Forensics vs Criminology
Forensics, also known as forensic science, is the process of applying scientific methods for answering questions that arise in relation to crime or civil action. Forensics is divided in to large number of subdivisions such as forensic accounting, forensic anthropology, forensic archaeology, computational forensics, etc. Criminology is the study of criminal behavior, causes of crime, ways to prevent crime and rehabilitation/punishments for criminals. Criminology can be seen as an interdisciplinary field that combines behavioral sciences, social sciences and law.
What is Forensics?
Forensics is the process of applying scientific methods for answering questions that arise in relation to crime or civil action. Forensics provides scientific evidence that could be used in criminal investigations. Forensics involves sciences such as chemistry, biology, physics, geology, psychology, social science, etc. Therefore, forensics is considered as a multidisciplinary subject. Typically, in a criminal investigation, crime scene investigators will gather evidence from the crime scene and those are handed over to forensic scientists, who will use scientific evidence to assist the investigation. Among the subfields of forensics, forensic accounting deals with studying evidences related to accounting; forensic anthropology applies anthropology for identifying human remaining and forensic chemistry deals with identifying explosives, gunshot residue and drugs. Some forensic techniques such as comparative bullet-lead analysis (tracing a bullet using its chemical substances) and forensic dentistry (using evidences such as bite marks) are considered as unsound techniques.
What is Criminology?
Criminology is the study of criminal behavior, causes of crime, ways to prevent crime and rehabilitation/punishments for criminals. Criminology can be seen as an interdisciplinary field that combines behavioral sciences, social sciences and law. Criminology is often used to develop criminal profiles by observing some crimes and these could be used for investigations by law enforcement agencies. There are some popular theories in criminology named classical, positivist, and individual trait. The classical theory of criminology states that crimes are committed by people when they that benefit of committing the crime outweigh the costs incurred with it. According to this theory, crimes could be prevented by providing harsher punishments, so that the consequences would outweigh the benefits. The positivist theory states that crimes are committed due to internal and external factors that are not controllable by an individual. These factors include poverty, education, etc. This theory suggests that by eliminating these factors crimes could be prevented. The individual trait theory suggests that criminals and non-criminals could be distinguished by psychological and biological traits. Crimes are committed when individuals with these traits interact with the society. According to this theory, crimes can be prevented by limiting the interactions between such individuals and the society.
What is the difference between Forensics and Criminology?
Forensics is the process of applying scientific methods for answering questions that arise in relation to crime or civil action and providing scientific evidence that could be used in such situations, while criminology is the study of criminal behavior, causes of crime, ways to prevent crime and rehabilitation/punishments for criminals. Forensics provides scientific evidence that could be used in criminal investigations, while criminology can be used to develop criminal profiles by observing some crimes, which could be used for criminal investigations.