Criminological Theories Of Crime And Delinquency

The investigation of crime, society’s reaction to it and approaches to prevent it are all areas that have interested me from my adolescent years. I have an interest and passion for Criminology studies for the strict purpose of wanting to fulfill a deeper understanding of the causes and consequences of crime and exploring how crimes affect our society. This shady interest in the criminal world has encouraged me to pursue the subject at degree level and to seriously consider a career in a related field. At the beginning of the course my understanding on crime and criminology was mostly derived from the internet or media. These tools became very useful for me to learn different subjects of crime.

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.

Criminality or criminal behaviour has long been the subject of great interest within psychology, captivating the interest of psychologists from all different perspectives (Hollin, 2013; Putwain & Sammons, 2013). Due to this, there are many approaches to criminality and theories of criminal behaviour that have been supported by empirical evidence, which provide insightful, but different explanations of this psychology phenomenon (Eysenck, 2013; Hollin, 2013; Putwain & Sammons, 2013). In spite of this, there are criticisms and weaknesses to these approaches and theories as well as methodological limitations to the supporting research, which brings into question the reliability, validity and usefulness of these approaches in the explanation of criminality and criminal behaviour (Hollin, 2013; Putwain & Sammons, 2013). As a consequence of this, this essay will critically discuss the phrase ‘once a criminal, always a criminal’ in relation to the biological/evolutionary and psychoanalytic approaches as well as social learning theory, the social and cognitive approaches.

How can theories help us to understand criminal behavior and to design strategies intended to control such behavior?

In criminology, is very important to study why people commit crime when deciding how crime should be handled and prevented. This type of study is known as criminal profiling. Many theories have developed over the years, and they continue to be researched, alone and in combination, as criminologists seek the best solutions in reducing specific types and levels of crime. While all crime theories are designed to try to explain and understand criminal activity and the people that commit them, it is an ongoing science. No one theory can define all crime. However, it can be used usefully to help us understand crime a little better and help criminologists find new ways to deal with and eliminate criminal behavior. I am going to discuss one

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

Through out the years Criminologists has conducted a great amount of research and through that research Criminologist has developed different theories in order to better understand and explain criminal behavior. Theories try to help make sense out of many observations that are conducted presenting the facts of the principal that connects and explains the theories. If good theory has been developed; then it becomes very valuable to Criminologist, because it shows the knowledge that is beyond the facts that has been presented; which will show Criminologist how to predict how others might behave (Andrews, D and

Theories of criminology were developed centuries ago so people can go in depth to seek what cause crime and why. In some cases these theories can eve go to the extent to prevent the crimes from happening again. Over the years more theories have been developed and the theories that have already been developed have been added to so they fit a larger spectrum. What cause a person to commit a crime and why would they commit a certain crime over another? These theories that have been developed give us an insight to the answer of these questions. These theories are used so Criminologist can have a better understanding of crime such as the Ferguson, Missouri riots that took place after the August of 2014.

The psychological theories of criminal behavior focus on the lack of socialization, incomplete cognitive development, and bad childhood experiences. Those who study psychological theories believe that failures in cognitive development can be a major factor in malfunctioning behavior. These criminals have difficulty controlling anger and containing violence, which causes them to lash out. The results of these episodes are murder, rape, robbery, assault, and battery. Many more crimes can come about from such behavior, especially when the criminal falls into a negative cycle. Their behavior spirals out of their control, as they try to solve each of their crimes by committing another, to try and right the situation.

According to Siegel, criminological theories are important in understanding criminality. Examining why people commit crime is very important in the ongoing debate of how crime should be handled and prevented. Many theories come forth over the years, and they continue to be explored, individually and in combination, as criminologists seek the best solutions in ultimately reducing the types and levels of crime. The theories of criminology have emphasis on the research of causes or reasons for the crime, and from time to time have significant issues to discuss about the persons in the system of criminal justice, for instance, law enforcement, casualties, correctional personnel and legal representatives. (Siegel, 2010)

Few, if any, issues have been more troubling to society in general than that of crime. The problems are as well by no means new, as a range of theories and research efforts have historically sought to clarify why crime occurs, just as there remain concerns as to how best to treat and/or punish offenders. Within this subject, then, specific theories dominate study, and various scientists, psychologists and sociologists tend to support biological, psychological, or sociological explanations for criminality. Each theory, not unexpectedly, has value, as each approach addresses known factors of the nature of crime and those who manifest the behavior. Nonetheless, each theory is also inextricably related to the others, if only because human conduct and existence are invariably multifaceted.

Conflict theory and labeling theory are two similar theories in the world of crime. It has been debated whether or not there is a clear line separating the two theories. By evaluating the two theories, the differences between them can become more obvious and it becomes easier to separate the two. In addition to conflict theory and labeling theory, there is another type of theories that are used to explain crime. These theories focus more on a criminal 's lifetime and how their criminal records have evolved over time. Two of the leading theories in this realm of criminology are Moffit’s theory of life course persistent offenders and Sampson and Laub’s age-graded theory of informal social control. These theories both explain why people commit or don 't commit crime. There are similarities between the theories and also differences. By analyzing all four of these theories, a better understanding can be gained related to crime.

Classical criminological theory was introduced in 1764. The tenants of this theory became the backbone for the development of all criminological theories to come. After over 200 years have passed since its conception, is classical criminological theory still relevant to today’s society in explaining the causes of crime? This essay will address this question by discussing the major components of classical criminological theory while highlighting its strengths and weaknesses. The essay will also examine a more modern criminological theory, Merton’s anomie/strain theory, and decipher major differences between the two theories. This essay will also explain the aspects of classical criminological theory that are applicable or outdated in their

People seem to get the song lyric, “freedom is another way of saying that one has nothing left to lose.” The control theory captures this idea with the concept of commitment. This is the idea that conforming behavior protects capital. On the other hand, crime and delinquency give it some risk. The delinquent calculates the cons and benefits of crime. The more the delinquent has to lose, the more the potential cons of the crime and the decreased likeliness it is to be committed. What does someone risk losing from crime? This answer is life, liberty, and property. The long answer is that it depends on the person’s assets and prospects, and on someone’s accomplishments.

The theory currently has more weaknesses than strengths, and this is what inhibits it becoming a more relevant theory. One of the biggest-criticisms of the theory that Shaw and McKay neglected to propose ways to meliorate the biggest source of criminality in zone 2 of the concentric zones (Tibbetts, 2015). They identify that the introduction of factories and businesses into residential areas is a major-problem, and source for criminality, but fail to recommend a way to diminish this production (Tibbetts, 2015). Furthermore, the assumption in this theory is that social disorganisation is the cause of delinquency, and fail to considering that other more basic factors such as the biological dynamics of the individual having a role in the actions of individuals (Lowman, 1986). In addition to only focusing on the individual’s environment, the theory ignores a range of power-processes involved in creating laws, and how those laws are policed (Roh and Choo, 2015). The theory fails to consider the impact legal and other social control measures could have-on an individual’s actions (Lowman, 1986). Additionally, Lowman (1986) discusses that there are limited methods available to utilise the theory in examining crime, the main measurement currently available is that crime and deviance within an area is significantly high, and this is tautological, therefore alternative methods need to be sought to allow more application of the theory.