Criminology: Why it should be part of the school curriculum

I love writing, I always will love writing. Its an art, a language in itself, it can communicate with people unable to share their thoughts as society expects them too, this is how i speak this is how i get people to listen, i want to inspire others and show that you can really find passion in anything you do especially writing.

The world is an ever changing place - with technological advancements left right and centre, governmental laws reformed, social stereotypes challenged; however, the one thing that will always be with us is crime. Imagine a world overrun by violence, plagued by fear, populations diminished due to the simple fact that serial killers really do exist. That is where we are headed unless we take steps to educate our young people - that’s us by the way - to inoculate our young people against the epidemic of crime.

Criminology - the scientific study of crime and criminals It is clear to me that this should be introduced into the school curriculum with delay, as a matter of urgency.

We are given this picture of crime and homicide in an almost picturesque, romanticised way, through tv shows, documentaries, retellings. But there is never enough talk of what actually goes into finding these killers, stopping them and learning the reason why their minds feel the urge to commit such violence. Studying criminology helps to find this reason and use it to stop it ever happening again.

In criminology there are 6 main theories which are used to interpret an offender's mind and their motives for committing the crime. These theories are some of the things I believe would be great to know and discover in more depth within the classroom. For example:

strain theory - This theory states that individuals will turn to a life of crime when they experience stress or pressure, for example, because of a lack of money or the death of a loved one. I’m sure we can not only understand this, we can find it in our hearts to sympathise.

Social learning theory - The theory assumes that people learn from those around them and base their morals on what they see. So, those living in environments where criminal behaviour is encouraged are more likely to become criminals. - no one is born bad. They learn it from watching others.

So we can see that if we studied this theory in more detail, and applied it to examples of offenders in the past we can see that the areas these people surrounded themselves in negatively affected their mind and caused them to commit the crime, them being influenced badly. This can teach us that if we think about the people we look up to, take advice from, maybe even mimic, we can infer whether they are the best people to influence you and whether it can change who you really are.

Criminologists apply this to help improve population areas, make sure threats to people's morals and integrity are removed and the risk of crime in that area is diminished.

learning criminology would be no different from learning a subject such as psychology and sociology, the studying of the mind is as important as any core subject, we as a human race must learn to accept our minds, the mistakes they make and help us to learn the self control and good conscience which helps us adapt to the difficult and harsh world we face everyday.

But what about the people who say that it is a topic too sensitive for the young minds that may be faced with it?

If criminology was to become a part of the school curriculum; sub sectors such as victimology, investigative psychology and sadism would be introduced, with case studies of past crimes being used to apply the knowledge learnt, and with these lessons, naturally understanding the world and how people's minds work will come to you more easily Criminology is a topic which should be introduced plainly to outline the fact that if we are more educated on crime that it may be easier to deter yourself from crime, not associate with it, and help you in situations where you are faced with crime. It can also help strengthen human opinion and morals and help us make better decisions regarding society.

Having learnt criminology you have a very wide range of opportunities to carry the study on, by jobs in the law system, medical system and the police, criminology, psychology all these subjects link to almost everything we do, you wouldn't be left untouched with no opportunities for the future.

I believe that criminology is a subject that needs to be taught, it can change the outlook that society has on the world, and even create a world where crime may still be present but not as frequent, so do you want to learn the science as to how to make the world a better place?

Because with criminology you can.