1. What is criminology?

Abstract

This introductory chapter attempts to answer the question ‘what is criminology?’ by exploring the origin of criminology as a discipline together with an overview of some of the types of question that may be of interest to criminologists. It sets out the structure of the remainder of the book, the first part of which introduces the source material that is commonly used in the study of criminology. The second part focuses on academic skills, while the final part concentrates on research methods.