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Theories of criminal behaviours essay
Theories of criminal behaviours essay
Theories of criminal behaviours essay
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Look around and you’re guarenteed to see some type of crime. Whether it’s as simple as someone speeding or as severe as a shooting its happeneing and its nonstop. However the question that might never be solved is why does it happen and what drives people to do what we have been told our whole lives is wrong. During this semster we have learned the different types of theories as to why crime occurs. Growing up I always felt strongly that people chose to do bad and too this day I stand by this belief. Because of this I see no other theory to write about than the Rational Choice Theory. The idea of rational choice theory is that before the crime takes place the criminal thinks through what they 're going to do and that they are fully aware they 're committing the crime. And more than just thinking about doing the crime theres also a mix of emotions …show more content…
As witten by Siegel (2013) “Successful thieves say they will do it again in the future; past experiences has taught them the rewards of illegal behavior” (p. 100). People, especially those in low income neignborhoods, are desperate to get by and therefore don 't think about the consequences and instead think about how they can live a prosperous lifestyle. According to Cook (2010) “Crimes against property find in large measure their indirect casualty in bad economic conditions; their direct casuialty in acute need and even more in chronic misery”(p.694). The feeling of security is something that we all long for and nothing is more fulfilling than being successful. Therefore the idea of prison or heavy fines will not deter those in need from committing crimes to gain some sort of wealth. The less fortunate choose to commit atrocity such as property crimes because they will do whatever it takes to get by even though they know full well what they 're doing is agains the
Rational Choice theory says that criminal behavior is not only a response to social pressures and upbringing, but it is also a choice. The offender’s choices may not always be rational and may draw on previously established beliefs about their opportunities to commit acts of violence. This theory focuses on the effectiveness of interventions to decide how to best reduce the benefits of crime and increase the cost of criminal action. Rational Choice theory is in the classical school, which is based on the idea that individuals choose to engage in crime (Gosselin, pp. 67-68, 2014).
According to Clarke and Cornish (2001, p. 34), “the rational choice perspective was explicitly developed to assist policy thinking … specifically through detailed modeling of criminal decision making. The theory theorizes that offenders who have chosen to commit criminal acts, do so because of the reward it brings to them. Coupled with the different conditions that are needed for specific crimes to occur, with its emphasizes on the role of crime opportunities in causation.
Crime causation is looking at why people commit crimes. There are many theories that have been developed to explain this. The theories can be grouped into eight general categories of which one is the Classical theory (Schmallegar, 2011, p. 79). A subset of this theory, rational choice theory, will be specifically looked at to explain the crime of burglary. Just as no one causation theory explains all crimes committed, the rational choice theory itself does not completely explain why all burglars commit their crimes. Therefore, the pros and cons of the rational choice theory will be discussed in relation to the crime topic of burglary.
Rational choice theory is the basis of almost all decisions one makes in their life. Starting at a young age kids make choices based off of self-interest, whether it be taking a toy another kid is playing with or asking the other parent for something when the first already said no hoping for an answer they want. Rational choice theory is based on intentional, goal oriented behavior (“Rational Choice Theory” 74). Before making decisions, people consciously and unconsciously weigh the pros and cons of each choice usually opting for the choice that benefits them the most or has the most desired predicted outcome. So why do people commit crimes even though they know they could get into a lot of trouble could go to jail? People enter an interaction
The index crime I have chosen for this paper is murder. The theory I believe that best defines why people commit murder is the rational choice theory. The rational choice theory implies that people who commit this offense know that killing is wrong and that a punishment may follow if they are caught. They are fully aware of what they are doing and they deliberately plan and successfully murders someone. A perfect example of this theory is a serial killer, especially those that kill for the excitement of it.
