Many of the traditional criminological theories focused more on biological, psychological and sociological explanations of crime rather than on the cost and benefits of crime. More conservative approaches, including routine actives, lifestyle exposure and opportunity theories have clearly incorporated crime rate patterns as a fundamental part of analyzing the economics of crime. Crime statistics are important for the simple reason that they help put theories into a logical perspective. For example, a prospective home owner may want to look at crime rates in areas of potential occupancy. On a more complex level, it helps law enforcement and legislators create effective crime reduction programs. Furthermore, it also helps these agencies determine if crime prevention programs, that have been in effect, have been successful. There are many factors that influence the rates of crime including socio economic status, geographical location, culture and other lifestyle factors. More specifically, Messner and Blau (1987) used routine activities theory to test the relationship between the indicators of leisure activities and the rate of serious crimes. They discussed two types of leisure actives, the first being a household pastime, which primarily focused on television watching. The second type was a non-household leisure event which was consisted of attendance to sporting events, cinemas, and entertainment districts. The focus of this paper will be to study the effects that substantial amounts of leisure activities have on the offender and the victim. Leisure activities not only make a crime more opportunistic for offenders, it may also provide offenders with motivation to engage in criminal activity. On the other hand, it may also be argue... ... middle of paper ... ... such as walking in well lit areas, abstaining from areas know as “hot spots”, and letting someone know your whereabouts, are suggested. Also, these individuals should be aware of the risks that come with certain types of activities. In conjunction to awareness, individuals should be involved in family leisure activities so that their idle hands do not become the devils workshop. Parents provide the primary foundation in the children’s socialization; if this process is not effective or neglected the result could be detrimental. It may lead children to transition into adulthood without the fundamental skills that prevent the development of a criminal disposition. Now that routine activities theory has created a clear understanding of the economics of crime, let’s focus our research on which parenting methods could prevent criminality or crime before if ever develops.
The novel, Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson is an incredible read. In this book, Mr.
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 state of the world, and may even be reinvented.
Akers, Ronald L. "Deterrence and Rational Choice Theories." Criminology Theories Introduction and Evaluation. 2nd ed. New York: Roxbury, 1999. Print.
1. There are a couple of differences and similarities between the classical and biological theories of criminology. The biological theories of crime support the idea that an individual commits a crime due to their biological make-up and had criminal tendencies because of certain abnormalities that an individual may have had and not because the offender in their right mind chose to commit the crime. The classical theory has the belief that every individual has their own right in the way in which they act upon, so they commit a crime because they choose to do so, not because it is in their biological make-up.
Gottfredson, M.R., Hirschi, T. (1998). A General Theory of Crime. Stanford University Press: Stanford California.83, 118, 158,159, 181, 195
Critical criminology, also known as radical criminology dates back to the concepts of Marxism. Despite the fact that Fredric Engels and Karl Marx were the founders of contemporary radical criminology, none of them gave explicit focus to crime. William Bonger (1876-1940), a Dutch criminologist was a more direct founder of this concept. It gained popularity during the early 1970s when it tried to explain the causes of contemporary social mayhem. He used economic explanations were used by critical criminology to analyze social behavior by arguing that social and economic inequalities were the main reason behind criminal behavior (Henry & Lainer, 1998). This view reduces the focus on individual criminals and elaborates that the existing crime is as a result of the capitalist system. Just like the conflict school of thought, it asserts that law is biased since it favors the ruling or the upper class and that the legal system that governs the state is meant to maintain the status quo of the ruling class. Critical criminologist are of the view that political, corporate and environmental crime are not only underreported but also inadequately punished by the existing criminal legal system.
