criminology dissertation ideas on prisons

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167 Top Criminology Dissertation Ideas

Are you taking criminology in college, and it is time to work on your dissertation, but it appears challenging? Many university students get stuck even before starting, but there is no need to worry because we are here to hold your hand. The first, and we must emphasize, most crucial step, is picking the title of your dissertation. So, how do you select the right criminology dissertation topic?

The best title should be unique, interesting, and have ample resources to help you craft a paper that will impress your professor and the assessment committee. To make selecting the best easier, we have picked the hottest 167 criminology dissertation ideas for you. Keep reading to identify the preferred option and use it as it is or tweak a little to fit your preference.

Criminology Dissertation Ideas on Terrorism

• Religious ideologies: Can they be a source of terrorism?
• Analyzing the relationship between media and terrorism.
• Political tensions: Are they to blame for the ever-growing number of militias on the globe?
• Comparing the trends of terror in the 19 th and 20 th centuries: A literature review.
• What are the leading causes and motivations of terrorism?
• Analyzing literature on identity theft and social media.
• What motivates women to join ISIS?
• Comparing male and female serial killers: What are the main differences?
• How does the US respond to terror threats?
• The US efforts to combat terror after the 9/11 attack: Are they effective?
• Was the US justified in killing Osama Bin Laden instead of taking him to court?
• Comparing two known terror networks of your choice in different countries.
• Terrorism from the viewpoint of international law.
• Islamic charities: Are they the main sources of finance for terrorists?
• Are recent attacks by Hamas and Israel acts of terrorism?

Criminology Dissertation Ideas about Drugs

• Analyzing the relationship between people of various backgrounds and police.
• What are the most effective methods of preventing drug trafficking internationally?
• Analyzing the effectiveness of drug courts.
• Reversible and irreversible impacts of drug abuse.
• People incarcerated for drug abuse: What are the impacts on their children?
• Club culture: How does it enhance drug abuse in the society?
• Preventing drug abuse in society: Which is more effective between voluntary learning and mandatory examination?
• Reviewing the harm done to society by drugs.
• Comparing the impacts of cannabis and alcohol on a person’s behavior.
• The most abused drugs and their effects on societal behavior.
• Cannabis and deviant behavior among youths: What is the relationship?
• Cannabis legalization: Is it a good idea? What should we expect in the coming years?
• Drug use and youth arrests: A case study of Paris, France.
• Comparing drug court operations in the UK and USA.
• War on drugs in the US: Can it solve the problem of drug abuse and crime?
• Drug testing in school.
• The influence of drugs on sexual assaults.
• Prostitution: A study of the main risk groups in the UK.
• Drug traffic tracking strategies used in the UK.
• Drug abuse in prison cells: What are the causes and effects?

Criminal Law EPQ Questions

• Harassment in school and workplace: What are the main strategies adopted to address the problem in the UK?
• Homicides: A review of motivations that make people kill.
• Are the strategies adopted by your state enough to counter juvenile delinquency?
• What is the relationship between crime in Texas and people living with mental disorders?
• Domestic violence: What are the rights of victims?
• How can the marginalized get access to justice? A case study of the Netherlands.
• A study of the main types of robberies reported in the US in the 20 th century.
• Arson investigations: How do investigators determine whether the fire was deliberate or accidental?
• What is the relationship between substance abuse and poor schooling?
• What causes addiction among cannabis users?
• What is the effectiveness of witness programs in criminal justice? A closer look at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
• Robbery: What are the main risk groups, methods of prevention, and prosecution?
• What is the effectiveness of the International Criminal Court in achieving its mandate?
• Should employers check an all applicants’ criminal history during recruitment?
• The extradition law in the United States: Is it fair?
• Maximum-security prisons: Are they justified or simply cruel?
• A study of incarcerated parent’s responsibilities. How do they cope?

Masters Dissertation Ideas for Criminology

• Death penalty in the justice system: Is it effective in crime prevention.
• The rising rates of mass shootings in the US: What are the main causes?
• Studying the impact of genocidal acts on the cohesiveness of society.
• Police shootings: Comparing top three cases in the US and the UK.
• Sex offenses: Which are the main risk groups, prevalence, and prevention efforts?
• How corruption affects the social, political and economy of a country.
• Why are most crimes in the US and UK mainly committed by the youths?
• US vs. China’s criminal justice system: What are the main differences?
• Are the current US laws on criminology effective?
• A review of the British criminology curriculum: What needs to be improved?
• Analyzing the relationship between education levels and crime levels in a country of your choice.
• What is the relationship between ownership of guns and law violations?
• Law enforcement and criminology: What are the differences?
• Does racial abuse of international students and immigrants motivate them to join criminal gangs?
• Using culture to mold responsible citizens: A case study of communities in Georgia, Europe.

Forensic Psychology Dissertation Ideas

• A comprehensive analysis of competence to stand trial concept and its application in the UK.
• The age of criminal culpability: A review of the effectiveness of this idea in criminal justice.
• The ethics of death penalty: A review of the literature.
• Studying the mind of a criminal on death row: What goes in the mind of a person on a death row hours before execution?
• Should the death penalty be used on juveniles?
• What are the chances that a person on death row can change into a law-abiding citizen?
• How does memory impact eyewitness testimony?
• Analyzing the strategies used by the justice system to evaluate the reports of eyewitnesses.
• Methods used in the UK to protect eyewitnesses.

Criminology Dissertation Ideas Mental Health

• What role do guardians play in crime prevention in society?
• A review of criminological theory in the US justice system.
• A comprehensive analysis of how persons exposed to alcohol perform in different areas of their lives.
• Sexual violence use as a weapon of armed conflict: A literature review.
• Drug abuse and media: Should media that promote the use of hard drugs be controlled?
• How effective are the methods used in rehab to counter drug addiction?
• A review of delinquent cases among immigrant teenagers in the UK.
• Why do college students engage in cases of arson?
• Evaluating how prejudice motivates violence.
• Is it possible to remain neutral in mental criminal case trials?
• Is it possible to eliminate the problem of drug abuse and related crime?
• Solitary confinement for drug traffickers: What are the implications?

Criminology Dissertation Ideas UK

• How does the UK government respond to terror threats?
• Rehabilitation centers in the UK: What roles do they play in addressing crime?
• Racial stereotyping and crime in the UK: What is the relationship?
• A discourse evaluation: How has coronavirus shaped crime in the UK?
• Do urban settings in the UK act as breeding grounds for criminals?
• A critical review of the police force and crime in the UK.
• Interrogation by police officers: How does it work?
• A study of the main categories of crime in the UK.
• A review of the latest innovations in experimental criminology.
• Identify theft in the UK: What are the main consequences for perpetrators?
• Online child predators: How effective are the UK laws in protecting children?
• Is it possible to have a crime-free society?
• Which crime has a greater impact on society in the UK? Comparing street crimes and white-collar crimes.
• A review of the main principles applied in crime prevention in the UK justice system.

Controversial Criminology Dissertation Topics

• The less explored world of male rape in the society.
• Abortion: Should it be categorized as a crime?
• Parental separation: How does it result in future violence?
• Information sharing technology: How does it help fight the problem of terrorism?
• Back lives matter campaigns: Were they marred with violence instead of search for justice?
• Coronavirus has accelerated crime in the society more than any other time in the past.
• Do prisons help to correct bad behavior for the incarcerated?
• Facebook helps to encourage more negative behavior than promoting socialization.
• Domestic violence: Who suffers more between men and women?
• Human trafficking has one main role of sexual exploitation.
• On domestic violence, the law is subjective on males.
• The government should increase the age limit for citizens to acquire national IDs.
• Social media is the main source of moral panic in society.
• Music is a major contributor to crime in society.

Criminology Dissertation Ideas on Domestic Violence

• Theoretical perspectives on domestic violence.
• Applying the control balance theory in domestic violence.
• Popular culture and domestic violence: Are they related?
• The effects of homelessness on domestic violence: A case study of Texas.
• A review of cross-cultural perspectives on domestic violence.
• Comparing the rates of domestic violence in the US and India.
• Trends of domestic violence in Spain.
• Analyzing the main legal issues for women who are victims of domestic violence.
• A review of domestic violence within the military families.
• Analyzing police decision-making factors when dealing with domestic cases.
• Male victims of domestic violence: Why do most of them opt to keep quiet and stick with abusive partners?
• Mothers who kill: What are the motivating factors?
• Postpartum depression and domestic violence: How are they related?

Interesting Criminology Dissertation Titles

• Comparing the impacts of crime to those of natural disasters: A literature review.
• Is the education system in the globe failing in shaping good morals?
• A review of sexual aggression by women in ASIA.
• Acquainting rape perpetrators on bail terms: Is it acceptable? What does the law say?
• Regulating prostitution in the society: Is it enough to reduce crime?
• Corruption comes from limitations.
• A study of the connections between law violation and family status.
• Prostitution regulation: Can it stop crime?
• Use of expert testimony in domestic violence cases.
• Should we ban police from carrying guns in public?
• How does systemic bias impact criminal justice?
• Genetics: A comprehensive review of illegal researches and associated dangers.
• Assessing the effectiveness of street lighting in reducing crime.
• What role do psychometric assessments play in criminal justice?
• Is crime rate related to neighborhoods? A literature review.
• How has counterfeiting changed with the development of new technologies?

Criminology Dissertation Ideas about Prisons

• Forced labor among prisoners: Is it a good method of correction?
• Why is drug violence a problem in many US jails?
• A review of prison gangs in a prison of your choice.
• Training correctional officers in the UK: How effective is the training in enhancing the efficiency of correctional facilities?
• A review of the efforts used to address child molesters in prison.
• A review of study programs offered in prisons.
• Healthcare system in the UK prisons: Is it effective?
• A review of police corruption in prisons: Comparing the prisons in the 19 th and 20 th centuries.
• What are the main causes of high recidivism in the US?
• How do women end up in prisons? A review of common causes.
• Prisons through the UK history.
• How well are inmates prepared for re-entry into the society after serving jail terms?
• Racial profiling in the US prisons.
• Aggressive behavior: How is it related to criminal tendencies?
• Comparing human trafficking in the modern and classic worlds: What are the main differences?
• Comparing women’s recidivism rates in the US to those of Australia.

Knife Crime Dissertation Titles

• Knife crime in the US: Applying the criminology theory.
• Comparing knife crimes in Europe and Asia
• What are the motivating factors for knife criminals?
• Knife laws in the US: Analyzing the effectiveness of the pocket knife rules & laws.
• Comparing the knife rules of the United States to those of the UK.
• A review of knife crimes trends in the 21 st century.

Criminology Dissertation Help by Best Writers a Click Away

Now that we have looked at the best titles, from terrorism dissertation ideas to criminology topics on drugs, have you picked the preferred option? If “yes,” you are one step in the right direction. However, the next step of writing the dissertation is longer and requires a deep understanding of criminology. You also need excellent writing skills, time, and access to all the required resources. If you do not have the combination of all the above, which happens regularly to most students, you have a way out – seeking help from the best writers online. Our custom writing service stands taller than others because we have top-notch ENL writers who stop at nothing in ensuring clients get high grades. They have a lot of experience in the discipline and can work on any topic, from criminology and psychology dissertation ideas to terrorism-related topics. Again, they are fast and can easily beat even the toughest deadline. Our service is also cheap. Do not let the criminology dissertation stress you in any way – our expert can help you complete it professionally and fast too!

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Criminology Dissertation Topics: 20+ Examples for Inspiration

by  Antony W

May 9, 2023

Criminology is field that focuses on investigating crimes from a societal viewpoint, with an emphasis on offenders, their motivation, consequences, and prevention. Also, the subject examines human behavior in relation to crime.

Since criminologists investigate the societal foundations and consequences of crime, they also incorporate other subjects such as philosophy and anthropology.

When all of these fields of studies are used, a precise diagnosis of the underlying reason for criminal behavior is likely. Criminologists will then be able to develop effective and realistic strategies for averting criminal activities.

This post includes a list of the best criminology dissertation topics, which are ideas you can improve and investigate further in your assignment. Also, if you need help to work on this type of dissertation, especially if you’re already running out of time, you can get our dissertation writing help here.

Criminology Dissertation Topics Examples

The following is a list of some of the best criminology dissertation topics that you might consider exploring in your writing:

Criminology Dissertation Ideas Mental Health

• The effect of harmful mental health disorders on an individual’s behavior
• The role of a psychological examination in a criminal investigation
• How the media affects a person’s mental health when they commit a crime
• Utilizing community-based treatment centers to assist individuals with mental illnesses
• Is it possible for an unlawful to fabricate a mental illness in order to avoid punishment?
• Traumatic events that may serve as a catalyst for criminal activity
• Mental treatments are critical for offenders accused with murder.

Also Read: The Complete Guide for Dissertation Defense

Controversial Dissertation Topics in Criminology

• Was the Black Lives Matter movement tarnished by violence rather than by a desire for justice?
• How parental estrangement contributes to future violence
• Regulating prostitution will result in a decrease in crime.
• Coronavirus has encouraged criminal activity on a scale never seen before.
• When it comes to domestic abuse against people, the law is subjective.
• Should the government raise the minimum age for obtaining a national identification card?
• Is the media the primary catalyst for moral panics in society?
• Demystifying social media as a crime scene in the technology era
• Is it appropriate to inform rape perpetrators of their bail conditions?

Argumentative Dissertation Topics in Criminology

• Is someone responsible for the growth of teenage gangs in a certain society?
• Is it possible that political tensions are to blame for internal militia uprisings?
• Are religious beliefs capable of becoming the source of terrorism?
• Is gun regulation in the United States the first step toward increased crime rates?
• Is racial abuse directed at international students a contributing factor to crime and violence?
• Is crime more dangerous than natural catastrophes or infectious diseases?
• Is parental monitoring effective in lowering teen crime?
• Is education falling short in its job of instilling sound principles and character?
• Is the boundary between law enforcement and criminology a fine one?
• Is domestic violence directed only at women, or do males also suffer?

You May Also Like: Tips for Dissertation Reference

Masters and PhD. Criminology Dissertation Topic Ideas

• Analyzing how marginalization and discrimination on the basis of religion contribute to crime
• An examination of cybercrime laws and their role in preserving law and order
• A critical examination of the United States government’s response to terrorism threats
• Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and crime: An examination of their role or influence
• Corruption’s impact on a country’s political, social, economic, and security systems
• A discourse study of the coronavirus’s influence on criminal behavior
• Is it true that metropolitan environments foster more crime than rural regions?

General Dissertation Topic Ideas in Criminology

• Age in criminology research in the context of capital punishment
• Examining the consequences of police empowerment in high-crime neighborhoods of developing countries
• An assessment of the major features of police personnel deployed in crime hotspots in the United Kingdom.
• A study of how the season and topography of a location effect crime.
• How residential architecture and community structures aid in crime prevention and management
• How significant is the sociocultural background of a residential community in terms of the volume and quality of crime in the area?
• An Analysis of Research on the financial and societal costs of crime deterrence in the United Kingdom
• An assessment of the ramifications of political backing for criminal activity and its influence on the community
• A phenomenological examination of students’ exposure to drugs and the criminal lifestyle in the United Kingdom
• A review of pertinent literature on how gender affects crime in the United Kingdom
• What can quantitative data tell us about the link between crime and unemployment?

Also Check: Custom Dissertation Writing Service

Criminology Dissertation Topics On Prison and Society

Prisons and convicts have long been a source of contention in British society. When selecting dissertation on social criminal offenders, condense your ideas to a single social element.

Here are some topic ideas to get you started: 

• Should pupils be required to visit jail as part of their curriculum?
• Is the imposition of jail sentences for economic or political offenses justified?
• Eliminating negative stigma associated with ex-prisoners and social service.

Criminology Dissertation Topics On Crime and Justice

When someone commits a crime, people frequently consider the current criminal justice system, which has a variety of defects and benefits depending on who analyzes it.

Choosing a justice dissertation subject is not a simple effort, which is why you should explore the following topics:

• The death penalty’s meaning in History video game violence and serial murderer cases
• Control and reporting methods for gang activity: proof vs. official accounts
• Alternative punishment methods: International System Comparisons

Criminology Dissertation Topics On Ethnicity and Race

Many of us are aware that certain crimes committed in the United Kingdom have racial or ethnic overtones. While these offenses have diminished in recent years, they continue to be widely publicized to educate people on how to prevent them and resolve any issues that arise.

Several ethnicity and race dissertation topics include the following:

• How the media contribute to the emergence of racial hatred
• Sports and legal ramifications of racial tensions
• Laws that Could Help Reduce Crimes Against Ethnic Minorities Murders Across English Cities on the Basis of Race & Ethnic Minority
• Inequality between races in the United Kingdom and South Africa

About the author 

Antony W is a professional writer and coach at Help for Assessment. He spends countless hours every day researching and writing great content filled with expert advice on how to write engaging essays, research papers, and assignments.

Put a stop to deadline pressure, and have your homework done by an expert.

213 Criminology Dissertation Ideas And Thesis Titles

Finding criminology topics is not as easy as pulling out an essay idea from any website. It requires students to go the extra mile to investigate a particular problem and derive a professional topic. Does this give you chills already? Well, our expert UK writers have prepared a list that will earn you high grades. Make sure to pick one that will impress your stingy criminology professor to the core!

Criminology Topics: What Do They Entail?

Criminology focuses on examining crime from a social perspective with a close lens at the perpetrator of the crime, their motive, effects, and prevention. As you will note in the list of writing ideas below, criminology also studies human behaviour about crime.

Since criminologists go to the extent of looking at the social roots and impacts of a crime, they also s-encompass other fields of study such as philosophy and anthropology. The combination of all these methods leads to a precise determination of the root cause of criminal behaviour. They will therefore be able to determine effective and practical ways of preventing its occurrence in the future.

For you to have a top-rated criminology paper, ensure that you:

• First, understand the task at hand
• Collect relevant details to furnish your paper with
• Outline your criminology paper
• Structure your ideas into sections
• Abide by the formatting requirements of your college or university
• Maintain originality throughout your paper
• Reference and cite your sources well

The result of this is a brilliant criminology paper that will earn you a spot on the top of your class leaderboard. Do you want to try out our sample criminology dissertation titles? Here is your unique opportunity now!

Top-Notch Criminology Dissertation Ideas

• Why are the majority of crimes committed by the youths?
• Reasons why men are more prone to commit crime than women
• What to improve in the British criminology curriculum
• Is it possible to develop a society without crime?
• How does the environment motivate one towards criminal behaviour?
• Evaluate the role of music in enhancing crime
• Are the current laws on criminology effective enough?
• Why do college and university students engage in cases of arson?
• Predisposing factors behind the activities of serial killers
• The role of guardians and societal leaders in preventing crime
• Possible causes of rape and other indecent sexual behaviour
• Discuss the relationship between crime and punishment in the past decade
• Are criminology related laws implemented to the latter?
• The role of specialized police units in preventing crime
• Why the internet is a harbour for vigorous criminal activity
• How to detect domestic violence before it occurs
• Innovative ways of dealing with social disorders in a community
• Why serial crimes always present a complex puzzle to solve for investigators

Criminology Dissertation Ideas Mental Health

• The role of trauma in forcing one to commit a crime
• Evaluate the association between mental illness and crime
• Possible mental disorders that make teenagers commit crimes
• Using community-based treatment centres to help people with mental cases
• A global perspective on the mental health of sexual offenders
• How anxiety and depression may cause one to premeditate committing murder
• Impact of detrimental mental health problems on a person’s conduct
• The relationship between aggressive behaviour and mental disorders
• Traumatic experiences that may trigger criminal activities
• How the media impacts the mental health of a person in committing a crime
• Ways of promoting a healthy mental state in a society
• How phobias prevent or trigger people about crime
• The role of a mental check-up in a criminal investigation
• Can an illegal fake a mental disorder to evade punishment?
• Importance of mental therapies for criminals charged with murder

Criminology And Psychology Dissertation Ideas

• How attitudes and emotions compel people to criminal behaviour
• Impact of domestic violence on a child’s aggressive behaviour
• A psychological examination of people who start trouble every time
• How race is a critical factor in the police’s judgment of criminal activity
• The role of forensic psychology in criminal investigations
• A psychological view of the gender-based violence against women
• Psychological disorders as a result of divorce may lead to crime
• How parenting styles affect a child’s behaviour: A case of poor parenting
• Discuss criminal intent based on a psychological disorder
• How drug abuse contributes to crime as a result of psychological dysfunction
• How attitudes towards criminal justice shape people’s behaviours
• Why most employers are reluctant to employ people with past criminal records
• Discuss criminal psychology with communist states
• Current trends and practices in crime related to psychology
• Compare and contrast situation and premeditated child abuse

Custom Criminology Dissertation Topics

• Do criminals get justice after being sentenced?
• How to investigate a serial crime in a society
• Techniques used in monitoring people with suspecting criminal behaviour
• Evaluate the role of private detectives in solving societal crimes
• How the neighbourhood topography relates to illegal activities
• Best approaches to combating crimes committed by gangs
• The part of the police in keeping society safe and peaceful
• How the mental health of women relates to aggressive behaviour at a times
• Predisposing factors behind human traffickers and children abductors
• Should the government enact more laws to curb domestic violence?
• The role of modern technologies in complicating criminal investigations
• How schools can enhance good morals among students at a tender age
• Do suspensions act as a cause for violence in the future among students?
• How to deal with protests and violence in a school setting
• How the use of force only serves to stir up crime

First-Class Dissertation Ideas For Criminology

• Policing strategies that wage war against smuggling of goods
• The role of the US-Mexican border in combating criminal activities
• How marginalization leads to the discrimination of various people
• An analysis of the genocides in the past decade: What caused them?
• What motivates young men to join gangs and other criminal groups?
• How does alcohol catalyze sexual assaults?
• The relationship between crime and LGBT groups
• The implication of racial profiling in causing criminal activities
• A critical review of how the US government responds to mass shootings
• Gun ownership policies that will make America safe
• The role of corruption in facilitating illegal underground activity
• How the economic state of a country can lead to crime
• Discuss the relationship between oil and civic disorder
• Historical factors that have necessitated crime in the 21 st century
• The contribution of propaganda and Yellow Journalism to crime

Criminology Dissertation Ideas On Terrorism

• Evaluate the response of the US forces towards terrorist activities
• Implications of the 9/11 attack on the safety of airlines
• Discuss the relationship between radicalization and terrorism
• Ways in which ISIS lures young men into joining them
• How technology has helped advance terrorist activities in the country
• Assess the impact of terrorism on religious profiling of people
• Why terrorist activities are most prevalent in urban centres
• How terrorists instil fear on their victims
• Has the coronavirus slowed down terrorist activities?
• Exploring the role of attitude in fueling terrorist activities towards certain countries
• Reasons why the media can serve as a super-spreader of fear during terrorist attacks
• Ways of detecting terrorist plans before they come of age
• Significant strides made in the war against terrorism in Africa
• The role of intelligence services in combating terrorism
• A critical analysis of the bombings on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania

Criminology Dissertation Ideas About Drugs

• The role of drug rehabilitation centres in reducing criminal activities
• A critical evaluation of heroin and cocaine users
• The impact of legalizing marijuana on criminal behaviour
• Is there a thin line between drug abuse and violence?
• How to curb drug and substance abuse among college students
• The role of the media in sensitizing society against the adverse effects of drugs
• How the doping technology can help curb drug and substance abuse
• How drug abuse is a stepping stone to high crime rates in developing nations
• Explore the different types of crimes resulting from drug abuse
• What are the possible ways of eradicating corruption caused by criminal behaviour?
• Why it is difficult for drug addicts to go for guiding and counselling
• Impacts of excessive drug abuse on one’s mental state
• Why most gangs are associated with drug and substance abuse
• Post-traumatic drug disorders that lead to criminal activities
• Most commonly abused drugs by teens in the United Kingdom

The Best Criminology Dissertation Ideas UK

• Government policies that are curtailing the spread of criminal behaviour
• How the UK government is dealing with criminals of any kind
• Are the court systems in the UK doing enough to curb crime?
• Describe the application of the social learning theory in reducing crime
• How a criminal investigator develops a perspective on a particular crime
• How developed economies are handling corruption-related cases
• The standards of correctional facilities in the United Kingdom and their effectiveness
• An investigation of the legal policies against crime in Britain
• Compare and contrast criminal activity in UK suburbs and those of America
• A critical review of past illegal activity in Britain over the last five years
• Perceptions and attitudes towards UK criminal investigators
• How antisocial behaviour relates to illegal activities
• Are introverts more prone to crime than extroverts?
• A study of the UK media and its implication on crime
• How criminal investigative exposes have led to the arrest of various criminals

Criminology Dissertation Ideas On Domestic Violence

• Multiple forms of domestic violence in the 21 st century: A case of sexual and verbal abuse
• Acts that lead to psychological intimidation in domestic violence
• Economic impacts of domestic violence
• Does the word ‘abuse’ downplay the severity of domestic violence acts?
• Are domestic violence acts ‘terroristic’ in nature?
• Social structures that reinforce the suppression of women
• The growing cases of male abuse in the recent days
• An analysis of the various aspects of domestic violence
• The role of writers in speaking out against domestic violence
• How to look out for warning signs in the case of domestic violence
• Do victims of domestic violence find a safe place to talk without judgment?
• Discuss the implications of the Domestic Abuse Bill in the UK
• How to address the needs of survivors and their families
• The role of society in holding perpetrators of domestic violence accountable
• The role of grants and government funding in supporting anti-domestic violence movements

Criminology Dissertation Ideas About Prisons

• Do prisons deny inmates their human rights?
• Investigate reports of sexual abuse in prisons
• Why murderers should not be in one prison facility with other offenders
• Are prisons breeding grounds for criminal activity?
• Compare and contrast crime in female and male prisons
• The role of prison wardens in shaping the conduct of prisoners
• Should all offenders be kept in one prison irrespective of their crimes?
• Is denying prisoners visitations a catalyst for their aggressive behaviour?
• The role of society in helping criminals change
• How prison wardens contribute to crime in prisons
• Should all correctional facilities be outside significant cities?
• Should convicts of life sentences stay with those of shorter sentences?
• An analysis of cases of convicts killed in prisons
• What should determine the suitability of an officer as a prison warden?
• How should inmates relate with the prison wardens?

