ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the study of criminology and criminal justice as a whole. It examines the question of whether criminology is separate from criminal justice as a focus of study. The questions are: Is it mature? Does it have a paradigm? What is its "intellectual core" or driving force? In other words, if a scholar considers themself to be a "criminologist," what does this mean? The American Sociological Association (ASA) report was written by some of criminological sociology's leading figures, including Steven Barkan, Kimberly Cook, and Marc Riedel. The chapter argues that the 1968 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act was a "point of demarcation" after which increased educational attention was paid to criminal justice issues, leading to increased separation from sociology. It reviews policy implications stemming from various theories or perspectives. The chapter considers criminology an interdisciplinary discipline, even though that sounds like an oxymoron".
