About Me

Communication Studies

    Communication Studies is an interdisciplinary field concerned with how individuals, institutions, and societies create, exchange, interpret, and regulate meaning. It draws on methods such as textual analysis, audience studies, rhetorical criticism, qualitative interviewing, and media-system research. Emerging in the early 20th century through rhetoric, journalism studies, and early mass communication research, the discipline expanded significantly with the rise of broadcasting, advertising, and digital media. As scholars like James Carey argue, communication is both a process of transmission and a symbolic ritual that shapes cultural life and social relations.¹ Similarly, Vincent Mosco highlights that communication institutions like news organizations, telecommunications companies, and digital platforms are central to power, citizenship, and democratic participation.

    A major strength of Communication Studies lies in its capacity to reveal how messages influence attitudes, identities, and political behaviour. The discipline excels at unpacking the hidden assumptions embedded in media texts and the structural forces shaping public discourse. Its methods are flexible and adaptable, allowing researchers to analyze emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, social media algorithms, and influencer culture. A major weakness, however, is that communication research can be diffuse, lacking a single unifying methodological framework. Its breadth can lead to conceptual disagreements between traditions such as critical political economy, cultural studies, and quantitative media-effects research. Still, this diversity is also a strength, allowing scholars to examine topics from misinformation to digital surveillance from multiple angles. Communication Studies ultimately provides crucial insight into how meaning, power, and persuasion shape public understanding, political behaviour, and social inequality.

 

 

Criminology

    Criminology is the scientific study of crime, criminal behaviour, and the structures of the criminal justice system. Drawing from sociology, psychology, law, and critical theory, criminology investigates why crimes occur, how systems respond to them, and how social forces shape criminalization and punishment. Cesare Beccaria’s classical theory emphasized rational choice and the need for proportional justice, laying the foundation for modern criminal justice reform. More recently, scholars such as Richard Quinney argue that definitions of crime are socially constructed by those in power, revealing the political and economic forces behind criminalization. This makes criminology uniquely positioned to examine systemic problems such as wrongful conviction, racial profiling, and institutional discrimination.

    Criminology’s greatest strength is its focus on real-world justice issues and the lived experiences of affected populations. The discipline excels at exposing structural problems policing practices, forensic errors, prosecutorial misconduct, and socioeconomic inequality that shape legal outcomes. It also contributes evidence-based solutions, including conviction review units, bail reform, restorative justice, and improved forensic standards. However, criminology faces internal tensions, such as the divide between reform-oriented research and critical criminology, which challenges the legitimacy of the justice system itself. Additionally, criminology can rely heavily on datasets that underrepresent marginalized communities or fail to capture systemic harm. Despite these limitations, criminology remains invaluable for uncovering injustices and informing policy solutions designed to reduce harm and enhance fairness.