Theories on Why Crime Occurs Essay

As such punishment should fit the crime but still outweigh the attraction of individual(s) to commit that crime [Beccaria (1764) and Bentham (1970)]. The Persistence of crime: To answer the question as to why classical theory has failed to rid society of crime we must further examine the work of Jeremy Bentham. According to Bentham (1970) “Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters; pain and pleasure. Bentham outlines how all human behaviour can be linked to a self-interested…

Crimes highlighted in the UCR are broken down into eight categories of offenses also known as part I offenses, i.e. as rape, murder, burglary, motor vehicle theft, aggravated assault, robbery, larceny-theft, and arson (Siegel, 2001, p.52). The UCR utilizes the hierarchy rule that implies that when multiple crimes are linked to one offender within the same reporting year, only the most serious crime is counted. The UCR also uses another category termed clearance rate, this category highlights…

The theorist's creativity is based on what are called constructs (images, ideas, or new words in the theorist's head), and the art of theory onstruction is the translation of constructs into concepts. The notion that concepts always deal with something observable or something that can be experimented upon is called empiricism. Criminological Theories of Crime General Classical Rational Choice Deterrence Positivist Routine Activities Individual Trait Labeling Reintegrative Shaming…

other is causes a backlash effect. The authors of Criminology: Explaining Crime and Its Context explained backlash effect like this, “…stiffer penalties will generate more rather than less deviance among some segments of the targeted population” (Brown et al., P148, par. 3). A study by Gary Lafee and some of his colleagues showed how the backlash effect works. They results of their study showed that deterrence did occur but the backlash effect was much more. This study shows that punishment might…

(Department of Criminology, 2010a: 3-8). This crime theory originated from classical school of criminology appears to be more effective than its predecessors who were focused on deterrence through punishment, and able to offer readily informed strategies to prevent crime. Where governmental jurisdictional processes to address criminal offending through punishment or social rehabilitation, as Farrell and Pease (2006) stated, seemed to be ineffective, situational crime prevention emerged to resolve more effectively…

low self-control is but one means of predicting crime. Terrie E. Moffitt’s theory argues that antisocial behavior can be 1) life-course persistent offenders who spend the majority of their life exhibiting antisocial behavior and 2) adolescence-limited offenders who grow out of the antisocial behavior as they age. (Cullen & Agnew, 2011, Pg. 477) While it may be disputed that there are only two categories of antisocial individuals, Moffitt’s theory is supported by our other course readings. For…

of a label once it has been given by others in society. However, labelling theory also receives many criticisms. It tends to be deterministic, inferring that once someone has been labelled as criminal, a deviant career is inevitable, whilst also shifting blame from the individual who is committing crime. Additionally, whilst it offers a reasonable explanation as to why secondary deviance occurs, it fails to explain why primary deviance is committed in the first place, before they are labelled.…

Anomie/Strain Theory Historical Background The theoretical framework of strain theory can be credited to sociologist Emile Durkheim. Durkheim research on formed a platform for other sociologist to further develop strain theories of crime. One of which is Robert Merton. One of Durkheim’s major works that opened the door to further research on strain theories was his book, Suicide. In this book Durkheim sough to understand the why led to one’s own self-destruction. Emile Durkheim studied suicide rates…

Crimes that go undetected and unreported obviously are not included in the overall statistics at the same time making it difficult to perform accurate studies due to the dark figures. Law enforcement agencies at times, may omit/neglect to record something as a crime, or inaccurately report something as a crime when it is not. Criminologists refer to all crime that escapes counting for any of the above reasons as the dark figure of crime. Crime statistics serve a number of purposes such as the determining…

This theory is supported by the statistics of inner city poverty in which individuals are likely to experience strain in large numbers. This theory supports policies that create opportunities for all individuals such as access to education and good paying jobs. Hirschi’s theory of social bond, sometimes referred to as control theory is different from the other theories in criminology because it assumes that people would be deviant when left to their own devices and looks to discover why the individual…