Theoretical Theories Of Criminology And Criminal Justice Essay

Criminological theories interpret the competing paradigms of Human Nature, Social Order, Definition of Crime, Extent and Distribution of Crime, Causes of Crime, and Policy, differently. Even though these theories have added to societies understanding of criminal behaviour, all have been unable to explain why punishment or treatment of offenders is unable to prevent deviancy, and thus are ineffective methods of control. The new penology is a contemporary response that favours the management of criminals by predicting future harm on society. However, all criminological theories are linked as they are a product of the historical time and place, and because of their contextual history, they will continue to reappear depending on the current

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.

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

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

There are many different aspects of criminal justice policy. One in particular is the different theories of crime and how they affect the criminal justice system. The Classical School of criminology is a theory about evolving from a capital punishment type of view to more humane ways of punishing people. Positivist criminology is maintaining the control of human behavior and criminal behavior. They did this through three different categories of Biological studies, which are five methodologies of crime that were mainly focused on biological theories, Psychological theories, which contains four separate theories, and the Sociological theories, which also includes four different methods of explaining why crime exists. The last theory is

In the textbook we learn of Casare Lombroso, who argued that criminals could be depicted easily by their physical features. Such as: long arms, large jaw, and forehead. In contrast to biological theories, psychological theories play a role too. The idea that moral development, mental disorders, and personality development are all linked up to criminal behaviors. Just as our textbooks, Raine explains that we need to stop viewing crime from the social side but to view it as the biological side.

Every day I enter the gates of a prison, sign out my keys, walk to my office and start my day. The first thing I do is log on to my computer, check my work email and then start inputting the details of last night’s new arrivals into our database. I stop pause and then wonder how, why, what makes a person commit a crime. Many crimes are committed throughout the world. There are several factors that instinctively contribute to one’s misconduct which can be explained by criminological theories. There are many core arguments of the criminological perspectives. These theories may help us to understand the problem. In this essay I will describe the criminological perspectives of Trait (biological/psychological), Social (structure/process), and Classical/Choice (deterrence) while addressing each of their core arguments; I will support an argument for which of the two sentencing models (determinate or indeterminate) is most likely to be effective at addressing crime from each of the three perspectives; and I will discuss

First, psychological theory suggests that a person’s environment and past can influence their ability and desire to commit crime while biological theory suggest a person’s DNA makeup could influence their ability to commit crime. “Biological theories within the field of criminology attempt to explain behaviors contrary to societal expectations through examination of

Intro In the following report, I will discuss and critically evaluate a criminological perspective on crime and compare it to the available psychological perspectives in relation to evidential support and real life application. The criminological perspective voiced by Lonergan points to poverty as the cause of criminal behaviour, furthermore, two aspects of poverty are seen as particularly criminogenic: poor housing and poor education.

As a police executive, the study of criminological theories would help not only the leadership of a department, but it would benefit the entire department as well. Many theories discussed in this course, as well as outside of it attempt to understand, predict and prevent criminal behavior.

However, after his check is rejected, he turns instead to impersonating a Pan Am pilot after seeing one sign autographs to a small child outside the bank. After acquiring a uniform from the company by saying that he “lost” his, he forges his credentials and passports after he creates a fake, Pan Am Air salary check and successfully cashing it in. His need for money to survive on his own drives these decisions to act on these illegal activities, outweighing the cost he will end up paying for committing them. Part of the Rational Choice Theory is whatever techniques the criminal learns and perfects to avoid detection from authorities. Frank’s first run in with authority is when FBI Agent Carl Hanratty tracks him through his forged Pan Am bills to a hotel he was staying at. In Frank and Carl’s first meeting, Frank impersonates a Secret Service agent named Barry Allen (after The Flash) when confronted by Carl’s gun, convincing the agent long enough in order for him to escape. After his close call, he retires to Georgia, where he impulsively convinces the hospital and town that he is a Harvard medical doctor after meeting a new, young nurse named Brenda, whom he ends up falling in love with. The branch that Frank was assigned to was chief doctor of the pediatric ward, where they don’t do much work. The motivation behind this was to get closer to Brenda, whom he had an attraction to when he first met her. His growing love for

The second criminological theory to be discussed is Biological Positivism (Lombroso, 1876). Biological Positivism (Lombroso, 1876) is a criminology theory developed in the early nineteenth century by an Italian army psychiatrist Cesare Lombroso (1835/1909) (Walsh & Ellis, 2007). It was developed based on a persons’ biological and genetic disposition and stemmed from a scientific approach (Williams, 2012). Lombroso’s popularised Biological Positivism (1876) focused upon the characteristics of the criminal as opposed to crime. Lombroso attempted to establish that criminals exhibited certain traits that resembled to different stages of human evolution (White et al., 2012). Lombroso labelled these traits as anomalies and established such traits

A theory is a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something; a theory of crime tries to explain why certain things are related to criminal behavior. Criminological theory is the explanation of police, attorneys, judges, prosecutors, correctional personnel, victims, and criminal behavior in the criminal justice process. Most of what is done in criminal justice is based on criminological theory. There are three main types of criminological theory: classical and neoclassical theories, positivist theories, and critical theories.

In the field of criminology there has been certain theories that can articulate the role that society puts on why crime happens. People in society tend to blame delinquent peers, subcultures, and parenting socialization for most of the crime that takes place in the world. This outlook on crime can be resembled to the biosocial theory. According to Crime and Delinquency, by Larry Siegel the biosocial theory is, “An approach to criminology that focuses on the interaction between biological and social factors as they relate to crime.” Thus exploring the biological aspects of the nervous, which is a state of anxiousness before acting on something, exploring the biochemical and genetic function and how those can be influenced by ones social environment and social factors (PsychologyDictionary). This topic interest me the most because its psychological and social aspect of how genetics and the environment one grows up in can contribute to his or her criminal involvement.