Positivist Theory Of Crime

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For thousands of years, researchers have developed theories in an attempt to understand why people commit crime. Although, many theories have been created to establish a link between man and criminology many researchers suspect different factors lead man to criminal behavior. Furthermore, we will analyze the following theories, which include positivist theory, biological theory, and psychology theory to correlate their relationship to crime, and identify differences between them beginning with the positivist theory.
The positivist theory is based upon universally valid and invariant natural laws discoverable through reason (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). Furthermore, natural laws are superior to laws created by human beings or the state (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). The positivist theorist held intelligence in high regard, and the intellectually superior were responsible for the determining natural laws to assimilate throughout society (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). Additionally, the positivist theorist believed lower societal …show more content…

A reoccurring theme presented in the theories was the relationship between intelligence and crime. Although, the intelligence factor was present in all three theories, how intelligence affected crime causation was different among the theories. In the positivist theory people with high intelligence were considered the leaders of society, and they were responsible for assimilating natural laws throughout society (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). In the biological theory phrenology is the estimation of character and intelligence in the relation cranium shape, which facilitated brain development impacting criminal behavior (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). Finally, the psychological theory the main premise between intelligence and crime is the affect intelligence has on the ability for a person to control or restrain their

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