Born Criminal Theory

For as long as there have been people there has been crime, and along with crime there have been many theories trying to answer the question of “what causes crime?”. The theories of the cause of crime have come along way since the Judeo-Christian view that everyone who did something morally wrong were under possession of evil (Smandych, 2017). This essay will examine different theories which all help to understand the causes of crime. Old theories such as the Born Criminal theory will be analyzed, the psychological perspective and its role in crime will also be considered and finally, more relevant theories such as Strain theories will be reviewed. In order to understand today’s theories of crime we must first take a look at the beginning theories

of crime.
In the 17th and 18th centuries enlightenment philosophers began to compose views that humans are free and rational (Smandych, 2017). Cesare Beccaria one of the more famous enlightenment philosophers had many theories on crime and punishment. He believed that people give up their freedom to live in a social setting and therefore give up their free will, consequently crime is the product of individual choice and a way of exhibiting that they still have free will (Smandychm 2017). Furthermore, a person choses to either break the law or not to, they weigh pros and cons of their actions (Linden, 2016, p.231). Beccaria had a very basic way of viewing crime, while others such as Cesare Lombroso took a scientific approach. According to Linden (2016), “Lombroso and his followers were the first to study crime scientifically. They believed that crime was caused by biological factors beyond the individual’s control” (p.235). Heavily inspired by Darwin, Lombroso developed his own theory of the born criminal in which criminals showed physical differences than noncriminals because of this he believed criminals were an earlier stage of evolution (Linden, 2016, p.237). Lombroso’s theory is consider inaccurate but for the time it was appealing. As stated by Jalava, Jarkko, et al. (2015) people tended to believe Lomrboso’s theory because it was “rooted in legitimate scientific theories and fields of study” (p.38). Beccaria and Lombroso’s theories are just two examples of early theories that helped form criminology today.
Although Lombroso’s born criminal theory did not have much scientific evidence to support and it Beccaria’s theory was simple, these theories helped smooth a pathway to develop psychological perspectives on crime.

David Farrington studied individual differences and the motivation to commit crimes, he felt people were motivated by a desire for material things and excitement (Linden, 2016, p.249). To continue looking at individuals, moral development theorists believed that criminal behaviour roots from a failure to develop morality and responsibility (Linden, 2016, p.253). Psychological perspectives tend to focus on the individual, some individuals who commit crimes suffer from mental illness. Some people may believe criminals disregard the rights of the others and most are psychopaths, but Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) and psychopathy, are not as common among criminals as one may think. It is true that many criminals suffer from mental illness more common than APD, to expand “the criminal justice system deals with the mentally ill largely by default; because of the failures of other social service agencies, it becomes the social service institution of last resort” (Fallon, Lurigo, 2007, p. 364). Mental illness may play a factor in the cause of crime however it is not a leading theory as to why people commit

crimes.
Finally, Strain theories are a sub category of consensus theories and are more applicable to modern criminals and provide a deeper understanding of the causes of crime. Strain theory according to Linden (2016) is “the proposition that people feel strain when they are exposed to cultural goals they are unable to reach because they do not have access to culturally approved means of achieving those goals” (p.280). Merton’s strain theory features modes of adaptation which are ways an individual responds to strain between goals and means, these modes are where delinquency can appear for example, conformity is a one of the modes (Smandychm, 2017). To further an understanding of strain theory, strain occurs when there is a failure to reach goals, removal of positive stimuli and gaining negative stimuli (Smandychm, 2017). Another strain theory is Cloward and Ohlin’s Differential Opportunity Theory. This consists of different opportunities that individuals can find that may result in breaking the law (Linden, 2016, p.296). One final strain theory that will be discussed is ‘the code of the street’ made by Elijah Anderson, this theory explains how there is a lack of employment opportunities in modern society so an individual must seek respect elsewhere, therefore falling in crime (Linden, 2016, p.269). It is understandable why an individual who falls under all of these struggles can begin a life of crime. Strain theory is one of the logical theories as to why an individual would commit crimes as it not only considers an individual but their situation.
There are many theories that attempt to answer the question “what causes crime?” in this essay some main theories were expolored.

Firstly, older theories such as Beccaria who believed individuals are free willed and Lombroso who felt there are certain people who are born criminals. Secondly, A psychological perspective was also considered showing that many people in the criminal justice system are not diagnosed with APD but a majority of criminals struggle with mental illness. Lastly, strain theories were examined, these showed that the cause of crime could be an individual’s hard situation that leads them into a life of crime. To conclude there is not one easy answer that explains why there is crime, these theories are helpful when forming an idea of the cause of crime. Theories like the above mentioned are important as they help people to understand crime and will aid in creating new methods to prevent

crime.