Criminology Resource Guide

Includes streaming videos on criminal investigation, criminal justice system, criminology, and legal studies.

This 11-part series, filmed inside Indiana's Lake County Juvenile Justice Complex, explores where juvenile crime begins, how it evolves, and what’s at stake for kids, families and professionals in the system. Each episode follows individual teens through their experience in the juvenile justice system. For some, this means months in detention and numerous court hearings; for others, detention is no longer an option—juvenile prison is the final destination.

The forms of punishment a society chooses, and what exactly it deems a crime, tell a great deal about that society's values. How is justice pursued and punishment meted out? This program looks at the history of punishment, beginning with early compensatory forms of justice, Hammurabi's Code, and the Law of Moses. Socrates' execution and Roman and medieval forms of justice are analyzed in a historical context, underscoring the fact that punishment was often intended as a deterrent rather than as a reformatory measure. Contemporary forms of punishment, including the death penalty, are discussed, along with the ways in which these sentences reflect what society values.

This six-part series spotlights renowned investigative psychologist David Canter—the U.K.’s leading pioneer in criminal profiling and director of the Centre for Investigative Psychology at the University of Liverpool—as he analyzes some of the most notorious crimes on record in the U.K. and abroad. Combining psychology and technology with geography, he examines contemporary as well as select historical crimes. Canter is also the author of the book Mapping Murder: The Secrets of Geographical Profiling.

Taking into account the dramatic shift in the focus of research in recent years from theories about criminal activity to applications of crime prevention, this multi-section program compares and contrasts the concepts of social causation, social construction, and social control as they relate to the sociology of crime and deviance. Topics include the influence of wider social forces on theories about crime, the reevaluation of criminals as victims or rebels, and three examples of the movement toward a greater pragmatism concerning crime: socio-environmental control, situational crime prevention, and Braithwaite's restorative justice.

DVD 364.089 B7872p 2012
The movie explores mass incarceration across the U.S. and the intersection of race, poverty, and the criminal justice and penal systems.

DVD 364.1523 Ic2m 2003
In this powerful program, Dr. Park Dietz, a world-renowned psychiatrist and consultant to the FBI, interviews this remorseless killer, providing important insights into the psychological factors that can lead to such an aberrant pathology. Complementing the one-on-one sessions, police photographs and film footage document Kuklinski's troubled background and numerous victims.

DVD 364.301 P959m 2004
Examines the PCL-R, or Psychopathy Checklist--Revised, a classification tool used to profile criminals and predict whether or not they will re-offend. In addition to forensic applications, the film shows how the checklist has been modified for use in the corporate world.

DVD 362.8292 P7817c 2010
A dramatic and timely exploration of domestic abuse, which examines the persistence of violence against women in the US, through the story of Kim, a mother of three in Duluth, MN. Duluth was the birthplace of a revolution in the way society approaches battering, and the film tells the story of the leaders from Duluth who remain on the front lines today.

DVD 365.973 P9389g 2002
Technology is the key to the future of prisons. Incarceration is how society deals with crime and punishment.

DVD 364.1066 St833d 2002
Examines the history, psychology, and role of street gangs in America from their origins among urban immigrants to the sophisticated organizations of thelate twentieth century, and includes comments and insights from current and former gang members.