particular places. So if a crime occurred routinely at a particular place, it is highly likely it will
While a consistent relationship between specific crimes and specific economic factors could not be established, the evidence shows that crime is linked to the economic climate. Such findings are consistent with criminal motivation theory, which suggests that economic stress causes an increase in criminal behaviour. The available data do not, however, support the theory of criminal opportunity, which suggests that decreased levels of production and consumption may reduce some types of crime, such as property crime, by creating fewer potential crime
Deterrence theory of crime is a method in which punishment is used to dissuade people from committing crimes. There are two types of deterrence: general and specific. General deterrence is punishment to an individual to stop the society as a whole from committing crimes. In other word, it is using the punishment as an example to “scare” society from precipitating in criminal acts. Under general deterrence, publicity is a major part of deterrence. Crime and their punishments being showing in the media or being told person to person can be used to deter crime. Specific deterrence is punishment to the individual to stop that individual from committing other crimes in the future. This type of deterrence is used to teach the individual a lesson whatever action that participated in. Specific deterrence is founded on a principle called hedonistic calculus meaning, “an assumption that human nature leads people to pursue pleasure and avoid pain” (Brown, Esbensen, & Geis, 2010, p 155).
The issue of whether decision making by criminals is a rational process is a heated topic of discussion when one asserts that crime is the role of choice. Before the classical school of criminology, crime was thought to be the product of the paranormal occurrence of demons, witches, ghouls, and other creatures. The time prior to the classical school of criminology, called the preclassical era, is divided in two parts. Before the time of state intervention into private matters, each individual dealt with violations of their rights. This was a problem because of the continuous cycle of violence being perpetuated. Soon the State (and even the Church) took on the task of dispensing law and order to the masses of the Middle Ages. This led to a period called the Holy Inquisition which lasted from the twelfth century to the eighteenth century. During the Holy Inquisition, punishment that was harsh and capricious was the norm. Also, there was no protection against bogus allegations, meaning, the burden of proof was on the accused to prove his/her innocence.
I ran across a book called “The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison.” I began to talk with some inmates in more detail about their education, job, and living situations. I was astonished to find out that a majority of the inmates I had dealings with only had an eight grade education level. “Pod Bosses” had more formal education beyond an eight grade education level, and were at the hierarchy of the prison economy. In the “Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison, Reiman writes, “First poor people are more likely than rich people to be arrested, charged, convicted and sentenced for street crimes (Reiman, 2001:110). Gray writes, “Reiman asserts that white collar crime is more serious than street crime but is punished leniently because the way the crime is defined, and excuses are made for higher class criminals excuses that serve the interest of people in power (Gray
Our modern society fosters many reasons for which people commit crimes. Psychological differences, personality disorders or even a predisposition to crime and violence can cause someone to commit a crime. No matter what the reasoning behind someone choosing to commit a crime, there is no one single cause. However, there are several theories about human behavior that can help us understand why certain people are drawn to committing crimes, and others are not.
Crime may be defined as any behavior committed or omitted in violation of a law and for which punishment or sanction is imposed (National center for Victims of Crime, 2008). There are mainly two categories of explanations of criminal behaviors, which are individual explanations that include classical, biological, and psychological and so on; and social explanations which include ecological, social learning and strain. It would be unfair to say that one is more convincing than the other as each respective category are distinctive in their own nature. However it is important to realize that to philosophically understand a crime, one must utilize one of the categories of the abovementioned explanations in order to reach an objective, and it depends on the circumstances. To access to an individual theory of crime, this essay will focus in psychological positivism with an explicitly focus on personality and crime, for social theory of crime; it will focus on the ecological theory. Three case studies would be used as evidences to support the arguments mentioned above.
Based on the facts provided, the type of a crime that was committed by Frensen is a white-collar crime. These types of crimes are often committed by individuals of very high social status who carry out their crimes within the context of their occupation. They include insider trading, stealing, tax evasion and other violations of income tax laws. In this case the crime was nonviolent and involved financial wrongdoing which is considered to be a white collar crime. To be specific, Erik Frensen committed the crime of tax evasion given that he failed to file his income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for a period of 9 years.
Niggli, M. (1994). Rational choice theory and crime prevention. Studies on Crime and Crime Prevention, 3, 83-103.
In my opinion, rational choice theory is an interesting classical view of explaining why kids engage in delinquent behavior. This theory presented reasonable and clear explanations that are certainly representative for the youth population who engages in deviant behavior. I thought the strategies of controlling delinquency were definitely valid and practical. If many delinquents are captured and punished this can help set an example that the risk of getting captured is high and kids would be deterred. Therefore, punishment must be certain and reasonable. Choice theorists could have explained the group of delinquents who commit crimes for enjoyment or entertainment. For instance, kids from high socioeconomic backgrounds that are car thefts or