A Criminological Approach to the COVID-19 Pandemic with a Comparative Perspective Based on Iran’s and the World’s Data

The present research explores some of the most significant aspects of the COVID-19 outbreak from the perspective of criminology through carrying out a comparative analysis of Iran’s and the world’s Data. Describing the current pandemic as deviance is one aspect of this approach upon which an argument can be made for explaining the COVID-19 outbreak as deviance from a criminological perspective. The criminal effects of COVID-19 is another part of the discussion through which relationships between the pandemic and crime rates, including economic crime and domestic violence, are examined. The findings show that overall, crime rates have fluctuated throughout the advent of COVID-19, and while the current pandemic has caused an increase in the rates of certain types of crimes, a decline in many other types of crime has also been observed. Finally, the article concludes that the current pandemic exerts varying impacts on criminality, corroborating the assumption that ‘disease’ alongside ‘crime’ endangers human health on the whole. Therefore, the main question is how humans can maintain their physical health upon exposure to the dangers of COVID, and look after their mental health from the risks and the unpleasant effects of criminality, particularly fear of crime and moral panic?