Why Do Crimes Occur As Well As What Makes Offenders Commit Crimes?

Classical Criminology theory believes that people are able to make their own, rational, choices. It assumes that people make their decisions to maximize their utility, pleasure minus pain (class notes). Unlike other theories that may attribute other reasons as to why people turn to crime, as we will see later Merton’s theory of Anomie and Strain, Classical Criminology theory states that criminals are just like everyone else in society. There is nothing effecting there decisions to turn to crime, unlike Drum’s theory that attributes crime to led poising levels, rather, people choose crime by choice to maximize their pleasure with the benefits they may receive. In order to combat this choice that people make to turn to crime, the state must assure that the pain or harm resulting from the crime committed by the offender, outweighs the benefits (class notes). The aspects of the punishment have to fulfill four categories. They have to be known, certain, swift, and severe. As an example, if a criminal was to rob a convenience store, then it must be certain that he will be caught, tried, and sentenced to an adequate amount of time in prison for his act. This, the state believes, will help stop people from turning to crime.

Biological factors alone are not a sufficient reason why crime occurs. An example would be looking at testosterone and adult deviance. Most studies have shown no correlation with circulating testosterone and behavior. However, there is significance to examining biological factors. The answer lies in the fact that biological explanations of crime understate the important role of social conditions. (Conklin, p 93). When looking at biological and social combined, there is a moderately strong relationship between testosterone and social integration while growing up. Social integration can be fragmented due to less social opportunities by being in lower-class status, unmarried, and an unstable work history. (Conklin, p 96).

　　The basic assumptions of classical theory of crime causation is the belief that the majority of human beings are are fundamentally rational and that human behavior is the result of free will, meaning that people should be free to choose how they act.

Classical theory states that crime is committed when there are more benefits to committing the crime than punishments. It also states that crime is a choice and is done with free will (Beccaria, 2013). Positivist’s theory says that biological defects are what lead to crime (Lombroso, 2013). Additionally, that criminal’s had

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.

Why do criminals commit crime? How to we learn to commit crime? These questions can be answered using social learning theory. "Social learning approach is the assumption that all human behavior is socially learned" (Thompson, Bynum 2013 115). The theory of differential association was developed by Edwin Sutherland to try and explain the development of criminal behavior. Essentially what this theory says is that deviant group behavior results from normative conflict. Normative conflict arises when multiple probable rules exist, specifying how one ought to behave in a given situation. Conflicts among norms affect deviant people of a variety of social groups. An individual is part of many social groups including friends, family, and school. Every group has its own set of social norms. Sometimes the norms between these groups can conflict with each other resulting in the possibility of deviant behavior

The idea that criminals make the conscious decision to participate in deviant behaviour with knowledge of the benefits and consequences emerged from Classical Theory in the enlightenment era. Classical Theory emphasises the concept of free will and the presented choice to abide by the law. Classicism argues that humans within society are

Classical theorists believed that crime was a matter of free choice and that criminals should have rights in the criminal justice system (Fagin, 27). In other words, the individual commits a crime because of their belief of gaining something through that crime. In addition, those adults and children, alike, who are mentally incapable, are too responsible by free choice.

The question, why do people become criminals raise a lot of views when it comes down to personal, social and environmental factors. While many think that people become criminals due to the environment and people they have grown up around, other’s think it is due to mental illness or just out of pure enjoyment. The following report will discuss how a person’s environment can impact them to become vicious killers, particularly discussing the Ivan Milat, a serial killer based in Australia, known for the case of the “Backpacker murders”.

What determines criminal behavior? Are they born to be a natural born killer, is it in their genes, or is it a learned behavior? There are multiple factors resulting in criminal behavior, from genes to environmental factors. Although it is said and believed that criminal behavior is biologically determined there are even more learned or environmental factors that play a role in criminal behavior.

The Classical and Neo-Classical theories are based upon the ideation of free will and rational choice. This theory occurs when the benefits outweigh the costs—when people pursue self-interest in the absence of effective punishments. They are simplex modules to follow when applying them to the role of individual responsibility. This theory further states that crime is a free-willed choice, that a person is aware of their actions, they are aware of their choice to commit crime. This is the theory of free will and rational thought. For instance, if a man robs a bank with complete mental awareness, he is aware of his actions.

Crime is a social construct because it is an idea that is established by a society to control the behaviors of the people within the society (“Radical Concept of Crime”). What is considered to be criminal varies within different area and cultures and even time. Things that were legal two hundred years ago are illegal now. For example, in the 18th and 19th century when slavery was allowed in America, there were a lot of people who saw nothing wrong with it because they had been socialized to accept and justify it. If you ask most Americans now about slavery, they would say that it was a tragedy or that they just cannot understand how it happened. This is because we are now being socialized to think of slavery as wrong. Even though many citizens

The neoclassical theory is a revision of the classical school when it comes to factors that might inhibit the exercise of free will. The theory defines criminal behavior as a rational choice; however, the theory didn’t examine every type of crime. Neoclassical focuses on crimes that are often violent or uncontrollable, and committed by offenders who appeared incapable of remorse. (Bohm & Vogel, 2011 pg. 21) They believed that in order to deter, reduce, or eliminate crime, it needed to begin with stricter child practices, enhanced punishments, and increased surveillance and security. When it comes to the punishment of crimes, the punishment needs to fit the crime.

In contrast to the positivism approach, classical theory has a different way of explanation why crime occur. Classical theory

People commit crimes for various reasons. These various reasons got to do with social, economic, and cultural reason. These factors trigger an individual to do criminal activities. Social reasons are peer pressure, and school failure. Economic reasons are poverty. Cultural reasons are hatred. The combination of these factors is behind a person who commits crimes.