About the Department

The Department of Criminology was established at the University of Madras in April 1983 with independent functions of teaching and research. The Department has been specializing in the fields of juvenile justice, victimology, police administration, human rights, financial crimes, correctional administration, crime prevention, cyber forensics, information security and other related fields.

In an effort to keep up-to-date with evolving societal issues, criminal justice practices and legislations, the Department has, through the years effected changes related to courses taught, teaching methods and research approach. Many new courses have been added to the curriculum and the Masters of Arts programme was recently converted to Masters of Science.

The Department of Criminology offers a post-graduate course in Criminology & Criminal Justice Science (M.Sc.) and a Ph. D. programme. The Department has five full-time faculty serving over 30 research scholars and 60 post-graduate students.

The faculty and research scholars of the Department engage in robust research on vital issues and social problems. The outcome of the research work along with the suggestions and recommendations has often been influential in policy making at the regional and national level.  The faculty of the Department both in the past and present has attained national and international recognition for their scholarly contributions in the fields of criminology and victimology .

In 1997, the Department of Criminology initiated an academic exchange programme with the Department of Criminal Justice Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, U.S.A. The main objective of the programme is to provide post-graduate students an exposure to the dynamics of international criminal justice and to give them an opportunity to study and understand trending social issues from an international perspective. Over 60 students have participated in the ongoing programme benefiting greatly from their international travel and interactions with an array of international students.

The Department of Criminology is in continuous collaboration with the various agencies of criminal justice system providing consultancy services on a variety of topics in the field of criminology and more recently, the field of victimology.

The faculty of the Department of Criminology is actively engaged in wide-ranging research receiving research grants for projects from organizations such as the University Grants Commission, Bureau of Police Research & Development, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, United Nations Development Program, Government of Tamil Nadu, National Commission for Women, MasterCard Worldwide, UNICEF, and so on.  

Objective

1.    To study the cause and effect of crimes and social behaviour

2.    To understand the dynamics of the criminal justice system and the various inter-linked agencies

3.    To understand, evaluate, and compare theories of crime and criminal justice

4.    To gain in-depth knowledge in the field of Victimology and victim assistance

5.    To understand quantitative and qualitative criminological research methods and the application of social scientific approach

Mission

To develop a strong inter-disciplinary research base in Criminology

To provide theoretical knowledge in criminology and practical application in criminological research

To influence policy making in criminal justice and  social justice

Vision

To be recognized as a renowned institution of learning in the field of criminology and criminal justice education with strong global leverage.