Forensic Psychology Dissertation Ideas

• Technological advances in forensic psychology and its impacts
• The procedure of investigating a crime using forensic psychology
• Compare and contrast the use of forensic psychology on men versus women
• Different approaches to forensic psychology in criminology
• Do we have enough forensic psychologists?
• How does genetics affect forensic psychology?
• Factors affecting eyewitness identification performance
• A study on male victims of partner violence
• Investigate the jury decision-making process based on forensic psychology
• A study of knowledge and attitudes towards conduct disorder
• How race affects psychotherapeutic performance
• Examine the association between psychosis and being a migrant
• Using a measurement scale to assess psychopathic personality traits
• How personality functioning may predict a person’s engagement in cyberstalking
• The collateral consequences of money bail

Latest Knife Crime Dissertation Titles

• What happens when the police become criminals?
• The impact of cybercrime on international peace and security
• Unearthing the underworld of hardcore teenage crimes
• How some police office rob banks and participate in serious crimes
• Dealing with drug trafficking in the technological era
• A comparative analysis of European law enforcement agencies
• Using children as witnesses in a criminal case: Is it ethical?
• Discuss the role of psychological intervention for criminals
• Analyze the rise of militia uprisings
• Impact of political tensions on criminal activities
• How the media stereotypes young people as criminals
• Social insecurity and brutality
• Impact of forced labour on correcting detainees: Does it help?
• Does the media exaggerate terrorism activities?
• Cultural values that can shape the morals of a society

Additional Terrorism Dissertation Ideas

• Is white supremacy terrorism?
• How domestic terrorism has risen in the US over the past few months
• The role of the UN Mission in keeping terrorists at bay
• How to cut off funding for terrorist activities
• How terrorism has become a threat to human existence
• How to prevent young men from joining terrorist groups
• Why terrorists take hostages and threaten to detonate bombs
• Psychological implications of terrorism activities
• Can someone who has been a terrorist fit into society again?
• Discuss the breeding of local terrorism in countries
• Counter-terrorism measures that work
• The role of surveillance in countering terrorism activities
• How terrorism creeps into conflict zones
• How the rule of law can help eliminate terrorism
• How to empower minors against terrorism
• The role of community anti-terrorism awareness programs
• How terrorists cause insubordination and waywardness

Criminal Law EPQ Questions

• Proactive policing
• Pretext stops and charter remedies
• Working with virtual legal assistants
• The part of the sedition law
• Analyze the right to protest
• Is life imprisonment a myth?
• State’s role in regulating crimes against women
• Appeal to the death sentence
• Laws about custody and maintenance of minors
• Are Promissory notes and Bills of Exchange the same?
• What is the difference between fatal and non-fatal offences?
• Are ideas protected under copyright?
• What is a crime of passion?

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Top 121+ Most Interesting Criminology Dissertation Ideas

The realm of criminology encompasses a wide array of themes, each offering unique opportunities for investigation and analysis. From studying criminal behaviors and psychological profiles to examining the societal, economic, and cultural factors that contribute to criminal activities, criminology dissertation ideas span across various subfields.

Whether one’s interest lies in understanding the motivations of criminals, analyzing the impact of technology on crime, or advocating for social justice within the criminal justice system, the diverse array of topics presented herein aims to cater to a broad spectrum of interests and expertise.

In this blog post, we will discuss the most interesting criminology dissertation ideas and explore the key elements of the criminology dissertation ideas. These ideas will help you to get good scores in your academics.

What Is A Criminology Dissertation?

A criminology dissertation is like a big research project that people studying crime and its causes, effects, and solutions work on. It’s a long essay or a paper where they explore a specific topic related to crime.

The main aim of criminologists is to study the societal foundations and results of crime. They also incorporate other subjects, such as anthropology and philosophy. Using research from these fields will probably result in an accurate diagnosis of the basic cause of criminal behavior. At that point, criminologists can create practical and successful plans for stopping criminal activity.

Now, let’s learn the key elements of a criminology dissertation 

 Key Elements Of Criminology Dissertation

 Key elements of a criminology dissertation typically include:

1. Research Question

The dissertation begins with a clearly defined research question or hypothesis. This serves as the foundation for the entire study and guides the research process. 

2. Literature Review

A comprehensive review of existing literature related to the chosen topic is conducted. This helps the researcher understand the current state of knowledge in the field and identify gaps or areas requiring further exploration. 

3. Methodology

The dissertation outlines the research methods and approaches employed to collect and analyze data. Depending on the research question, these methods can include surveys, interviews, observations, content analysis, or the examination of existing data sources. 

Also Read: 149+ Best Neuroscience Research Topics For Students 2024

4. Data Collection

Researchers collect data based on the chosen methodology. This step may involve conducting surveys or interviews, gathering and analyzing documents, or applying statistical analyses to datasets.

 5. Data Analysis

The collected data is analyzed to draw conclusions and make inferences based on the research question. This often involves statistical analysis, thematic coding, or qualitative interpretation

6. Discussion

The findings are discussed in detail, and their implications within the broader context of criminology are explored. Researchers consider how their findings contribute to the understanding of the chosen topic and any policy or practice implications.

 7. Conclusion

A well-structured conclusion summarizes the key findings, discusses their significance, and suggests areas for future research. 

8. References

A comprehensive list of cited sources is included to acknowledge the existing knowledge that informed the study.

Now let’s move to our hot topic, list of criminology dissertation idea

List Of Criminology Dissertation Ideas

Here is the list of criminology dissertation ideas from various fields within criminology.

Cybercrime and Technology

• The Role of Cryptocurrencies in Cybercrime
• Dark Web and Criminal Activities
• Cybersecurity and Its Impact on Cybercriminal Behavior
• The Ethics of Hacking and the Law
• Online Harassment and the Legal Response
• IoT Vulnerabilities and Criminal Exploitation
• AI and Machine Learning in Crime Prediction
• Ransomware Attacks and Law Enforcement
• The Evolution of Online Child Exploitation
• Cybersecurity Measures for Small Businesses

Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement

• Use of Force Policies in Law Enforcement
• Body-Worn Cameras and Accountability
• Police Militarization and Community Relations
• Racial Profiling and Law Enforcement Practices
• Jury Decision-Making and Racial Bias
• Eyewitness Testimonies and Wrongful Convictions
• Police Corruption and Internal Affairs
• The Role of Police Unions in Accountability
• Civil Forfeiture and Its Impact on Communities
• Crisis Intervention Training for Police Officers

Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Justice

• The Efficacy of Rehabilitation Programs for Juvenile Offenders  
• School-to-Prison Pipeline: Causes and Consequences  
• Youth Gangs and Their Influence on Criminal Behavior  
• Bullying and Its Connection to Juvenile Delinquency 
• The Impact of Parental Incarceration on Children’s Lives 
• Diversion Programs for Juvenile Offenders: Success and Challenges
• Restorative Justice in Juvenile Cases: A Critical Analysis 
• Mental Health Services for Juvenile Offenders 
• The Experience of Girls in the Juvenile Justice System 
• Trauma-Informed Care for Juvenile Offenders: Benefits and Barriers

Criminological Theories

• Social Learning Theory Criminal Behavior
• Strain Theory and White-Collar Crime
• Routine Activities Theory and Crime Hotspots
• Labeling Theory and Deviant Behavior
• Rational Choice Theory in Cybercrime
• Conflict Theory and Criminal Justice Policies
• Biosocial Criminology and Genetic Factors
• Feminist Criminology and Gender Bias in the Justice System
• Life-Course Criminology and Desistance
• Radical Criminology and Social Movements

Victimology

• Psychological Impact of Homicide on Survivors
• Hate Crime Victims and Their Experiences
• Stalking as a Form of Victimization
•  Human Trafficking Survivors’ Stories
•  Elder Abuse and Victim Services
• Compensation Programs for Crime Victims
• Cyberbullying and Its Effects on Adolescents
• Restorative Justice from the Victim’s Perspective
• Victimization of Immigrants and Refugees
• The Role of Support Organizations for Victims

White-Collar Crime

•  Corporate Fraud and Regulatory Response
•  Insider Trading and Securities Fraud
•  Money Laundering and Financial Institutions
• Environmental Crimes by Corporations
• Whistleblowers and Legal Protections
• Ponzi Schemes and Investor Victimization
• Tax Evasion and Legal Consequences
• Healthcare Fraud and Public Health
• Bribery and Corruption in International Business
• Antitrust Violations and Consumer Harm

Also read: Top 91+ Creative Agriscience Fair Project Ideas

International and Comparative Criminology

• Human Rights Violations and Accountability
• Transnational Organized Crime and Law Enforcement Cooperation
• War Crimes and International Tribunal
• Drug Trafficking Routes and Global Security
• Terrorism and Counterterrorism Measures
• Refugee Criminalization and Legal Asylum
• Cultural Differences in Punishment Practices
• Sentencing Disparities Across Countries
• Policing Models in Different Societies
• Cybersecurity Cooperation in International Law

Environmental Criminology

• Crime Mapping and Hotspot Analysis
• CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design)
• Urban Planning and Crime Prevention
• Neighborhood Watch Programs and Community Safety
• Home Burglaries and Residential Security Measures
• Graffiti and Vandalism in Urban Environments
• Fear of Crime and Its Impact on Communities
• Transportation Systems and Crime Patterns
• Campus Safety and University Crime Prevention
• Parks and Recreational Areas in Crime Prevention

Rehabilitation and Reentry

• Inmate Education Programs and Recidivism
• Drug Treatment Programs in Prisons
• Vocational Training for Offenders
• Mental Health Services for Inmates
• Ex-Offender Reintegration and Employment
• Restorative Justice in Prisons
• Prison Healthcare and Medical Ethics
• Elderly Offenders and Long-Term Incarceration
• Gender-Responsive Programs for Female Offenders
• Parole and Probation Reforms

Terrorism and National Security

• Radicalization Pathways and Counterterrorism Measures
• Cyberterrorism and Critical Infrastructure Protection
• Lone Wolf Terrorism and Intelligence Gathering
• Border Security and the Prevention of Terrorism
• The Role of Intelligence Agencies in Counterterrorism
• International Cooperation in Countering Terrorism
• The Psychology of Suicide Bombers
• Preventing Homegrown Terrorism
• The Use of Drones in Counterterrorism
• Online Propaganda and Its Influence on Extremism

Criminology Dissertation Ideas Serial Killers

Certainly! Here are criminology dissertation ideas related to serial killers.

• Psychological Profiling of Serial Killers
• The Influence of Childhood Trauma on Serial Killers
• Female Serial Killers: A Comparative Study
• Serial Killers in Popular Culture: Portrayals and Impact
• Serial Killers and the Dark Triad Personality Traits
• The Role of Technology in Serial Killer Investigations
• Geographic Profiling and Serial Murder
• The Motivations Behind Serial Killers: A Psychosocial Analysis
• Serial Killers and Necrophilia : A Psychological Study
• Serial Killers and the Role of Victimology in Investigations

Criminology Dissertation Ideas For Undergraduate

Here are some criminology dissertation ideas suitable for undergraduate research.

• The Impact of Social Media on Crime Reporting and Community Policing
• Youth Gangs: Causes, Consequences, and Prevention
• Restorative Justice Programs and Their Role in Offender Rehabilitation 
• Racial Profiling: Analyzing Its Prevalence and Consequences
• The Role of DNA Evidence in Criminal Investigations
• Criminal Profiling: Myths and Realities
• The Influence of Socioeconomic Status on Crime Rates
• White-Collar Crime: Causes and Regulatory Responses
• The Role of Witness Testimonies in Criminal Trials
• Hate Crimes: Motivations and Impact on Victims

Criminology Dissertation Ideas Mental Health

Let’s find out some criminology dissertation ideas related to mental health.

• Mental Health and Criminal Behavior: A Comprehensive Analysis
• Crisis Intervention Teams: Policing and Mental Health Responses
• Mental Health Stigma and Its Influence on Criminal Involvement
• Forensic Psychiatric Evaluations: Accuracy and Ethical Considerations
• Youth Mental Health and Juvenile Delinquency: Risk Factors and Interventions
• Restorative Justice and Mental Health Offenders: Opportunities and Challenges
• Elderly Offenders and Mental Health Challenges in Prisons
• Mental Health Crisis and Police Use of Force: Evaluating Responses
• Veterans and Mental Health: Addressing Criminal Involvement
• Mental Health Diversion Programs and Their Effectiveness

Criminology Dissertation Ideas On Domestic Violence

Have a look at criminology dissertation ideas on domestic violence.

• Intimate Partner Homicide: Risk Factors and Preventative Measures
• Cultural Factors and Domestic Violence: A Cross-Cultural Comparison
• Economic Abuse in Domestic Violence Cases: Recognizing and Addressing Financial Control
• The Influence of Substance Abuse on Domestic Violence Perpetration and Victimhood
• Protective Orders and Their Efficacy in Preventing Domestic Violence Recurrence
• The Connection Between Domestic Violence and Homelessness
• The Impact of Domestic Violence on Workplace Productivity and Safety
• Online Forms of Domestic Violence: Cyberstalking and Digital Abuse
•  Domestic Violence Perpetrator Programs: Effectiveness and Accountability
• The Legal Response to Domestic Violence: A Comparative Study

These dissertation ideas cover a wide range of topics within the field of domestic violence, offering ample opportunities for research and analysis.

Also read : 150+ Amazing Quantitative Statistics Project Ideas

Wrapping Up 

In conclusion, the realm of criminology offers a diverse and intriguing array of dissertation ideas, providing ample opportunities for research, analysis, and contribution to the field. The topics presented in this exploration represent just a fraction of the vast landscape within criminology, encompassing various dimensions of crime, justice, and social behavior. 

Choosing a criminology dissertation topic is not just a task; it’s a crucial decision that shapes the direction of academic inquiry. Each idea can potentially unravel new perspectives, challenge existing theories, and address pressing societal concerns. Whether delving into the intricacies of criminal behavior, examining the nuances of the justice system, or exploring the impact of technology on crime, these ideas serve as pathways to profound scholarly exploration. 

As aspiring criminologists embark on their dissertation journeys, it is essential to consider their passions, interests, and the societal relevance of their chosen topics. By delving into these subjects with dedication and rigor, researchers can make meaningful contributions, fostering a deeper understanding of crime and its complexities.

Frequently Asked Questions 

Q1. do you pick your dissertation topic.

Your dissertation is a chance to show your ability to work independently and put all you have learned into practice. Although you can choose your subject, the topic must address a unique area of original thought.

Q2. Does a dissertation affect GPA?

The letter grades of “S” (Satisfactory Completion), “SP” (Satisfactory Progress), and “U” (Unsatisfactory) are given for Readings and Research, Capstone Projects, Thesis, and Dissertation. These grades do not affect the student’s GPA.

Q3. What does a good dissertation look like?

Your dissertation itself should contain only essential information that directly contributes to answering your research question. Documents you have used that do not fit into the main body of your dissertation (such as interview transcripts, survey questions, or tables with full figures) can be added as appendices.

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Digital Commons @ USF > College of Behavioral and Community Sciences > Criminology > Theses and Dissertations

Criminology Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

Efficacy of Online Social Movements for Sparking Change: The Case of the Missing Murdered and Indigenous Women Movement (#MMIW) , Kacy A. Bleeker

An Examination of Racial Disparities in Arrest Across Florida Counties, 1998-2018: A Test of the Racial Threat and Political Representation Hypotheses , Xavier D. Burch

The Invisible Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation: Boys and Their Barriers to Access to Services , Amanda L. Connella

Damned & Damned: Examining Vexatious Litigation and the Vexatious Litigant Statute in Florida Courts , Sarah L. Harper

The Contributions of Mental Health Issues, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Adverse Childhood Experiences to Recidivism Among Rural Jail Incarcerees , Lauren N. Miley

Assessing the Relationship Between True Crime Documentary and Podcast Consumption, Fear of Crime, and Protective Behaviors , Lauren A. Tremblay

Police Officers’ Perceptions of Gunshot Detection Technology , Courtney L. Weber

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

A Macro Social Examination of the Relationship Between Disabilities and Crime Using Neighborhood and County Level Data , Natasha A. Baloch

Racial Differences in Perceptions of Sanction Severity , Sarah L. Franklin

Juvenile Homicide Offenders: A Life-Course Perspective , Norair Khachatryan

Exploring the Effectiveness of a Life-Skills Program in a Florida Prison Through a Social Bond and General Strain Theory Perspective , Danielle M. Thomas

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Clean Water for All: Examining Safe Drinking Water Act Violations of Water Systems and Community Characteristics , Junghwan Bae

Morality and Offender Decision-Making: Testing the Empirical Relationship and Examining Methodological Implications , Jacquelyn Burckley

The Ring of Gyges 2.0: How Anonymity Providing Behaviors Affect Willingness to Participate in Online Deviance , Cassandra E. Dodge

A Macro Analysis of Illegal Hunting and Fishing Across Texas Counties: Using an Economic Structural Approach , Leo J. Genco Jr.

Self-Protection in Cyberspace: Assessing the Processual Relationship Between Thoughtfully Reflective Decision Making, Protection Motivation Theory, Cyber Hygiene, and Victimization , C. Jordan Howell

Racial Threat Theory: A Test of the Economic Threat Hypothesis , Carl L. Reeds

Online Perceptions of Panamanian Prisons and Incarcerated persons: An analysis of YouTube user comments , Mahaleth J. Sotelo

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Toxic Colonialism and Green Victimization of Native Americans: An Examination of the Genocidal Impacts of Uranium Mining , Averi R. Fegadel

Cross-National Incarceration Rates as Behavior of Law , Christopher J. Marier

The Effects of Perceived Motivations and Mental Distress on the Likelihood of Reporting and Engaging in Self-Protective Measures Among Victims of Stalking , Daniela Oramas Mora

Mental Health and In-Prison Experiences: Examining Socioeconomic and Sex Differences in the Effect of Mental Illness on Institutional Misconduct and Disciplinary Segregation , Rachel E. Severson

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Dating Application Facilitated Victimization: An Examination of Lifestyle-Routine Activities, Self-Control, and Self-Efficacy , Vanessa Centelles

Social Constructionism and Cultivation Theory in Development of the Juvenile “Super-Predator” , Elizabeth R. Jackson-Cruz

Bystander Intervention, Victimization, and Routine Activities Theory: An Examination of Feminist Routine Activities Theory in Cyber Space , Jennifer A. Leili

Sexual Assault and Robbery Disclosure: An Examination of Black’s Theory of the Behavior of Law , Caitlyn N. Muniz

Mass Shootings and Gun Sales: A Study on the Influence of Red and Blue Power , Maria Jose Rozo Osuna

A Multi-dimensional Macrolevel Study of Drug Enforcement Strategies, Heroin Prices, and Heroin Consumption Rates , Alexander G. Toth

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

The Impact of a Religious/Spiritual Turning Point on Desistance: A Lifecourse Assessment of Racial/Ethnic Differences , Rhissa Briones Robinson

Political Decisions on Police Expenditures: Examining the Potential Relationship Between Political Structure, Police Expenditures and the Volume of Crime Across US States , Xavier D. Burch

Identifying the Personal and Perceived Organizational Characteristics Associated with Job Satisfaction Among Juvenile Probation Staff , Julie M. Krupa

The Role of Organizational Justice in Predicting Attitudes Toward Body-Worn Cameras in Police Officers , Nathaniel L. Lawshe

Yet Another Ferguson Effect: An Exploratory Content Analysis of News Stories on Police Brutality and Deadly Force Before and After the Killing of Michael Brown , Carl Root

The Role of Race/Ethnicity and Risk Assessment on Juvenile Case Outcomes , Tayler N. Shreve

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Intimate Partner Violence and the Capacity and Desire for Self-Control , Krista Taralynne Brewer

School Shootings in the United States from 1997 to 2012: A Content Analysis of Media Coverage , Victoria N. Iannuzzi

Chronic Runaway Youth: A Gender-Based Analysis , Michelle N. Jeanis

A Test of Wikström’s Situational Action Theory Using Self-Report Data on Intimate Partner Violence , Lauren Nicole Miley

An Exploratory Study of Macro-Social Correlates of Online Property Crime , Hyojong Song

Female Incarceration and Prison Social Order: An Examination of Gender Differences in Prison Misconduct and In-Prison Punishments , Elisa L. Toman

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Their Role as Mitigators for Youthful and Non-Youthful Offenders in Capital Sentencing Cases , Jessica R. Trapassi

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Disinhibition, Violence Exposure, and Delinquency: A Test of How Self-Control Affects the Impact of Exposure to Violence , Wyatt Brown

The Guilty But Mentally Ill Verdict: Assessing the Impact of Informing Jurors of Verdict Consequences , Erin Elizabeth Cotrone

The Relationship between Psychopathic Personality Traits and Lying , Jason A. Dobrow

Delving into the Heart of Victimization Risk: Examining the Interactive Relationship between Demographic Factors and Context , Amy Sheena Eggers

A Power Conflict Approach to Animal Cruelty: Examining How Economic Power Influences the Creation of Animal Cruelty Laws , Leonard J. Genco

The Role of Gender in Self-Control and Intimate Partner Violence , Laura Marie Gulledge

The Restrictive Deterrent Effect of Warning Banners in a Compromised Computer System , Christian Jordan-Michael Howell

