According to the example provided, overall crime rates in North America between 1970 and 1980 were systematically increasing in an upwards fashion. Researchers concluded that the dysfunction of family values was essential to understanding the dramatic escalation. Specifically, they pinpointed to single-parent households and families in which religion had been omitted from daily lifestyles. While this hypothesis may seem structurally sound in reading the information provided, it is lacking in depth. In other words, there is not enough explanation into how the independent variables ultimately connect to the dependent variable (the increase of crime rates). In this paper, I will be putting my knowledge from Criminology 260 per the criteria for …show more content…
The reason for this, is that they lack in using a baseline to represent the families of non-single-parent households. Meaning that, the researchers have not made comparisons to their information regarding single-parent family households and crime to those families that are composed of a mother and father figure. One could further look into the structure of each of these family compositions and find other intervening variables. An example of this could be that families composed of the mother and father figures show high rates of sexual abuse towards the future transgressor, and other traumatizing events that occurred within the family. These are just a few of what may be many examples that could also be considered factors of association to the crime …show more content…
What these researchers have overlooked upon, is the impact that religion had on the families prior to the crimes occurring. There is also conflicting information regarding the temporal order of crime in this case as well. Christopher Hitchens, a researcher and atheist, believes that religion is the motivation of criminal activity. This, according to Hitchens, is a result of fervent religious belief, that in turn causes intolerance in which causes violence. But as with the hypotheses above, Hitchens has also lacked in the burden of proof within his inference. There must always be a baseline in which an analysist can compare two groups of individuals with criminality to the independent variables. If religion is connected as the cause of crime or vise versa, then a researcher must prove as much by showing two groups coming from both sides of the spectrum.
In conclusion, the hypotheses that the researchers have made their claims upon are largely insufficient and lacking in extensive causal areas. I believe that I have brought these issues to light, and have shown with the information I have learned in Criminology 260, the ways in which they could improve upon their
To show that policy has been influenced by criminological research, Wellford (2010) offered the assessments of others, since it is extremely apparent to him. A well-known criminologist, Joan Petersilia, felt to truly measure this impact, it need to be done over the years, decades. After twenty years, research found that
When it relates to violent crimes, specifically murder, the level of poverty in a city has been shown to be a contributing factor. According to (Horton, 2002), in his research comparing the rate of poverty to the rate of homicide, he found that there was a correlation between the two. In his article he talked about how those who fall under the poverty line tend
Sociological theories of crime contain a great deal of useful information in the understanding of criminal behavior. Sociological theories are very useful in the study of criminal behavior because unlike psychological and biological theories they are mostly macro level theories which attempt to explain rates of crime for a group or an area rather than explaining why an individual committed a crime. (Kubrin, 2012). There is however some micro level sociological theories of crime that attempts to explain the individual’s motivation for criminal behavior (Kubrin, 2012). Of the contemporary
However, according to that same report from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report for 2011, the violent crime in Phoenix, AZ is at 5.51 and the property crime rate is at 43.98, that is a drastic difference. First of all, population is a key factor why crime is more prevalent in the Phoenix area. Given that, “Surprise is 160 % less densely populated than Phoenix” (Sperling, (2016). Another key point is marriage, the family structure that gives stability to children. “People are 19% more likely to be married in Surprise” (Sperling, (2016). Having a mother and father in the home is very influential for juveniles (potential offenders).
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, cause, and control of criminal behavior (Siegel 4). Criminology is not just understanding criminal actions but also studying how to correct and prevent crime, overall. There are five major Criminological theories, (1) Classical Theory, (2) Positivist Theory, (3) Marxist / Conflict Theory, (4) Sociological Theory, and (5) Multifactor / Integrated Theory.
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.
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
There are four top social risk factors believed for the involvement of crime. Parental behavior plays a large role in a child’s risk of involvement of crime because of the parent’s influence on a child’s development (“Social Risk Factors for Involvement of Crime”). Poor parenting in supervision, maltreatment of a child, or if the parent is a
contributor to crime in the United States is a young, black male living in an
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
Criminology has evolved over history into becoming a discipline all its own, along the way it grew and developed from a multiple sources of disciplines to become an integration of various theories. Reasons that seek to explain crime and deviant behaviors has mirrored the time in which research was being conducted and as time continues to change it is to be expected more theories will arise to incorporate past theories to become ever more inclusive. It is important to understand this development from the formulation of theories, the evolution of, the determining factors in testing, particular process such as social learning that are upheld as strong empirically sound theories in order for scholars to continue to advance further studies. But
1. Three eras that characterize the field of criminology over the last 100 years was launch by John H. Laub. The first era went from 1900 to 1930, known as the “Golden Age of Research”. This time was mostly focused on criminal behaviors and gathering data on crime. The second era was “The Golden Age of Theory” which went from 1930 to 1960. This time they did not link criminology research to any theory being developed because the work was not organized. The third era which went from 1960 to 2000, this era the time was extended. This time scientific used it to examine criminology theories from the era that was advanced previously.
There is a study devoted to finding the causes of crime and what makes people criminals. This study is appropriately
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