The Usefulness of Sociological Theories in Explaining Crime and the Control of Crime
This paper seeks to explore the usefulness of Sociological Theories in
explaining crime and whether in doing so there arises implications for
probation practice. I shall begin by providing a brief explanation for
the historical development of criminological thinking, starting with
Classicism and moving onto Positivism both which lay the foundations
for the development of sociological theories in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
Analysis of the literature has highlighted the vast array of theories
to which my attention will be paid. However, due to the limitations of
this piece of work and in order to provide an in-depth account of the
usefulness of particular theories I have chosen to focus on two;
Labelling Theory and Subcultural Theory. I will provide a thorough
account of how they attempt to explain crime and how offenders are
propelled into crime and the usefulness of such theories. Finally my
analysis will focus on the role of these when working with offenders
and will highlight the implications for probation practice.
Different writers have attempted to construct historical connections
for the development of criminology. I will begin with the emergence of
Classicism, which grew out of the Enlightenment movement in the
eighteenth-century. This was influenced by the work of Cesare Beccaria
and his publication the Dei Delitti e Delle Pene (On Crimes and
Punishment) in 1764 (Beccaria, 1963, cited Cavadino and Dignan 2002,
p46). This book provided a critique of the Criminal Justice System in
Europe, which was deemed arbitrary and harshly retributive, dominated
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Hickey, T. J. (2010). Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Crime and Criminology, 9th Edition. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The basic rights of citizens in cities are challenged in order for officials to protect and maintain safety of the city. Law enforcement reform is an ongoing, popular, controversial topic in modern day politics and communities. Societal changes result from outcomes of solving and preventing crimes. Malcolm Gladwell introduces us to the Broken Windows Theory in the story “The Power of Context” as a resolution to prevent major crimes from being committed in urban cities. The Broken Windows Theory can be corroborated to different situations and scenarios. In the Myth of the Ant Queen, Beth Loffreda highlights how the epidemic of Matt Shepard’s murder began with the details of the crime, rather than the murder itself. This caused the details to
...lacks, and men. Furthermore, the competing paradigms influence public policy. Those that maintain acts as voluntary are more inclined to punish the individual or group, however those that are seen to act under determined forces, judge treatment to be more suitable. Even though these theories contrast, they still contain similarities which are shared in the new penology. Aspects are taken from all to create a new perspective on crime that centres on the management of offenders.
Daly, Kathleen, Goldsmith, Andrew, and Israel, Mark. 2006, Crime and Justice: A guide to criminology, third addition, Thomson, Lawbook Co.
One of the biggest concerns of criminology is the reason why the criminals commit the crimes that they do. Whether it’s due to a mental disease or genetics. Even if the criminal is healthy and has been planning it for months analyzing the consequences and results. Could the society that the criminal has grown up in ever be at fault causing him to act the way he or she did? People have been trying to find the reason that criminals commit these crimes for many years, and the numbers of theories that have been come up with looks to be the same number of criminologists. A criminologist is “one who studies the biological and sociological causes and consequences of crime and criminal behavior (such as the effects of mental defects and social environment).” Their job is to figure out why criminals acted the way they did and how to change the person in order to not repeat it, in other words rehabilitate them. Rehabilitation teaches the prisons to live a better life when let out instead of being punished in prison. When a criminal commits a crime the reason for the action is a very important part of the case and after the prisoner is behind bars, then they can find a solution for the crime to not be repeated by the same convict.
Maguire, M., Morgan, R., and Reiner, R. (2012) The Oxford Handbook of Criminology. 5th ed. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
During the 1970’s to the early 1990’s there had emerged two new approaches to the study of crime and deviance. The discipline of criminology had expanded further introducing right and left realism, both believe in different areas and came together in order to try and get a better understanding on crime and prevention. There were many theorists that had influenced the realism approaches such as; Jock Young (Left Wing) and James Wilson (Right Wing).
Crime is an irrelevant concept as it is tied to the formal social control mechanism of the State; deviance is a concept that is owned by sociology thus our study should be the sociology of deviance, rather than criminology
Winslow, R. W., & Zhang, S. (2008). Contemporary Theories of Crime. Criminology: a global perspective (). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Crime deterrence is the decline of crime, because people fear getting arrested and convicted. According to Probation and Parole: Theory and Practice by Howard Abadinsky “the classical school argues that because humans tend toward hedonism- that is, they seek pleasure and avoid pain- they must be restrained, by fear of punishment, from pleasurable acts that are unlawful.” People make a rational decision not to commit a crime because of the fear of arrest and conviction are taken into consideration.
Morgan, R., Maguire, M. And Reiner, R. (2012). The Oxford Handbook of Criminology. 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Criminology is the study of crime and criminals; a branch of sociology. More accurately, it is the study of crime as a social trend, and its overall origins, its many manifestations and its impact upon society as a whole. That makes it more a form of sociology than a law enforcement tool. But the trends it studies have a huge impact on the way the police do their jobs, the way society treats its criminals, and the way a given community goes about maintaining law and order. The writer will describe and give examples of the three perspectives of viewing crimes. The perspectives that will be highlighted are the consensus view, the conflict view or the interactionist view. Each perspective maintain its own interpretation of what constitutes criminal activities and what causes people to engage in criminal behaviors (Siegel, p.12).
The Classical School of Criminology generally refers to the work of social contract and utilitarian philosophers Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham during the enlightenment in the 18th century. The contributions of these philosophers regarding punishment still influence modern corrections today. The Classical School of Criminology advocated for better methods of punishment and the reform of criminal behaviour. The belief was that for a criminal justice system to be effective, punishment must be certain, swift and in proportion to the crime committed. The focus was on the crime itself and not the individual criminal (Cullen & Wilcox, 2010). This essay will look at the key principles of the Classical School of Criminology, in particular