Tactics of Sexual Control and Negative Health Outcomes , Anna Elizabeth Kleppe

The Applicability of Criminology to Terrorism Studies: An Exploratory Study of ISIS Supporters in the United States , Amanda Marie Sharp Parker

The Path to Violent Behavior: The Harmful Aftermath of Childhood Trauma , Nicholas Michael Perez

The Effects of Racial Bias on Perceptions of Intimate Partner Violence Scenarios , Batya Yisraela Rubenstein

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Reel or Reality? The Portrayal of Prostitution in Major Motion Pictures , Raleigh Blasdell

Psychopathy and Perception of Vulnerability , Barbara Joyce Dinkins

Effect of Empathy on Death Penalty Support in Relation to the Racial Divide and Gender Gap , Brian Godcharles

Exploring the Interactive Effects of Social Learning Theory and Psychopathy on Serious Juvenile Delinquency , Brandy Barenna Henderson

Tampa Electric Company's Big Bend Utility Plant in Hillsborough County, Florida: A Case Study , Lynne M. Hodalski-Champagne

Thirty Year Follow-Up of Juvenile Homicide Offenders , Norair Khachatryan

Organized Crime in Insurance Fraud: An Empirical Analysis of Staged Automobile Accident Rings , Chris Longino

The Role of Social Support in the Disclosure and Recovery Process of Rape Victims , Jessica Nicole Mitchell

Evaluating the Social Control of Banking Crimes: An Examination of Anti-Money Laundering Deficiencies and Industry Success , Erin M. Mulligan

Elite Deviance, Organized Crime, and Homicide: A Cross-National Quantitative Analysis , Carol L.s. Trent

An Evaluation of the Utah First District Mental Health Court: Gauging the Efficacy of Diverting Offenders Suffering With Serious Mental Illness , Stephen Guy VanGeem

Rape, Race, and Capital Punishment in North Carolina: A Qualitative Approach to Examining an Enduring Cultural Legacy , Douglas Wholl

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

The Tattoo: A Mark of Subversion, Deviance, or Mainstream Self-Expression? , Jocelyn Camacho

Juvenile and Adult Involvement in Double Parricide and Familicide in the U.S.: An Empirical Analysis of 20 Years of Data , Averi Rebekah Fegadel

Predicting Successful Drug Court Graduation: Exploring Demographic and Psychosocial Factors among Medication-Assisted Drug Court Treatment Clients , Autumn Michelle Frei

Experimentally Evaluating Statistical Patterns of Offending Typology For Burglary: A Replication Study , Lance Edwin Gilmore

Developmental Trajectories of Physical Aggression and Nonaggressive Rule-Breaking among At-risk Males and Females during Late Childhood and Early Adolescence , Eugena Givens

Predicting Fear of Crime using a Multilevel and Multi-Model Approach: A Study in Hillsborough County , Jonathan Maskaly

Public Knowledge and Sentiments about Elite Deviance , Cedric Michel

The Influence of Community Context on Social Control: A Multi-Level Examination of the Relationship between Race/Ethnicity, Drug Offending, and Juvenile Court Outcomes , Jennifer Peck

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Assessing the Relationship Between Hotspots of Lead and Hotspots of Crime , Kimberly L. Barrett

A Life-Course Approach to Sexual Offending: Examining the Continuity of Juvenile Sexual Offending into Adulthood and Subsequent Patterns of Recidivism , Maude Beaudry-Cyr

Examining the link between self-control and misconduct in a multi-agency sample of police supervisors: A test of two theories , Christopher Matthew Donner

The Impact of Hyperfemininity on Explicit and Implicit Blame Assignment and Police Reporting of Alcohol Facilitated Rape in a Sample of College Women , Sarah Ehlke

Rurality and Intimate Partner Homicide: Exploring the Relationship between Place, Social Structure, and Femicide in North Carolina , Amelia Kirkland

Self-Control, Attitudinal Beliefs, and White-Collar Crime Intentions , Melissa Anne Lugo

Zero Tolerance for Marginal Populations: Examining Neoliberal Social Controls in American Schools , Brian Gregory Sellers

State-Corporate Crime in the Democratic Republic of Congo , Veronica Jane Winters

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

The Walls Are Closing In: Comparing Property Crime Victimization Risk In Gated And Non-Gated Communities , Nicholas Branic

What Propels Sexual Homicide Offenders? Testing an Integrated Theory of Social Learning and Routine Activities Theories , Heng Choon Chan

A Deadly Way of Doing Business: A Case Study of Corporate Crime in the Coal Mining Industry , Charles Nickolas Stickeler

Deconstructing the "Power and Control Motive": Developing and Assessing the Measurability of Internal Power , Shelly Marie Wagers

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Assessing racial differences in offending trajectories: A life-course view of the race-crime relationship , Michael S. Caudy

Mental Health Courts Effectiveness in Reducing Recidivism and Improving Clinical Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis , Brittany Cross

General Strain Theory and Juvenile Delinquency: A Cross-Cultural Study , Wen-Hsu Lin

General Strain Theory, Race, and Delinquency , Jennifer Peck

Developmental Trajectories of Self-Control: Assessing the Stability Hypothesis , James Vance Ray

Explaining the "Female Victim Effect" in Capital Sentencing Decisions: A Case for Sex-Specific Models of Capital Sentencing Research , Tara N. Richards

A Multilevel Model of Police Corruption: Anomie, Decoupling, and Moral Disengagement , Ruth Zschoche

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

The Emotional Guardianship of Foreign-Born and Native-Born Hispanic Youth and Its Effect on Violent Victimization , Amy Sheena Eggers

The Influence of Narcissism and Self-Control on Reactive Aggression , Melissa L. Harrison

Is There an "Innocent Female Victim" Effect in Capital Punishment Sentencing? , Amelia Lane Kirkland

An Analysis of the Influence of Sampling Methods on Estimation of Drug Use Prevalence and Patterns Among Arrestees in the United States: Implications for Research and Policy , Janine Kremling

A Pathway to Child Sex Trafficking in Prostitution: The Impact of Strain and Risk-Inflating Responses , Joan A. Reid

Victimization Among Individuals With Low Self-Control: Effects on Fear Versus Perceived Risk of Crime , Casey Williams

Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009

Domestic Violence Within Law Enforcement Families: The Link Between Traditional Police Subculture and Domestic Violence Among Police , Lindsey Blumenstein

Rape Attitudes and Beliefs: A Replication Study , Rhissa Emily Briones

Reel Images: Representations of Adult Male Prisons by the Film Industry , Melissa E. Fenwick

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27 The Effect of Prisons on Crime

Sarah Tahamont PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland. Broadly, her research interests concentrate in three areas: 1) estimating the effects of criminal sanctions on individual outcomes with a particular focus on corrections, 2) examining the theoretical parameters of the criminal career paradigm in the context of a criminal justice career, and 3) research that advances criminological research methods. Her past research characterized the relationship between prison visitation and inmate outcomes and examined the patterns of criminal justice contact that precede a first prison sentence. Her current research includes projects that examine the consequences of errors introduced by matching administrative data, estimate the effect of facility security placement on institutional misconduct, and consider incarceration as a turning point in the life-course.

Aaron Chalfin PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania. He studies criminal justice policy and the economics of crime. His current research portfolio contains a mix of evaluation research and prediction projects that leverage insights from machine learning to guide the efficient allocation of scarce criminal justice resources. His past research has considered the effect of police manpower on crime, the relationship between crime and unauthorized immigration and the cost and deterrent effect of capital punishment. He is also interested in research that advances social science research methods and has written on topics such as measurement errors in observational data and cost-benefit analysis.

• Published: 02 November 2016
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This chapter presents empirical evidence regarding the (in)effectiveness of prisons for reducing crime. The authors begin with a brief discussion of the mechanisms through which incarceration affects crime, followed by a review of research that presents empirical evidence on the relationship between prisons and crime. This section separates empirical research on the total effect of prison on crime from empirical studies intended to isolate the deterrent or incapacitation effects of prison. Death penalty studies are also reviewed for insight into whether capital punishment has any short- or long-term effects on homicide rates. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of the policy implications that follow from the empirical research on prison effects on crime.

The scale of incarceration in the United States is overwhelming and has been described as a new form of “American exceptionalism” ( Raphael and Stoll 2013 ). The United States has, by far, the highest incarceration rate in the world—716 inmates per 100,000 residents—and well over half (65 percent) of the incarcerated population in the United States is housed in state or federal prisons as opposed to local jails ( Carson and Golinelli 2013 ). Crime prevention is a principal motivation for mass incarceration and, accordingly, the extent to which prison prevents crime is a topic that has received considerable scholarly attention.

In general, there are two ways in which prisons might affect crime: (1) deterrence and/or criminogenesis, and (2) incapacitation. 1 Deterrence occurs when an individual chooses to abstain from criminal activity because the marginal costs of doing so outweigh the marginal benefits. As the marginal cost of crime depends critically on public crime-control inputs, we can think of prison as deterring crime when by virtue of either the experience or the threat of incarceration, an individual does not engage in criminal behavior that he or she otherwise would have. Criminogenesis is, in principle, the same mechanism as deterrence except that it captures the scenario in which public policy intervenes in a way that lowers the perceived marginal cost of crime. Prominent examples of criminogenesis include housing inmates in conditions that acculturate them to violence and a criminal lifestyle. Incapacitation, on the other hand, is largely a mechanical effect and reduces crime by removing an individual’s opportunities to engage in illegal activity. In other words, an individual who is unwilling to engage in criminal behavior when he or she otherwise would have is considered deterred, whereas an individual who is willing but unable to engage in crime is considered incapacitated.

The distinction between deterrence and criminogenesis on the one hand, 2 and incapacitation on the other hand, is key to understanding the relationship between prison and crime. Prisons might deter crime through specific deterrence by altering the behavior of those who were once incarcerated but have now been released, or the threat of prison might generally deter crime by altering the behavior of those who have never been previously incarcerated. Prisons might also prevent crime by limiting the movements and interactions of incarcerated individuals. The net effect of prison depends on the empirical salience of each of these mechanisms and has profound implications for understanding the usefulness of incarceration as a tool for the promotion of public safety. However, unpacking the mechanisms is equally important, as the cost-effectiveness of incarceration depends, in large part, on whether prisons merely incapacitate or whether they also deter.

Disaggregating between the deterrence and incapacitation effects of prison is conceptually and empirically challenging. For example, research that considers the effect of a given sanction will, generally speaking, identify a combination of deterrence and incapacitation effects. By contrast, research that identifies a deterrence effect that is distinct from incapacitation must rely on a natural experiment that induces quasi-random variation in the severity of sanctions but does not induce corresponding variation in the length of time that an individual is removed from circulation.

In this chapter, we begin with a brief discussion of the mechanisms through which incarceration affects crime. We then review research that presents empirical evidence on the relationship between prisons and crime; we begin with papers that estimate the total effect of prison on crime and next turn to papers that attempt to isolate the deterrence or incapacitation effects of prison. We conclude with a brief discussion of the policy implications that follow from the empirical research.

I. The Relationship Between Prisons and Crime

In thinking about the relationship between prison and crime, it is important to note that prisons serve several different functions, each of which is weighted differently by different actors within the criminal justice system. One function of prisons is to lock inmates away to limit their contact with those outside prison, with the intention of preventing future crimes against those outside prison (i.e., incapacitation). Another function of prisons is to punish inmates for their crimes in order to create a salient negative incentive against committing future crimes (i.e., specific deterrence), or, according to some, simply to exact retribution. Others would argue that a purpose of prison is to rehabilitate inmates so that they can function as productive members of society upon release. With the exception of pure punishment, each of the functions of prison is intended to reduce crime.

All of the functions of prisons are related to the crime rate through two mechanisms: deterrence and incapacitation. Deterrence might be generated in response to any policy that changes the cost or benefits of criminal behavior, whereas incapacitation occurs only when the probability of capture or the expected length of incarceration increases. Research that identifies changes in the opportunity cost of crime is more likely to isolate deterrence. Although the incapacitation effect can be thought of as the mechanical response of crime to public policy, isolating a pure incapacitation effect can be difficult because criminal justice policies that affect incapacitation typically generate treatment effects that are a function of both incapacitation and deterrence. Later in this chapter we will discuss empirical attempts to disentangle incapacitation and deterrence, but first we will discuss the theoretical relationship between prison and crime as it operates through the mechanisms of deterrence, criminogenesis, and incapacitation.

A. Deterrence and Criminogenesis

Deterrence is an old idea that has been discussed in academic writing at least as far back as the seminal eighteenth-century treatises of Jeremy Bentham (1798) and Cesare Beccaria (1764) . There are three core concepts embedded in theories of deterrence—that individuals respond to changes in the certainty, severity, and swiftness of punishment ( Nagin and Pogarsky 2001 ; Nagin 2013 ). The theory of deterrence is predicated on the idea that sufficiently severe penalties, imposed sufficiently swiftly, with a sufficiently high degree of certainty will discourage criminal activity. Hence, the deterrent effect of criminal justice policies depends heavily on the probability of arrest and the probability of punishment given arrest, and, to a certain extent, the temporal proximity of the punishment to the crime as well as the severity of the punishments imposed relative to the crimes committed. As a part of our discussion of the relationship between prisons and crime we focus on deterrence because, as one of the most severe sanctions the criminal justice system metes out, prisons play a key role with respect to the severity of criminal sanctions. Recent reviews by Durlauf and Nagin (2011) , Chalfin and McCrary (2017) , and Chalfin and Tahamont (2016) discussed the theory of crime as it relates to deterrence in great detail; we do not discuss the details of the theoretical models and their extensions here, but we do provide a brief discussion of the formal models in order to illustrate the extent to which the deterrent effect of prisons on crime might be theoretically limited.

The standard neoclassical economic model of criminal behavior is built upon a simple expected utility model introduced in a seminal contribution by Gary Becker, winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Economics. The central idea of Becker’s (1968) model of criminal offending is that a rational individual who is considering committing a crime faces three potential outcomes, each of which delivers a different level of utility: (1) the utility associated with the choice not to commit a crime, thereby forgoing the criminal benefit ( U NC ); (2) the utility associated with choosing to commit a crime and not being apprehended ( U C1 ); and (3) the utility associated with choosing to commit a crime and being apprehended and subsequently punished ( U C2 ). Letting P denote the probability that an individual is captured conditional on having committed a crime, in this formulation, the individual chooses to commit a crime if the following condition holds:

That is, crime is worthwhile so long as its expected utility exceeds the utility from abstention. While Becker was the first to express crime as the outcome of a decision process by any rational individual in formal economic terms, the notion that utility guides conduct dates back to Bentham. 3

The above formulation suggests the presence of, in addition to P , a factor that reflects the disutility associated with capture, which Becker operationalized using a single exogenous variable f , which he referred to as the severity of the criminal sanction upon capture. Typically, f is assumed to refer to something like the length of sentence. 4 However, in principle, f can be a function of many different characteristics of the sanction, including the length of the sentence, the conditions under which the sentence will be served, and the degree of social stigma that is attached to a term of incarceration, all of which are likely heterogeneous among the population. Becker used the ideas about rational utility contained in (1) to generate a function denoting the supply of offenses for a given individual and a given type of crime, which yields the following decision rule:

In other words, the crime is worth committing so long as the ratio of the marginal benefit of “getting away” with the crime to the marginal benefit received if captured exceeds the odds of capture. It is worth considering the properties of the expected utility function with respect to the exogenous inputs. Regardless of the individual’s preference toward risk, it is easy to see that if the probability of apprehension, P , increases without a corresponding change in either the expected benefits of committing the crime, Y , or the severity of the sanction, f , the level of offending falls as fewer criminal opportunities will be worth the risk. Likewise, if the severity of sanction, f , rises, the ratio of the utility associated with the outcome when not apprehended U ( Y ) to the utility associated with the outcome if apprehended U ( Y−f ) decreases yielding a similar prediction. Finally, an increase in the benefits of crime, Y , leads to an unambiguous increase in crime since it leads to an expected increase in the benefit of criminal activity.

More recent additions to the neoclassical model provide some guidance as to the relative contribution of severity of punishment, f , and, by extension, the role of imprisonment with respect to deterrence. In particular, if individuals suffer both legal sanction costs associated with punishment and informal sanction costs associated with arrest, under all but the most extreme conceptions of criminal utility, the deterrence elasticity, or the changes in offending with respect to changes in the probability of apprehension or the severity of sanction, will be greater in certainty ( P ) than in severity ( f ). This is a formal articulation of Beccaria’s (1764 , p. 58) claim that “the certainty of punishment, even if it be moderate, will always make a stronger impression than the fear of another which is more terrible but combined with the hope of impunity.”

It is important to note that Becker’s model and its extensions are not models of deterrence per se, but rather models of criminal decision making. As a consequence, while the models demonstrate how changes to the inputs might lead to deterrence, they also demonstrate how changes to the inputs can lead to more crime. Indeed, scholars have identified some conditions under which the “deterrence elasticity” with respect to the severity of sanction, f , might be, in fact, positive. In that case prisons would not be considered deterrent but, rather, criminogenic. In particular, this can be the case when there is a shift in the distribution of sanctions that affects the variance as well as the mean.

In contrast to economic models of offending, classic literature on prison incarceration depicts prisons as institutions where inmates are socialized into a criminogenic subculture ( Sykes 1958 ). Through this process of socialization, inmates may learn from their inmate peers to improve their skills or strengthen their attachment to criminal values. In the framework of the neoclassical model, prison experience may change perceptions of both probability of apprehension, P , and sanction severity, f . Therefore, the utility of crime increases even if no change takes place to the potential gains, and the deterrent effect of prison diminishes. The decline of perceived sanction severity has been empirically revealed as studies have found that offenders with prior prison sentences are more likely to prefer a shorter term of incarceration over a longer term of probation ( Crouch 1993 ; May and Wood 2010 ). Moreover, prior prison experience considerably reduces the informal sanction costs, as Nagin (2013) proposed. As Crouch (1993 , p. 84) notes, “for persons deeply involved ‘in the life’, prison carried only the inconvenience of the sentence, not the added loss of reputation.”

Another possible criminogenic factor stems from the collateral consequences of imprisonment. A history of imprisonment subjects the inmate to a variety of legal provisions that may restrict him or her from future employment and welfare benefits ( Holzer, Raphael, and Stoll 2007 ; Raphael and Weiman 2007 ). In general, these consequences, which result from a prison sentence but are not necessarily intended consequences, are barriers to the process of reintegrating formerly incarcerated individuals into society. Under the neoclassical model, one important component of the cost of engaging in criminal behavior is the opportunity cost—the loss of wages in the legal labor market. The strains on future employment introduced by a prison sentence, such as large gaps in employment history, reduce the legal wage and, therefore, reduce the cost of engaging in criminal behavior. The net benefit of crimes, Y , increases even if the loot from crimes and the punishment parameters ( P and f ) do not change. Thus, under the rational choice model of criminal behavior, the barriers to employment brought on by a prison sentence can make crime more desirable.

Thus far, we have discussed the theoretical parameters of the deterrent effect of prisons on crime, as specified by theory going back to Beccaria and Bentham; such theories could apply to any individual. 5 However, it is obvious that perceptions of the severity of sanctions vary across individuals, particularly among those who have experienced that sanction or some related punishment in the past. As a consequence, a distinction is often made between general deterrence and specific deterrence. Any deterrent effect of prisons on crime for those who have never been to prison is considered a general deterrent effect of prisons on crime. By contrast, any deterrent effect of prisons on crime for those who have previously been to prison is called specific deterrence. Throughout the remainder of the chapter, we will attempt to differentiate between general and specific deterrent effects of prison on crime.

B. Perceptual Deterrence

An important consideration with respect to describing the theoretical deterrent effect of prison on crime is the relationship between the objective parameter of sanction severity, f , and the perceived parameter of sanction severity. “At its core, deterrence theory is a social psychological theory of threat communication in which the causal chain runs from the objective properties of punishment through the perceptual properties of punishment to crime” ( Paternoster 2010 , p. 785). In other words, it is not a sufficient condition for the sanction to be severe; it must also be the case that individuals perceive the sanction to be severe. Though much of the perceptual deterrence literature is dedicated to understanding perceptions of the likelihood of apprehension, some studies also attend to the perceptions of punishment (e.g., Anderson 2002 ; Kleck et al. 2005 ).

With regard to general deterrence, surveys consistently find that the general public has little knowledge of specific criminal penalties or awareness of changes in the sanctions regime. In a survey of Californians conducted in the late 1960s, the general public had very little knowledge of the criminal penalties associated with different behaviors ( Assembly Committee on Criminal Procedure 1968 ). Likewise, a more recent survey by Kleck et al. (2005) did not find a statistically significant relationship between perceptions of punishment severity and actual levels of punishment severity among a random sample of the general population in large urban counties. Cook (1980) has noted that while public perceptions of the sanctions regime are not accurate, they “tend to be systematically related to criminal justice activities” (p. 222). In other words, although individuals cannot accurately describe the sanctions regime, the perceptions differ by whether the individuals are involved in criminal activity. For example, those who commit crimes might have different perceptions of the sanctions regime than those who are not involved in criminal activity, even if the perceptions are not accurate.

The California survey, which included responses from college students, “low delinquency” high school students, “high delinquency” high school students, and inmates incarcerated by the California Youth Authority as well as the adult correctional population, also found that though there was evidence of fear of arrest, conviction, and imprisonment, generally there was no evidence that fear of lengthy sentences affected a significant number of criminal decisions ( Assembly Committee on Criminal Procedure 1968 ). This raises an important point with respect to deterrence.

The parameter, f , is taken to represent sanction severity ranging from f = 0 at no punishment through the most severe punishment imaginable. Often, empirical efforts to understand the effect of sanction severity on criminal behavior exploit exogenous changes in sanction severity f , such as a change in sentence length imposed for a given crime (e.g., an increase in maximum sentence from 10 to 20 years). As is evident from survey respondents, while there is little knowledge of the specifics of the severity parameter, f , there is an understanding that f ≠ 0, meaning that the presence of the punishment regime generates some general deterrent effect. It is important to acknowledge that even when marginal changes in severity do not seem to translate to perceived deterrence, the existence of the sanctions regime ( f ≠ 0), meaning prison relative to no prison, generates some unknown quantity of deterrence.

With respect to specific deterrence, it is likely that there are differences in the perceptions of the severity of sanctions between individuals in the general public and individuals who are, or who have previously been, involved in criminal behavior. As Zimring and Hawkins (1973) noted in their book Deterrence: The Legal Threat to Crime Control , it is possible for knowledge of the sanctions regime to be low among the general public yet high among the subpopulation involved in criminal activity. There is some early evidence that individuals involved in criminal activity are more aware than the general public of the sanctions regime. Among the adult prisoners surveyed in the 1960s in California, 76 percent were aware of the increased penalties for robbery compared to 20 percent of the general public ( Assembly Committee on Criminal Procedure 1968 ). Compared to the general public, a more accurate perception of the sanctions regime is more valuable to individuals who are actually involved in criminal behavior because they might actually face one of the sanctions. Interestingly, a more recent survey by Anderson (2002) found a very different result; among 278 inmates in two medium-security prisons and a county jail, 26 percent of those convicted of robbery said they knew exactly what the likely punishment would be if apprehended. 6 Kleck et al. (2005) also failed to detect a relationship between perceptions of punishment severity and actual punishment severity among the portion of their sample that had been previously arrested. However, as Kleck et al. noted, this could be at least partially driven by small sample size ( N = 182) and substantial missing data among those respondents. Both Anderson (2002) and Kleck et al. (2005) suggested that the lack of awareness or attention to the punishments translates to general ineffectiveness of marginal increases in the sanctions regime designed to deter future crime. Indeed, in our view, there is little evidence that a general increase in sanctions will deter crime. Later in the chapter, we will discuss empirical estimates of the effect of prison conditions, sentencing enhancements, and capital punishment statutes on crime; on the whole, these offer precious little evidence of crime reductions, let alone deterrence.

