Four Theories of Criminology
Kendy Menelas
Seminole State College
Author Note
Kendy Menelas, Department of English, Seminole State College
This research was supported in part by the Federal Pell grant
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kendy Menelas, Department of English, Seminole State College, Sanford, FL 32773.
Contact: kendym@live.seminolestate.edu Abstract
This paper summarizes four theories of criminology. Rational choice theory states that criminals act based on a thought process that weighs the pros and cons of criminality. Criminologists who believe in this theory feel that most criminals are people capable of having rational thoughts before committing a crime. Trait theory is the view of criminology that suggests criminality is a product of abnormal biological or psychological traits. Criminologists who believe in this theory feel that criminals choose to commit crime because of a brain anomaly or chemical imbalance. Social structure theory is “a view that disadvantaged economic class position is a primary cause of crime” (Seigel 139). Those who follow this theory often believe social forces can have a great effect on whether or not a person commits a crime. An example would be those who are poor are more being more prone to commit crime. Social process theory is a view that criminality depends on how a person interacts with different organizations and institutions and processes in society. For example, a family would be considered
There have been many approaches taken in attempting to uncover the factors that contribute and influence criminal behavior. Criminological theories aim at determining the social, psychological, and biological factors that influence criminality. Three theories that attempt to investigate that causation of crime and criminal behavior are labeling theories, modern biological theories, and psychoanalytical theory.
Criminology is a subdivision of sociology and it draws information from psychology, biology, and statistics that dwells mostly on expanding knowledge on the real causes of criminal activities among the people. Moreover, its findings are very crucial in that they influence legislatures in making the law, judges in giving out justice, lawyers in defending their client, and prosecutors in prosecuting people in a court of law. Those professionals are able to understand crime in a different angle hence developing more efficient and humane sentences and treatment of criminal activities in the society. In criminology, investigating why people engage in crime is very crucial so that it will help to come up with ways of preventing crime (Conklin, 1981).
For many years, criminological theories have been dominated by sociological and political perspectives to explain crime than biological and genetic factors. Not to state that all sociological and political perspectives are flawed, but these perspectives within traditional criminology are not complete and do not offer a full assessment of all the contributions of criminal behavior. This paper aims to offer why traditional Criminology avoids biological explanations, what traditional Criminology attempts to explain criminal behavior, and how Criminology has traditionally overlooked biology and genetics and what the potential consequences may be.
The criminogenic needs are subdivided into two (2) constructs significant to human development and plays a relevant role in personality development. These are the (a) Psychological constructs, which is composed of 4 elements such as the mental element, guilt element, dispositional element and situational element. This is adapted from Gisli Gudjonsson's 3 Dimensions of Attribution it measures the type of crime and the attribution of the blame on the elements. It can be inferred that the offender has a core or source as to why he transpired to do such criminal offenses. The second is the Socioeconomic constructs, which is composed of factors ranging from the social relationships to the economic input of society; financial, familial, interpersonal and type of community. These factors set forth that there are external factors that contribute to the etiology of the criminal conduct and that it does not limit itself to the realms of the Constructs of the
Biological and psychological perspectives seek to explain the underlying cause of criminal behavior through the means of individual genetic and mental ailments. However, these views are different from sociological aspects in that sociological theories focus on environmental factors found among groups and do not account for genetic and personality traits of those who have come from both good and bad situations. Therefore, psychologist and biologist try to account for influences of a genetic and mental nature in connection with the one’s social environment.
As it pertains to the last ten years, Criminology and its relevance to the criminal justice system has been taught internationally to a number of students seeking employment within the criminal justice field. Criminology (as a whole) is a comprehensive study of criminal behavior, crime as a social matter, and criminal conduct. This is best explained in Stout’s book titled Applied Criminology when it is stated that “Different criminological theories emerge from different contexts, are shaped by different forces and, therefore, have very different implications if applied” (Stout, 2007, p.2). The most important takeaway from the study of how Applied Criminology is taught (and learned) is that it extends far beyond the mere application of criminological theories and teachings. It concerns itself with the evolution of its own field and sub-fields, as well as the entire ecosystem of related topics. In this way, Criminology takes on a sort of recursive nature in it that it teaches about its own field while being the field itself. Criminology seeks to provide theories that explain why individuals and groups of individuals commit crimes, in an attempt to effectively understand and deal with crime. There are overlapping questions concerning crime prevention, and the implementation of criminological theories focuses on providing explanations to criminal phenomenon. A theory is a set of concepts that are related or linked together by a series of explanations to a phenomenon. These
Criminologists find biological theories alone to be unreliable because besides biological conditions being associated with an increased risk of criminality other factors such as poverty could have an impact on crime which is influenced by the condition in which some people lived. Criminologist do not totally agree that a person’s criminal tendencies are associated with behavioral genetics that individuals are exposed to. It is believed that genetics have little to no effect on criminal behavior, but have more to do with the lack of self-control as the potential for criminal behavior. The criminologist is not able to tell if a person will commit illegal acts from the time of their birth or to become one later in life. It is determined that a
Criminological theories help professionals better understand why individuals commit crimes. The hope is that by gaining a better understanding of why people commit crimes, we can help prevent them better in the future. Currently, there are several different theories that individuals have claimed to be the reason for criminal behavior. Some of those theories include classical, neoclassical, biological, sociological, psychological, social, choice or strain. Each theory, while sometimes intertwined with another, focuses on different aspects that the supporters of it believe are the main causations for crime.
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.
The study of crime and punishment stand as the essential components of criminology. This is why it is vital to learn and understand why people commit crime (Akers, 1990). Over the years, several theories have emerged and are continuously being examined individually and in combination to aid finding solutions to lower all types and levels of crime. While there remain various compelling and convincing theories, the aim of this paper is to compare and contrast two different theories that argue why people commit crime, discuss the merits and the plausibility of the theories, and discuss why one theory is more plausible than the other. The theories to be discussed are Rational Choice Theory and Social Learning Theory. To begin, both theories will be explained in a brief summary.
A theory is a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something; a theory of crime tries to explain why certain things are related to criminal behavior. Criminological theory is the explanation of police, attorneys, judges, prosecutors, correctional personnel, victims, and criminal behavior in the criminal justice process. Most of what is done in criminal justice is based on criminological theory. There are three main types of criminological theory: classical and neoclassical theories, positivist theories, and critical theories.
Over the years there has been the development of various concepts that are intended to clarify and comprehend criminal behavior in society. While some of these concepts are not as of now being used, most them have transformed and are utilized as a part of various criminal investigations in contemporary society (Haynie, and Osgood, 2005). The present criminologists mixed viewpoints that have been attracted from various controls to push their knowledge on criminal behavior. As a rule, the discourse on criminal behavior focuses on social and environmental variables with the social learning theory and the social structure theory being the greatest speculations that can clarify the commonness of crime in society. While these two components are the
As part of human nature we seek to define and explain the unknown. When it comes to crime, we develop theories to explain why criminals do what they do. Theories like Social Structure theories, Social process theories, and social conflict theories. Each theory has its own developed ideas on what makes people tick, what causes bad thoughts, bad actions and bad people. This paper will discuss the theories listed above and the logic behind them that explain criminal behavior.
Theories are a significant part of developing a body of knowledge within an academic discipline. Within the domain of criminology, many theories have provided a foundation to stimulate the growth of this area of study. The beginning of criminology began with individual-level theories; they focus on the perpetrator’s individualistic features to answer the question of why crime occurs. Two major theories that divide the individual-level theories are choice theory and trait theory. Both contain various principles within their unit.
Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to Michael Davis, Department of English, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, 28608. Contact: davismc@appstate.edu