Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Theories of biological crime
How is sociology important to criminology
Psychological theory of criminal behavior
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Theories of biological crime
Criminology in the contemporary society has grown to be a widely accepted concept of interdisciplinary subjects. There are several questions that have, however, been levelled on theories that are attached to criminology and how efficiently and effectively they can be supported. Criminology as a study focuses on a specific realm of the society or sets of topics which are crime and responses to criminal activities in the society. This makes the study not to focus on a particular domain of inquiry like other studies existing in the contemporary society. It is important, therefore, for criminologists to create an understanding to members of the society regarding the root cause of crime and what dictates the behaviour of individuals who are considered to be criminals (Tierney 2009).
Criminology has often been defined as a field of study where scholars from different disciplines in the society come together to find answers to problems identified in the society. Sociological approaches, however, have influenced theoretical conclusions in criminology. That however has not limited other factors like biological factors as explained by Walsh (2000) and Wright and Boisvert (2009). Psychological theories in criminology have also determined a given level of perception developed by the society states Durrant and Ward (2012).
Biological theories that have been developed in the society which explain the causes of crime focus their idea on the composition of the human body. The physical body, evolutionary factors, inherited genes, brain structures and hormones influences the ability of individuals to engage in criminal activities. It means that there are certain biological compositions that when an individual has them, they cannot resist committin...
... middle of paper ...
...e has been a search for biological markers which differentiate such individuals from the rest of the society. Biological theories can be divided into two categories which include the early biological theories and modern biological theories (Archer 2009).
Early biological theories developed in the society and started dominating criminology in 1870s. The assumption that characterized the early biological theories was that crime was not a behaviour that was rationally reasoned by individuals when they consider the punishment that is attached to committing them, but it is a result of inborn abnormalities. That meant that individuals were considered not to have control of the criminal behaviours they engaged in by were controlled by the strong urge to perform them. They derived some level of satisfaction out of committing the crimes as it made them normal (Barclay 2006).
Crime causation began to be a focus of study in the rapidly developing biological and behavioral sciences during the 19th century. Early biological theories proposed that criminal behavior is rooted in biology and based on inherited traits. Cesare Lombroso (1836-1909), an Italian army prison physician, coined the term “atavism” to describe “the nature of the criminal”...
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.
Akers, R, & Sellers, C. (2009). Criminological theories: introduction, evaluation, and application. New York: Oxford University Press, USA.
Criminological Theories: Introduction, Evaluation, Application. Akers Ronald L., Sellers Christine S. 2013. Retrieved from http://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199844487/guide1/study_guide.pdf
Winslow, R. W., & Zhang, S. (2008). Contemporary Theories of Crime. Criminology: a global perspective (). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Criminology is the scientific study of crimes and criminal behaviour. Criminological theories and research aim at giving us an understanding of the reasons and factors that influence why people commit crimes. There are two main types of crime: Blue collar crime and white collar crime. Blue-collar crimes is the term used to describe crimes that are committed primarily by people who are from a lower socioeconomic class while white-collar crime is usually committed by people in a higher socioeconomic class. The main difference between the two is “white-collar” crime is usually considered to be a victimless crime in which there is no one directly made to be in a worse situation than what they were in before . An example of the more common street
Biological crime theory describes that an individual is born with the desire to commit a certain crime. Evolutionary factors influence an individual’s involvement in criminal behavior. “Biological theories focus on aspects of the physical body, such as inherited genes, evolutionary factors, brain structures, or the role of hormones in influencing behavior” (Marsh, I, 2006, 3). Murderers that are innate to kill are born with factors such as mental illnesses that are the driving force as to why one may kill. Because of the biological crime theory, some individuals, though rare, are able to plead insanity. This is because the actions of the individual are said to be beyond their control (Ministry of Justice, 2006, 3).
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 three eras that have characterized the field of criminology over the past 100 years are the “Golden Age of Research,” the “Golden Age of Theory,” and an unnamed era that was “’characterized by extensive theory testing of the dominant theories, using largely empirical methods’” (28). The “Golden Age of Research” era spanned from 1900 to 1930 according to John H. Laub. This era is identified as focusing heavily on the collection of data surrounding crime and the criminal. This data was assessed without “any particular ideational framework” (28). The second era, the “Golden Age of Theory,” spanned from 1930 to 1960, also according to Laub. This era is also rather self-explanatory, it is described by the development of theories; however, Laub
..., Larry J. (2006). Criminology: Theories, Patterns, & Typologies, 9th edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing. ISBN 0-495-00572-X. Print. 25 Feb 2014.
In conclusion it is shown through examinations of a average criminals biological makeup is often antagonized by a unsuitable environment can lead a person to crime. Often a criminal posses biological traits that are fertile soil for criminal behavior. Some peoples bodies react irrationally to a abnormal diet, and some people are born with criminal traits. But this alone does not explain their motivation for criminal behavior. It is the environment in which these people live in that release the potential form criminal behavior and make it a reality. There are many environmental factors that lead to a person committing a crime ranging from haw they were raised, what kind of role models they followed, to having a suitable victims almost asking to be victimized. The best way to solve criminal behavior is to find the source of the problem but this is a very complex issue and the cause of a act of crime cannot be put on one source.
There are various theories within the biological explanation as to why individuals commit criminal behaviour, these include: genetic theory, hereditary theory, psychosis and brain injury theory. In the next few paragraphs examples of each will be shown.
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.
Criminology is a social science rather than a branch of law. Although there are several different theories surrounding criminology, they all share a common goal: the search for the causes of criminal behavior in the hopes that this information can be transformed into policies that will be effective in handling or even eliminating crime.
I now know that criminology prefer to highlight the correlations between crimes’ social climates and criminals’ psychological states of mind. While some argues that criminal behavior is a result of individuals’ association with criminal peers, other claims that crime is a reflection of an individual’s genetic disadvantages. I have come to learn that there are no universally agreed formulas on decoding crimes and criminal behaviors. What we have, however, is a manual full of academic opinions and subjective views that have emerged alongside of the development of criminology. At the same time, the volume of conflicting perspectives that I have stumble upon in studying criminology reminded me again that the success of our current assessment models has yet to be determined. Thus, the study of criminology is an appropriate practice that will further prepare me to conduct meaningful research on legal studies and to provide accurate and in-depth findings in the near