Evolution of Criminology and Criminal Justice Education in India: Past, Present, and Future

Abstract

This chapter explores the evolution and the nature of modern criminology in contemporary India. The evolution of academic criminology in India began with the call of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1957 for the development of criminology in the newly developing countries as a part of expanding science and scientific research in the study of crime and criminal justice. The University of Sagar, located in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, was the first university in India to establish an academic program in criminology in 1959. Within the last five decades, academic criminology in India has vastly advanced. Outside the Western world, and among the South Asian countries, academic criminology and criminal justice research and education are highly advanced in India with a huge number of doctoral, master's, and undergraduate programs within the university settings; a growing number of journals and professional societies; and an expanding job market for the graduates of criminology and criminal justice. For further advancement in India’s academic criminology, it must, however, be integrated to the governance and policy-making in crime control and criminal justice.