Struggling with a criminology essay?

We will tell you how to write it step by step. In this article, you will find an outline, writing prompts, and ideas for your essay. And there is also a selection of free essay templates at the end.

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Law, Criminology, & Criminal Justice – What Are They about?
These concepts are tightly related, but there is a difference between them. Let’s take a look:

Law is the broadest concept. It is a set of rules that regulate the behavior of the people of a state. Below are listed the main types of law:

Criminal
Corporate
Civil rights
Family
Environmental
Entertainment.
Labor
Tax
Military
International
Intellectual property
Immigration
Health
Real estate
Criminology is a science that studies crime. Criminologists research and analyze all types of criminal behavior. The main fields of criminology are criminal profiling and forensic psychology.

Criminal justice focuses on enforcing the law and fighting crime. It uses the theoretical knowledge gained by criminologists to investigate crime and rehabilitate felons. For example, the police combine criminology and criminal justice specialists.

How to Write an Essay on Law & Criminology?
So, we prepared a short guide on how to write an essay on criminology. In this part, we will discuss the topics and structure of your future essay.

Choose Your Criminology Essay Topic
First of all, you have to choose your topic. You can just pick something interesting that you heard during class or explore the areas of your interest. It may not seem like an easy task, but we prepared a selection of titles for you. Let’s take a look.

Here is our list of criminology essay topics:

Law enforcement essay. Describe the purposes of law enforcement and how it works. Explain its role in society and its establishment. Define the changes that happened to the structure. Write about types of careers in law enforcement. You can also depict the main problems and suggest your solutions.
How a bill becomes a law. This essay might focus on the whole process from point A to point B. Explain how it works at each stage and how long it usually takes. Write about the role of Congress and the president. Describe the difference when it comes to federal and state laws.
What is criminology. In this essay, you could provide a theoretical explanation and overview of the science, write about the aims of the criminologists. Describe how it evolved and changed. Define the problems and challenges and what is possible to do to overcome them. You can also include the prospects of criminology.
Essay on criminology theories. You can provide an overview of the most popular ideas and compare them or focus on just one. In this essay, you can choose to write about the strengths and weaknesses of the theories and support your writing with secondary sources.
Criminal justice reform essay. Define criminal justice reform and list the organizations that contribute to it. Tell about the areas for reform. Describe the issues that need attention and changes. You can choose to write about any reform that happened in any state. Just make sure that it was significant and the problem might still be relevant in other states, for example.
Racism in criminal justice system. This essay should focus on the reasons for the problem and its current state. Explain what problems it causes outside of criminal justice and why we should pay attention to the issue. Suggest ways to fight racism and to avoid inequality in criminal justice.
Make an Outline for Your Essay on Law & Criminology
Now its’s time to plan your essay. Here is our outline sample of a persuasive or argumentative essay on the topic of Racism in the criminal justice system.

Introduction. Describe the background of the issue and explain why you think there is an inequality problem. Tell your reader why this topic is worth attention. Your thesis statement defines your point of view and the main arguments. It should be the last sentence of your introduction paragraph.
Body. You need to introduce your argumentation line here. Focus on the cultural aspects that affect behavior. Also, discuss labeling theory and the cases of racial harassment in criminal justice. Provide solid examples to each of your arguments. Use your library database to find credible sources.
Conclusion. Summarize your body paragraphs and restate your thesis statement. Reflect and tell your readers what solutions you can offer.
Write Your Criminology Essay
Follow the rules of your instructor. They usually define the word limit and the formatting style. Moreover, instructors give helpful recommendations and advice when it comes to writing essays. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Do your best to match or even exceed their expectations.
Arrange your arguments. You need to put your most vital points at the beginning and the end of the body of your essay.
Be disciplined. Don’t start working on your essay being close to the deadline. Qualitative research and building strong arguments need time and effort. Leave some time to planning and reflection as well.
Check and proofread. Your grammar and spelling should be perfect.
So, now you are ready to write your criminology essay! Check our essay templates below in case you need some inspiration.