Understanding of Crimes?
29. How Is Victimization Used in Criminology?
30. What Is Albert Cohen’s Theory of Subculture Formation in Criminology?