How Architecture Can Have An Effect On Crime

What is crime? What makes people commit crimes and how can we stop it? These, and many other questions similar to these, are asked by criminologists everyday. Criminology is an ever growing field, mainly because there is more and more research occurring and new theories linking people and crime coming out everyday. Below the main field of criminology there are many subfields that have different theories and philosophies on what they believe link criminal behavior. Two of the main criminology perspectives are Classical Criminology and Positivist Criminology. Although these two are both studied in the criminology field, their views are distinctly contradictory from each other. These two theories and many

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.

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

I believe the theory that best explains why crime happens is the psychoanalytic perspective. I believe this is the best theory because it focuses more on the wants and acts of the criminal rather an their personality or lack of control. The psychoanalytic perspective more accurately describes a reason to why people commit crimes. Not all individuals could be identified from a personality trait or low levels of self control. Therefore, the psychoanalytic perspective would give the best explanation to why crime happens.

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

A crime is an act or omission committed against the community at large that is punishable by the law.

Crime is defined as:An act committed in violation of a law forbidding or commanding it and for which punishment is imposed upon convictionUnlawful activityA serious offence, especially in violation of moralityCauses of CrimeFirstly, let us explore crime and it's causes.

The obvious definition of crime is the legal definition of an act which breaks the law. However, the Oxford English Dictionary extends this to include an act which is ‘injurious to the public welfare … An evil or injurious act; an offence, sin; esp. of a grave character' (Mooney et

As suggested by Helfgott (2008) there are many behavioural theories that have been pondered over as to why people commit crime however no single theory gives us the solution.

The word “crime” is no longer something foreign, for the word has become a part of our daily lives. If one were to ask a reasonable person to define the word, he or she would simply say that a crime occurs when someone breaks the law which is then punishable by the state. This is definitely a very basic understanding of the word and it is not at all wrong, but when it comes to defining crime in a legal sense, that basic understanding would not be sufficient. In our legal systems there are two main types of cases, civil and criminal. Civil cases usually involve private disputes between a person or an organization. On the contrary criminal cases involve an action that is considered to be harmful to society as a whole.

Crime according to the Oxford dictionary is defined as an action that involves an illegal act which causes harm to the public and is punishable by law. Crime although gets reshaped constantly due to history and time, for instance activities that used to be illegal, nowadays are not criminalized, such as same sex marriage and on the contrary, actions that are illegal today a hundred years ago were not. Besides that, the definition of crime gets also influenced by social, political, economic, religious and geographic aspects.

Crime as a social construction is the idea that reality is created in our minds. What we perceive something to be ends up to be what it is. Crime, often described as deviance is a labelled behaviour. If one does not view an action as deviant at the time then it is not deviant, this shows us how deviance is a relative concept. In terms of how different people perceive crime, depending on what religious or ethnic backgrounds one may come from, there is heavy variation between individuals. What is illegal or legal in one culture can be very different in another culture. It can

Clarrence Darrow, a very famous lawyer wrote a book by the name of “CRIME ITS CAUSE AND TREATMENT” in 1922. The first chapter is dedicated to defining the word crime. He states “a crime is an act forbidden by the law of the land, and one which is considered sufficiently serious to warrant providing penalties for its commission.” In simple words crime is just an act that is

In contrast, there are a range of sociological theories that attempt to explain the cause of crime. One example of this is the ‘Structural Strain Theory’ developed by functionalist Robert Merton. This functionalist view states that societies are branded by both culture and social structure. Culture creates goals for people in society whilst social structure supplies (or fails to supply) the means for people to achieve those goals. In a well-integrated society people attempt to achieve these goals in an acceptable and appropriate way according to the explicit and implicit rules of that society. Therefore the goals and means in this society are balanced, however when an imbalance occurs, this is what causes deviant behaviour transpire. One paradigm that explains this theory is people who aspire to be economically successful (goal) will get a job to earn money (appropriate means of reaching that goal) and this type of person is called a conformist. However someone from a lower class who may not have the opportunity to receive a good education in order to get a job therefore they will surpass the acceptable means of reaching this goal. Therefore they are more likely to conduct deviant behaviour to reach this goal e.g. theft and this type of person is called an innovator according to Merton due to their acceptance of the cultural

Crime is an act against the law where the consequence of conviction by a court is punishment is a serious one such as imprisonment. The Oxford English Dictionary states that crime is: - “An act punishable by law, as being forbidden by statute or injurious to the public welfare…An evil or injurious act; an offence, a sin”. The government usually set laws that the people must follow, punishment is given for those who lighten those laws. The legal or criminal justice system applies the law and punishes those who break it. Crime is described by Blackburn (1993; p.5) ‘acts attracting legal punishment […] offences against the community’. There is a social shame associate with crime. It is important to note that all breaches of the law are not criminal such as civil offenses and breach of contract. The word ‘crime’ is reserved for the offences that cause harm or injury to the public, individuals or the state. Social, political, financial and emotional conditions influence the definition of crime and how the law is useful. These changes may ban or allow behaviour. The data on crime will have to take this reason into account.