The study of crime encompasses a wide range of topics and areas of inquiry. A central focus is the definition of criminal behavior and the manner in which it is measured and detected. Crime is also studied in terms of the legal consequences and the various stages of a criminal prosecution.
For many people the most straightforward approach to the concept of crime is a legalistic one – that an act is a crime if it is against the law. Criminologists have questioned this definition of crime, and the notions around criminal blame which underpin it, arguing that an act may be wrong or harmful but it will not automatically qualify as a crime unless it falls into a specific set of criteria.
Criminal behaviour has many causes, and criminologists have a variety of methods by which they explore these. These include studies into the relationship between a person’s background and their propensity to commit crimes (psychological traits); physical abnormalities – it is still believed that some individuals are physically more prone to committing a crime, such as small heads; mental illnesses – there are some illnesses which are thought to make people generally more aggressive and destructive.
Reading widely in the true crime genre can be a useful way of learning how to write compellingly about such crimes, drawing on character backstory and other features which can create suspense and a sense of menace. It is also worth studying how authors of such stories create cliffhangers, and build tension with the use of point of view, interesting characters, and plot twists.