Essay on Compare and Contrast Criminological Theories

This particular work will consist of a critical theoretical review and a comparative analysis on two criminological theories. For the comparison I have chosen Marx’s theory of crime and Merton’s strain theory of deviance. My critical comparison analysis will emphasise the central concepts and arguments within both theories and how each theory explains crime. The analysis will then explore modern day studies in which have stemmed from these theories as well as explore the many similarities and differences between these two theories. Exploring the strengths and weaknesses in both approaches and concluding that although both theories are

Strain theories of criminal behaviour have been amongst the most important and influential in the field of criminology. Taking a societal approach, strain theories have sought to explain deficiencies in social structure that lead individuals to commit crime (Williams and McShane 2010). Strain theories operate under the premise that there is a societal consensus of values, beliefs, and goals with legitimate methods for achieving success. When individuals are denied access to legitimate methods for achieving success, the result is anomie or social strain. This often leads an individual to resort to deviant or criminal means to obtain the level of success that they are socialized to pursue. This is the basic premise of strain theory. This

"When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw," (Kazi, 2017). The modern societies around the world put a high importance on preventing criminal activity and rectifying behavior that leads to crime. In an ongoing struggle against corruption, many sociologists, and psychologists have done in-depth research to understand what is the cause of crime in our society. Initially, in 1893, Emile Durkheim first came up with the idea called Anomie Theory to explain why offenses take place in our communities. Durkheim reported that crimes took place in our society because there was a lack of ethical norms and social standards within our communities (Walsh, 2018).However, almost half a century later, Robert K. Merton developed Merton's Strain Theory to thoroughly explain why some people in our society are more likely to commit crimes than the others who don’t. Merton’s Strain Theory argues that corruption not only occurs in our communities because we lack norms in our society, but are also caused by the strains that are present among us as individuals which influence people to commit the crime. In his explanation, people will resort to achieving success through illegitimate means when they are blocked from acquiring success through legitimate means (Walsh, 2018). After studying the classical strain theories, I think that Merton’s Strain Theory explains street crimes such as robbery, theft, assault, and drug dealing better than

Criminology and the criminal justice system have framed a “taken-for-granted, common-sense” understanding of ‘crime’ and the ‘criminal’ (Tierney, 2010). ‘Crime’ is commonly understood as a violation of the criminal law; originating from religion and the sin of God and then moving towards Classicalism. Classicalism rests on the assumption of free will and recognises rational choice of the individual. It influences much of our system of justice today; especially aspects of due process. It argues that criminality is therefore part of nature; and order is maintained through law and punishments. We can see this through Beccaria’s approach of certainty, celerity and severity (Beccaria, cited in Newburn, 2013, pp116). Positivism, associated with theorists such as Lombroso, offered more of a scientific approach in identifying the causes of crime and could recognise impaired ability such as mental illness. It argues that ‘crime’ is

Furthermore it states that humans, being conformists readily buy into these notions. However, access to the means for achieving these goals is not equally available to everyone. Some have the education, social network and family influence to attain these goals. The socially and economically disadvantaged do not have the opportunity, education or necessary social network for attaining material wealth and economic or political power. Thus the strain theory predicts that crime occurs when there is a perceived discrepancy between these goals and the legitimate means for reaching them. Individuals who experience a high level of this strain are forced to decide whether to violate laws to achieve these goals, to give up on the goals pushed upon them by society, or to withdraw or rebel.

The Marxist viewpoint on crime is from of class and the intensification of social control of society. This viewpoint perceives capitalist societies as being breeding grounds for criminal activities. Theorists believe that only socialist societies can have any expectation of being without crime. Sheptycki (2006) states that “the roots of

Every day I enter the gates of a prison, sign out my keys, walk to my office and start my day. The first thing I do is log on to my computer, check my work email and then start inputting the details of last night’s new arrivals into our database. I stop pause and then wonder how, why, what makes a person commit a crime. Many crimes are committed throughout the world. There are several factors that instinctively contribute to one’s misconduct which can be explained by criminological theories. There are many core arguments of the criminological perspectives. These theories may help us to understand the problem. In this essay I will describe the criminological perspectives of Trait (biological/psychological), Social (structure/process), and Classical/Choice (deterrence) while addressing each of their core arguments; I will support an argument for which of the two sentencing models (determinate or indeterminate) is most likely to be effective at addressing crime from each of the three perspectives; and I will discuss

