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Theories on crime causation
Sociological theories of crime
How does crime impact
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While a consistent relationship between specific crimes and specific economic factors could not be established, the evidence shows that crime is linked to the economic climate. Such findings are consistent with criminal motivation theory, which suggests that economic stress causes an increase in criminal behaviour. The available data do not, however, support the theory of criminal opportunity, which suggests that decreased levels of production and consumption may reduce some types of crime, such as property crime, by creating fewer potential crime
There are many theories that can be applied to different cases that have occurs in Americas history. The two theories that are choses for this paper are the trait theory and under the trait theory is psychological which is “abnormal personality and psychological traits are the key to determinant of anti-social behavior. There is a link between mental illness, personality disorders and crime (Siegel, 2014). The second theory is the Choice theory which “criminals weigh the cost and benefits and make a conscious, rational choice to commit crime” (Siegel, 2014). This paper will show how a theory can be applied to a person and a crime. Some of the cases that are being presented some will not agree but up us all about the person perspective.
People are uniquely different and because of this reason, they do have different behaviors. Crime is one kind of behavior that an individual can engage in. They are punishable by the law and may be prosecuted by the state (Helfgott, 2008). There are different theories existing that try to explain the actions of criminals. They deeply explain what causes an individual to commit a criminal activity. This paper discusses some examples of the biological theories, social theories and psychological theories of crime.
However, figures of this type need to be examined in detail. For example, these figures do not show whether the British Government has possibly ‘over spent’ on crime. Looking at figures of this type do not show the relevance of economic techniques, i.e. marginal deterrence, which was first introduced by Stigler in 1970. This paper has taken a comprehensive, but limited view on the relevance of economics and crime.
A highly debated topic concerns whether criminals commit crimes because of a social pressure or an individual urge. The strain theory supports crime as a social pressure because, as Frank Schmalleger suggests in Criminology Today 222, crime is an adaptive behavior that coincides with problems caused by frustration or unpleasant social surroundings. Also, culture conflict theory states the cause of delinquent behavior is because different social classes conflicting morals of what is appropriate or proper behavior, (Schmalleger 228). Other people believe blaming crime on the economy or where they grew up is making an excuse for criminals instead of making them take responsibility for their actions, as stated by CQ writer Peter Katel. These different views started with statistics taken on crime in the early 1800s. Andre Michel Guerry of France was one of the first examiners of “the moral health of nations” in the early 19th century, (Schmalleger 35). Another early crime statistician was Adolphe Quetelet of Belgium . Quetelet evaluated the crime rates between weather, sex, and age. His findings that climate contributes to high or low crime rate is a main factor in today’s fight against crime. It is doubtful this issue will ever be settled since there are too many pros and cons to each side. However, while specialists’ dispute this, crime is not stopping. There needs to be a way, or possibly several ways, to reduce criminal activity. It is doubtful criminal activity will ever be put to an end. The same is to be said about why people commit crime, but knowing if it is done socially or individually can help with the fight against it. In the end, individuals should take responsibility for their actions, but...
There are many studies that point out some risk factors that could be responsible for criminality, but it would not be appropriate to say that is specifically poverty or the current economy. This field of study is uncertain about affirming this kind of assumption. But all this discussion about Broken Windows Theory leads us to reflect why not try to prevent crime instead of act after the crime has been committed?
Rosenfeld, R., & Fornado, R. (2007). The impact of economic conditions on robbery and property crime: The role of consumer sentiment. Criminology, 45, 735-769.
Trait theory views criminality as a product of abnormal biological or psychological traits. It is based on a mix between biological factors and environmental factors. Certain traits alone cannot determine criminality. We are born with certain traits and these traits along with certain environmental factors can cause criminality (Siegel, 2013). According to (Siegel, 2013), the study of sociobiology sparked interest in biological or genetic makeup as an explanation for crime and delinquency. The thought is that biological or genetic makeup controls human behavior, and if this is true, then it should also be responsible for determining whether a person chooses crime or conventional behavior. This theory is referred to as trait theory (Siegel, 2013). According to Siegel (2013), due to the fact that offenders are different, one cannot pinpoint causality to crime to just a single biological or psychological attribute. Trait theorist looks at personal traits like intelligence, personality, and chemical and genetic makeup; and environmental factors, such as family life, educational attainment, economic factors, and neighborhood conditions (Siegel, 2013). There are the Biosocial Trait theories an...
