I've had the opportunity to study a bit of criminology during this semester. I'm aiming for a refreshing perspective on my home turf - risk and security. Sort of getting into the minds of malicious individuals out there.
Crime has been around as long as there have been laws but criminology in a modern sense is a surprisingly young topic of research. A 19th century Italian doctor-turned-professor - Lombroso - is generally regarded its pioneer. So criminology is young and maybe not entirely mature yet. Numerous schools still coexist and they each have their preferred model, trying to explain deviant behavior (or conformity for that matter!) in a biological, economic or maybe psychological context. Or even deconstructing crime itself into a haze of postmodern subjectivity: "there's no way of understanding an objective reality so let's stop trying!".
Not every theory is enlightening and some seem hopelessly obsolete. I'm amazed to learn that there are still Marxists around, for instance. But the dynamic mix of contradictory views, many of which appearing to be based on at least a certain amount of solid reasoning, is very interesting. To be continued...