The "routine activities theory" is a theory that explains why crime occurs on a daily basis. According to the approach, crime occurs in the presence of three different elements. These elements include, a suitable target, lack of a guardian, and a motivated offender. If one of these elements is no longer in the picture, then chances for crime drops. (Argun, U. 2016)
The torn down neighborhood, graffiti on the walls, gun shops and abandoned houses are what people living on the wrong side of 8 miles in Detroit saw in their everyday lives. Social disorganization theory according to Freda, Mueller, and Laufer (2013) is “A theory of criminality in which the breakdown of effective social bonds, primary associations, and social controls in neighborhoods and communities is held to result in the development of high crime areas” (p. 124). In the movie 8 Mile (Curtis Hanson, 2002) B-Rabbit lives in 8 mile where he is surrounded by delinquents that commit crimes, bums around the neighborhood and the alcoholic drunk of a mother he lives within a trailer park in the duration of the movie. He is a blue collar worker who does a lot of physical labor in a steel cutting factory where he tries to make a means to help support his mom and sister. But what he really hopes is to be a rapper, make a demo and sign to a label. So he goes where all other rappers go to get noticed, the “Shelter.” Rappers go and have battled to become a highly valued individual in the residential district. With such a large population that attend and participate in those battles there are less chances of any of them being sought out for a record deal. Others that lived outside of the 8 mile district thought less of the people that did live in that location. Even though they stayed together as people from the 313 there was always a better neighborhood or somebody who had it better. So who better to pick on than the white boy who survives with his alcoholic mother in a trailer, taking care of his sister, playing in a distasteful factory, and failing against the “Leaders of the Free World?” He was the perfect target just like many others th...
Crime is considered commonplace in contemporary Britain; furthermore, many members of society may become a victim of crime at some point in their lives. Durkheim (1938) even suggested that crime is a normal function; it sets boundaries to the rest of society. Many experts have expressed their fascination with crime and their need to understand criminal behaviour; thus, the science of criminology was born. Criminology is fundamental in understanding criminal behaviour and the effect it has on the law and the society in which we live (Williams, 2012). Moreover, the theoretical approaches of criminology play an essential ingredient in the understanding of offending and criminal behaviour. Therefore, this essay will focus on describing two
Conflict Criminology theory is when society is in competition with other groups, for instance, rich against the poor, or corporations against labor(Bohm & Vogel, 2011). For this reason, the competing groups are not equal in power and resources, therefore, there will be one group know as the dominant group and the other subordinate. This theory came to surface when two German sociologists by the name of Max Weber and Georg Simmel began to disagree with the radical think in regards to conflict criminology. The dominant group defines what is considered to be a crime. They are known to label, to label people when it is an interest to them. However, it is the dominant group that uses a civil remedy to administrate violation and hires the most
The routine activities theory of crime, developed by Cohen and Felson, focuses on the events of a crime and the relation of factors that led to the causation of the crime or suitable targets (Miro, 2014). Moreover, the theory shifts attention from the offender to the opportunities for crime presented by everyday routines (Osgood, Wilson, O’Malley, Bachman, Johnston, 1996). Therefore, instead on searching for an offender’s motive, factors such as the absence of a guardian, social change, or vulnerability, contribute to the explanation of the crime.
Criminology has undergone various changes over the years in terms of ideas, concepts and theories. Before the ideas of early and modern criminology, crime was explained by Moralism, or the idea that criminal behavior was caused by evil spirits, sin or the devil(1). Thankfully, these ideas soon fell out of favor in the age of enlightenment and gave way to classical theories of criminal behavior. While early criminology was based off of classical, biological and psychological theories, modern criminology is not much different as many of these theories simply evolved. Modern criminology is still composed of psychological and biological theories, and classical theories simply evolved into neoclassical theories. These theories, both modern
Through the years there have been many criminologist that have come up with explanations about crime, from why people create crime in the first place to the type of people that create crime. Some of these criminologist have even discussed methods and plans to prevent crime from happening in the first place. These explanations for crime are called criminological theories, there are many different theories floating around out there. In this essay I will discuss classical, neoclassical, biological/biosocial, psychological, social learning, social bond and social/self-control. For each theory I will go into detail about what it assumes, its views of human nature, there definition of crime and criminals and some of the policy implications that
The point of reference for this essay will be that when it comes for theories of crime, such as rational choice and routine activities theories, will be examined which are prevention strategies derived from such theories, their connection with their theoretical principles and what are able to offer as crime prevention initiatives. Practical implications for rational choice perspectives and routine activity theory, in the majority of cases provide obvious results in a short period of time and functioning in conjuction with offenders as adopting specific crime patterns to offend in a temporal and spatial perspective.
In this research paper I will summarize three important theories of criminality. In criminology, examining why people commit crime is very important, but there is always a debate in how crime should be handled and prevented. The biological theory, focusses on the study of social behavior and structures. The sociological theory, evaluates crime as a social problem, and not as an individual problem. And psychological theory suggest that behavior of crime is the result of individual’s differences in thinking process. These three theories can help criminality to try find out why people commit crime or what leads people to commit crime. It is important to study criminality theories because that way authorities can have a better understanding of