C. Incapacitation

While the hope is that the threat of prison, through general information or personal experience, deters individuals from engaging in criminal behavior, prisons are also designed to physically prevent crime through incapacitation. Models of criminal behavior necessarily assume that there is an opportunity to engage in criminal behavior. A core function of prisons is to limit the opportunities for inmates to engage in crime by eliminating, or severely limiting, their freedom of movement as well as their contact with those outside the prison environment. This is perhaps the most obvious rationale for incarceration—to physically remove an individual from free society, thereby preventing crime through incapacitation. Indeed, the only way for an individual who is incarcerated in a prison to commit a crime against someone outside prison is remotely. In removing, for the most part, the opportunity to commit crimes, the incapacitation effect can be thought of as the mechanical response of crime to correctional policy.

The best-known formal model of incapacitation was developed by Avi-Itzhak and Shinnar (1973 ; see also Shinnar and Shinnar 1975 ; Piquero and Blumstein 2007 ). The model assumes that the amount of crime prevented by incapacitation depends on five factors: the rate at which offenders commit crime when they are not incarcerated, the probability of apprehension and conviction, the likelihood of receiving a prison sentence given a conviction, the average time spent incarcerated, and the average duration of the criminal career (i.e., amount of time an individual would engage in crime over his or her lifetime). The fraction of crimes prevented as a result of incapacitation, I , is expressed as:

where λ is the rate at which individuals commit crimes, q is the probability of apprehension and conviction, J is the probability of receiving a prison sentence given conviction, S is the average time in prison, and T r is the average criminal career.

This model can also be used to derive an elasticity of crime, E , with respect to incapacitation. In other words, the model can be used to estimate the amount of crime avoided as a result of a 1 percent change in the prison population, given by:

As Piquero and Blumstein (2007 , p. 270) noted, the incapacitation model relies on a number of assumptions, “many of which have not been confirmed by empirical research or have not been carefully studied.” Piquero and Blumstein provide a thorough analysis of the assumptions underlying the incapacitation model; we highlight several of the more problematic assumptions here. One assumption of the incapacitation model is that there is a fixed number of potential offenders in the population, so that when one individual is incarcerated there are fewer potential offenders in the population. This assumption is particularly problematic for the drug trade, because drug markets tend to recruit replacements for imprisoned participants ( Blumstein 1993 ). However, the problem of replacement seems to be less relevant for predatory crimes ( Piquero and Blumstein 2007 ). Another assumption of the incapacitation model is that the experience of incarceration does not change the length of the criminal career ( T r ) nor the individual crime rate (λ), though the original model was updated by Canela-Cacho, Blumstein, and Cohen (1997) to include a distribution of offense rates. A final assumption of the incapacitation model that is worth highlighting is the assumption that the individual crime rate (λ) does not change over time and is homogeneous across all individuals. This is, of course, an empirical question, and estimating the value of λ for different populations has been one of the central foci of criminological research into “criminal careers.”

Empirical attempts by criminologists to estimate the role of incapacitation in the relationship between prisons and crime have focused on the consequences of “taking a slice out” of an individual’s criminal career ( Blumstein 1983 , p. 874), estimating the crimes avoided by incarcerating that individual or group of individuals. Some econometric studies have been able to disentangle the deterrent effect of prisons from the incapacitation effect; the effort has been to estimate the deterrence and not the incapacitation. Having discussed the theoretical relationship between prisons and crime, we now turn to a review of the literature that attempts to generate empirical estimates of the effect of prison on crime.

II. Estimates of the Total Effect of Imprisonment on Crime

A natural starting point in unraveling the empirical prison–crime relationship is to consider the elasticity of crime with respect to the size of the prison population. This elasticity measures the percentage change in a jurisdiction’s crime rate in response to a 1 percent increase in its incarceration rate. This elasticity does not distinguish between incapacitation and deterrence, so it is best thought of as the net or “total” effect of the scale of incarceration on crime. A large crime–prison population elasticity implies that mass incarceration has been effective in reducing crime, while a small elasticity implies that the marginal offender who is either incapacitated or deterred by the experience or threat of prison is not a prolific offender. The key challenge for this literature is to identify a causal relationship between the incarceration rate and the crime rate that is not confounded by simultaneity bias, which is a first-order threat to identification, since just as the prison population may affect crime, crime has a corresponding effect on the size of the prison population.

In the modern literature, Marvell and Moody (1994) provided the first credible empirical study of the elasticity of crime with respect to prison populations, estimating an elasticity of –0.16 using a state panel. To address the possibility of simultaneity bias, the authors explicitly model the simultaneity bias using the concept of Granger causality. As the relationship between the size of the lagged prison population and contemporaneous crime was greater than the relationship between lagged crime and the size of contemporaneous prison populations, the authors concluded that larger prison populations do tend to reduce crime. While Granger causality is a useful innovation with respect to identifying causal effects, it is not robust to a more nuanced conception of how simultaneity between these two variables comes about. In particular, to the extent that a third factor drives both incarceration rates and crime, the exercise will result in a biased estimate of the effect of the scale of incarceration.

The focus of the recent literature has been on identifying more credible ways to isolate the causal effect of the imprisonment rate on the crime rate. Levitt (1996) exploited exogenous variation in state incarceration rates induced by court orders related to prison overcrowding to reduce prison populations. The intuition behind the approach is that while prison crowding might be correlated with higher crime rates, the precise timing of the court orders that result in discrete reductions in a state’s prison population as a result of a court order should be as good as random. Using a panel of annual, state-level observations from 1971 to 1993, Levitt’s estimated elasticities, –0.40 for violent crimes and –0.30 for property crimes, were considerably larger than previous estimates that did not account for the confounded relationship between incarceration rates and crime rates. The estimate was large for robbery (–0.70). Hence, a 10 percent increase in the incarceration rate would result in a 4 percent reduction in violent crime rates, a 3 percent reduction in property crime rates, and a 7 percent reduction in robberies. Spelman (2000) replicated Levitt’s analysis on a slightly longer time series and reported qualitatively similar results.

Using more recent data, Johnson and Raphael (2012) developed an instrumental variable to predict future changes in incarceration rates, using variation in the scope of incarceration that is not due to contemporaneous criminal behavior. Using state-level panel data from 1978 to 2004, Johnson and Raphael estimated the elasticity of crime over the whole time period with respect to prison populations of approximately –0.10 for violent crimes and –0.20 for property crimes. Like Levitt (1996) , their instrumental variables coefficients were larger in magnitude than the OLS estimates. They also generated separate estimates for an earlier time period, 1978 to 1990, and a later time period, 1991 to 2004. Though the U.S. total incarceration rate increased considerably over the entire period of the data, there were stark differences in the incarceration rate between the earlier period (196 per 100,000) and later period (428 per 100,000). It is worth noting that the estimated elasticities for the earlier time period were larger in magnitude than that of the total time series and were closer in magnitude to those estimated by Levitt. Johnson and Raphael concluded that the criminality of the marginal criminal had changed considerably over time as incarceration rates have risen, and that increases in incarceration had generated “much less bang-per-buck” in terms of crime reduction, a conclusion that was echoed by Liedka, Piehl, and Useem (2006) .

The responsiveness of crime with respect to juvenile incarceration seems to be somewhat larger. Using Levitt’s (1998) estimates of the responsiveness of juvenile crime to the number of juveniles in custody per capita at the state level during the 1970s and 1980s, Lee and McCrary (2009) computed an implied elasticity for violent crimes of –0.40, meaning that for a 10 percent increase in the juvenile incarceration rate, the violent crime rate would decrease by 4 percent.

In sum, estimates of the elasticity of crime with respect to prison are generally modest and fall between –0.1 and –0.7. Estimates for violent and property crimes are of approximately equal magnitude, and there is evidence that the elasticity has diminished considerably over time as prison populations have grown. Our best guess is that the current elasticity of crime with respect to prison populations is approximately –0.2, as reported by Johnson and Raphael. This finding is further bolstered by a recent evaluation of “realignment,” a policy implemented in California to reduce prison overcrowding by sending additional inmates to county jails, where they tend to serve shorter sentences. Lofstrom and Raphael (2013) reported that, with the exception of motor vehicle theft, there is no evidence of an increase in crime despite the fact that 18,000 offenders who would have been incarcerated are on the street due to the realignment policy. The magnitude of this elasticity leaves open the possibility for non-trivial deterrence effects of prison, but, given that prison generates sizeable incapacitation effects, the magnitude of deterrence is likely small. Finally, it is worth noting that while these studies give an overall sense of the responsiveness of the crime rate to incarceration, prison population is not a policy variable; rather, it is an outcome of sanction policies that determine who goes to prison and for how long. As a consequence, any estimate of the effect of the imprisonment rate on the crime rate overall is the net effect of many interacting “policy treatments.”

III. Estimates of Deterrence and Criminogenesis

We now turn to a review of the empirical attempts to estimate the deterrent or criminogenic effects of prison on crime. We begin with a discussion of the literature examining the effect of the prison experience on future crime of released inmates, and then we turn to a discussion of sentencing enhancements and the death penalty.

The empirical literature on the effect of the prison experience focuses on two areas. The bulk of the literature examines the overall effect of incarceration on the probability that an offender reoffends, while a smaller subset of the literature examines the relationship between specific aspects of the prison experience and recidivism (also at the individual level).

The first literature examines the overall effect of incarceration on recidivism. Unlike studies that examine the effect of incarceration on overall crime rates, this literature focuses solely on the rearrests or reconvictions of formerly incarcerated individuals. The main focus of this literature is to compare the postrelease outcomes of defendants sentenced to prison and those who were sentenced to noncustodial sanctions. In doing so, these studies consider the effect of incarceration holistically, as opposed to examining the effect of any particular aspect of the incarceration experience.

Nagin, Cullen, and Jonson (2009) provide an excellent review of literature on the relationship between prison sentences and reoffending and highlight the fact that while the findings of individual studies are mixed, the literature generally finds the prison experience to have a null or mildly criminogenic effect, compared with noncustodial sanctions. The review, in particular, includes an excellent discussion on the methodological challenges inherent in studying this topic. Notably, much of the literature estimates the effect of imprisonment on recidivism using regression-based approaches that do not provide strong reasons for believing that individuals who experience prison and those who do not are equally disposed toward reoffending. Given that “in many studies important variables like prior record or age are not adequately accounted for” (p. 178), it is not clear that the majority of this literature has credibly accounted for the possibility of confounding.

A. The Experience of Prison

We begin with a discussion of research that examines the effect of specific elements of the prison experience. The primary research question in this literature is whether substantively harsher prison conditions deter or potentially increase reoffending. Prisons are typically classified into a security hierarchy ranging in level from minimum to maximum security, and each inmate is assigned to one of the security levels based on an evaluation of risk factors. There is considerable heterogeneity in prison conditions across security classifications. As a consequence, security classification assignment is the primary determinant of the set of prison conditions a given inmate will experience.

Direct estimation of the effect of prison security level on recidivism is likely to be confounded by this process since riskier inmates, who might be more likely to recidivate regardless of the prison conditions they experience, would, by default, concentrate in higher-security facilities. Chen and Shapiro (2007) addressed this problem by using a regression discontinuity design and identified the causal relationship between facility security level and recidivism for a sample of inmates from the federal prison system. In the federal prison system, inmates are assigned to a facility security level based on a custody score that is calculated for each inmate based on the characteristics of the current offense, demographic characteristics, and criminal history. The rationale for the regression discontinuity design is that inmates who have scores adjacent to the cutoff line between security levels are sufficiently similar in all aspects except for their assigned security level. Therefore, any observed differences in recidivism can, without making heroic assumptions, be causally attributed to the security levels. Chen and Shapiro found that inmates who were housed in an above-minimum-security facility increased their probability of recidivism by 14 to 21 percentage points compared to those inmates housed in minimum-security facilities.

There has been particular attention to the effect of incarceration under “supermax” conditions. Supermax conditions are characterized by solitary confinement with minimal human interaction (see Chapter 16 in this volume). Although various evidence has pointed to the detrimental influence of supermax prisons on inmates’ mental health conditions ( Haney 2003 ; Grassian 2006 ), evaluation of these inmates’ postrelease outcomes is scarce. Lovell, Johnson, and Cain (2007) conducted a study in Washington State and found that incarceration under supermax conditions had no impact on the overall recidivism rate of their sample. However, they did find that those who were released directly from a supermax prison to the community had a higher recidivism rate and recidivated faster than those who left supermax incarceration and were incarcerated in the general prison population at least three months prior to their release. By contrast, Mears and Bales (2009) found that Florida’s postrelease supermax inmates had higher recidivism rates for violent felonies, but that duration and recentness of the supermax incarceration did not appear to have an impact.

Katz, Levitt, and Shustorovich (2003) examined living conditions in prison more generally. While the majority of the studies that examined the relationship between the prison experience and recidivism used individual-level data on former inmates after release, Katz et al. used aggregate data. They examined the relationship between prison conditions, operationalized as prisoner death rates, using state-level panel data. They found a sizeable deterrent effect of prison conditions on state crime rates —that the elasticity of violent and property crimes with prisoner death was –0.05, or each death in prison decreases 30 to 100 violent crimes and a similar number of property crimes. Using a similar approach, but with individual-level outcome data, Drago, Galbiati, and Vertova (2011) found that harsher prison conditions did not reduce the recidivism rate for their sample of former inmates in Italy. Instead, they found a positive 0.025 elasticity of recidivism rate to prisoner death rate, meaning that inmates are more likely to recidivate as they experience harsher prison conditions as proxied by higher prisoner death rates.

A final group of studies examined the relationship between receipt of visits from loved ones and recidivism. The separation of inmates from their families and communities may be detrimental to social bonds essential for successful reentry and desistance ( Maruna and Toch 2005 ; Harding et al. 2014 ), and visitation during incarceration might serve as a counterweight to the isolation and negative peer influences in prison and might serve as a way to maintain social bonds with family and friends in the community. Bales and Mears (2008) , Mears, Cochran, Siennick, and Bales (2012) , and Duwe and Clark (2013) conducted multivariate analyses of the impact of visits from different kinds of visitors on recidivism using administrative data from Florida and Minnesota. These studies found that visits, especially more recent visits from at least some kinds of visitors, were associated with reduced recidivism.

B. Sentence Length

The literature that considers the effect of the prison experience on future criminal behavior is limited to consideration of specific deterrence or criminogenesis. By contrast, the literature on sentence lengths includes general as well as specific deterrent effects. In our discussion of the empirical literature on the effect of sentence lengths, we consider the general deterrent effects of prison on crime and then turn to those studies that estimated the effect of prison on the future crime of those who have already experienced incarceration.

The major innovation in the literature on sentence lengths is to study the effect on crime of legislation that enhances sentences for certain crimes while leaving sentence lengths for other crimes untouched. By systematically increasing the length of a prison sentence arising from a criminal conviction, sentencing enhancements increase sentence severity and provide a means to understanding how marginal increases in prison sentence length affect both contemporaneous and subsequent crime. Early studies on sentencing enhancements generally found no deterrence effect, whereas more recent studies, employing more rigorous methodology, tend to find that longer sentences do deter criminal behavior. These findings are in contrast with those of the studies on prison conditions, which generally found harsher prison conditions to be criminogenic.

The early studies on sentencing enhancements date back to the early 1980s, when Loftin and McDowall first examined the effect of firearm laws on the violent crime rate (Loftin and McDowall 1981 , 1984 ; Loftin, Heumann, and McDowall 1983 ). These papers consider specific sentencing enhancements in Michigan and Florida. The Michigan Felony Firearm Law of 1977 mandated a two-year sentencing enhancement for defendants who possessed a firearm while committing a felony. The Florida Felony Firearm Law mandated a “flat” three-year minimum sentence for those who possessed a firearm when committing certain violent felonies, and prohibited such a sentence from being suspended, deferred, or withheld. These studies generally found no significant crime-reduction effect. 7

More recent work considers the effect of a more expansive set of sentence enhancements. Raphael and Ludwig (2003) examined the effect of Project Exile in Richmond, VA. Project Exile authorized the transfer of firearm felony offenders from state to federal courts, which typically resulted in harsher penalties. 8 They compared the city-level crime rates and concluded that Project Exile did not have a detectable deterrent effect on crime rates. They noted that although there was a decline in the murder rate after the law’s enactment, it was attributable to the unusual increase in gun homicide in the decade prior to the law’s enactment.

Sentencing enhancements may also target only particular groups of offenders. The most notable sentencing scheme of this type is “three strikes” laws. Under these laws, typically an individual with one strike (a conviction for a listed serious or violent felony) faces automatic doubling of sentence length upon any subsequent felony conviction (which does not have to be a “strikeable” felony), whereas an offender with two strikes faces a prison sentence of 25 years to life upon conviction for a serious or violent felony. 9 Findings from empirical studies of the effect of three-strikes laws are mixed. A number of studies failed to detect a crime-reduction effect of these laws, either in California ( Stolzenberg and D’Alessio 1997 ; Zimring, Hawkins, and Kamin 2001 ; Greenwood and Hawken 2002 ) or among all the three-strikes states ( Marvell and Moody 2001 ; Kovandzic, Sloan, and Vieraitis 2004 ; Chen 2008 ). In contrast, Shepherd (2002a) analyzed county-level data in California from 1984 to 1996 and found that three-strikes laws deterred strikeable offenses but not non-strikeable offenses. Shepherd attributed this finding to the notion of “full deterrence”—that is, the laws deterred not only the offenders with strikes from the second and third strike, but also offenders without any strikes from obtaining the first strike via those particular offenses. She estimated that during the first two years of the legislation, approximately 8 murders, 3,952 aggravated assaults, 10,672 robberies, and 384,488 burglaries were deterred. However, she also found a substitution effect, as the number of larcenies, a non-strikeable offense, increased by 17,700, which is explained by the shift of offenders’ behaviors from strikeable offenses to non-strikeable ones like larceny. Iyengar (2008) also found a significant crime-reduction effect: She estimated that the laws reduced participation in any criminal activity by 20 percent for second-strike-eligible offenders and by 28 percent for third-strike-eligible offenders. 10

While much of the literature on sentence enhancements focuses on changes in sentence severity induced by changes in the law, there are a few examples where sentence severity increased without a change in the law. An example of this type is a recent study by Bell, Jaitman, and Machin (2014) that examined the aftermath of the 2011 riots in London. Within the prescribed sentence range, individuals who were involved in the riots were sanctioned substantially more harshly than those who committed similar crimes but did not participate in the riots. Bell et al. found a sizeable decline in riot crimes relative to non-riot crimes in the six-month period after the riots. They also found a decline in crime rates in areas not affected by the riots. They interpreted the findings as stemming mainly from a global deterrent effect of the enhanced sanction severity, but they also admitted that they were not able to differentiate the deterrent effect from the incapacitation effect using available data.

Many studies, including those by Bell and colleagues (2014) and Iyengar (2008) , acknowledged that one major difficulty in estimating the effect of prison on crime is that the deterrence and incapacitation mechanisms tend to work simultaneously. On the one hand, the fear of incarceration works as a disincentive to committing crimes. On the other hand, the physical insulation of the prison environment prevents offenses against those outside prison. Yet, in practice, the distinction between deterrence and incapacitation is important for policymakers “because the same reduction in crime is cheaper if produced by deterrence than if produced by incapacitation” ( Helland and Tabarrok 2007 , pp. 310–311). In the literature, two methods have been employed to differentiate between deterrence and incapacitation effects. The first is examining the reoffending behavior of certain types of released inmates (e.g., Helland and Tabarrok 2007 ; Drago, Galbiati, and Vertova 2009 ). The second method is to examine the trend of relatively serious crimes over a short period of time after a change in the law governing sentencing practices (e.g., Kessler and Levitt 1999 ; Shepherd 2002b ; Abrams 2012 ).

With respect to individual incentives to commit crime, Drago et al. (2009) examined the effect of a natural experiment in Italy. In July 2006, the Italian Parliament passed the Collective Clemency Bill, which reduced the prison term of all inmates by three years. The bill resulted in immediate release of about 40 percent of Italy’s prison population on August 1, 2006. A key provision of the bill mandated that if an inmate released under this bill received a sentence of two years or longer for any subsequent conviction within five years, the remainder of his or her original sentence would be appended to the sentence for the new offense. Hence, two otherwise identical cohorts of prisoners faced considerably different sanctions regimes arising from the commission of the same crime. The authors found a reduction of 0.16 of a percentage point in the probability of recidivism for every additional month expected to be served. On average, the amount of time that remained on an inmate’s sentence when the cohorts were released was 14.5 months, which resulted in a reduction of 2.3 percentage points in the probability of recidivism. In a similar contribution, Helland and Tabarrok (2007) compared the subsequent arrest patterns between individuals with two convictions for strikeable offenses and those who had been tried twice for strikeable offenses but had been convicted of only one of the two offenses. Their estimates suggested that three-strikes laws reduced felony arrest rates among defendants who had two strikes by 17 to 20 percent compared with those who had only one strike.

The second group of studies examined the instantaneous effect of a sentence enhancement on crimes that would result in a lengthy prison sentence regardless of the sentence enhancement. The logic is that any observed decline in crimes immediately following a sentence enhancement cannot be due to incapacitation, since the offenders would have been incarcerated even without the enhancement, only for a shorter term. For instance, if the minimum sentence for violent crimes is three years before the enactment of a sentence enhancement, then any reduction in violent crimes in the three years immediately following the new law’s enactment cannot be attributed to the sentence enhancement, because those offenders would be imprisoned under the old law as well. Studies of this type begin with Kessler and Levitt (1999) , who studied the effect of California’s Proposition 8 in 1982, which prescribed for those “serious” felony offenders a five-year sentence enhancement for each prior “serious” felony conviction. They estimated that Proposition 8 reduced the eligible crimes by 4 percent in the following year and by 8 percent in each of the three following years. 11

Several other recent studies followed the same logic and examined a variety of sentencing enhancement laws. Shepherd (2002b) examined the effect of truth-in-sentencing (TIS) laws. First enacted in 1984, TIS laws required offenders to serve a substantial portion of their prison sentence and restricted parole eligibility and good-time credits. Shepherd used county-level data in all 3,054 U.S. counties between 1984 and 1996. She found that TIS laws predicted a decrease in violent crimes ranging from 12 to 24 percent but an increase in burglary by 20 percent and auto theft by 15 percent (both acquisitive crimes). Following the same logic, Abrams (2012) examined the effect of the state “add-on” gun laws. As of 1996, 30 states had enacted some type of sentence enhancement for possessing a gun while committing a crime. He found that these laws reduced gun robberies by 5 percent in a three-year follow-up period, even after state crime trends had been taken into account.

IV. Capital Punishment

Variation in the presence or intensity of capital punishment potentially generates an excellent source of variation with which to test for the magnitude of general deterrence. In particular, to the extent that variation in a state’s death penalty regime is unrelated to changes in the intensity of policing, the effect of the death penalty represents a pure measure of deterrence because any response of murder rates to the presence or intensity of capital punishment is not plausibly attributable to incapacitation.

There have been two primary approaches to identifying deterrent effects of capital punishment. One approach uses granular time series data or “event studies” to identify the effect of the timing of executions on murder. The evidence from these studies is, at best, mixed and yields little evidence of deterrence. Overall, evidence of deterrence is reported by Land, Teske, and Zheng (2009) , while little to no evidence of deterrence is reported by Grogger (1990) , Cochran, Chamlin, and Seth (1994) , Stolzenberg and D’Alessio (2004) , Hjalmarsson (2009) , and Zimring, Fagan, and Johnson (2010) .

