The Theory Of Criminal Behavior

No, I don’t believe that all delinquents are psychologically abnormal. Many theories relate to delinquent acts such as Choice Theory and Trait Theory. The trait theory suggest that delinquent acts come from personal problems and conditions. Choice theory believes that juvenile offenders are rational decision makers. The decision to violate the law comes after weighing of the benefits and cost of criminal behavior. These two theories suggest that a person reacts to environmental and social circumstances in a unique fashion. For example, a youth that lives in a poor neighborhood would sell illegal drugs to make money. Another might do great in school to get away from their environment.

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.

Social control theory is used to help one understand and reduce levels of criminal activity. It is based upon the idea that an individual’s basic belief system, morals, values, commitments and relationships foster a lawful environment. Most individuals who possess these values and beliefs tend to have a level of self-control over their actions and are consequently prepared to remain on the correct side of the law. Furthermore, social control theory is used to examine how society can influence criminal behaviour. It also emphasizes the idea that when an individual is involved and in-touch with their community, they are less likely to commit acts of delinquency.

There are many theories in the field of criminology that seek to explain the reasons behind why people commit crimes. Social process theory is one such theory and asserts that criminal behavior is learned through interactions with others (Schmalleger, 2012). There are four types of social process theories including: social learning theory, social control theory, labeling theory, and dramaturgical perspective. This paper will explore two of the theories including social learning theory and social control theory. The paper will discuss social process theory and the history of its development, the theory’s importance to criminology, examples of

The Nature and Nurture debate, one of the oldest debates in the history of psychology, questions whether or not criminal behaviour is a result of the nature of a person, meaning something that lies in their genes causing a person to act in a certain way, or nurture, the environment, therefore criminal behaviour as a result of a person’s life experiences (Sincero, 2012). This essay shall look in depth and answer to how the four areas of criminal behaviour, which are biological, sociological, psychological and environmental, as part of the nature and nurture debate, can explain criminality and deviance. This will be done by discussing a number of theories and experiments that have come to the surface over time. Researching the nature and nurture debate, it is shown that the debate continues to interest people today, mainly because of what is thought will be the outcome of these findings, which is preventing people turning to criminal behaviour by understanding people’s genetics, how they were born and avoid situations that lie in the environment to stop them interacting with criminal activities.

In this essay, two theories specifically focusing on sexual offending against children are compared and critical evaluated. Finkelhor’s (1984) Precondition model integrates four underlying factors that might explain the occurrence of child sexual abuse and categorizes them into four preconditions: motivation to offend, overcoming internal inhibitors, overcoming external inhibitors and overcoming child’s resistance that occur in a temporal sequence where each is necessary for the other to develop. The Precondition model provides a framework for assessment of child molesters but is criticized for a lack of aetiological explanations and for paying to little attention to cognitive factors. Ward’s (2003) Pathways model suggest that clinical

Particularly, criminology theories target why individuals behave in certain situations. By understanding this, one can develop ways to control crime or rehabilitate criminals. The Social Learning Theory

Humans are complicated creatures. I proclaim that we are innately curious about everything. What, why, how, when are questions that constantly circulate in our minds. These questions then encourage us, naturally, to search for the answers. This is true in the area of crime and criminal behavior as well. Criminological theory attempts to describe why and how crime transpires by studying the countless social factors that influence someone to commit crimes. These theories are then supposed to explain both the understandings and roots of crime. Abstract outlooks offer an image of what something is and the best way of addressing that particular subject. In this section of the course we have explored different author’s sociological perspectives in the realm of theory. Each aim to explain why people engage in crime, but I will focus my attention on anomie/strain theories. First, I will provide a short summary of Merton’s anomie theory, Messner and Rosenfeld’s institutional-anomie theory and Agnew’s general strain theory. Next, I will take some time to highlight the strength or usefulness of the theories, with some critique, but mostly focusing on the positive value. Lastly, I will use the biological example of William Freeman and explain how the strain theory is directly relational.

The use of theory in the field of criminal justice can assist with deterring criminal activity as well as predicting the actions of individuals (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). This is one of the main reason the Federal Bureau of Investigations tracks crimes, moreover, the reason the Department of Justice conducts the victimization survey. The information is used to form theories about criminal activity current plaguing an area. These theories can be utilized to predict future criminal activities allowing law enforcement officers an opportunity to be proactive, moreover, the information could assist society with reforming.

Criminological theories (also known as theoretical criminology), according to Schmalleger (2015), is the “subfield of general criminology that posits explanations of criminal behavior.” (p. 13) There are many theories under this subfield that exist to help people have a better understanding of a criminal 's actions as well as put some justification behind them. There are six different schools that fall under criminological theories. These schools are: Classical School, Biological/Biosocial Theories, Psychological/Psychiatric Theories, Social Structions Approaches, Social Process & Social Development Theories, and Social Conflict Theories.

Schmalleger (2015) defines social control theory as a theory that focuses primarily on the strength of the bonds that people share with individuals and institutions around them. The description goes on to say that those relationships in the individual’s life shape their behavior. Delinquency and Self-Esteem A proposition regarding the social control theory that would help to explain Ted Bundy’s criminal behavior is Howard B. Kaplan’s perspective.

“Criminological theories are tentative answers to questions about criminal behaviour and the criminal justice system” (Akers 2012, p.1). In simple terms, a theory is typically a framework that explains how and why crime exists and then makes future predictions of how to reduce crime and criminal behaviour (Burke, 2014). A theory is generated by empirical study and secondary research using inductive and deductive reasoning. Inductive is new research and observation whilst deductive tests an old theory.

Every theory of crime has at least 2-3 meta-theoretical levels above it. The fundamental issues are usually addressed at the approach level, and are often called the assumptions, or starting points, of a theory, although the term "assumptions" more strictly refers to the background or domain boundaries one can draw generalizations about. Above the approach level is the Perspective level, the largest unit of agreement within a scientific community, and in fact, the names for the scientific disciplines. Perspectives are sometimes called paradigms or viewpoints, although some people use the term paradigm to refer to untestable ideologies such as: (1) rational choice; (2) pathogenesis; (3) labeling;

“Offending behaviour rises steeply as age increases, with over 80% of offences committed by 14 to 16-year- olds.” (Risk and Protective Factors, 2005)

The social learning theory states that criminal behavior is learned. Criminals learn their bad behaviors from close relationships they may have with criminal peers (Siegel & Worrall, 2016). Children look up to their parents; they want to be just like them. So, if children grow up surround by crime, they think that it is both normal and acceptable, and it is likely that they will participate in criminal behavior when they are older. As a result of learning this behavior, it is passed down through generations and is never broken. This can also be learned from friendships people may have with negative influences. Young adults and children want to fit in with their peers, so if they are surrounded with those who commit crimes, they are probably going to do the same because “everyone is doing it”.