Paper-II: Criminology
Paper-II - Criminology (subject code 68) - is the 100-question, 200-mark subject paper. It rewards a working command of criminological theory plus current Indian criminal-justice detail: crime causation, criminal justice administration and human rights, penology and victimology, forensic science and investigation, cyber and economic/organised crime, research methods and statistics, and comparative criminal justice.
Core theory map
- Classical versus positivist - Beccaria (1764), Bentham and deterrence versus Lombroso's born criminal and atavism, Ferri's law of criminal saturation, Garofalo's "natural crime" (offence against pity and probity).
- Sociological - Durkheim's normality of crime; Merton's five adaptations (conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, rebellion); Sutherland's nine propositions of differential association; Sykes and Matza's five neutralisation techniques; Hirschi's four social bonds (attachment, commitment, involvement, belief); Cohen and Felson's routine activity triad (motivated offender, suitable target, absent capable guardian).
- Penology and victimology - probation under the Probation of Offenders Act 1958 versus parole and furlough; juvenile justice under the JJ Act 2015; von Hentig, Mendelsohn, Wolfgang's victim precipitation and Christie's ideal victim; the victim compensation scheme (CrPC s. 357A, inserted 2008) now carried into the BNSS 2023.
- Legal currency - the IPC 1860, CrPC 1973 and Evidence Act 1872 were replaced by the BNS, BNSS and BSA 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.
Worked example: crime rate
City Y records 1,200 burglaries in a year; population 600,000. Rate = (1,200 ÷ 600,000) × 100,000 = 200 per 100,000. Raw counts cannot compare cities of different size, so the rate standardises. Two caveats examiners test: the numerator is reported crime (the dark figure is excluded), and the denominator choice - resident versus daytime population - changes the value.
Traps that cost marks
- Attributing atavism to Ferri or the law of saturation to Lombroso.
- Confusing differential association (Sutherland) with differential reinforcement (Akers) and differential identification (Glaser).
- Quoting IPC or CrPC sections as current law.
- Treating probation (sentence withheld) as parole (release after part of the sentence).