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Four criminology theories
Strengths of rational choice theory
Four criminology theories
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Criminology is the wider area that is used to evaluate the context of crime. The scientific study of criminals and crime is used for evaluating the basis and reasons of crime done by people. It makes use of different theories and school of thought in order to analyse the reasons behind criminal activities. The main purpose of this paper is to consider one criminology theory or school of thought. The criminology theory that is used for analysing the requirements of this paper is rational choice theory. According to this theory, the people focus on making logical choice regarding the circumstances in which to commit crime. It is noticed that this theory makes use of utilitarian belief under which man is the actor who considers costs, means, …show more content…
It does not consider other factors such as criminal associations, individual traits, and inner strains, which plays significant role in determining punishment for the individuals in committing crimes. It is observed that this theory endeavours to know that whether the activities of crime as well as the victim’s choice, criminals commit the activities on start from rational decisions. The theory also determines that criminals consider different elements before committing crime. They engage in the exchange of ideas before reaching on any final decision. These elements consist of consequences of their crimes, which include revealing their families to problems or death, chances of being arrested, and others elements, which comprises of placement of surveillance systems (Walsh & Hemmens, 2010; Lichbach, …show more content…
It is the means of understanding the human behaviour towards criminal activities and the ways through which it can be controlled. Moreover, the theory considers two factors that are situational factor and personal factor, which are the major reason behind formulation of the theory. Beccaria developed the theory to make it convenient for the people to understand the personal as well as situational factors through which crime rate is increasing. This is because it helps in minimising the rising impact of criminal
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.
The study of criminology involves many different theories in which people attempt to explain reasoning behind criminal behavior. Although there are many different theories the focus of this paper is the comparison and contrasting sides of The Differential Association Theory (DAT) of Edwin Sutherland and the Neoclassicism Rational Choice Theory. The Differential Theory falls under Social Process Theories which focuses on sociological perspective of crime. The Rational Choice Theory falls under Neoclassicism which believes that criminal behavior is ultimately a choice.
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.
The rational choice theory comes from the classical theory which is based off of personal choice towards criminal behavior. Criminal behavior under the rational choice theory has been due to the free thinking of society and has always been because of a specific thought process of personal vendettas. For example, a jealous person may feel the need to do something physically illegal like punching another person in the face because the benefit of gratitude is worth the risk of consequence. The example above is part of the rational choice theory and the reason is because that particular person weighed the costs and benefits of their illegal action. Rational choice theory is a vision where crime is a functionality of the decision-making process of the criminal in which they weigh the costs and benefits of an illegal act in society (Siegel, 2011).
There are many theories that can be applied to different cases that have occurs in Americas history. The two theories that are choses for this paper are the trait theory and under the trait theory is psychological which is “abnormal personality and psychological traits are the key to determinant of anti-social behavior. There is a link between mental illness, personality disorders and crime (Siegel, 2014). The second theory is the Choice theory which “criminals weigh the cost and benefits and make a conscious, rational choice to commit crime” (Siegel, 2014). This paper will show how a theory can be applied to a person and a crime. Some of the cases that are being presented some will not agree but up us all about the person perspective.
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...
Crime exists everywhere. It is exists in our country, in the big cities, the small towns, schools, and even in homes. Crime is defined as “any action that is a violation of law”. These violations may be pending, but in order to at least lower the crime rate, an understanding of why the crimes are committed must first be sought. There are many theories that are able to explain crimes, but three very important ones are rational choice theory, social disorganization theory and strain theory.
The paper I am about to present is my opinion of which theory best explains crime. Also I will provide my opinion of which I think doesn’t explain crime as well. The theory I choose that best describes is the classical theory. As per this theory, the judicial solution for preventing wrongdoings would build up harsher disciplines or sentences for carrying out violations. Cesare Beccaria is thought to be the originator of this theory. His idea even in this day and age plays a huge part in numerous nations legal systems, however, this approach happens to be more flexible in the cutting edge world.
