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Compare and contrast criminological theories
Compare and contrast criminological theories
Relevance of criminological theories to the study of crime essay
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How do criminological theories assist in the understanding of crime and subsequent development of government policies on crime and disorder.
Please note all referencing will have a number in brackets next to the section this is because I personally think it looks untidy.
This essay looks at the case of Mary Bell and the criminological theories that applies to this case. These theories can help the police to getting a criminal and some changes in the government policies that relate to this case.
The Tyneside strangler also known as Mary Flora Bell, aged 11 (1st murder occurred the day before her 11th birthday) committed 2 murders through the use of strangulation on two young boys Martin Brown, aged 4 and Brian Howe, aged 3. The location of these events took place in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom. Mary Bell was described by a court-appointed psychiatrist to be displaying "classic symptoms of psychopathy.” “Convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility on December 17, 1968 and was sentenced to prison and was released in 1980 serving 12 years.” (1)
In 1980, Bell, aged 23, was released from Askham Grange open prison. She was given a new name and life along with her daughter born 4 years after she was released was allowed to remain anonymous and protected until the age of 18 however in 2003 Mary Bell fought and won a high court battle to have both of their new lives remain anonymous extended for life. From this any court order that is permanently going to protect someone’s identity is now known as a "Mary Bell order."(1)
Mary and Norma Bell had witnessed a child fall of an air raid shelter and gain severe injuries on May 11th 1968 but it was ruled out as accidental the following day...
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...rial Killer Mary Bell. [ONLINE] Available at: http://hubpages.com/hub/Murderous-Children-Mary-Bell. [Accessed 07 January 2014].
6) Crime and Disorder Act 1998. 2014. Crime and Disorder Act 1998. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/37/contents. [Accessed 07 January 2014].
7) . 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.jura.uni-tuebingen.de/einrichtungen/ifk/homepages/ehemalige/ehret/justice-studies/Akers_Study_Guide.pdf. [Accessed 07 January 2014].
8) Theories of crime. 2014. Theories of crime. [ONLINE] Available at: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gary.sturt/crime/theocrim.htm. [Accessed 07 January 2014].
9) Understanding Criminology Theories | Criminology. 2014. Understanding Criminology Theories | Criminology. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.criminology.com/resources/understanding-criminology-theories/. [Accessed 07 January 2014].
Jasmine Beckford’s case is the oldest out of the three; in 1984 Jasmine died as a result of long-term abuse aged 4. In 1981 her and her younger sister suffered serious injuries and were paced with foster carers for six months. After this they were allowed back home with their mother on a trial basis as social services were meant to support them. During the last ten months of Jasmine’s life she was only seen once by social workers (Corby, 2006).
Lilly, Robert J., Francis T. Cullen, and Richard A. Ball. 2011. Criminological Theory: Context And Consequences. 5th ed. California: SAGE.
Convicting the Innocent: A Critique of the Theories of Wrongful Convictions. Criminal Law Forum, 20(2/3), 173-192. Crime in the United States. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/ Friedman, S. (2014, March 10).
Akers, R, & Sellers, C. (2009). Criminological theories: introduction, evaluation, and application. New York: Oxford University Press, USA.
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.
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
Siegel, L. J. (2013). Trait theories. Criminology: theories, patterns, and typologies (11th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Mary Bell was a murderer, sadistic torturer of her victims, and a victim, more importantly she was a child. At the age of 10 Bell had killed two boys before the age of eleven. Growing up in the financially depressed town of Newcastle in England, in which Bell lived an impoverished life. Bell was born to her Betty Bell, a prostitute who suffered with mental illness and her father, presumed to be Billy Bell, a lifelong criminal who had a history of violence and was frequently unemployed. At the time of Mary’s birth, her parents were not married, and only married a few years after her birth.
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.
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).
Understanding Criminology Theories | Criminology. n.d. - n.d. - n.d. Retrieved from http://www.criminology.com/resources/understanding-criminology-theories/.
The media coverage of her was more difficult to find due to the large time period between then and now. However she served 18 years in jail and was released in 2011, which is what I will focus most of my findings on as she was prominent in the media at this time. An article from The Age discusses the crime committed against six year old John and surprisingly does not focus mainly on the mother, but rather on the tragic incident that occurred (Ryle, Baker & Papadopoulous 1993). The article choses to focus on the end of John’s life opposed to the circumstances in which he died. However, the title of the article reads Boy Beaten For Hours and describes Ashfield as “shaking and sobbing” and a detailed description of her appearance and how she acted in court is given (Ryle et at 1993).
Criminology is a very broad and complex speciality, which can be easily involved in various areas, it can simply say that this area of study has been studied for over a thousand years since Plato and Aristotle had demonstrated how to define the standard of crime and punishment (Criminology: Intellectual History, 2017: no page number). Despite their theories had been justified after a few centuries. To say it another way, Newburn noted that criminology is a study of wrongdoing, how are the criminals be trailed or judged and find out who will normally be breaking the law (Newburn, 2017: 6). It is also a branch of sociology. To figure out why people commit crime are the core issue in criminology. Many scholars have developed several theories to explain why people would like to take the risk. And in this essay, it will mainly focus on studies of people to break the law and commit a crime, why people are encouraged to commit a crime, and how should offenders be punished to prevent crime.
Williams, F., & McShane, M. (2010). Criminological Theory, (5th Edition). New Brunswick, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.