Broadly speaking, the time series and event studies literatures offer little support in favor of deterrence—though, as noted by Charles and Durlauf (2013) , the literature is plagued by several conceptual problems that compromise the interpretability of estimated treatment effects in the context of the neoclassical model. First, the focus of the time series literature on executions as opposed to the sanctions regime more generally marks a divergence from the Becker model insofar as the occurrence of an execution does not per se change the expected severity of a criminal sanction for murder. Second, Charles and Durlauf noted that the underlying logic of time series analyses of executions and murder operationalize the dynamic correlations between a shock to one time series and the levels of another as deterrence. 12 As the authors noted, “there is no good reason to think that these dynamic correlations capture what is meant by deterrence.” Notably with a limited time horizon, it is not possible to distinguish between deterrence and temporal displacement.

A second literature studies the deterrent effect of capital punishment using panel data on U.S. states to identify the effect of a capital punishment statute or the frequency of executions on murder among the public at large. In particular, these studies have exploited the fact that in addition to cross-state differences in sentencing policy, there is also variation over time for individual states in the official sentencing regime, in the propensity to seek the death penalty in practice, and in the application of the ultimate punishment ( Chalfin, Haviland, and Raphael 2013 ). This literature has generated mixed findings, with several prominent papers (e.g., Dezhbakhsh, Rubin, and Shepherd 2003 ; Mocan and Gittings 2003 ; Zimmerman 2004 , 2006 ; Dezhbakhsh and Shepherd 2006 ) finding large and significant deterrence effects versus several equally prominent papers finding little evidence in favor of deterrence ( Katz, Levitt, and Shustorovich 2003 ; Berk 2005 ; Donohue and Wolfers 2005 , 2009 ; Kovandzic, Vieraitis, and Boots 2009 ).

While evidence in favor of a deterrent effect of the death penalty is mixed, recent reviews by Donohue and Wolfers ( 2005 , 2009 ) and Chalfin et al. (2013) , as well as a 2012 report commissioned by the National Academies of Science ( Nagin and Pepper 2012 ), point to substantial problems in a number of papers that purport to find deterrence effects of capital punishment. These problems include the use of weak and/or inappropriate instruments ( Dezhbakhsh et al. 2003 ; Zimmerman 2004 ), failure to report standard errors that are robust to within-state dependence ( Dezhbakhsh and Shepherd 2006 ; Zimmerman 2009 ), and sensitivity of estimates to different conceptions of perceived execution risk ( Mocan and Gittings 2003 ). More generally, the panel data literature suffers from the threat of policy endogeneity, failure to include accurate controls, and a lack of knowledge regarding how potential offenders perceive execution risk. Perhaps the most careful paper to date is that of Kovandzic et al. (2009) , who used a particularly long panel of data, employed an expanded set of control variables, and explored a wide variety of operationalizations of the effect of capital punishment and execution risk. The authors found no evidence of a deterrent effect of capital punishment.

V. Estimates of Incapacitation

We now turn to the estimates of the extent to which prisons affect crime through incapacitation. Most of the extant literature has found a significant reduction in crime due to incapacitation, though the estimates vary in magnitude. An early review by Cohen (1978) estimated elasticities ranging from –0.05 to –0.70. The interval presented by Spelman (1994) was substantially narrower, with elasticities ranging from –0.12 to –0.20. A pair of studies by DiIulio and Piehl ( DiIulio and Piehl 1991 ; Piehl and DiIulio 1995 ) estimated elasticities of –0.22 for a sample of Wisconsin prisoners and –0.26 for a sample of prisoners from New Jersey. Later, Weatherburn, Hua, and Moffatt (2006) estimated an elasticity of burglary with respect to imprisonment of –0.30. These estimates are concentrated around an elasticity of approximately –0.20, which translates to an increase of 5 percent in the prison population leading to a 1 percent reduction in crime.

As we described in our theoretical discussion of incapacitation, empirical estimation of the incapacitation effect of prisons is challenging because it is difficult to estimate the counterfactual number of crimes a given individual would commit if he or she were not incarcerated. In recognition of the fact that the incapacitation effect of imprisonment is heterogeneous depending on the individual crime rate λ of the incarcerated individual, there have been some attempts to identify high-λ individuals in order to “selectively incapacitate” ( Greenwood and Abrahamse 1982 ). Auerhahn (1999) replicated the prediction tool originally developed by Greenwood and Abrahamse using a representative sample of California state prison inmates and found that the prediction tool had only a 60 percent accuracy rate at predicting levels of criminal behavior (High, Medium, Low). In addition, the tool generated false-positive predictions for more than one-third of the predicted “High Rate” group. Piquero and Blumstein (2007 , p. 272) noted that “any classification of an individual as a high- or low-λ person [would be] fraught with error. And any such attempt at identifying would introduce an inequity that was widely seen as unacceptable.” However, the analysis by Canela-Cacho et al. (1997) showed that the individuals with higher levels of criminal behavior would necessarily be more likely to be sentenced to prison because they engaged in higher levels of criminal behavior and thus had more opportunities to be apprehended and then sentenced to prison, a process they called “stochastic selection.” Stochastic selection showed that it was possible, indeed inevitable, to imprison higher-λ individuals without needing to make any individual estimates of λ.

VI. Conclusion

In this chapter we described the theoretical relationships between prisons and crime and assessed the empirical literature that has arisen to better understand the relationship. With respect to theory, we demonstrated that the deterrent and criminogenic effects of prison on crime operate through the severity of the sanction and that, relatively speaking, the severity of sanction as a whole and the role of prison within the severity of sanction can be shown to be theoretically limited.

The deterrent effects of prison on crime can be separated into two categories: specific and general deterrence. Prisons can deter crime through specific deterrence by altering the behavior of those who were once incarcerated but have now been released; however, the empirical literature suggests that harsher prison conditions tend to result in increasing the recidivism rates for the formerly incarcerated as opposed to deterring them.

With respect to the general deterrence of those who have never been incarcerated, we showed that aggregate crime rates are not very sensitive to marginal changes in the severity of a prison sentence. That said, there is some evidence that individuals facing different prison sentences for the same crime tend to behave differently ( Drago et al. 2009 ), a finding that is echoed by Helland and Tabarrok (2007) , who studied the behavior of individuals with two strikeable offenses in California.

Incapacitation can be thought of as the mechanical response of prison with respect to crime. Empirical attempts to estimate the role of incapacitation in the relationship between prisons and crime have focused on the consequences of “taking a slice out” of an individual’s criminal career ( Blumstein 1983 , p. 874), estimating the crimes avoided by incarcerating that individual or group of individuals.

With respect to public policy, in particular, the distinction between deterrence and criminogenesis on the one hand and incapacitation on the other is key. Consider, for example, a utilitarian social planner who must decide how to allocate scarce crime-control resources among police and prisons. Holding all other things equal, it is more efficient to invest in the resource that generates crime reductions that accrue via deterrence as opposed to incapacitation. The costs of arrest, adjudication, and incarceration mean that incapacitation is expensive and, by contrast, deterrence is relatively cheap. In other words, efficiency concerns dictate that social planners give priority to criminal justice policies that seem likely to reduce both crime and incarceration rates ( Durlauf and Nagin 2011 ).

Although it might seem that “rehabilitation” is missing from this discussion, it is present as a factor mediating deterrence. One of the reasons individuals might be deterred from future crime after serving time in prison is that they have been “rehabilitated.” It is true that while incarcerated some individuals seek out or receive treatments that they would not otherwise receive. If the effect of those treatments is to prevent the individual from future criminal behavior, then the person is deterred through rehabilitation. While it is probably true for some that treatments in prison have rehabilitative effects that are independent of their propensity to commit future crime, the general consensus is that prison has negative as opposed to positive outcomes. As a result, we are not going to address the potential general rehabilitation effects of prison.

Throughout the chapter we discuss deterrence and criminogenesis together because they are the inverse of one another in terms of outcomes of the rational choice model of criminal decision making. As discussed, if the marginal cost exceeds the marginal benefit of crime, then the crime is deterred, whereas when the opposite circumstance is true (MB > MC), then the conditions are criminogenic.

For an excellent intellectual history of deterrence theory see Paternoster (2010) .

See Durlauf and Nagin (2011) for a discussion of the neoclassical model under this simplifying assumption.

Among the myriad contributions of Becker’s 1968 paper was to bring deterrence theory back around to Beccaria and Bentham by suggesting that any individual could be at the decision margin for criminal behavior.

It is worth noting that unlike some of the other surveys that attempted to corroborate respondent answers with actual rates, Anderson (2002) took the self-reported answers at face value. The respondents were asked whether they knew what the likely punishment would be if apprehended and they were given a range of possible responses, from “I knew exactly what the punishment would be” to “I had no idea, or I thought I knew but I was wrong” to “I didn’t think about it.”

McDowall, Loftin, and Wiersema (1992) later combined data from the sites previously studied and found a significant deterrent effect. However, due to methodological issues these findings are considered questionable (see Durlauf and Nagin [2011] for a detailed explanation of the challenges).

The penalty for felony possession of a firearm under federal jurisdiction was five years without the possibility of early release; processing in the federal system also leads to a higher bail amount and a high probability of serving the prison term at an out-of-state facility.

In California, any felony conviction could trigger a 25-years-to-life sentence under “three strikes” until Proposition 36 changed the provision in 2012 to render only serious or violent felonies eligible for the third strike.

On the other hand, she found that the probability of committing violent crimes increased by 9 percentage points for third-strike-eligible offenders, which she attributed to the flattened penalty gradient (a smaller increase in the severity of sanction).

The findings of the Kessler and Levitt study were challenged by Webster, Doob, and Zimring (2006) , which sparked a debate on this empirical approach, with a response by Levitt (2006) . In an attempt to resolve the debate, Raphael (2006) commends the clever approach by Kessler and Levitt (1999) to exploit the exogenous variation induced by the change in policy, but notes that perhaps the comparisons included in that paper were not ideal because of the pre-period differences in both the crime trend and in the level of eligible and ineligible crimes in California and the rest of the United States. The trend differences were obscured by the omission of the alternate years of data in the original paper; when those alternate years were added back to the graph, the time trends looked very different.

What this means is that if we are analyzing the time series for both executions and murder simultaneously, we are effectively attributing the dynamic correlations between a shock, or external force, that disrupts the one time series and the levels of another time series as deterrence.

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Criminology Dissertation Ideas

Coming up with quality criminology dissertation ideas can get pretty complex, because it requires detailed and sometimes lengthy research. Professional writers from our dissertation writing service prepared everything you need to know about criminology dissertation writing, including specific criminology dissertation ideas.

You will find plenty of topics with which you will be able to ace your criminology class and impress your professors. But, before we go through our list, let’s take a closer look at what makes criminology dissertations so interesting, as well as how to approach them, regardless of which topic you are given.

How to Come Up with a Criminology Dissertation Topic?

Coming up with useful criminology dissertation ideas is more difficult than in some of the other disciplines. How so? Well, the subject matter is more sensitive, and while you might be able to get away with some speculation in a dissertation in other disciplines, there is zero room for that here. However, there are some methods that can make the entire process easier, and they include:

• Brainstorming
• Mapping out your ideas
• Letting the arguments you have create your topic
• Free writing
• Check relevant sources for additional ideas

Don’t be afraid to put down just about on paper, especially if you are relying on free writing or brainstorming. Perhaps that silly thing that popped inside your head might lead you toward more useful criminology dissertation ideas and topics.

What Makes a Criminology Dissertation Interesting?

The best criminology dissertations are interesting because they cover an exciting topic in a way that hasn’t been done before. Also, criminology is extremely fascinating, because it covers complex subject matter, such as crime, from different angles. Not only does require you to include science, but also psychology and sociology in order to get inside the criminal mind. Exploring the motives and reasons behind certain crimes is always interesting, which is why so many effective criminology dissertation ideas revolve around it.

More about dissertation writing: The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Dissertation

Best Topic Ideas from Criminology Dissertation

We have set out to create a list of criminology dissertation ideas that are both practical and diverse. This means you will be able to find a topic for yourself, regardless of what sort of crime you are exploring. Also, you will find ideas for subject matter which has already occurred in real life. We have also kept in mind that you need to do research for these topics, which is why we have limited ourselves to those for which you can find plenty of information online or in your local campus library. Here is our list of best criminology dissertation topics:

Criminology Dissertation Ideas on Serial Killers

• Which people are most likely to become serial killers?
• How do serial killers become serial killers?
• Differences between serial killers and mass murderers
• Comparison between real-life serial killers and their portrayal in Hollywood films
• What drives women to become serial killers?
• Exploring the possibility of rehabilitating serial killers
• Differences between male and female serial killers
• Should serial killers be let back into society after serving out their sentences?
• List countries that have the highest numbers of serial killers and explore the reasons behind those numbers
• Can a person’s social status lead them to become a serial killer?
• What are the main motives of serial killers?
• Has modern technology made it easier or harder for serial killers to remain at large?
• What are specific trademarks of female serial killers?
• Which factors contribute to the chances that a person will become a serial killer?
• How common are serial killers outside of the US?

Feminist Criminology Dissertation Topics

• Treatment of Women in the criminal justice system
• Exclusion of women in the dominant crime theories
• Gender diversity in the study of crime
• Feminist theories in criminology
• Women as victims of violent crimes
• Percentage of women working in the criminal justice system
• Feminist approaches to criminal research
• What is feminist criminology?
• Why is feminist criminology important?
• Gender inequality in the law and criminal justice system

Criminology Dissertation Ideas on Domestic Violence

• Investigating the effects of domestic violence on young children
• What are the key triggers for domestic violence?
• The effectiveness of psychiatric treatment in overcoming trauma caused by domestic violence
• Domestic violence: racial and ethnic factors
• Comparison of different types of domestic violence
• Male domestic violence in first-world countries
• Female empowerment and its effect on domestic violence
• Correlation between domestic violence and probability of suicide
• What role does the media play in domestic violence
• Who are the victims of domestic violence?
• Domestic violence and the law
• Forms of intimate partner violence
• Popular culture and domestic violence
• Domestic violence against people with disabilities
• Gay and bisexual domestic violence

Youth Crime Dissertation Ideas

• Juvenile delinquents and their family environment
• How do violent movies, music, and video games influence youth crimes?
• Are children of single parents more or less likely to become juvenile delinquents?
• What are the earliest indicators of future delinquent behavior?
• Do male juvenile delinquents receive longer sentences than female delinquents for committing the same crime?
• What role do alcohol and drugs play in young people committing crimes?
• What’s the outcome when it comes to the rehabilitation of young offenders?
• Are corrections facilities the best to rehabilitate underage delinquents?
• Are foster children more likely to end up committing a crime?
• What are the most common crimes committed by juvenile delinquents?
• Does a family history of crime make children more like to commit a crime in the future?
• How does juvenile delinquency affect young people’s chance of employment and having a career?
• What is the main motive behind youth crimes?
• How to minimize violent and sexual crimes among the youth
• Should juvenile delinquents be tried as adults if they have committed a violent crime?

Cybercrime Dissertation Topics

• Discussing the impact of cybercrimes on the finance and banking industry
• Should online identity theft be treated as a crime?
• The most common cybercrimes in the United States
• Exploring the history of hacking
• The most vicious cyber attacks in history
• What effects does hacking have on countries?
• Challenges of cybersecurity and the prevention of cybercrimes at universities
• Are cyber attacks considered terrorism?
• Explaining all the phases of a DDoS attack
• What are the most effective ways to protect children from cyberbullying?
• What is ransomware and how do ransomware attacks happen?
• Evolution and history of online scams
• What are the best ways to prevent cybercrimes?
• What are the main motives for cybercrimes and hacking?
• What are the financial effects of cybercrime?

Criminology Dissertation Ideas about Drugs

• Differences between the effects of alcohol and marijuana on human behavior
• Should the media promotion of drugs be banned?
• In what way does cannabis improve or impair the cognitive abilities of those consuming it?
• Should marijuana be legalized and under which conditions?
• Correlation between drugs, poverty, and crime in low-income households
• How effective are the methods used by physicians and psychiatrists in drug rehabilitation facilities?
• How does parental drug use affect the child’s tendency to use drugs?
• Are there any positive effects of smoking cannabis?
• Establishing the connection between substance abuse and violent crimes
• What role does drug abuse play in domestic violence?
• Comparing the effects of the most common drugs on human behavior
• What are the most abused drugs in the United States?
• Should schools introduce random drug testing in order to fight drug abuse among students?
• Exploring the harmful effects drug abuse has on society in general
• Does drug abuse increase the number of sexual assaults?

Dissertation Ideas on Mental Health and Crime

• What role does childhood trauma play in a person’s likelihood to commit a crime?
• Establishing the connection between mental illness and crime
• Which mental disorders are most likely to drive a person to commit a violent crime?
• How effective is mental therapy for criminals which have committed murder?
• Is it possible to fake a mental illness in order to escape punishment?
• Correlation between mental disorders and aggressive behavior
• What are the most common mental illnesses among sexual offenders?
• What sort of mental disorder do victims of sexual assault usually suffer from?
• The most efficient ways of promoting mental health in a society
• Which traumas can lead a person to commit a violent crime?
• How does media content exacerbate a person’s mental disorder?
• What are the common mental disorders among the youth?
• Can community-based centers be effective in providing treatment for those suffering from mental illnesses?
• How can members of the police force be trainers to recognize mental illnesses?
• Can depression and anxiety drive a person to commit murder?

Criminology Dissertation Ideas on Prisons

• Should the prisoners be allowed to vote and under which conditions?
• To which extent is it possible to rehabilitate prisoners which have committed violent crimes?
• Should murderers be introduced back into society after they have served the entirety of their sentence?
• Correlation between crime rates and the length of prison sentences for those crimes
• Which crimes are the most common inside prisons?
• Should sexual offenders be separated from other prisoners?
• What are the most common causes of unrest in prisons?
• The most effective methods for preventing suicide in prisons
• Why is it difficult for developing countries to reduce violence among prisoners?
• What are the most common crimes prisoners get convicted of?
• What is the longest prison sentence ever given to a murderer?
• What percentage of sexual offenders end up in prison for the same crime?
• How many criminals escape from US prisons every year?
• Should prisoners which have committed murder receive benefits for their forced labor?
• The most effective rehabilitation methods in prison

Coming up with useful criminology dissertation ideas can be a challenge, especially if you are looking to cover something that hasn’t been done before. Hopefully, our list of dissertation topics will provide you with enough quantity and quality, so that you are never short on ideas. We hope you will find it helpful and use some of the subjects listed in this article.

This article was written by Beatrix Potter Publish Date: Jul 21, 2022

Beatrix Potter

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Criminology Dissertation Ideas for Students

When students enter university, few of them consider what dissertation they will write. They’re mostly focused on everyday tasks like essays, but since the necessity to select topic and investigate is inevitable, sooner or later, this question is going to gain urgency. Criminology is a unique subject.

Whether you’re studying it at the University of Surrey or Stirling, the final year will be tough. Some are going to require online dissertation help . But before getting professional assistance, one must look through diverse criminology dissertation ideas and decide which suits better. The more you like it, the more you’ll feel engaged in writing, meaning that chances at getting an excellent grade are going to grow. Let’s take a look at newly available criminology topic prepared by our professionals in this field.

Topics on 6 Major Divisions of Criminology

We’ve divided this vast area into six main topics, each having a number of suggestions. Check them and see what criminology dissertation titles you find interesting. We’ll start with two widest general sections.

Prison & Society Topics

The perception of prisons and prisoners in society has always been a subject of hot debate. As you are choosing dissertation topics dealing with social aspects of criminal offenders, remember about narrowing your ideas down to include a single social element. See these examples to help you start writing:

• Portrayal of prisons in the media.
• Should schoolchildren have visits to prison as a part of the school curriculum?
• Mental health issues and serial killer personalities.
• Breaking down negative stigma regarding ex-prisoners and social work.
• Is prison punishment justified for economic or political crimes?
• HM Prison Wandsworth Effectiveness: Control, Crime, Punishments
• Barriers between Prisoners & Free People: Dual Review
• Thin Line between Free Life and Prison
• How do Ex-Prisoners Adapt to New Life?
• Adaptation Period in Prison: Factors of Difficulties & Success

Crime & Justice Topics

When a crime is committed, people often think of the existing criminal justice system which has numerous flaws and benefits, depending on who reviews it. Choosing your dissertation topic on justice is not an easy task, which is why consider checking criminal justice dissertation ideas:

• Prevention of crimes with the help of education and volunteering work.
• The management of prison overcrowding.
• Gang activity control and reporting systems: evidence vs official reports.
• Drug legislation and insufficient punishment.
• Video games violence and serial killer cases.
• History of Death Penalty, Its Meaning
• Illegal Acts That Attract Insufficient Punishment
• Crimes in that Result in Overly Harsh Punishments
• Alternative Means of Punishments: Comparisons of International Systems
• Validity of Putting Education Before Prison

Ethnicity and Race Topics

Many of us know that some crimes taking place contain racial or ethnic elements. While these crimes have decreased lately, they are still widely discussed to help people avoid them and address every issue that comes up. Here are several ethnicity and race dissertation topics:

• Racial inequality vs South Africa.
• Law violations among ethnic minorities in Wales.
• Cyberbullying crimes and ethnicity factor.
• How does media contribute to the birth of hatred based on racial principles?
• Sports and legal consequences of racial conflicts.
• Race-Fuelled Lawlessness: 2015-2022
• Laws that Could Reduce Crimes Based on Ethnicity
• Minorities Representation Prisons
• Murders Across English Cities based on Race & Ethnicity
• Changes in Ethnicity: Relation to Crime over the Last Ten Years

Crime and Social Inequality

It is a popular belief that social access to welfare and one’s financial state always lead to either a higher or a lower criminal activity rate. While it is not proven scientifically due to insufficient sample groups, students may explore this field of science to bring innovations and new insight.

• Does the lower-income situation in the family lead to an increase in crime rates?
• Workplace violence towards female workers and sexual assault crimes.
• Discrimination in grammar schools & learning disabilities.
• Do people in rural areas have more social responsibility regarding law violations?
• Social comparison crime rates and knife crimes among the teen population of Liverpool vs Manchester.
• Murders Committed by Low & Middle-Class Representatives: A Comparison
• London Divided into Sectors: Class Separation and Violence
• Correlation between Public Resources & Felony Control
• Does Low Income Cause Violence?
• Discrimination: Its Impact on Violence

Activism & Riots Ideas

It is way too easy to cross the line between social campaigns and law violations as the group of people gathers together to protest. It often leads to riots and violence. Explore related criminology dissertation topics below and change them a little bit to fit your thesis statement:

• The Black Lives Matter social movement branch.
• The role of Instagram and Facebook influencers in social riots.
• Media bias of television networks in coverage of riots.
• The limitations of social activism: when responsibilities fail to work.
• The use of nationalistic slogans and knife crimes during social-based riots.
• Successful Riots & Their Consequences
• Riots that Caused Many Crimes
• Verge between Activism & Crimes
• When Social Mobility Masks Crimes: Cases & Impact
• Causes for Riots & Most Typical Kinds of Violence Committed as Their Result

Topics about Police

A successful work of criminology specialists always involves police officers, which is why choosing your policing dissertation ideas/police dissertation ideas must be approached with great care and without bias. After all, it is your research of both sides that matters.

