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Rational choice theory
Strengths and weaknesses of rational choice theory
Classical criminology theory
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Criminological paradigms or theories explain why people commit crimes and why individual behave in a certain situation. It also explanation of crime, the relationship between individual characteristic, social order, how individual develop crime, level, distribution of a crime and causes of crime. Most criminological paradigms or theories serve as an element to prevent crime in the society. These theories are designed to let people understand criminal behaviors, but they are yet to clarify why punishment or incarcerate of offenders is unable to prevent deviancy.
Criminology has different types of paradigms and theory, they are, rational choice, classical, conflict, critical, labeling, routine activity, social control, positive, life course, biosocial, strain and differential association theory. Furthermore, some of the theories believe that people weigh the advantages and disadvantages and aware of making a decision on whether to commit or not to commit a crime. Some theories argue that individual is born as a criminal so they have the trait that will determine how they react in a negative situation. Some say that society influence individual to commit a crime. I would be talking about rational choice and classical theory.
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Classical theory has the same perspective because of its belief that individual think before they proceed to commit a crime because people decide that it was a benefit to commit a crime. The two theories assign an urge role to rational decision marking of the offender than other theories. Both theories derived its origin from John Locke and they are rooted in utilitarianism, the concept that public policy decision should maximize pleasure while minimizing pain among all the
When delving into the various theories under the umbrella of criminology, one must research and gain knowledge about each idea to understand how it stands alone and among all of the theories. These should be compared against each other to determine what similarities they may have, which overlap and strengthen the foundations of understanding criminal behavior. Then they shall be examined for contrasting points, which distinguish and possibly prove weaknesses within the theories. Doing so can help criminologists determine the accuracy and credibility of the theories and help achieve a deeper knowledge of criminals and antisocial behaviors.
Criminology is the scientific study of the causes and prevention of crimes. Criminology also uses a vast amount of theories to explain peoples’ actions, mental state, and their drive for committing crimes. Some crimes have monetary benefits, while other crime are committed in revenge or in spite of another, which would be called crimes of passion. Because it can be sometime difficult to understand why certain crime are committed, the only thing we can do is use theories to better decipher thoughts, morals, and reasons behind committing crimes.
Criminological theories interpret the competing paradigms of Human Nature, Social Order, Definition of Crime, Extent and Distribution of Crime, Causes of Crime, and Policy, differently. Even though these theories have added to societies understanding of criminal behaviour, all have been unable to explain why punishment or treatment of offenders is unable to prevent deviancy, and thus are ineffective methods of control. The new penology is a contemporary response that favours the management of criminals by predicting future harm on society. However, all criminological theories are linked as they are a product of the historical time and place, and because of their contextual history, they will continue to reappear depending on the current state of the world, and may even be reinvented.
Criminology has various paradigms within it, there are macro and micro paradigms that measure different levels of analysis, and different variables. Macro level theories focus on how society as a whole relate to crime, and micro levels try to explain how and why individuals are involved in crime. Criminology attempts to predict the unpredictable, which is human actions.
Many of the traditional criminological theories focused more on biological, psychological and sociological explanations of crime rather than on the cost and benefits of crime. More conservative approaches, including routine actives, lifestyle exposure and opportunity theories have clearly incorporated crime rate patterns as a fundamental part of analyzing the economics of crime. Crime statistics are important for the simple reason that they help put theories into a logical perspective. For example, a prospective home owner may want to look at crime rates in areas of potential occupancy. On a more complex level, it helps law enforcement and legislators create effective crime reduction programs. Furthermore, it also helps these agencies determine if crime prevention programs, that have been in effect, have been successful. There are many factors that influence the rates of crime including socio economic status, geographical location, culture and other lifestyle factors. More specifically, Messner and Blau (1987) used routine activities theory to test the relationship between the indicators of leisure activities and the rate of serious crimes. They discussed two types of leisure actives, the first being a household pastime, which primarily focused on television watching. The second type was a non-household leisure event which was consisted of attendance to sporting events, cinemas, and entertainment districts. The focus of this paper will be to study the effects that substantial amounts of leisure activities have on the offender and the victim. Leisure activities not only make a crime more opportunistic for offenders, it may also provide offenders with motivation to engage in criminal activity. On the other hand, it may also be argue...
... middle of paper ... ... Understanding psychological theories helps criminologists to design appropriate correctional strategies to mitigate crime. Works Cited Eysenck, H.J., & Gudjonsson, G.H. d. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a The causes and cures of criminality.
1. There are a couple of differences and similarities between the classical and biological theories of criminology. The biological theories of crime support the idea that an individual commits a crime due to their biological make-up and had criminal tendencies because of certain abnormalities that an individual may have had and not because the offender in their right mind chose to commit the crime. The classical theory has the belief that every individual has their own right in the way in which they act upon, so they commit a crime because they choose to do so, not because it is in their biological make-up.
Criminology theories are Conflict Theory which is based upon the view that the fundamental causes of crime are the social and economic forces operating within society. Critical Theory approaches to culture, and esp. to literature, that seeks to confront the social, historical, and ideological forces and structures that produce and constrain it. Labeling Theory is how the self-identity and behavior of individuals may be determined or influenced by the terms used to describe or classify them. Life Course Theory focuses on the stage of life that exposure to health promoting or harmful influences occurs and the duration of exposure to these influences. Positivist Theory concerns with positive facts and phenomena, and excluding speculation upon ultimate causes or origins.
Criminology in its most simple definition is the study of crime. It entails a wide range of theories and arguments all aiming to explain everything there is to explain about crime. Covering every area of reasoning behind criminal behaviour, criminologists all have their own opinion, and all have their own theories which explain crime in different ways. Crime is a lot more difficult to define as it differs over time and location. Every era and every country have their own modified version of crime. Almost everyone can agree on a crime being an act committed against the law, yet as the law changes so does how crime is defined and that’s what makes it so difficult to define. In a world without Criminology crime would not be able to be explained
...ifferent crime patterns and thought processes of criminals. The reasons can only come from these theories and will help the justice systems become more prepared to react towards different crimes. However, with adding some enhancements, projects and experiments these two theories have the potential to change the criminology realm forever.
In order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the criminal behavior theories, the word theory needs to be defined. “A theory is an explanation. It tells why or how things are related to each other. A theory of crime explains why or how a certain thing or certain things are related to criminal behavior.” (Bohn and Vogel)
...crime according to the classical theory is the harm it impacts on the society. In his theory, Cesare argues that it would be erratic and illogical if the measure of crimes were to be based on the intentions of the individuals who commit them (Beccaria, 1986). These intentions depend on individuals’ state of mind and the actual impression that objects make this vary from one person to according to changes in ideas, circumstances and passions. It is, therefore, important to formulate a particular code for each and laws for different crimes.
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).
There are many different aspects of criminal justice policy. One in particular is the different theories of crime and how they affect the criminal justice system. The Classical School of criminology is a theory about evolving from a capital punishment type of view to more humane ways of punishing people. Positivist criminology is maintaining the control of human behavior and criminal behavior. They did this through three different categories of Biological studies, which are five methodologies of crime that were mainly focused on biological theories, Psychological theories, which contains four separate theories, and the Sociological theories, which also includes four different methods of explaining why crime exists. The last theory is about Critical criminology. Their goal was to transform society in a way that would liberate and empower subordinate groups of individuals.
Criminology centers its attention on the criminal as a person, his behavior, and what has led him or her to a life of crime. Criminology seeks to understand the criminals' genetic makeup, to learn whether there is an inherited tendency to crime. It also takes into consideration such issues as the individuals socioeconomic background, family background, educational opportunities, and childhood associations.