Born Criminal Theory

For as long as there have been people there has been crime, and along with crime there have been many theories trying to answer the question of “what causes crime?”. The theories of the cause of crime have come along way since the Judeo-Christian view that everyone who did something morally wrong were under possession of evil (Smandych, 2017). This essay will examine different theories which all help to understand the causes of crime. Old theories such as the Born Criminal theory will be analyzed, the psychological perspective and its role in crime will also be considered and finally, more relevant theories such as Strain theories will be reviewed. In order to understand today’s theories of crime we must first take a look at the beginning theories

David Farrington studied individual differences and the motivation to commit crimes, he felt people were motivated by a desire for material things and excitement (Linden, 2016, p.249). To continue looking at individuals, moral development theorists believed that criminal behaviour roots from a failure to develop morality and responsibility (Linden, 2016, p.253). Psychological perspectives tend to focus on the individual, some individuals who commit crimes suffer from mental illness. Some people may believe criminals disregard the rights of the others and most are psychopaths, but Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) and psychopathy, are not as common among criminals as one may think. It is true that many criminals suffer from mental illness more common than APD, to expand “the criminal justice system deals with the mentally ill largely by default; because of the failures of other social service agencies, it becomes the social service institution of last resort” (Fallon, Lurigo, 2007, p. 364). Mental illness may play a factor in the cause of crime however it is not a leading theory as to why people commit

Firstly, older theories such as Beccaria who believed individuals are free willed and Lombroso who felt there are certain people who are born criminals. Secondly, A psychological perspective was also considered showing that many people in the criminal justice system are not diagnosed with APD but a majority of criminals struggle with mental illness. Lastly, strain theories were examined, these showed that the cause of crime could be an individual’s hard situation that leads them into a life of crime. To conclude there is not one easy answer that explains why there is crime, these theories are helpful when forming an idea of the cause of crime. Theories like the above mentioned are important as they help people to understand crime and will aid in creating new methods to prevent