• How can police body cameras help decrease police violence?
• Difference in behaviours of police officers in villages vs large cities.
• Can children’s books have a positive impact on attitude to police among teenagers?
• Male vs female police officers: why gender is not always significant.
• Police work differences between and Canada.
• Praise & Complaints about Police: Truth and Myths
• Right of Police to Use Weapons & What It Results In
• Crimes Commited by Police: Imprisoned Officers
• Criminology Network of Police Officers
• What Makes Criminology Investigation Successful: New Factors

If you’re still searching for other options, consider looking through a similar field. Check dissertation topics in finance or economics dissertation topics . Crimes happen in these spheres, too, and maybe you’ll locate the one that stirs your interest there. Remember, authentic interest in a theme is already a big guarantee of future success.

Criminology Dissertation Tips

Criminology dissertation represents one of the most complicated types of work even for those students who pursue their Criminology or Forensic Sciences degrees. Coming next, Psychology, Law, and Nursing also relate here. Therefore, students must consider the following rules as they start:

• Research similar works dealing with your subject. Always consult with your academic advisor.
• Narrow things down to become more focused on a certain problem that your criminology dissertation explores.
• Provide new information and mention case studies to provide more samples for your methodology.
• Include statistical information and comparisons, especially if using qualitative methodology.
• Provide counter-argument sections to make your research unbiased.
• Choosing your topic, avoid controversial subjects if you are not ready to deal with them.

Most importantly, always discuss every aspect with your academic advisor to avoid accidental plagiarism or copyright infringement issues as you are dealing with a plethora of information and citations.

Psychology and Criminology Connection

Regardless if you study Criminology or Psychology, these two fields of science always go hand in hand, especially when forensic analysis of mental health aspects must be done. You might already have seen it in various TV series or shows, yet take time to explore criminology and psychology dissertation ideas:

• Psychology aspects of domestic abuse reporting.
• The fear factor and analysis of child victims of crimes.
• Psychology of gambling and the apprehension of punishment.
• Male vs female perception of serial killer crimes.
• PTSD and military violence analysis.
• Are there typically crimes?
• Attitude to alcohol-related crimes vs the United States.
• Psychology of a drug dealer.
• How can good psychological skills help prevent bullying?
• Abuse of leadership in the workplace: moral and legal responsibilities.

Explore these topics to see how criminal studies always relate to psychology as one explores what has fueled the crime and what mental aspects have been involved.

Masters and Ph.D. Criminology Dissertation Ideas

Dealing with Criminology Master’s dissertation ideas, you can still choose basic Criminology topics. The difference lies in the depth of your research and the ways how you approach your methodology.

• Police strategies on self-control and stress management in emergency situations.
• Female prisons and sexual violence cases: analysis and prevention methods.
• Religious discrimination in society.
• Parental responsibilities monitoring: ethics and limitations.
• Interrogation of child abuse victims.
• Police bias in responding to emergency calls.
• Negative perception of police officers: the role of media and newspapers.
• Marginalization among police officers in Wales.
• Does technology lead to being anonymous: cyberbullying and online gambling.
• Post-prison life rehabilitation methods.

Argumentative Criminology Dissertation Topics

Argumentative dissertation topics in criminology must present some argument or make an assumption regarding whether something is possible. Using argumentative topics, make your opinion clear.

• Religious beliefs and terrorism cases in Northern Ireland.
• Are political crimes worse than economic violations?
• Do men and women suffer differently from domestic abuse?
• Mental abuse in the workplace vs physical abuse.
• Are immigrants to blame for the terrorist attack cases?
• Can police officers remain unbiased when dealing with male vs female offenders?
• The media portrayal of serial killers: pros and cons.
• School education and prevention of drug-related crimes.
• Should prisoners be allowed to vote and participate in politics?
• Social work as an alternative to imprisonment: Norway’s example.

Controversial Criminology Dissertation Topics

Remember that controversial criminology dissertation topics are not for everyone because it means facing disturbing topics that require exploring not only your position but the negative side of things as well.

• Reporting male rape differences: community stigma.
• Black Lives Matter: did the police really have their say in this case?
• Covid-19 related crimes: are they financial or moral?
• Bias towards female child abusers: social aspects.
• Social media as justification of psychological online crimes.
• Rap music as a contributor to knife crimes and violence.
• Do we evaluate terror attacks based on what media shows us?
• Are children unbiased when they report domestic violence threats?
• Prevention of terrorism methods between and the USA.
• Do serial killers have morals?
• What topics may be chosen when I write a criminology dissertation?

You can consider anything from police violence and social injustice to social campaigns, prisoners, and domestic violence. Basically, anything that involves Criminology can be handled by our experts as you compose your dissertation. Just place your order and we shall assist you right away.

• How to Choose a Criminology Dissertation Subject?

It must be something that motivates you for research and something that you know well. It is recommended to narrow things down a little bit and play with the alternate wording to fit your thesis statement. You should discuss things with your academic advisor and remain unbiased as you research.

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If you catch yourself thinking, “I’d like to pay someone to write my dissertation ,” this service is going to be a smart choice. Its specialists could meet all your requirements, crafting assignments that would have academic value, impressing committee and pleasing you. If you’re simply interested in possible law dissertation topics , check all lists with these as well as criminology topics. You are guaranteed to find what you’ve been looking for, receiving inspiration and genuine desire to start your investigation.

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150+ Top Criminology Dissertation Ideas To Consider

Table of Contents

Criminology is a vast subject that studies crimes and their causes, costs, and consequences. If you are a student pursuing a degree in criminology, then to obtain graduation, as a part of your final assignment, you will have to submit a well-researched criminology dissertation. But mainly, for writing a criminology dissertation, a good topic is needed the most. In case, you find it challenging to identify the right topic for your thesis, take a look at this blog. For your convenience, we have shared 150+ best criminology dissertation ideas. In addition to that, we have also suggested how to choose a good topic and craft a brilliant criminology thesis.

Let’s get started.

Criminology Dissertation Topic Selection

Generally, you may find numerous criminology dissertation ideas on the internet, yet you need to select only credible sources. Thus, if you want to choose inspiring criminology dissertation ideas, perhaps consider exploring the conditions below.

• Firstly, select topics that tackle current issues only as you might want to write an exemplary essay. Also, you may secure good grades, if you choose current criminology dissertation ideas.
• Secondly, you ought to create a direct impact on the lives of people. Perhaps, ensure understanding of the thin line between criminology and law enforcement.
• Thirdly, consider choosing a hot debate or a problem. Possibly, you ought to establish a connection with the people, otherwise, your study might turn boring.

Criminology Dissertation Writing

Now that you know how to choose criminology dissertation ideas, let’s learn how to write them.

• Perhaps, ensure to write on topics that are neither very narrow nor too broad.
• For instance, if you choose narrow topics, possibly you will not have enough research scope. Also, if you choose too broad topics, certainly you will confuse your audience and your message might sound unclear.
• Besides, you might also need to follow the marking rubrics as might want to deliver an exemplary dissertation.
• Finally, consider to proof-read your work as you might want to deliver a flawless dissertation. For instance, you may use online grammar check tools to refine your work. Also, run a plagiarism check as you might not want to get accused of cheating.

See Also – How Long is a Dissertation?

List of Criminology Dissertation Topics and Ideas

Find here, a list of outstanding topics to consider for writing a top-scoring criminology dissertation.

Simple Criminology Dissertation Ideas

• Religious ideologies as the cause of terrorism.
• How to create a crime-free society?
• Why does immigration lead to an increased crime rate?
• Serial killers and their contributing factors.
• Social insecurity is mere brutality.
• Sexual exploitation is the only role of human trafficking.
• How to regulate prostitution and minimize crime?
• Imitation causes corruption.
• How do prisons truly rectify criminal behavior?
• Permission for the police to carry guns in the public.
• Facebook is a platform for criminal activities and not socialization.
• How is abortion a crime?
• Parental separation and future violence.
• Bullies in schools versus crime- A critical evaluation.
• How does culture shape the morals for a better society?
• Discuss the impact of gender on law violations.
• Analyze how social class correlates with the crime rate.
• Evaluate the impact of weather on law violations.
• Sexual abuse leading to criminal behavior in women
• Relationship between the maltreatment of a child and the involvement of the child in criminal acts
• Traumatic childhood leads to criminal behavior – Discuss
• Discuss the relationship between crime and racist stereotyping
• Does stereotype mentality towards the people of the LGBTQA+ community make them involved in crime?
• Addictive products and criminal thinking
• Discuss the patterns of criminal thinking and their effects with example

Top Criminology Dissertation Ideas for the Experts

• Why do dominant criminal theories not include women- Feminist Criminology?
• How is criminality a product of culture- Cultural criminology?
• Discuss the concept of natural legal crime.
• Analyze the social construction of crime- Crime demonstrates social reactions.
• Wildlife harm and exploitation- Discuss the environmental crime.
• Discuss how prejudice motivates violence- Environmental crime.
• What drives one person to kill another person- Homicide?
• Evaluate the impact of systematic bias on criminal justice.
• African Americans- Analyse the racism and discrimination towards them.
• Discuss the discrimination in the UK Court System.
• Elaborate on the extent of discrimination in the UK Court System.
• How are serial killers portrayed in the media?
• Analyze terrorism prevention technology.
• Role of street lighting in reducing crime.
• Discuss the national defense in the US.
• Analyze the national defense in the UK.
• Comparative study on the rate of crime in Asia and Middle-East
• Impact of social discrimination, stigma, and prejudice on a country’s crime rate
• Violence, Crime, and Development: Costs, Trends, and Policies in the Caribbean
• Involvement of youth in criminal acts in the United Kingdom

Also Read: Top 100 Forensic Psychology Research Topics and Ideas

Amazing Criminology Dissertation Ideas

• Discuss the impact of parental separation on future violence.
• The unknown world of male rape in the current society.
• Analyze the impact of organized crime on the criminal justice system.
• Illegal research and dangers of genetics.
• Discuss the impact of different drug types on the users.
• Elaborate on substance abuse in the military.
• Describe the parental abduction laws.
• Advantages and disadvantages of sex offender registry.
• How is jury selection performed?
• The legal perspective of cybercrime.
• Discuss the recent innovation of experimental criminology.
• How are organized crime and corruption related to each other?
• Discuss the steps to prevent shoplifting.
• Evaluate the help that the victim of a crime might get.
• How to prevent elder abuse?
• Discuss the leading problems resolved by law enforcement today.
• Analyze the law that protects domestic violence victims.
• Discuss the global perspective on juvenile delinquency, justice, therapeutic interventions, and welfare
• Juvenile delinquency cases in the United States
• Impact of an urban setting on people’s criminal behavior

High-quality Criminology Dissertation Topics

• Elaborate on the different types of serial killers.
• Drug consumption and youth arrest.
• Discuss the community correction and its effectiveness.
• How does sentencing take place?
• When unwarranted arrests are accepted?
• Discuss human trafficking in the modern world.
• Relevance of technology in modern forensics.
• Describe the different types of offenders and their classification.
• Homicide, murder, and manslaughter- A comparative analysis.
• Causes of victimization and ways to prevent it.
• Issues of poor living conditions in the prisons.
• Discuss the rights of the rape victims.
• The three-strike role and mandatory sentencing.
• How do the drug courts function?
• Problem-solving and the underpinning issues they address.
• Male crimes versus Female crimes- A comparative analysis.
• Criminal cases versus civil cases- Compare and Contrast.
• Analyze the key problems and unknown pitfalls of the prison system.
• Innovative Ways to Deal with Social Disorders in a Community
• Why do crimes of serial killers always present a complex puzzle to solve for the investigators?

Also read: Top Business Law Paper Topics For Students To Consider

Trending Criminology Dissertation Ideas

• Discuss the core principles of Crime Prevention.
• Relevance of criminal background checks for all new employees.
• Concealed weapons- Discuss the criminal codes of various states.
• How does restrictive housing help to decongest prisons?
• How do social class and crime relate to each other?
• Why is eyewitness testimony helpful in an investigation?
• Extradition law and its fairness.
• The United States and Marijuana legalization.
• Jack the Ripper – Elaborate on it.
• Pornography is a type of sexual violence.
• The juvenile justice system and its elimination.
• Gun Control Law and its Mitigation.
• Punishment versus Reform- Which is more beneficial?
• Bad parenting and juvenile delinquency- How it relates?
• Sex offender’s registration- Should it be on public record?
• How to protect yourself from false accusations?
• Supermax prisons and their evaluation.
• Advantages and disadvantages of marijuana legalization.
• The trends and patterns of Latent crime in Russia
• Discuss the criminal thinking errors

Excellent Criminology Dissertation Titles

• Youth offenders and the boot camps- Evaluate the strategy.
• Eyewitness testimony and its evaluation.
• Discuss effective programs against home-grown crimes.
• How is zero tolerance the best policy for crime reduction?
• Why is the death penalty effective in crime deterrence?
• Discuss the efficiency of predictive policing.
• Examining the juveniles for conduct disorder or psychopathy.
• Role of selective incapacitation in reducing crime.
• Relevance of women in supporting crime.
• Discuss how crime is impacted by the season and geography of a region.
• UK Immigration policy and crime management as a relevant agenda.
• Crime prevention and its advantages- Analyse the direct and the indirect benefactors.
• Crime alleviates poverty- A qualitative review.
• Biotechnology and digital environment for crime management in the UK.
• Compare and contrast juvenile crime rates in India and Pakistan with case examples
• Discuss the predisposing factors behind the activities of serial killers
• Domestic Violence and its impact on criminal behavior
• Discuss how the consumption of alcohol and other addictive products (e.g. Heroin, Cocaine, LSD) makes the youth commit a crime
• Serial Killers: Nature, Psychology, and Treatment
• Critical analysis of the juvenile justice system in the United States

Unique Criminology Thesis Topics

• Do the media act as a catalyst for moral panics that happen in society?
• Discuss the influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on criminal behavior.
• Assess the ramifications of political backing for crimes and their influence on society.
• Discuss the negative stigmas that are related to ex-prisoners.
• Compare the alternative punishment methods in international systems.
• Research and write about social media crimes.
• Analyze the role of a psychological examination in a criminal investigation.
• Examine the role of cybercrime laws in preserving law and order.
• Critically analyze the response of the US government to terrorism threats.
• Study how a location’s topography and season have an impact on crime.
• Develop a macro social examination of the relationship between disabilities and crime using neighborhood and county-level data
• Explore the effectiveness of life-skills programs in the prisons in Florida from the perspective of Social Bond and General Strain Theory
• Examine the empirical relationship between morality and offender decision-making
• Macro analysis of illegal fishing and hunting across the United States using an economic structural approach
• Discuss the impact of Green Victimization and toxic colonialism of Native Americans relating to uranium mining

Also read: Outstanding Law Research Topics For Students To Get Started

Interesting Criminology Research Topics

• Do you think it’s possible to anticipate crime or is it a type of enticement? Create a logical explanation.
• Describe how gender is related to crime in the UK- Literature Review.
• Elaborate on how marriage deters crime. Analyze the current literature.
• Criminology and women- An investigative analysis.
• Behavioral genetic studies in criminology.
• Research methods in criminology.
• Crime incidents in the UK- Critical analysis.
• Criminology study and forensic psychology.
• Analysis of mental health of sex offenders- A global approach.
• Describe how neighborhood topography motivates crime.
• Crimes are specific to each gender- Critical review.
• Who is responsible for the street crime?
• A systematic review of criminology of place.
• How are entrapped people doomed to a life of crime? Mixed method evidence.
• Training and academic curriculum required for criminologists in the United States.

Wonderful Criminology Dissertation Ideas

• Discuss the different types of punishments in the criminal justice system of the United Kingdom
• Best strategies to detect and prevent forgery cases in educational institutions, and workplaces
• Reliability of testimony provided by the eyewitnesses of a murder
• Critical analysis of the role played by the religious authorities and the clergy in fighting crime
• Why is Criminology considered as a social science?
• Psychology of a rapist
• Psychology of rape victim
• How anybody can rape or sexually assault a baby girl
• What are the impacts of crime incidence on children’s psyche
• What are the impacts of crime movies on audiences
• Impacts of detention cell on the criminal
• Is punishment an efficient way to reduce the crime rate?
• Is the death sentence for the criminal ethically correct decision?
• What is the psychology behind human trafficking
• Human trafficking and its impacts on society

Wrapping Up

Out of the plenty of ideas suggested above, choose any topic that matches your university guidelines and begin writing a detailed criminology dissertation with valid supporting evidence to prove your thesis statement. In case, you need any other thesis topic on criminology, get in touch with the skilled academic writers from our team. Right from criminology dissertation topic selection to writing and proofreading, our subject professionals will provide the best dissertation help online at an affordable price.

Especially, by taking our law dissertation help online, you can also submit a compelling academic paper on time and achieve good grades. Note that, the criminology thesis and dissertation that our scholarly writers prepare and dispatch will be accurate, flawless, and plagiarism-free.

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Home > USC Columbia > Arts and Sciences > Criminology and Criminal Justice > Criminology and Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

Criminology and Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

The Risk of Protection: Examining the Contextual Effects of Child Protective Services on Child Maltreatment Fatalities in the U.S. , Cosette Morgan McCullough

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Too Feminine for Execution?: Gender Stereotypes and the Media’s Portrayal of Women Sentenced to Death , Kelsey M. Collins

Juveniles, Transferred Juveniles, and the Impact of a Criminal Record on Employment Prospects in Adulthood: An Experimental Study , Joanna Daou

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Why So Long? Examining the Nexus Between Case Complexity and Delay in Florida’s Death Penalty System , Corey Daniel Burton

The Criminalization of HIV and HIV Stigma , Deanna Cann

Views of Substance Use During Pregnancy: Social Responses to the Issue , Taylor Ruddy

The Spatial Variability of Crime: A Review of Methodological Choice, Proposed Models, and Methods for Illustrating the Phenomenon , Matthew D. Spencer

Community Corrections Officer Decision-Making: An Intersectional Analysis , Amber Leigh Williams Wilson

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

The Utility of Using Virtue Locales to Explain Criminogenic Environments , Hunter Max Boehme

Fostering Resilience in Correctional Officers , Jon Thomas Arthur Gist

The Impact of Race/Ethnicity on Sentencing: A Matching Approach , Travis Jones

Unraveling the Temporal Aspects of Victimization: The Reciprocal, Additive, and Cumulative Effects of Direct/Vicarious Victimization on Crime , Yeoju Park

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Media Influence on College Students' Perceptions of the Police , Matilda Foster

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Ohio's Certificate of Relief , Peter Leasure

Trends in the Prevalence of Arrest for Intimate Partner Violence Using the National Crime Victimization Survey , Tara E. Martin

Reading Between the Lines: An Intersectional Media Analysis of Female Sex Offenders in Florida Newspapers , Toniqua C. Mikell

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

The Short-Term Self-Control Stability of College Students , Nicholas James Blasco

Developmental Patterns of Religiosity in Relation to Criminal Trajectories among Serious Offenders across Adolescence and Young Adulthood , Siying Guo

Local Incarceration As Social Control: A National Analysis Of Social, Economic, And Political Determinants Of Jail Use In The United States , Heather M. Ouellette

Association Between Perception Of Police Prejudice Against Minorities And Juvenile Delinquency , Kwang Hyun Ra

A Quasi-Experimental Analysis Of School-Based Situational Crime Prevention Measures , Gary Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Sex Offender Policies that Spin the Revolving Door: An Exploration of the Relationships Between Residence Restrictions, Homelessness, and Recidivism , Deanna Cann

Untangling the Interconnected Relationships between Alcohol Use, Employment, and Offending , Margaret M. Chrusciel

Inmate Time Utilization And Well-Being , Mateja Vuk

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

The Socio-Legal Construction Of Adolescent Criminality: Examining Race, Community, And Contextual Factors Through The Lens Of Focal Concerns , Patrick Glen Lowery

The Impact Of Deinstitutionalization On Murders Of Law Enforcement Officers , Xueyi Xing

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Relationships Between Law Enforcement Officer-Involved Vehicle Collisions And Other Police Behaviors , John Andrew Hansen

In the Eye of the Beholder: Exploring the Dialogic Approach to Police Legitimacy , Justin Nix

Criminology on Crimes Against Humanity: A North Korean Case Study , Megan Alyssa Novak

General Strain Theory and Bullying Victimization: Do Parental Support and Control Alleviate the Negative Effects of Bullying , Jonathon Thompson

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Adultification in Juvenile Corrections: A Comparison of Juvenile and Adult Officers , Riane Miller Bolin

Perception of Police in Public Housing Communities , Taylor Brickley

Neighborhood Disorganization and Police Decision-Making in the New York City Police Department , Allison Carter

The Impact of Race on Strickland Claims in Federal Courts in the South , Wyatt Gibson

Lead Exposure and Crime , Tara Elaine Martin

GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER: HAZING, HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY, AND VICTIMIZATION , TONIQUA CHAREE MIKELL

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Policing Alcohol and Related Crimes On Campus , Andrea Nicole Allen

Gender and Programming: A Comparison of Program Availability and Participation in U.S. Prisons for Men and Women , Courtney A. Crittenden

Assessing the Impact of the Court Response to Domestic Violence in Two Neighboring Counties , Gillian Mira Pinchevsky

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Criminal Sentencing In the Court Communities of South Carolina: An Examination of offender, Judge, and County Characteristics , Rhys Hester

Examining the Effects of Religiosity and Religious Environments On Inmate Misconduct , Benjamin Dane Meade

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Criminologists' Opinions On Correctional Rehabilitation , Heather M. Ouellette

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

A Qualitative Analysis of the Etiology, Manifestation, and Institutional Responses to Self-Injurious Behaviors in Prison , Steven Doty

Theses/Dissertations from 2002 2002

The Effects of Administrative Factors on Police Officer Job Performance , Irick Anthony Geary Jr.

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60 Awesome Criminology Dissertation Ideas For You!

Creating high-quality criminology dissertation ideas is a highly important aspect, not only for gaining top grades but firstly for showing your prowess. Yet, we all know that this task might sometimes be difficult as it is a resource-consuming process.

Since finding the proper criminology dissertation ideas could sometimes be a challenge, we’ve put together a great list to get you started. Different approaches will be a match for different people. Therefore, read through them all and select the ones that best fit you.

But before that,

Criminology Dissertation Tips

How do you generate ideas for criminology dissertation? Well, here is a quick look at that:

• Brainstorming
• Free writing
• Idea mapping
• Imagination

Allow your ideas to flow freely regardless of how wild or crazy they seem. In the midst of free writing the plans, you can censor the “dumb” or “silly” ideas. Such sifting will leave you with impressive dissertation ideas for criminology and sociology papers.

Unlike other types of writing, criminal justice is a sensitive matter that needs evidence-backed arguments. There is no room for speculations or gossip in a criminology dissertation. Hence, maximum precision is necessary if you desire a top-notch paper in the end.

You have a plethora of dissertation questions for criminology to choose from in this post:

Masters and PhD. Criminology Dissertation Ideas

Here is a list of Masters and first-class dissertation ideas criminology worthy of mentioning:

• Policing strategies within the war against drugs: A comparative analysis
• A case study of sexual violence as a weapon in armed conflict
• Understanding how marginalization and discrimination because of religion causes crime
• Exploring the impact of genocidal acts in community cohesiveness
• How corruption affects the political, social, economic, and security of a country
• What is the role and motivation of women joining ISIS?
• A critical analysis of how the US government responds to terrorist threats
• Racist stereotyping and crime: What is the relationship?
• Influence of drugs and alcohol on sexual assaults
• Key socio-history factors and how they contribute to contemporary form
• LGBT and crime: An understanding of their contribution or impact
• A discourse analysis of how the coronavirus has shaped crime
• An examination of the role of technology in fueling crime
• An interdisciplinary gaze into the problem of ‘evil.’
• Exploring the part of rehabilitation centres in curbing crime
• Does urban setting provide breeding grounds for crime than rural areas?
• A review of the cybercrime legislation and their place in maintaining law and order
• A critical evaluation of bullying in schools versus crime
• The role of women in aiding crime
• A critical examination of the police force and crime

Argumentative Criminology Dissertation Topics

A list of criminology topics for an argumentative dissertation paper:

• Can religious ideologies be the cause of terrorism?
• Is crime worse than natural disasters or diseases?
• Is domestic violence only against women or men to suffer?
• Is immigration the cause of the increased crime rate?
• What are the contributing factors for serial killers?
• Is it possible to have a crime-free society?
• Is the education system lagging in its role of shaping good morals and character?
• Are political tensions to blame for the internal militia uprisings
• Is there a thin line between law enforcement and criminology?
• Does parental supervision help in reducing crime among teenagers?
• Is there someone behind the rise of youth gangs in a given society?
• Does the media portray young people as criminals?
• Is gun control in the US the stepping stone to high crime rates?
• What is the role of the school and community in preventing child abuse?
• How has counterfeiting evolved with the advent of new technologies?
• Is racist abuse towards international students the cause of crime and violence?
• Is social insecurity mere brutality?
• Is forced labour among detainees an efficient way of correction?
• Are media representations of terrorism an exaggeration?
• Is culture key in shaping morals for a better society?

