NCJ Number
91324
Date Published
1983
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Among the topics considered in this discussion of Austrian criminology are the general dimensions of Austrian criminology, traditional and sociological models of criminology, criminological institutes, criminological literature, and patterns of criminality of Austria.
Abstract
The emphasis in Austrian criminology is on traditional beliefs supporting the prosecution and adjudication of criminals and their management by correctional agencies rather than on exploration of the many factors inherent in the patterning of offenses. Austria's unquestioning acceptance of traditions, regardless of whether they are relevant to the contemporary scene, is revealed in the narrow definition of criminology's subject matter, the absence of institutionalized means for preparing students as criminologists, the identification of criminology with the criminal law, and the isolation of experienced practitioners from new developments in criminology. Austria has no professional training programs designed to prepare specialists in criminology. Those who regard themselves as criminologists have been educated in the law and identify themselves as specialists in law. In the criminological institutes at the University of Graz and the University of Vienna, lecturers and assistants perform minor research in addition to their instructional responsibilities. They are also involved in making expert judgments in criminalistics. The new direction of criminology in Austria may be described as criminal sociology; crime is viewed neither as simple pathology nor as the sum of offenses by individuals but as an aspect of the influence of the social structure. Nineteen notes and 16 bibliographic entries are provided.