Criminology as a criminal law science

The subject of the study defines the essence and content of criminology as a legal science related to the scientific specialty “5.1.4. Criminal law sciences”. In the methodology of the work performed, well–known — universal, general scientific and private — research methods were used; at the same time, a special role was assigned to the system-synergetic approach, which allowed considering many constituent subject elements in their complex interrelations and some “innovative understanding”, for example, in assessing the subject, purpose, functionality of criminology as a normative science. The metrological view on the formation and development of criminology as a branch of criminal jurisprudence committed to the unity of the letter and spirit of the criminal law, justifying the scientific principles of criminalization, criminal punishment, and anti-crime policy is presented. Criminology is defined as a field of social activity for the development of socio-criminal law and political knowledge about crime as a system of socio-legal relations arising both within the inter-operating systems — “crime” and “counter-crime” — and between them. Accordingly, the subject of criminology is the regularities of a two-pronged (criminal-anti-criminal) system. The functionality of criminology is considered taking into account its general theoretical mission in the block of criminal law sciences; the corresponding special functions are identified — integrative, conceptual, legal education, preventive and protective, etc. Criminology as a criminal law science is designed to form associative criminological thinking in the professional legal consciousness of criminologists and the ability to handle a unique theoretical and applied preventive tools for combating crime.