The objective of this paper is to provide insight into Rational Choice Theory. This theory, highly relied upon by many disciplines, is also used to calculate and determine crime and criminal behavior. Through definition, examples and techniques utilized by criminologists, the reader will have a better understanding of the subject. By definition, criminology is the study of crime, criminal behavior, and how it pertains to the law. Criminology is considered a scientific technique.
When criminals think that the benefit of committing the crime will outweigh the cost if they get caught, they make a choice to commit the crime. There are two varieties of rational choice theory. One, situational choice theory, which is an extension of rational choice theory and two, routine activities theory or RAT, which states that the daily routine or patterns in ones’ activities make it much easier for an individual to become a victim of crime. The theory is, crime is more likely to happen when a criminal and their victim come together in the absence of authority (Schmalleger). A situation made easier to come by when the criminal knows the victim’s daily routines or patterns.
The article talks about the over-rationalized conception of man in the rational choice perspective in crime rate trends, to start it mentions that it takes street robbers accounts and who participated in focus group discussions to try to employ the rational choice model to try out the heuristic potential. The rational choice theory is a heuristic model which, by definition, can't be invalidated however just assessed as far as its usefulness.Therefore, as much as we would have jumped at the chance to disprove the objective decision hypothesis, whatever we do is assess the normal decision point of view by experimenting with on the off chance that it conveys what it guarantees.Which is to shed light on all forms of criminality, including the impulsive or irrational ones, enabling such forms of criminal behavior to become more plausible. The paper divides the structure of RTC into categories, Rational choice, Impulsivity, Moral ambiguity, Expressivity.
In today’s society, one will find that there are many different factors that go into the development of a criminal mind, and it is impossible to single out one particular cause of criminal behavior. Criminal behavior often stems from both biological and environmental factors. In many cases criminals share similar physical traits which the general population do not usually have. For example criminals have smaller brains than properly adjusted individuals. However biological reasons cannot solely be the cause of criminal behavior. Therefore, one must look to other sources as to how a criminal mind is developed. Social and environmental factors also are at fault for developing a person to the point at which they are lead to committing a criminal act. Often, someone who has committed a violent crime shows evidence of a poorly developed childhood, or the unsuitable current conditions in which the subject lives. In addition if one studies victimology which is the role that the victim plays in the crime, it is apparent that there are many different causes for criminal behavior. Through the examination of biological factors, in addition to the social and environmental factors which make up a criminal mind, one can conclude that a criminal often is born with traits common to those of criminals, it is the environment that exist around them that brings out the criminal within them to commit indecent acts of crime.
First, major causes of crime must be addressed. There are numerous factors that seems to directly effect on crime. The author lists several variables that have incidence on crime; however, they seem to cluster into two categories intrinsic such as impulsivity and extrinsic such as family peers or school (p.2). Furthermore, a well structured theory must encompass the reason why these causes increase the likelihood of crime from different perspective. For example, Strain theorist suggest that child abuse increases the likelihood of crime because it upsets the teenagers, for instance, and as a result the individual will engage in crime activities to either run away from or end the abuse by assaulting their parents or peers, or substance abuse to relieve the pain (p.3). On the other hand, control theorist claim that child abuse increases the chances of crime engagement because it severs the relationship parent-child, and as a result, the child will feel as it has less to lose because a severed bond may implicate lack of value on the parent’s opinion. Additionally, Social Learning theorist sustain that aggression is a learned behavior, and when the child experience abuse learns this behavior and then participates in crime, as a result (p.3). Third, an integral General Theory of Crime addresses the interaction between the causes of crime. In other words, how internal and external causes interact and relate to each other, and if one has effect on the other, or if the effect is reciprocal (p.3). In the same fashion, a good theory must tack on the effect that prior crime has on subsequent ones. For instance, the author expresses that it’s been discusses how committing a crime may directly increase the chances of engaging in crime again, and this may be due to the feeling of instant gratification that
“Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in the behavioral sciences, drawing especially upon the research of sociologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, social anthropologists, as well as scholars of law.” Study on Criminology in addition to understand why the crime was committed and, more should actively take propose one crime or crime control countermeasure responsibility. This paper will start with the basic the concept of crime and presentation crime system.
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.