Controversial Criminology Dissertation Titles

• Does abortion fall under the category of the crime?
• Is the patriarchy society responsible for the rise in crime numbers?
• How parental separation results in future violence
• Were the Black Lives Matter campaign marred with violence rather than seeking justice?
• The unseen world of male rape in society today
• Music contributes to the crime through videos and the lyrics used
• Social media has been a major crime scene in the technological era
• Is it acceptable to acquaint rape perpetrators on bail terms?
• Are Islamic charities a source of terrorist financing?
• Is the media the main instigator of moral panics in the society?
• Most crime offenders are teenagers and especially college dropouts
• Should the government increase the age limit for acquiring a national identity card?
• Coronavirus has fueled up more criminal activities than never before
• Human trafficking has only one role; sexual exploitation
• The law is subjective when it comes to domestic violence on males
• Regulating prostitution will reduce crime
• Facebook is a conduit for criminal activity rather than socializing
• Should the police carry guns in public?
• Corruption is a result of imitation
• Does prison truly correct criminal behaviour?

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• Northeastern University
• College of Social Sciences and Humanities
• School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Criminology and Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations
• Criminology and Criminal Justice Dissertations

Criminology and Criminal Justice Dissertations Collection

http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20233343

Affording a meaningful opportunity of release: legal representation of juvenile lifers.

Assessing deterrence in the FBI's Safe Streets gang initiative: a social network approach.

Autistic and at-risk: the public and personal safety of children with autism spectrum disorders.

Background justice: the political context of adolescent legal socialization.

Bureaucracy and law: a study of Chinese criminal courts and social media.

Clearances, cameras, and community violence: police outcomes in an organizational and community context.

College students and the illicit use of prescription drugs: a test of general strain theory.

A comparison of the individual-, county-, and state-level correlates of homicide and mass murder

Contextualizing the political economy of juvenile court decision-making

Crime, place, and networks in the age of the internet: the case of online-promoted illicit massage businesses.

120+ Amazing Criminology Dissertation Ideas for Students

Table of Contents

Criminology is the scientific study of crimes and the behavior of criminals. The subject predominantly studies crimes from a social angle. If you are a student who is pursuing a degree in criminology, then obviously you will be asked to submit a dissertation on topics related to criminology. Basically, for writing a dissertation, a good topic is needed the most. On the internet, you can find several criminology dissertation ideas. In case, your professors ask you to choose a criminology dissertation idea and topics on your own instead of suggesting some topics, you can very well take a look at the internet or any other credible sources.

Especially, to help you in composing a great criminology dissertation, here, in this blog post, we have shared some effective writing steps. In addition to that, we have also shared a list of criminology dissertation topics.

Explore this blog post and get ideas regarding criminology dissertation writing.

Steps for Writing an Excellent Criminology Dissertation

If you have no idea how to write a criminology dissertation, then make sure to sequentially execute the steps that are presented below.

• Firstly, read and get a clear understanding of the guidelines that your university shared with you.
• Secondly, know your target readers.
• Thirdly, identify the criminology research area that you are passionate about and have strong knowledge of.
• Fourthly, pick an ideal criminology dissertation topic that matches your interest.
• Fifthly, analyze the topic and create a strong thesis statement.
• Sixthly, research various credible sources related to your topic and collect major ideas for discussion.
• Next, with the collected ideas, sketch a criminology dissertation outline.
• Then, elaborate on the outline and compose a well-structured dissertation by including the essential sections. In particular, the dissertation should be crafted as per the writing guidelines provided by your university.
• At the end of the dissertation, create a references section and cite your sources as well.
• Lastly, before submission, proofread and edit the copy of your criminology dissertation. Note that, the final draft that is ready for submission should be free from errors and plagiarism issues.

List of Criminology Dissertation Ideas

Criminology is a vast field of study with plenty of research areas. When it comes to writing a criminology dissertation, you can very well choose a topic related to terrorism, victimization, racism, domestic violence, discrimination, criminology theories, and so on.

In case you run short of ideas or if you are seeking the best criminology research topics for your dissertation, then without any hesitation, go through the below-mentioned list and pick a topic that you feel is perfect for you to research and write about.

Also, Read – Top Criminal Justice Research Topics and Ideas for Students

Ph.D. Criminology Dissertation Ideas

• Examine the police force and crime.
• Study the cybercrime legislation and its place in maintaining law and order.
• Explain the role of women in aiding crime.
• Explore the part of rehabilitation centers in curbing crime.
• Write about LGBT and Crime.
• Analyze how the US government responds to terrorist threats.
• Conduct a critical evaluation of bullying in schools versus crime.
• Examine the role of technology in fueling crime.
• What makes women join ISIS?
• Prepare a case study of sexual violence as a weapon in armed conflict.
• Explain the influence of drugs and alcohol on sexual assaults.
• Analyze how the coronavirus has shaped crime.
• Explore the impact of genocidal acts on community cohesiveness.
• Describe the relationship between racist stereotyping and crime.
• Explain how corruption affects the political, social, economic, and security of a country.

Argumentative Criminology Dissertation Ideas

• Explain whether it is possible to have a crime-free society or not.
• Describe the role of the school and community in preventing child abuse.
• Does parental supervision reduce crime among teenagers?
• Explain how counterfeiting has evolved with the advent of new technologies.
• Is the education system lagging in its role of shaping good morals and character?
• What are the contributing factors for serial killers?
• Is immigration the cause of the increased crime rate?
• Which is worse than natural disasters or crime?
• Is there a thin line between law enforcement and criminology?
• Can religious ideologies be the cause of terrorism?

Controversial Criminology Dissertation Topics

• Is it acceptable to acquaint rape perpetrators with bail terms?
• Does prison truly correct criminal behavior?
• Most crime offenders are teenagers and especially college dropouts.
• Is the patriarchal society responsible for the increase in the crime rate?
• Explain whether social media is a prime reason for crime in this technological era or not.
• Corruption is a result of imitation.
• Is abortion a crime?
• Should the government increase the age limit for acquiring a national identity card?
• Is media the main instigator of moral panics in society?
• Will regulating prostitution reduce crime?

Criminology Dissertation Ideas on Racism and Discrimination

• How does race correspond with the type of crime?
• Targeting minority groups on the basis of race and ethnicity.
• Discuss the relationship between racist stereotyping and crime.
• How discriminatory is the US and UK Court System?
• Is discrimination because of religion the main cause of crime?
• Racism and discrimination towards African-Americans.
• Discuss the Pros and Cons of Racial profiling.
• How systemic bias affects criminal justice?
• Is racist abuse towards international students the cause of crime and violence?
• How does the discriminatory portrayal of minority groups in the media affect criminal justice?

Awesome Criminology Dissertation Ideas

• Does street lighting reduce crimes?
• Write about crime control in criminal justice administration.
• Explain illegal research and the dangers of genetics.
• Discuss the role of Psychometric examinations in criminal justice.
• Explain the use and function of smart handheld devices in enhancing security.
• Discuss the portrayal of serial killers in media.
• Write about crime prevention programs.
• Corporate crime: the ruling class criminals.
• How does terrorism prevent technology?
• Explain how organized crime affects criminal justice.
• Discuss the stages and methods of criminology research.
• Analyze the inspection tactics of the crime scene.
• Explain the ethical basics of police activities in modern society.
• Discuss the hidden mechanisms and possibilities of prevention in Lust murders.
• Write about the identity of a criminal.
• Explain how to prevent child pornography.
• Analyze the factors of suicide and problems of statistics.
• Describe the characterization of crimes connected with rape.
• Write about graphology and handwriting expertise.
• Explain the meaning of Fingerprints in the investigation.

Engaging Dissertation Topics on Criminal Psychology

• Describe the role of criminal psychologists.
• Does socioeconomic status affect one’s criminal behavior?
• Compare therapeutic and forensic evaluation.
• How does the lack of education affect incarceration rates?
• Explain the impact of forensic psychology on the legal system.
• Discuss the effect of upbringing on antisocial adult behavior.
• Describe the nature of criminal behavior.
• Write about Childhood aggression and the impact of divorce.
• How does gender and cultural background affect one’s attitude toward drug abuse?
• Analyze the different types of forensic psychological evaluations.
• Discuss the most common ethical challenges in interviewing children as eyewitnesses
• Is enough being done to reduce the likelihood that special education students will end up in jail or prison?
• Are there enough safeguards in place to lessen the chances that students in special education may wind up in jail or prison?
• Can forensic psychologists anticipate potential danger in the future?
• How a person’s upbringing and psychological development can prevent him/her from becoming a serial killer?
• What part do movies, video games, and the internet play in encouraging criminal copycats?
• Discuss the effectiveness of the criminal justice system and prisons in rehabilitation
• What is eyewitness identification psychology?
• Impact of eyewitnesses’ psychology on the trustworthiness and legitimacy of their statements
• What standards of conduct should American forensic psychologists need to adhere to when testifying in criminal court?

Criminology Dissertation Ideas on Different Crime Types

• Discuss the constitutional and legislative issues in counter-terrorism.
• Write about gambling in America.
• Research and write about cybercrime: cyber fraud, defamation, hacking, bullying, and phishing.
• Study the history of terrorism and its countermeasures.
• Write about wildlife harm and exploitation.
• Analyze the Types of child abuse and its detection, prevention policies, prosecution, and punishment.
• Environmental crime. Natural resource theft: the illegal trade in wildlife and timber, poaching, illegal fishing.
• Write about the different types of white-collar crimes and their detection, prevention policies, prosecution, and punishment.
• How to prevent college campus crime.
• Robbery: risk groups, ways of prevention, prosecution, and punishment.
• How does prejudice motivate violence?
• Discuss the causes and effects of Juvenile Delinquency.
• Explain domestic violence with disabilities.
• Methods of deception, risk groups, ways of detection and prevention of human trafficking.
• What motivates one person to kill another?

Criminology Dissertation Topics on Crime and Victimization

• How does ownership of firearms correspond with law violations?
• Discuss the connection between family status and law violation.
• Explain the role of gender in law violation.
• Does unemployment have a relationship with the crime rate?
• How does social class correlate with a crime rate?
• Analyze the causes of violence in society.
• How does the weather correspond with law violations?
• Explain the reasons for homeless imprisonment.
• Is there a connection between mental health and law violation?
• Does the crime rate depend on the neighborhood?

Interesting Criminology Dissertation Topics

• Discuss the impact of detention cells on the criminal.
• Analyze the psychology of rape victims.
• Conduct a comparative analysis of male and female crimes.
• Explain the patterns of criminal thinking and their effects of them with examples.
• Prepare a comparative case study based on the Juvenile crime rates in India and Pakistan.
• Research and write about the various types of serial killers.
• Explain the different types of offenders.
• What are the causes of victimization and how to prevent it?
• Analyze the key problems of the prison system.
• Discuss the rights of the victims of rape.
• How should people protect themselves from false accusations?
• Write about street crimes.
• Discuss the psychology behind human trafficking.
• How to prevent shoplifting.
• Write about feminist criminology.

Outstanding Criminology Dissertation Ideas

• Write about the Drug traffic tracking strategies used in the UK.
• What is the effectiveness of the International Criminal Court in achieving its mandate?
• Why are most crimes in the US and UK mainly committed by the youths?
• How does memory impact eyewitness testimony?
• Why do college students engage in cases of arson?
• What are the implications of Solitary confinement for drug traffickers?
• Write about the latest innovations in experimental criminology.
• How does information-sharing technology help in fighting terrorism?
• How does systemic bias impact criminal justice?
• Analyze the investigation process of police officers in solving a crime.

Final Words

Hopefully, the list of ideas shared in this blog post will help you in crafting a brilliant criminology dissertation. In case, you need help with criminology dissertation topic selection and writing, contact us immediately. We have numerous subject matter experts on our team to offer you high-quality criminology assignment help . Especially, according to the requirements you submit to us, our scholarly writers will prepare and deliver a plagiarism-free criminology dissertation in advance of your submission date. Moreover, by utilizing our assignment help services online, you can boost your academic performance and also get valid clarifications for all the subject queries you have.

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256 Research Topics on Criminal Justice & Criminology

Are you a law school student studying criminal behavior or forensic science? Or maybe just looking for good criminal justice topics, questions, and hypotheses? Look no further! Custom-writing.org experts offer a load of criminology research topics and titles for every occasion. Criminological theories, types of crime, the role of media in criminology, and more. Our topics will help you prepare for a college-level assignment, debate, or essay writing.

Our specialists will write a custom essay specially for you!

• ⚖️ Criminology vs. Criminal Justice
• 🔬 120 Criminology Research Topics
• 💂 116 Criminal Justice Research Topics

🔥 Hot Criminology Research Topics

• The role of media in criminology.
• Cultural explanation of crime.
• Benefits of convict criminology.
• Main issues of postmodern criminology.
• Is criminal behavior affected by the politics?
• How does DAWN collect data?
• The limitations of crime mapping.
• Personality traits that trigger criminal behavior.
• Community deterioration and crime rates.
• Does experimental criminology affect social policy?

🔬 120 Criminology Research Topics & Ideas

Here are 100 criminology research topics ideas organized by themes.

Just in 1 hour! We will write you a plagiarism-free paper in hardly more than 1 hour

General Criminology Research Paper Topics

• Criminology as a social science.
• Criminology and its public policies.
• History of criminology.
• Crime commission: legal and social perspectives .

Criminal Psychology Research Topics

• What is the nature of criminal behavior ?
• How does the lack of education affect the incarceration rates?
• Childhood aggression and the impact of divorce
• The effect of the upbringing on antisocial adult behavior
• How do gender and cultural background affect one’s attitude towards drug abuse ?
• Forensic psychology and its impact on the legal system
• What is the role of criminal psychologists?
• Different types of forensic psychological evaluations
• What’s the difference between therapeutic and forensic evaluation?
• Does socioeconomic status impact one’s criminal behavior ?

Criminology Research Topics: Theories

• What crimes are typical for what ages?
• How does the type of crime correspond with the level of exerted aggression ?
• What is the connection between citizenship (or lack thereof) and law violation?
• How does education (or lack thereof) correspond with crime level?
• Does employment (or lack thereof) correspond with law violation?
• What is the connection between family status and law violation?
• Does gender affect on the type of law violation?
• How does ownership of firearms correspond with law violation?
• Does immigrant status correlate with law violation?

• Is there a connection between mental health and law violation?
• What are the causes of violence in the society?
• Does the crime rate depend on the neighborhood ?
• How does race correspond with the type of crime?
• Do religious beliefs correspond with law violation?
• How does social class correlate with crime rate?
• What are the reasons for the homeless’ improsonment?
• How does weather correspond with law violation?

Criminology Topics on Victimization

• Biological theories of crime: how do biological factors correspond with law violation?
• Classical criminology: the contemporary take on crime, economics, deterrence, and the rational choice perspective.
• Convict criminology: what do ex-convicts have to say on the subject?
• Criminal justice theories: punishment as a deterrent to crime.
• Critical criminology : debunking false ideas about crime and criminal justice.
• Cultural criminology: criminality as the product of culture.
• Cultural transmission theory: how criminal norms are transmitted in social interaction.
• Deterrence theory: how people don’t commit crimes out of fear of punishment.
• Rational choice theory : how crime doing is aligned with personal objectives of the perpetrator.
• Feminist Criminology: how the dominant crime theories exclude women.
• Labeling and symbolic interaction theories: how minorities and those deviating from social norms tend to be negatively labeled.
• Life course criminology : how life events affect the actions that humans perform.
• Psychological theories of crime: criminal behavior through the lense of an individual’s personality.
• Routine activities theory : how normal everyday activities affect the tendency to commit a crime.
• The concept of natural legal crime.
• Self-control theory : how the lack of individual self-control results in criminal behavior.
• Social construction of crime: crime doing as social response.
• Social control theory : how positive socialization corresponds with reduction of criminal violation.
• Social disorganization theory : how neighborhood ecological characteristics correspond with crime rates.
• Social learning theory : how (non)criminal behavior can be acquired by observing and imitating others.
• Strain theories : how social structures within society pressure citizens to commit crime.
• Theoretical integration: how two theories are better than one.

Criminology Research and Measurement Topics

• Citation content analysis (CCA): a framework for gaining knowledge from a variety of media.
• Crime classification systems: classification of crime according to the severity of punishment.
• Crime mapping as a way to map, visualize, and analyze crime incident patterns.
• Reports and statistics of crime: the estimated rate of crime over time. Public surveys.
• Drug abuse warning network (DAWN): predicting trends in drug misuse.
• Arrestee drug abuse monitoring (ADAM): drug use among arrestees.
• Edge ethnography: collecting data undercover in typically closed research settings and groups through rapport development or covert undercover strategy.
• Experimental criminology: experimental and quasi-experimental research in the advancement of criminological theory.
• Fieldwork in criminology: street ethnographers and their dilemmas in the field concerning process and outcomes.
• Program evaluation: collecting and analyzing information to assess the efficiency of projects, policies and programs.
• Quantitative criminology: how exploratory research questions, inductive reasoning , and an orientation to social context help recognize human subjectivity.

Criminology Topics on Types of Crime

• Campus crime: the most common crimes on college campuses and ways of preventing them.
• Child abuse : types, prevalence, risk groups, ways of detection and prevention.
• Cybercrime : cyber fraud, defamation, hacking, bullying, phishing.
• Domestic violence : gender, ways of detection and prevention, activism.
• Domestic violence with disabilities .
• Elder abuse : types, prevalence, risk groups, ways of detection and prevention.
• Environmental crime. Natural resource theft: illegal trade in wildlife and timber, poaching, illegal fishing.
• Environmental crime. Illegal trade in ozone-depleting substances, hazardous waste; pollution of air, water, and soil.
• Environmental crime: local, regional, national, and transnational level.
• Environmental crime: climate change crime and corruption.
• Environmental crime: wildlife harming and exploitation.
• Hate crime : how prejudice motivates violence.

• Homicide : what motivates one person to kill another.
• Human trafficking : methods of deception, risk groups, ways of detection and prevention.
• Identity theft : methods, risk groups, ways of detection and prevention.
• Gambling in America .
• Juvenile delinquency : risk groups, prevention policies, prosecution and punishment.
• Juvenile Delinquency: Causes and Effects
• Organizational crime: transnational, national, and local levels. Ways of disrupting the activity of a group.
• Prostitution : risk groups, different takes on prevention policies, activism.
• Robbery : risk groups, ways of prevention, prosecution and punishment.
• Sex offenses: risk groups, types, prevalence, ways of detection and prevention.
• Terrorism: definition, history, countermeasures .
• Terrorism : individual and group activity, ways of detection and prevention.
• Theft and shoplifting : risk groups, ways of detection, prevention policies, prosecution and punishment.
• Counter-terrorism: constitutional and legislative issues .
• White-collar crime : types, ways of detection, prevention policies, prosecution and punishment.

Criminology Topics on Racism and Discrimination

• How systemic bias affects criminal justice?
• How discriminatory portrayal of minority groups in the media affects criminal justice?
• Racial profiling : targeting minority groups on the basis of race and ethnicity.
• Racism and discrimination towards African-Americans .
• Racial profiling : what are the cons? Are there any pros?
• How discriminatory is the UK Court System?
• How discriminatory is the US Court System?

Other Criminology Research Topics

• Corporate crime : the ruling class criminals.
• Genetics: illegal research and its dangers.
• Hate crime : the implications in criminal justice.
• Serial killers : risk groups, ways of detection and prevention.
• Serial killers: portrayal in media.
• Organized crime : how does it affect criminal justice?
• Crime prevention programs.
• Street lighting: does it reduce crime?
• Terrorism prevention technology.
• Identity theft : risk groups, ways of deception, prevention policies.
• Due process model: procedural and substantive aspects.
• Crime control in criminal justice administration.
• Types of drugs: how do they affect the users?
• Smart handheld devices: their function for security personnel.
• Social media : its impact on crime rate.
• Public health: how does criminal justice affect it?
• Psychometric examinations: what is their role in criminal justice?
• National defense in the US.
• National defense in the UK.
• Sexual harassment : the role of activism, ways of responding, prevention and prosecution.
• Substance abuse : military.
• Criminology and criminal justice jobs: a full list.

🌶️ Hot Criminal Justice Topics

• The history of modern police.
• Different types of prison systems.
• Is situational crime prevention effective?
• How to prevent wrongful convictions.
• Challenges faced by crime victims.
• The advantages of community corrections.
• How do ethics influence criminal justice?
• Disadvantages of felony disenfranchisement.
• Does correctional system in the USA really work?
• Possible problems of prisoner reentry process.

💂 116 Criminal Justice Research Topics & Questions

Here are some of the most typical and interesting criminal justice issues to dazzle your professor.

• Prison system : the main problems and the hidden pitfalls.
• The question of gender: why are there more men who receive capital punishment than women?
• Kidnapping and ransom: common features, motifs, behavior patterns.
• Crime prevention : key principles.
• Firing a gun: what helps professionals understand whether it was deliberate or happened by accident?
• Cybercrime : the legal perspective.
• Internet vigilantism: revenge leaks.
• Hate crime on the Internet: revenge leaks, trolling, defamation.
• Crime and justice in mass media .
• Parental abduction laws.
• Sex offender registry: pros and cons.
• The deterrence theory and the theory of rational choice : are they relevant in the modern world?
• Sexual assault in schools and workplaces.
• Jury selection: how is it performed?
• Experimental criminology: the latest innovations.

