Criminal Justice: The Criminological Theories Of Crime

Biological Theories have been related to crime for a long time. The Biological Theory talks about how one’s brain has an impact on committing crime or not. Dr. Jim Fallon, a neuroscientist from California talks about the biological influences in a brain. He believes that the combination of three major aspects can determine whether someone is psychopathic or not. Fallon states a combination of genes, damage to the person 's brain and the environment surrounding the individual will have the biggest impact on a person (Fallon, 2009). A real world example of the biological theory in full effect was the crimes of David Berkowitz, aka “Son of Sam. Berkowitz was accused and found guilty of killing over 6 people in New York City. After being convicted and locked up for a few years, studies had shown that Berkowitz had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Berkowitz also claimed that his neighbor’s dog, Sam had told him to do the killings as well (Biography). Comparing the Biological theory to my own life was pretty simple because there is a genetic factor that runs in my dad’s side and that is tempers. Tempers tend to flare fairly easy, and luckily so far there has no issues with the law, however like Fallon had said, with the right combination, anyone is possible to commit a crime at any time. I feel like in a biological theory, this would have a major impact on my life

Each of these theories had led to many new theories used today, such as the Rational Choice theory, Biosocial and Psychological Theory, Critical Theory, Cultural Deviance Theory, Life Course Theory, and many more. The one thing in common with every theory is that they all explain at least one behavioral factor that leads to crime. Today, all these theories, and more, are researched and taken into account when trying to understand why a criminal does what they do.

This essay will outline how crime theories are able to assist in recognizing the causes of criminal activity, as well as demonstrating two criminological theories to two particular crimes. Overviews of trends, dimensions and victim/offenders characteristics of both crime groups will be specified. The two particular crimes that will be demonstrated throughout this essay are; Violent Crime (focusing on Assault) being linked with social learning theory and White Collar crime (focusing on terrorism) being linked to General Strain theory. In criminology, determining the motive of why people commit crimes is crucial. Over the years, many theories have been developed and they continue to be studied as criminologists pursue the best answers in eventually diminishing certain types of crime including assaults and terrorism, which will be focused on.

This paper summarizes four theories of criminology. Rational choice theory states that criminals act based on a thought process that weighs the pros and cons of criminality. Criminologists who believe in this theory feel that most criminals are people capable of having rational thoughts before committing a crime. Trait theory is the view of criminology that suggests criminality is a product of abnormal biological or psychological traits. Criminologists who believe in this theory feel that criminals choose to commit crime because of a brain anomaly or chemical imbalance. Social structure theory is “a view that disadvantaged economic class position is a primary cause of crime” (Seigel 139). Those who follow this theory often believe social forces can have a great effect on whether or not a person commits a crime. An example would be those who are poor are more being more prone to commit crime. Social process theory is a view that criminality depends on how a person interacts with different organizations and institutions and processes in society. For example, a family would be considered

Most people get killed over what is known as the “Code of The Street.” In the movie it shows that their code of the street was revenge. They killed Ricky Doughboy and his friends killed them. It also shows that violence and crime happens all over something petty. In one scene in the movie they show Ferris walking into Ricky

As human beings we all see and hear about crimes from a day to day basis. We all question why we have crime and what makes a person commit a crime.

A conspiracy theory is a theory that argues that the rich and those with power seek the make sure the criminal justice system fails because they benefit from that failure. Conspiracy theories are hard to be proven and for it to succeed, it has to be kept a secret. There’s no credibility in the sources due to the degree of secrecy. Conspiracy theories are invalid because it doesn’t correspond with how people behave most of the time. The Pyrrhic defeat theory isn’t a conspiracy theory because the theory bases itself on why the criminal justice system fails and that’s due to our own shortcoming of not trying hard enough to prevent it.

Criminology has emerged as a science in the recent years, and various theories and perspectives have been developed by the social scientists and criminologists in this regard. With the development of sociology as a new subject of study and defining the sociology by the August Comte in 1822, the way was paved for the development of criminology, as the new branch of study. This Branch deals with the study of crime and it gradually developed as academic discipline in Britain in 1950s. Cesare Lombroso became the founder of criminology which also founded the positivist movement in the criminology, thus giving this field a more scientific and modern approach (Anon., 2014). The main features of the positivist approach include the

One theory in criminology that attempts to explain crime is conflict theory. This theory says that crime is rooted in social conditions that favor those who

There are many different aspects of criminal justice policy. One in particular is the different theories of crime and how they affect the criminal justice system. The Classical School of criminology is a theory about evolving from a capital punishment type of view to more humane ways of punishing people. Positivist criminology is maintaining the control of human behavior and criminal behavior. They did this through three different categories of Biological studies, which are five methodologies of crime that were mainly focused on biological theories, Psychological theories, which contains four separate theories, and the Sociological theories, which also includes four different methods of explaining why crime exists. The last theory is

Being in a Criminology class, you learn about many different theories. This is because the word Criminology means the study of crime. Crime has been studied for many and multiple centuries. In order to have an understanding of why crime exist or why people commit crime, many different people over a long period of time have developed theories on the reasons why crime happens and the reason why people commit crimes. According to the website “Oxford Dictionaries, Language Matters,” a theory is defined as “A supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained,” (Oxford Dictionaries). These are theories discussed in the Criminology are not supported by

The overall goal of a good theory is to be of assistance in helping one understand crime and how the criminal justice system works. Theories cover the making and the breaking of the law, and also criminal and deviant behavior. Furthermore individual theories may be either macro or micro, along with showing patterns of criminal activity along the way. Theories can also be used to guide policy making, and can be evaluated with a number of different circumstances including: clarity, scope, parsimony, testability, practical usefulness, and empirical validity

Most theories attempt to pinpoint the type of criminal behavior the causes crime using one theory of another to explain the facts based one theory. A large portion of criminologist believe that too many theories exist that are inconsistence with proven research data and should be eliminated [by the process of falsification] as a source of information, while others believe these theories should

The cause of crime, like many societal phenomena, is a source of global contention. Theorists throughout history have repeatedly attempted to deconstruct criminal minds to understand the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of crime. Not only can criminological theory explore the motivations of criminals living and dead; but it can also be a lens through which to examine fictional crime. Animal Kingdom (2010) introduces a criminal family in Sydney—largely responsible for armed robberies and drug crimes—from the perspective of 17-year-old Joshua “J” Cody. He moves in with his grandmother, “Smurf”, when his mother dies from a drug overdose. As he spends more time with his mother’s family, he becomes an unwilling participant in the family’s criminal exploits

As the nineties began, the general theory of crime became the most prominent criminological theory ever proposed; furthermore, it is empirically recognized as the primary determinant in deviant and criminal behaviors. Known also as the self-control theory, the general theory of crime can most simply be defined as the absence or lack of self-control that an individual possesses, which in turn may lead them to commit unusual and or unlawful deeds. Authored by educator Michael R. Gottfredson and sociologist Travis Hirschi, A General Theory of Crime (1990) essentially “dumbed down” every theory of crime into two words, self-control. The widely accepted book holds that low self-control is the main reason that a person initiates all crimes, ranging from murder and rape to burglary and embezzlement. Gottfredson and Hirschi also highlighted, in A General Theory of Crime (1990), that low self-control correlates with personal impulsivity. This impulsive attitude leads individuals to become insensitive to deviant behaviors such as smoking, drinking, illicit sex, and gambling (p. 90). The extreme simplicity, yet accuracy, of Gottfredson’s and Hirschi’s general theory of crime (self-control theory), make it the most empirically supported theory of criminal conduct, as well as deviant acts.