How Crime-Forecasting Software and the Principles of Psychology Work Together

In 1994, the New York City Police Department adopted a law enforcement crime fighting strategy known as COMPSTAT (COMPuter STATistics). COMPSTAT uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map the locations of where crimes occur, identify “ hotspots”, and map problem areas. COMPSTAT has amassed a wealth of historical crime data. Mathematicians have designed and developed algorithms that run against the historical data to predict future crimes for police departments. This is known as predictive policing. Predictive policing has led to a drop in burglaries, automobile thefts, and other crimes in some cities.

It is unfortunate that crime exists in our daily lives. There really is no way to stopping crime completely, no matter how many laws or punishment are present, people will continue to keep breaking rules. There are many theories of why that may be the case, for example, Caesar Lombroso and his “atavistic” theory with the Positivist School theory and how people were “born criminals”, or the Rational Choice Theory, devised by Cornish and Clarke, described that people could think rationally and how people will naturally avoid pain and seek pleasure referred to as “hedonism” (Cartwright, 2017, lecture 4). Since it is apparent that crime will continue to exist, it is not only important to understand the study of crime and the feedbacks to it,

It allows us to examine what makes crime acceptable and desirable in the minds of potential criminals, and it gives us the tools necessary to use a proactive rather than reactive approach to crime control. To look at crime from a psychological point of view is nothing new. However, use of this technique may lead to better methods of deterrence. To begin, we must understand what the concepts are that have shaped the average person’s mind. In general the average person is faced with the concepts of determinism, free will, and social identity as they mature into adulthood.

A number of factors take place regarding incidents of crimes and why they may have been committed that might explain the difference between the two. In determining these factors, theories of crime must be considered since there is more than one factor present when one commits a crime. These theories include learning theory, labeling theory, social disorganization, trait theory, social conflict, choice theory, and life course theory.

Charles Manson is well known around the world for the infamous murders he orchestrated throughout the 1960’s. When hearing the name “Manson,” two words that immediately come to mind are crazy and murders. I believe Manson is insane, and should be in jail for life. Although he did not personally commit murders, he had other people that trusted him, do it for him. Manson manipulated people all around him and could get people to murder whenever he asked them to.

There are many perspectives in which one can analyze and understand why a person decides to commit a crime. Some perspectives are social learning theory, strain theory, classical and rational choice theory, deterrence theory, biological and psychological positivist theories, among others. However, for the purposes of this paper, the biological and psychological theories will be discussed.

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.

Police departments are constantly trying to reduce crime with the help of technology. In 2010, researchers believed they had created an algorithm that could calculate future crimes. The Santa Cruise Police Department applied this algorithm hoping to locate possible delinquencies. This predicative policing algorithm deploys officers to the most targeted locations. The algorithm is a mixture of anthropological and criminological behavior research. It uses mathematics to estimate crime and predict future crimes locations within 500-square-feet. To determine criminal patterns, the system uses historical and current data to focus on gang violence, batteries, aggravated assaults, drug crimes, along with many more similar crimes. In order for the data to be secure, the employees transfer the data on selected crime types from the records management system to the secure Web-based program. After a period of six months, the police department indicated that the crime rate of burglaries and motor vehicle thefts had decreased. The Los Angeles Police Department tested the program and also noticed a decrease in crime. Though change is difficult, the Santa Cruise Police Department emphasized that the new system does not supersede officer intuition but enhances it. The program also does not replace officer’s education and expertise, but puts them in the right place to prevent

Throughout the years, the association between a criminal offense and a criminal have become more relevant. Although there are many theories that try to illustrate the concept of why crimes happen, no theory has a profound influence of understanding an individual’s nature, relationship, development, and a society itself (Coleman & Ganong, 2014). To further explain, “theories of crime are defined in relation to modernity, spanning their development from the enlightenment to the present, with the advent of postmodernism” (Miller, 2012, p. 1798). In other words, theories of crime are an approach to understanding an individuals behaviour and actions in their environment, society, and themselves that may lead to crime. Nevertheless, within this paper, it will be comparing the case of

Theories in Criminal Justice Michael Robertson The University of Southern Mississippi Criminology is the study of reason or explanations as to why people choose to either commit a crime or why they do not commit a crime. In criminology there seems to be two broad explanations, natural explanations and spiritual explanations. Spiritual explanations as to why people choose to commit a crime usually come from supernatural concepts or outer worldly figures. For example, people used to believe that if someone was to commit a murder, that the murderer was possessed or forced to commit this crime by supernatural forces.

The classical theory incorporates a more legal definition of crime due to the circumstances in which it emerged. Crime is conceptualised as a result of a person acting upon their own free will to engage in the criminal behaviour (SOURCE). However, psychological positivism rejects the notion and instead argues a person who commits crime is engaging in the behaviour due to internal factors that have developed during childhood and adolescences (SOURCE). The difference in understanding can be due to the methods used to approach crime. Psychological positivism utilises a scientific method to theorise about the deviant behaviour in individuals.

Crime has existed in societies across the world for centuries, and is defined as any offense harmful against the public. However, the true nature of crime is more complex as there are many different motives and causes behind a criminal act, which cannot be contributed to a single factor (Barlow & Decker, 2010). Within the field of criminology, a number of theories exist that attempt to explain why some individuals commit crime, while others abstain from it. Some theories attribute crime to the specific environment; they believe that an individual commits crime when certain ecological conditions are met (Felson, 2001). Others argue that crime is caused by the individual themselves; that criminals are the result of unrestrained thoughts and low self-control (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2001). This paper will analyze aspects of a real world scenario using both routine activity theory and low self-control theory, for the purpose of better understanding and evaluating certain criminal behavior.

Criminals are born not made is the discussion of this essay, it will explore the theories that attempt to explain criminal behavior. Psychologists have come up with various theories and reasons as to why individuals commit crimes. These theories represent part of the classic psychological debate, nature versus nurture. Are individuals predisposed to becoming a criminal or are they made through their environment. There are various theories within the biological explanation as to why individuals commit criminal behavior, these include: genetic theory, hereditary theory,.

Figuring out why people commit crimes is one of the central concerns of criminology. Do most criminals act rationally after weighing the costs of crime? Is society ever to blame for an individual to commit a crime? Do mental diseases or even genetics factor into whether a person will live a life of crime. Over the years, many people have developed theories to try to answer these questions. In fact, the number of theories of why people commit crimes sometimes seems to equal the number of criminologists. I explore these questions and much more in the paper that follow.

What makes a criminal a criminal? Can anyone become a criminal? Answering and understanding these questions is the core work of criminologists as most criminologists attempt to make sense of why people do certain things (Garland, Sparks 2000). This essay will consider the notion that any person could become a criminal and in so doing consider the initial question. This essay will outline a range of theories that attempt to describe human behavior in relation to criminal behavior given the complexities of behaviour. Several theories will be considered as no single theory of behavior can account fully for the complexities and range in criminal behaviour. The theories range from social-control, to classical, to biological, to personality