• Wildlife crime: areas of prevalence, ways of prevention.
• Felony disenfranchisement laws: when do they apply?
• The relation between organized crime and corruption .
• Victim services: what help can a victim of a crime get?
• Prison rape and violence: the psychological aspect, ways of prevention.
• Juvenile recidivism : what are the risk groups?
• Forensic science : role and functions in modern criminal justice.
• Shoplifting: how to prevent theft?
• Witness Protection Program: who is eligible and how to protect them.
• Date rape : what are the ways for the victims to seek legal assistance?
• Substance abuse and crime: correlation or causation?
• Identity theft: dangers and consequences in the modern world.
• Online predators: what laws can be introduced to protect kids? Real-life examples.
• Civil and criminal cases: how to differentiate?
• Domestic abuse victims: what laws protect them?
• Elder abuse : what can be done to prevent it?
• The strain theory : the unachievable American dream.
• Concepts of law enforcement: pursuing criminal justice .
• Ethics and criminal justice: the unethical sides of law enforcement.
• The top problems to be solved by law enforcement today.
• Information sharing technology: how has it helped in the fight against terrorism ?
• Terrorism in perspective: characteristics, causes, control .
• Serial killers : types.
• Drug use and youth arrests.
• Aggressive behavior : how does it correlate with criminal tendencies?
• Community corrections : are they effective?
• Sentencing: how does it take place?
• Punishment types and the established terms.
• Unwarranted arrest: when is it acceptable?
• Human trafficking in the modern world.
• Human trafficking: current state and counteracts .
• The role of technology in modern forensics .
• Similarities and differences between homicide , murder, and manslaughter.
• Types of offenders: classification.
• Effects of gun control measures in the United States .
• The role of crime mapping in modern criminal justice.
• Male crimes vs female crimes: are they different?
• Prisons : the problems of bad living conditions.
• Victimization : causes and ways of prevention.
• Victimology and traditional justice system alternatives .
• Rape victims: what are their rights?
• Problem-solving courts: what underlying problems do they address?
• Mandatory sentencing and the three-strike rule.
• Have “three-strikes” laws been effective and should they be continued?
• Criminal courts : what can be learned from their history?
• Hate crimes : what motivates people to commit them?
• Youth gangs: what is their danger?
• Fieldwork: how is it done in criminology?
• Distributive justice : its place in criminal justice.
• Capital punishment : what can be learned from history?
• Humanities and justice in Britain during 18th century .
• Abolition of capital punishment .
• Criminals and prisoners’ rights .
• Crime prevention programs and criminal rehabilitation .
• Campus crime: what laws and precautions are there against it?
• Criminal trial process: how does it go?
• Crimes committed on a religious basis: how are they punished?
• The code of ethics in the Texas department of criminal justice .
• Comparison between Florida and Maryland’s legislative frameworks .
• Fraud in the scientific field: how can copyright protect the discoveries of researchers?
• Prosecution laws: how are they applied in practice?
• The classification of crime systems.
• Cyberbullying and cyberstalking: what can parents do to protect their children?
• Forgery cases in educational institutions, offices, and governmental organizations.
• Drug courts : how do they work?

Controversial Topics in Criminal Justice

Want your work to be unconventional? Consider choosing one of the controversial topics. You will need to present a number of opposite points of view. Of course, it’s acceptable to choose and promote an opinion that you think stands the best. Just make sure to provide a thorough analysis of all of the viewpoints.

You can also stay impartial and let the reader make up their own mind on the subject. If you decide to support one of the viewpoints, your decision should be objective. Back it up with plenty of evidence, too. Here are some examples of controversial topics that you can explore.

• Reform vs. punishment: which one offers more benefits?
• Restorative justice model : is it the best criminal justice tool?
• The war on drugs : does it really solve the drug problem?
• Criminal insanity: is it a reason enough for exemption from liability?
• Juvenile justice system : should it be eliminated?
• Drug testing on the school ground.
• Police brutality in the United States .
• How to better gun control ? 
• Why Gun Control Laws Should be Scrapped .
• Pornography: is it a type of sexual violence?
• Whether death penalty can be applied fairly?
• Jack the Ripper: who was he?
• The modern justice system: is it racist?
• A false accusation: how can one protect themselves from it?
• Concealed weapons: what are the criminal codes of various states?
• Race and crime: is there a correlation?
• Registering sex offenders: should this information be in public records?
• Juvenile delinquency and bad parenting: is there a relation?
• Assessing juveniles for psychopathy or conduct disorder .
• Should all new employees be checked for a criminal background ?
• Are delinquency cases higher among immigrant children?
• Restrictive housing: can it help decongest prisons?
• Homegrown crimes: is there an effective program against them?
• Prostitution: the controversy around legalization .
• Eyewitness testimony : is it really helpful in an investigation?
• Youthful offenders in boot camps: is this strategy effective?
• Predictive policing : is it effective?
• Selective incapacitation: is it an effective policy for reducing crime?
• Social class and crime: is there a relation?
• Death penalty: is it effective in crime deterrence?
• Extradition law: is it fair?
• Devious interrogations: is deceit acceptable during investigations?
• Supermax prisons: are they effective or just cruel?
• Zero tolerance: is it the best policy for crime reduction?
• Marijuana decriminalization: pros and cons.
• Marijuana legalization in the US .

Now that you have looked through the full list of topics, choose wisely. Remember that sometimes it’s best to avoid sensitive topics. Other times, a clever choice of a topic will win you extra points. It doesn’t depend on just the tastes of your professor, of course. You should also take into account how much relevant information there is on the subject. Anyway, the choice of the topic of your research is up to you. Try to find the latest materials and conduct an in-depth analysis of them. Don’t forget to draw a satisfactory conclusion. Writing may take a lot of your time and energy, so plan ahead. Remember to stay hydrated and good luck!

Now, after we looked through the topic collections on criminology and criminal justice, it is time to turn to the specifics in each of the fields. First, let’s talk more extensively about criminology. If you are training to be a criminologist, you will study some things more deeply. They include the behavior patterns of criminals, their backgrounds, and the latest sociological trends in crime.

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In the field of criminology, the specialties are numerous. That’s why it’s difficult to pinpoint one career that represents a typical member of the profession. It all depends on the background of a criminologist, their education, and experience.

A criminologist may have a number of responsibilities at their position. For example, they might be called forth to investigate a crime scene. Participation in autopsies is unpleasant yet necessary. Interrogation of suspects and subsequent criminal profiling is another essential duty.

Some professionals work solely in research. Others consult government agencies or private security companies. Courts and law firms also cooperate with criminologists. Their job is to provide expert opinion in criminal proceedings. Some of them work in the prison systems in order to oversee the rehabilitation of the convicted.

Regardless of the career specialty , most criminologists are working on profiling and data collection. A criminologist is another word for an analyst. They collect, study, and analyze data on crimes. After conducting the analysis, they provide recommendations and actionable information.

A criminologist seeks to find out the identity of the person who committed the crime. The time point of a crime is also important, as well as the reason for it. There are several areas covered by the analysis of a criminologist. The psychological behavior of the criminal or criminals is closely studied. The socio-economic indicators are taken into account. There are also, of course, the environmental factors that may have facilitated the crime.

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Some high-profile cases require a criminologist to correspond with media and PR managers extensively. Sometimes criminologists write articles and even books about their findings. However, it should be noted that the daily routine of a professional in the field is not so glamorous. Most criminologists do their work alone, without the attention of the public.

The research a criminologist accumulates during their work is extensive. It doesn’t just sit there in a folder on their desk, of course. The collected statistics are used for developing active criminal profiles that are shared with law enforcement agencies. It helps to understand criminal behavior better and to predict it. That’s why a criminologist’s work must be precise and accurate for it to be practical and useful. Also, criminology professionals must have a good grasp of math and statistics.

Thinking of a career in criminology? You will need to, at the very least, graduate from college. There, you’ll master mathematics, statistics, and, of course, criminology. An associate’s degree may get you an entry-level position. But the minimum entry-level requirement is usually the bachelor’s degree. The best positions, though, are left for the professionals with a master’s degree or a PhD.

Just having a degree is not enough. To succeed as a criminologist, you will require all your intelligence, commitment, and the skill of analyzing intricate situations. An aspiration to better the society will go a long way. You will need to exercise your creative, written, and verbal communication skills, too. An analytical mind will land you at an advantage.

Criminology: Research Areas

Times change and the world of crime never ceases to adapt. The nature of criminal transgression is evolving, and so do the ways of prosecution. Criminal detection, investigation, and prevention are constantly advancing. Criminology studies aim to improve the practices implemented in the field.

There are six unified, coordinated, and interrelated areas of expertise. Within each, the professionals are busy turning their mastery into knowledge and action.

The first research area is the newest worry of criminology – cybercrime. The impact of this type of crime is escalating with every passing day. That’s why it’s crucial for the law enforcement professionals to keep up to date with the evolving technology. Cybercrime research is exploring the growing threat of its subject at all levels of society. Cybercrime may impact people on both personal and governmental levels. Cybercrime research investigates the motivation and methodology behind the offenses and finds new ways to react.

The second research area is counter fraud. Crimes that fall under this category include fraud and corruption. The questions that counter fraud research deals with are many. How widely a crime is spread, what method is best to fight it, and the optimal courses of action to protect people and organizations.

The third research area is that of forensics. The contemporary face of justice has been changed by forensic science beyond recognition. Nowadays, it’s much harder for criminals to conceal their activity due to evolved technologies. The research in forensics is utilizing science in the identification of the crime and in its reconstruction. It employs such techniques as DNA recovery, fingerprinting, and forensic interviewing.

What is forensic interviewing? It helps find new ways to gather quality information from witnesses and crime scenes. It also works on developing protocols that ensure the protection of this human data and its correct interpretation by police.

The fourth research area is policing. Police service is facing a lot of pressing issues nowadays due to budget cuts. At the same time, police officers still need to learn, and there are also individual factors that may influence their work.

The fifth research area is penology. It’s tasked with exploring the role of punishment in the criminal justice system. Does punishment aid the rehabilitation of perpetrators, and to what extent? The answer will help link theory to practice and thus shape how criminal justice practitioners work.

The sixth research area is that of missing persons. Before a person goes missing, they may display a certain pattern of behavior. The study of missing persons helps to identify it. The results will determine the handling of such cases.

Now that we know what criminology is, it’s time to talk about criminal justice.

While criminology focuses on the analysis of crime, criminal justice concentrates on societal systems. Its primary concern is with the criminal behavior of the perpetrators. For example, in the USA, there are three branches of the criminal justice system. They are police (aka law enforcement), courts, and corrections. These branches all work together to punish and prevent unlawful behavior. If you take up a career in criminal justice, expect to work in one of these fields.

The most well-known branch of criminal justice is law enforcement. The police force is at the forefront of defense against crime and misdemeanor. They stand against the criminal element in many ways. For instance, they patrol the streets, investigate crimes, and detain suspects. It’s not just the police officers who take these responsibilities upon themselves. There are also US Marshals, ICE, FBI Agents, DEA, and border patrol. Only after the arrest has been made, the perpetrator enters the court system.

The court system is less visible to the public, but still crucial to the criminal justice system. Its main purpose is to determine the suspect’s innocence or guilt. You can work as an attorney, lawyer, bailiff, judge, or another professional of the field. In the court, if you are a suspect, you are innocent until proven guilty. You are also entitled to a fair trial. However, if they do find you guilty, you will receive a sentence. Your punishment will be the job of the corrections system.

The courts determine the nature of the punishment, and the corrections system enforces it. There are three elements of the corrections system: incarceration, probation, and parole. They either punish or rehabilitate the convicts. Want to uptake a career in corrections? You may work as, including, but not limited to: a parole officer, a prison warden, a probation officer, and a guard.

📈 Criminal Justice: Research Areas

The research areas in criminal justice are similar, if not identical, to those of criminology. After all, those are two very closely related fields. The one difference is that criminal justice research has more practical than theoretical applications. But it’s fair to say that theory is the building blocks that practice bases itself on. One is impossible without the other unless the result you want is complete chaos.

So, the question is – what topic to choose for the research paper? Remember that the world of criminal justice is constantly changing. Choosing a subject for research in criminal justice, consider a relevant topic. There are many pressing issues in the field. Exploring them will undoubtedly win you points from your professor. Just make sure to choose a direction that will give you the opportunity to show off both your knowledge and your analytical skills.

Not sure that your original research direction will be appreciated? Then choose one of the standard topics. Something that is widely discussed in the media. And, of course, make sure that you are truly interested in the subject. Otherwise, your disinterest will translate into your writing, which may negatively affect the overall impression. Also, it’s just more enjoyable to work on something that resonates with you.

What can you do with your research paper? Literally anything. Explore the background of the issue. Make predictions. Compare the different takes on the matter. Maybe there are some fresh new discoveries that have been made recently. What does science say about that?

Also, remember to backup all your arguments with quotes and examples from real life. The Internet is the best library and research ground a student could hope for. The main idea of the paper, aka the thesis, must be proven by enough factual material. Otherwise, it’s best to change your research direction.

And, of course, don’t put it all off till the last minute. Make a plan and stick to it. Consistency and clever distribution of effort will take you a long way. Good luck!

🤔 Criminal Justice Research FAQs

Criminological and criminal justice research are the scientific studies of the causes and consequences, extent and control, nature, management, and prevention of criminal behavior, both on the social and individual levels.

Criminal justice and criminology are sciences that analyze the occurrence and explore the ways of prevention of illegal acts. Any conducted personal research and investigation should be supported by the implemented analytical methods from academic works that describe the given subject.

There are six interrelated areas of criminology research:

• Cybercrime research makes law enforcement professionals keep up to date with the evolving technology.
• Counter fraud research investigates cases of fraud and corruption.
• Forensics research utilizes science: DNA recovery, fingerprinting, and forensic interviewing.
• Research in policing investigates individual factors that may influence the work of police officers.
• Penology explores the role of punishment in the criminal justice system.
• The study of missing persons helps to identify patterns of victims’ behavior.

There are seven research methods in criminology:

• Quantitative research methods measure criminological and criminal justice reality by assigning numerical values to concepts to find patterns of correlation, cause and effect.
• Survey research collects information from a number of persons via their responses to questions.
• Experimental research assesses cause and effect in two comparison groups.
• Cross-sectional research studies one group at one point in time.
• Longitudinal research studies the same group over a period of time.
• Time-series designs study the same group at successive points in time.
• Meta-analysis employs quantitative analysis of findings from multiple studies.

The basis of criminological theory is criminological research. It influences the development of social policies and defines criminal justice practice.

Criminological research doesn’t just enable law students to develop analytical and presentational skills. The works of criminal justice professionals, scholars, and government policymakers dictate the way law enforcement operates. The newest ideas born out of research identify corrections and crime prevention, too.

Here is a step-by-step instruction on how to write a criminal justice research paper:

• Choose a topic
• Read the materials and take notes
• Come up with a thesis
• Create an outline for your work
• Draft the body
• Start with a cover page, an abstract, and an intro
• List the methods you used, and the results you got
• Include a discussion
• Sum it up with a conclusion
• Don’t forget a literature review and appendices
• Revise, proofread, and edit

The most common types of methodologies in criminal justice research include:

• Observation of participants.
• Surveys and interviews.
• Observation of focus groups.
• Conducting experiments.
• Analysis of secondary data and archival study.
• Mixed (a combination of the above methods).

Learn more on this topic:

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• The Differences Between Criminal Justice and Criminology: Which Degree Is Right for You? (Concordia St. Paul)
• Corporate Crime: Britannica
• The Development of Delinquency: NAP
• Databases for Research & Education: Gale
• A CS Research Topic Generator: Purdue University
• A Introduction To The Federal Court System: US Department of Justice
• Criminal Justice Research Topics: Broward College
• Research Topics in Criminology: Cambridge Institute of Criminology
• CRIMINOLOGY: University of Portsmouth
• Research: Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of Maryland
• Criminal Justice: RAND
• Research Methods in Criminal Justice: Penn State University Libraries
• Research: School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Arizona State University
• Criminology – Research Guide: Getting started (Penn Libraries)
• Criminology Research Papers: Academia
• The History & Development of the U.S. Criminal Justice System: Study.com
• CRIMINAL JUSTICE & CRIMINOLOGY: Marshall University
• Criminal Justice: Temple University
• Criminal Justice: University of North Georgia
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Top 10 Criminology Dissertation Ideas to Consider

There are many fields in criminology course that might be interesting to research. Have a look at the following list of dissertation topic ideas to take a final decision.

• Prisoners’ rights to vote: arguments for and against.

Research the issue of empowering prisoners to vote in your dissertation. Investigate how the problem was treated historically. What is the attitude towards prisoners’ rights nowadays? What are the ethical and legal aspects of the situation? Look for the details arguing for and against the issue.

• Domestic violence and the comparative study of victimology.

Investigate different cases of domestic abuses and find out which of the personality types are more predisposed to become victims of domestic violence. Conduct a qualitative research in your criminology dissertation; back on the evidence provided by the therapists in this field.

• Arsons in schools: causes and rates.

Find out why these types of offences have become so frequent lately. What are the reasons (both hidden and evident) for such violations by juveniles? When do they occur most often and, considering the data, what should be done to prevent these crimes? What is a criminal responsibility for such an offence?

• Serial killers phenomena: predisposing factors.

Conduct a research on the conditions of a child’s life that may lead to the development of maniacal disposition. Pay close attention to the family relations, role of peers, and surrounding environment.

• The efficiency of community policemen in preventing and solving the crimes.

Pick any city or town and research the criminal situation within. What can be done to make the policing service more effective?

• The effect of domestic violence on woman’s mental health.

What psychological disorders occur as the result of partner violence? Compare the situations in the US (or UK) and any African country.

• The Internet and suicides: how do the modern Internet technologies affect the frequency of suicide pacts?

In your dissertation, investigate the dependence of suicidal inclinations upon the Internet. Create an explanatory model that successfully interprets this issue.

• Tortures and brutality as the common policing means in the developing countries.

Review the corresponding literature and investigate this criminology issue. What are the reasons? Are there any solutions?

• Cyber crimes: approaches and ways to detect.

How can policemen detect and solve the crimes conducted through the Internet?

• The most efficient methods of dealing with social disorders.

In your criminology dissertation, compare how policemen fight with social disorders in Europe, the USA, and UK. What ways are the most effective and why? Make your suggestions.

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Home » Blog » Dissertation » Topics » Criminology » Criminology Dissertation Topics (26 Examples) For Your Academic Research

Criminology Dissertation Topics (26 Examples) For Your Academic Research

Mark Dec 28, 2019 Jun 5, 2020 Criminology No Comments

Criminology has become a major area for research and studies due to the rise in the crime rate around the world. We have made a list of criminology dissertation topics and project topics on criminology, which can be explored by the students. The list of criminology dissertation topics is based on related areas and the […]

Criminology has become a major area for research and studies due to the rise in the crime rate around the world. We have made a list of criminology dissertation topics which can be explored by the students. The list of project topics on criminology is based on related areas and the emerging trends in the field. You can select any of the research topics on criminology and our team of expert writers can facilitate you with the dissertation writing on the chosen topic.

A list Of Criminology dissertaton topics

Examining the financial regulatory enforcement proceedings in underdeveloped countries.

Analysing the cycle of violence by focusing on resiliency and protective factors.

To study the social experiences of sex offenders in prisons by conducting a comparative analysis.

Finding out how the approach to the war on terrorism is leading to an increasing rise in homegrown terrorists.

Analysing and interpreting a juvenile murder case.

The contribution of domestic violence in increasing social crimes.

How do religious scandals lead to declining moral standards and increasing the rate of crime?

Conducting an investigative analysis of women and criminology.

An inquiry into the research methods in criminology.

Reviewing the law and policies on stalking in different countries.

Examining the type of crimes specifically related to each gender.

To explore the factors that influence young adults to commit crimes.

Exploring the effects of religiosity and religious environments on inmate misconduct.

Analysing the illicit use of drugs among college students in the UK.

Conducting a cross-national study of youth offending.

A literature review of the theories and concepts related to crime.

The emerging concept of cybercrime and how it has influenced different aspects of the society and environment.

Exploring the case of serial killers by conducting a comparative review.

How has modern technology affected the rate of crime in the United States?

Exploring some of the trademarks of both male and female serial killers.

Does homelessness lead to influencing criminal behaviour and violent attacks?

Analysing the rise of youth gangs globally.

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The PRC welcomes enquiries from potential PhD students.

The Prisons Research Centre welcomes applications from well qualified students wishing to undertake PhD research within the Centre's areas of expertise. Graduate students work in the stimulating research environment of the Centre under the direction of their supervisor.  Initial enquiries should be directed to Professor Alison Liebling or Professor Ben Crewe according to the person’s specific research interests.  More details of the University's PhD programmes and procedures for application can be found on the  Institute of Criminology website  and the  University of Cambridge Graduate Admissions website .

PhD Opportunities with Professor Alison Liebling

Professor Liebling is interested in receiving applications broadly looking at the changing shape and effects of imprisonment; the role of values in criminal justice; the role of safety, trust and fairness in shaping the prison experience, the work of prison officers, and in the prevention of ill-treatment, in the UK or elsewhere.

PhD Opportunities with Professor Ben Crewe

Professor Crewe would be keen to supervise PhD students interested in researching prison social life and culture, prisoner identities and adaptations, prison quality and conditions, and other issues relating to the terms, nature and organisation of imprisonment.  Students wishing to get in contact informally in order to discuss potential research ideas are welcome to email him, with a brief CV and a short research proposal. 

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PhD students work on a variety of topics relating to the research of the Centre. These include: 

• Transformative encounters in prisoner education and their role in desistance. (Judith Gardom, supervised by Alison Liebling)
• The social experiences of sex offenders in prison: A comparative analysis. (Alice Ievins, supervised by Ben Crewe)
• The prison and the city: a tale of two cultures in HMPs Pentonville and Hull (Deborah Kant, supervised by Alison Liebling)
• Emotions in prison: an exploration of space, emotion regulation and expression. (Ben Laws, supervised by Ben Crewe)
• Faith, race, gangs and ‘the street’ in prison: An inductive analysis. (Dev Maitra, supervised by Alison Liebling)
• The experience of imprisonment amongst serving and former military service personnel. (Daniel Packham, supervised by Ben Crewe)
• Democratizing democracy: Re-imagining prisoners as citizens through participatory governance. (Bethany Schmidt, supervised by Alison Liebling)
• Philosophy in Prisons: A grounded theory in personal development. (Kirstine Szifris, supervised by Alison Liebling)
• The role of self-empowerment in the process of human flourishing in prison. (Fabio Tartarini, supervised by Ben Crewe)
• The Prison Based Forensic Psychologist: in Person and Practice. (Jason Warr, supervised by Ben Crewe)
• Understanding the use and experience of segregation in English prisons. (Ellie Brown, supervised by Alison Liebling and Nicola Padfield)
• Opening new prisons: a comparative study of the penal field. (Aiden Cope, supervised by Alison Liebling)
• Peace Behind a Veil of Ignorance (VOI). (João Costa, supervised by Alison Liebling)
• Legitimacy in prison-based psychology practices. (Sophie Ellis, supervised by Ben Crewe)
• Moral development and ethical self-governance among men imprisoned for murder. (Ben Jarman, supervised by Ben Crewe)
• Caring Encounters: Exploring Kindness and Support among Male Prisoners. (Elinor Lieber, supervised by Alison Liebling)
• The construction of prisoner masculinities through experiences of work. (Martha Morey, supervised by Ben Crewe)
• Prison pen-pals: the value of correspondence and support from individuals not known to prisoners prior to their incarceration. (Tania Mejia, supervised by Ben Crewe)
• A short longitudinal study of life sentenced prisoners’ pre-release expectations and post-release realities. (Ailie Rennie, supervised by Ben Crewe)

Prisons Research at Cambridge University

The Prisons Research Centre (PRC) was founded in 2000, under the Directorship of  Professor Alison Liebling . The Centre has received funding from a wide range of sources, including the Prison Service/NOMS, the Nuffield Foundation, the Leverhulme Trust, the ESRC, KPMG, the Home Office and UKDS (now Kalyx).

The Cambridge Institute of Criminology Prisons Research Centre aims to provide a stimulating research environment in which a coherent strategy of high quality research can be pursued, and integration between funded and non-funded, and applied and theoretical projects can be facilitated. We investigate how prisons operate, socially, morally and operationally, how they are experienced, and the relationship between these moral and social qualities, and their effects.

Members of the PRC team carry out, individually and collectively, methodologically rigorous and theoretically relevant field-based studies addressing problems of human and social values, punishment practices, and the organisation and effects of aspects of prison life. We strive to forge links with other prisons researchers, scholars in the broader fields of criminology and sociology, and with practitioners. Our vision is to develop a rigorous and person-centred model of social inquiry.

You can read more about the latest projects in our  Annual Reports .

Institute of Criminology Sidgwick Avenue Cambridge CB3 9DA

Phone: +44 (0) 1223 335360

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