Carrabine Eamonn. Criminology. A sociological introduction

London: Routledge, 2009. — 557 p. — ISBN: 0-203-88494-9.Criminology is relatively new as a degree subject but it began at least 250 years ago. Since then, it has been shaped by philosophers, psychologists, anthropologists, psychiatrists, medics and lawyers as well as by sociologists, social theorists, cultural analysts and historians. As Zedner (2007a) observes, one of criminology’s greatest strengths is its disciplinary hybridity. In the same way that different disciplines focus on different criminological topics, they also favour different kinds of research methods. Depending on their orientation and training, a criminologist
might use anything from psychological testing to global crime statistics, or from life-stories to media analysis. Chapter 2 outlines the main research methods used within sociological criminology although we aim to illustrate howthese methods have been used in different studies
discussed across the book. Chapter 2’s website allows you to explore some of these methods for yourself and see how others have used them.
Sociology can be defined as the systematic study of human society. But it is much more than a series of facts and theories about society. Instead it becomes a form of consciousness, a way of thinking, a critical way of seeing. As Peter Berger (1963: 34) says: ‘The first wisdom of sociology is this: things are not what they seem.’ By this he means that nothing is self-evident, fixed or ‘obvious’. Thus, in criminology, a sociological approach does not take for granted ‘common-sense’ discussions of crime – as found for example in the media. Instead, it always challenges the ‘taken
for granted’ and asks questions about what we believe to be true about crime, why we might believe this and how crime is shaped by wider social factors.