Olivia Mathis November 20, 2017 Professor Maksuta General Theory of Crime General theory of crime, a developmental theory introduced by Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi that links self-control and impulsivity to crime. This theory is based on that if a person lacks self-control they are more likely to commit a crime than a person with high self-control. This is because one who lacks self-control tends to be more impulsive, insensitive, adventurous, active, self-centered, and are more of the “in the moment” type. While they are usually unstable and incapable of keeping healthy relationships this gives them no sort of shame about how they act and since it’s only them they don’t really care about the consequences after. These acts
There are numerous ideas in the area of criminology that attempt to interpret the causes behind why people commit crimes. Social process idea is one such idea and affirms that criminal actions are taught by viewing criminalistic actions by others (Schmalleger, 2012). The four kinds of Social method theories are Social learning idea, Social command idea, labeling idea, and dramaturgical viewpoint. Throughout this term paper, we will gaze at two of these theories, Social discovering theory and the Social command theory. This essay will converse about the Social method theory's significance to criminology, as well the history of its development.
Theories of crime inferred include the biological theory; positivism, atavism and somatotype. Positivism infers that offenses are made due to many factors outside of the offender’s control, making them crime prone (White and Haines, 2000, pp. 36). Atavism believed ‘criminals were biological throwbacks … people more primitive’ (Bernard and Vold et al., 2010, pp. 38). People committing the coward punch ‘don’t ever develop and many are delayed’ and that it is an atavistic feature that is ‘very primitive.’ (Munro, P. 2014, pp. 3) explains Hickie, executive director of the Brain and Mind Research Institute, inferring positivism and atavism. The somatotype theory explains crime is committed by people with muscular builds who enjoy physical activity involving crime. Most criminals are seen as mesomorphs who are muscular, action orientated and aggressive, similar to McNiel’s character who is ‘A labourer with a love of bodybuilding ‘ (Munro, P. 2014, pp. 3).
A lot of outside effects are often over looked when looking at the correlation between poverty and crime. One of those factors is a higher rate of mental illness among lower income people (Taylor, 2006). Poverty also causes higher levels of stress that may lead people to perform criminal acts. But the same can be said for the wealthy in this country. Look at the economic collapse as well the actions of the board of directors at WorldCom and Enron.
There are two biological theories suggested as explanations of violent crime in this article, they are as follow:
From 1991-2000, statistically there was a dramatic decline in crime nationally. The statistics studied were of all categories of crimes considered serious, including: homicides which decreased by 39%; rape which decreased by 41%; robbery which decreased by 44%; aggravated assault which decreased by 24%; burglary which decreased by 41%; auto theft which decreased by 37%; and larceny which decreased by 23%. The statistics show a range of decline of 23-44%! (United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation 1990, 2000. Uniform Crime Report. Washington, D.C.) The evidence indicates that the benefit of declining crime rates are concentrated on specific groups with...
Scholars have often debated the primary causes of criminal behavior and its correlation to economic factors. It is hypothesized than an unemployed person may resort to illegal methods to obtain money due to a lack of unemployment opportunities. Several studies have targeted the unemployment rate as having an adverse effect on the increase of crime rate. Researchers have observed the rates of property crime, violent crime, and motor-vehicle crime in order to determine the potential of a correlation between crime and unemployment (Aaltonen, Macdonald, Martikainen, & Kivivuori, 2013; Kleck, G., & Chiricos, T. 2002; Sookram, S., Basdeo, M., Sumesar-Rai, K., & Saridakis, G. 2010).
Different schools of thought propose varying theoretical models of criminality. It is agreeable that criminal behaviour is deep rooted in societies and screams for attention. Biological, Social ecological and psychological model theories are key to helping researchers gain deeper comprehension of criminal behaviour and ways to avert them before they become a menace to society. All these theories put forward a multitude of factors on the outlooks on crime. All these theories have valid relevancy to continuous research on criminal behaviour.