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GROUP 3

BICUA CASTILLO CRASCO GONZALES JASMIN LEDRES MELANIO OCTAVIANO

When it is said that criminology is the scientific study of crime and criminals, one or two questions crop up: Is criminology a science? What does the word 'science' mean? Science is an approach to the problems of human knowledge based on the attempt to develop general principles about phenomena, derived from empirical observations. Science is both a body of knowledge and a process.

Criminology, the scientific study of criminals and criminal behavior. Criminologists attempt to build theories that explain why crimes occur and test those theories by observing behavior. Criminological theories help shape society's response to crime both in terms of preventing criminal behavior and responding to it after it occurs. Criminology seems to us, is by definition an applied discipline; its bounds are set by the criminal law, and perhaps by other sets of social rules and norms; and in studying law- and rule-breaking, and what is or should be done with the people involved, it is concerned wi th issues which are defined, by a rough consensus, a social problems, not just sociological problems. It is unhelpful and unrealistic, then, to pretend that the subjectmatter of criminology has no implications beyond the boundaries of academic theorizing

The generalizations are so stated that they can be tested by any competent person (Theodorson , 1969: 368-69). Further, the generalizations of a science do not reflect individual experiences, but rather the consensus of the scientific community. Science is based on the assumption that the bases and values of the observer can be relatively controlled so that a reasonable degree of objectivity is possible.

Scientific observations are made under controlled conditions, even though laboratories are not used where all variables may be totally controlled, yet it is possible to control quite a few variables even when studying human behavior.

THERE ARE SEVERAL STEPS IN THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF INVESTIGATION THESE ARE:

(1) defining the problem; (2) reviewing the literature; (3) formulating the hypotheses or making tentative propositions to explain certain facts; (4) planning the research design; (5) collecting the data and (6) drawing conclusions or making generalizations regarding the uniformities and regularities found in the facts through an inductive method (i.e., proceeding from the particular to the general).

A scientific law is a universal and predictive statement of a relationship among facts that has been repeatedly corroborated by scientific investigation. It is universal in the sense that the stated relationship is held always to occur under the specified conditions. It is predictive in that if the specified conditions are found, the relationship may be predicted to follow.

With these concepts of science and scientific method, criminology may be described as a science because it uses the method that is defined as science. However, if 'science' is referred to terms of the 'content', "the body of scientific findings", then criminology is NOT a science.

- Group 3

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