General Theory of Crime and Delinquency: Why Criminals Offend

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General Theory of Crime and Delinquency

In the article Why Criminals Offend: A General Theory of Crime and Delinquency by Robert Agnew the author explains many factors play a role in whether or not an individual will commit a crime. All of these factors are based solely on personal experiences through an individual's life time and a buildup of these factors will increase the chances for crime to be committed. Factors such as negative school experiences/ limited education, peer delinquency, irritability/ low self-control, poor parenting practices to name a few. Each factor is selected from the many aspects of where an individual's life can become influenced; social, environmental, and family life.
Agnew also points out another factor which contributes to criminal behaviour but which does not fit into the life domains; the factor of prior crime. I feel this factor is not analyzed enough in theories except for the labeling theory which explains that by attaching a stigma to an individual's life their deviant behaviour will only escalate. We focus on the steps which lead to crime but not the after affects of having already committed the crime. Agnew believes that although having engaged in crime the probability of future engagement foes increase, it does not always lead to further crime explaining that there are two factors which effect prior crimes; 1. how others react and 2. the characteristics of the individual (Agnew 2011, Pg 608). Each reaction to the crime will lead to a different outcome, for example if the offender gets away with the crime that fear of being caught slowly diminishes giving them confidence to continue with their delinquent behaviour. This theory stresses the importance of the individual's characteristics an...

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...individual's criminal behaviour, assuming each city has the same strain for each individual. According to this theory there would be no difference between an individual's strain in Toronto compared to an individual who lives in Brantford. The General Theory of Crime also ignores the moral notion of good and bad or right and wrong. Working off of last class's discussion we spoke of what stops us from committing murders and most of us answered living with our conscience would be so hard after committing such an act, but that is not an analyzed in this article.
In conclusion, The General Theory stresses the impact that life domains have on each individual and are the predicting factors for criminal and delinquent behaviour. Taking aspects from many different criminological theories the General Theory integrates each outlook and simplifies it into the life domains.

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