Before we embark on description and analysis of a General Strain Theory of criminology, it is important to, first of all, understand the meaning of the term "criminology". Criminology, as defined by the two social theorists, Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham of Italy and England respectively in their classical school of criminology, is the scientific study of crime, its causes, law enforcement as well as prevention measures taken to curb and control the crime in this case. Despite the fact that criminology has lots of fields including sociology, economics, psychology, biology, psychiatry, statistics and even anthropology, the term also has various theories explaining the real concepts surrounding crime, criminal and criminologist. The reason as to why these theories are many is that criminologists are trying as much as possible to seek the best solutions for reducing the levels and types of crimes. In this regards, the specific theory of criminology that will be described and analyzed in this paper is the General Strain Theory.

Crime is viewed from many perspectives, which all have great significance. It is like looking at a video. If the individual who is shooting the video only shoots from one angle then, one could have a difficult time understanding the big picture. The same concept can be applied to crime. Without multiple theories to gauge the different angles from which crime exist, we may never understand this deviant phenomenon.

Modern criminology finds it “out of favor” due to its “get tough” drive supported by mass imprisonment. While classical criminology theoretical proponents were seen as being subjective on the psychological, sociological, cultural, and structural explanations, modern perspective on criminology proposes integrated perceptual and structural models that offer a more extensive range of variables at different levels of analysis (Clyne, 2016). Classical theory proponents were perceived as being reductionists and simplistic in a manner that emphasized on the advantages of crime commission through cost as depicted in the payoff systems as compared to the imprisonment option. Perhaps that was the reason they were regarded as being meaningless while at the same time extensive in their instrument. Modern criminology refuses to identify specific factors to crime commission and instead argue that the commission of a crime is a result of many other varying factors that lead up to the final act of commission. Contemporarily, there different perceptual and structural models that define and guide offending which helps in creating a wide range of variables in the way crime is committed and how it should be addressed.

As a police executive, the study of criminological theories would help not only the leadership of a department, but it would benefit the entire department as well. Many theories discussed in this course, as well as outside of it attempt to understand, predict and prevent criminal behavior.

Findings from Brown, Esbensen and Geis (1991) show that strain theories operate from the view that certain strains or stressors are influential, that is, they can increase the likelihood of crime occurring. The assumption is that, individuals have goals, however, under this theory; the strains make it almost impossible for these goals to be achieved Brown, Esbensen and Geis (1991). Durkheim (1951) argued that, crime is inevitable; it is a normal phenomenon that is found in all societies. He indicates that, criminals are useful in the sense that they identify the limits of acceptable behaviour in a society. In addition to this, Brown, Esbensen and Geis (1991) proposed that individuals have things they wish to achieve in their life, defined as ‘aspirations’ complimenting this are ‘expectations’, what the individual believes to be realistic for them. These findings suggest that if there is a gap between these two elements, the strain may increase

As a result, this critical view seeks to address the underlying complications with social reality and questions individual prejudices. Consequently, this leads to a wider range of critical views which will be explored through Feminist and Marxist perspectives. However, the validity of this approach to challenge mainstream understandings of crime also has its weaknesses. For instance, is seems to be overly critical of power structures in traditional criminology and disregarding the potential economic benefits it brings. Indeed, punishment in this instance is applied to all societies regardless of social class and that in such contemporary democratic societies not all authority is controlled by the ruling class.

One of the most widely accepted, the strain theory, was developed by Robert Merton and focused on social inequality. He believed that when society limits the channels through which one can achieve social stability, “the individuals, then, must adapt to the inconsistency between means and goals in a society that socializes everyone into wanting the same thing but provides opportunities for only some.” Merton’s theory can be applied to most, if not all, societies in the modern world. From the poor countries under a dictatorship, where social equality is seen as something unattainable, to the biggest economical powers such as China and the United States, where the efforts to achieve equality have been many but there is still great disparity in society, people must adhere to deviant behavior in order to have a chance in cultures where opportunities are not widely available. There are many other factors that account for criminal behavior, including the societal gender

Crime and deviance are issues that continue to dominate the public’s imagination and interest. Numerous disciplines such as criminology, psychology and biology have all played a role in trying to understand its causes but the largest contributions have come from the field of sociology. Two perspectives, Marxian and