Scope Of Criminology

Throughout history, many have observed crime and crime control. Yet today, a full understanding of crime is a challenge due to the complexity of criminology. According to Neil Boyd, the advanced study of criminology is a fairly new concept when compared to crime and punishment throughout history (Boyd, 2015: 7). As a result, criminologists should employ various methods and credible approaches in the academic discipline of criminology (Boyd, 2015: 21), and as suggested by Boyd, inclusive criminology is needed to study the breaking of laws as well as society’s reaction to the breaking of laws. Along with inclusive criminology, studying crime through different methods, the media product and the purpose and function of criminal law is necessary in every case.

Since criminology is a vast discipline, crime could be observed through different lenses, which could be portrayed in the example of assisted suicide. Assisted suicide was illegal in Canada, and was a criminal offence under section 241(b) of the criminal code. However, in the case Carter v Canada (AG), the Supreme Court of Canada decided that the criminal prohibition of assisted suicide violates the Charter (Carter v. Canada, 2015). The decriminalization of assisted suicide requires the understanding of many disciplines that are hosted by criminology, as criminologists have to examine the legal history of the act, the effectiveness of the law, the harms imposed by the criminal sanctions, and both the intended and unintended consequences of the law (Boyd, 2015: