Download THEORIES OF CAUSATION OF CRIME

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Biological theories of crime,
Psychological theories of crime,
Sociological theories of crime,
Social-Psychological theories of crime.
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Psychologists argue that in order to do
something about the crime problem, we must
first understand its causes.
Their aims are in conformity with that of
Criminologists‘.
The questions are – Why does crime happen?
What motivates people to commit illegal acts?
Several theories are advocated to answer these
questions For example in case of theft, the
biological explanations say that the thief has bad
genes and the psychological explanations may
maintain that he has a personality defect.
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Like wise the sociological explanations may
argue that he‘s got in with a bad crowd.
These kind of explanations led to different
kinds of theories:
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d)
Biological theories of crime,
Psychological theories of crime,
Sociological theories of crime,
Social-Psychological theories of crime.
Biological Theories
Biological theories of crime causation
(biological positivism) are based on the belief
that criminals are physiologically different
from noncriminals. The cause of crime is
biological inferiority.
biological inferiority
According to biological theories, a criminal’s innate
physiological makeup produces certain physical or
genetic characteristics that distinguish criminals from
noncriminals.
Heredity Studies
Several studies have attempted to determine if
criminality is hereditary by studying:
family trees
statistics
identical and fraternal twins
adopted children
All of these methods fail to prove that criminality is
hereditary, because they cannot separate hereditary
influences from environmental influences.
Modern Biocriminology
Ongoing research has revealed numerous
biological factors associated either directly or
indirectly with criminal or delinquent
behavior:
• chemical, mineral, and vitamin deficiencies in the diet
• diets high in sugar and carbohydrates
• hypoglycemia
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Hormones
Criminal behaviors have also been associated
with hormone abnormalities, especially those
involving:
• Testosterone (a male sex hormone)
• Progesterone and estrogen (female sex hormones)
Administering estrogen to male sex offenders has
been found to reduce their sexual drives.
Psychological Theories
There are many theories regarding
psychological causes of crime, including:
Intelligence and crime
Psychoanalytic theories
Psychoanalytic Explanation
Psychoanalytic theories of crime causation are
associated with the work of Sigmund Freud
who believed that people who had unresolved
deep-seated problems were psychopaths.
psychopaths
Persons characterized by no sense of guilt, no
subjective conscience, and no sense of right and
wrong. They have difficulty in forming relationships
with other people; they cannot empathize with other
people. They are also called sociopaths or antisocial
personalities.
Sociological Theories
Sociologists emphasize that human beings
live in social groups and that those groups and
the social structure they create influence
behavior.
Most sociological theories of crime causation assume that a criminal’s behavior is
determined by his or her social environment and reject the notion of the born
criminal.
social disorganization
The condition in which the usual controls over
delinquents are largely absent, delinquent behavior is
often approved of by parents and neighbors, there are
many opportunities for delinquent behavior, and there
is little encouragement, training, or opportunity for
legitimate employment.
Anomie or Strain Theory
Robert Merton in 1938 wrote about a major
contradiction in the U.S. between cultural
goals and social structure. He called the
contradiction anomie.
anomie
For Merton, the contradiction between the cultural
goal of achieving wealth and the social structure’s
inability to provide legitimate institutional means for
achieving the goal.
Anomie or Strain Theory
Merton argued that the limited availability of legitimate
institutionalized means to wealth puts a strain on people.
People adapt through:
1. Conformity—playing the game.
2. Innovation—pursuing wealth by illegitimate means.
3. Ritualism—not actively pursuing wealth.
4. Retreatism—dropping out.
5. Rebellion—rejecting the goal of wealth and the
institutional means of getting it.
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Social-psychological explanations of
criminality view it as a learned behavior,
acquired through the process of social
interaction. Among these, as an example of
control theory, Reckless‘ containment theory
sees social pressure as controlling crime. In
contrast, social-learning theory places more
emphasis on reinforcement of responses,
learned from observing the rewards and the
punishments others receive for their acts.
Learning Theories
Edwin H. Sutherland—in his theory of
differential association—was the first 20thcentury criminologist to argue that criminal
behavior was learned.
This theory, modified, remains one of the
most influential theories of crime causation.
differential association
Sutherland’s theory that persons who become
criminal do so because of contacts with criminal
patterns and isolation from anticriminal patterns.
Learning Theories
Among the policy implications of learning theory is
to punish criminal behavior effectively, according to
learning theory principles. This is not done
effectively in the U.S.
• Probation does not function as an aversive
stimulus.
• Most offenders are not incarcerated.
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Learning Theories
• Punishment is not consistent and immediate.
• Offenders are generally returned to the
environments in which their crimes were
committed.
• There is no positive reinforcement of alternative,
prosocial behaviors.
Social Control Theories
The key question in the social control theory
is not why people commit crime and
delinquency, but rather why don’t they? Why
do people conform?
Social Control Theories
The most detailed elaboration of modern
social control theory is attributed to Travis
Hirschi who wrote the 1969 book, Causes of
Delinquency.
Social Control Theories
Hirschi argued that delinquency should be
expected if a juvenile is not properly
socialized by establishing a strong bond to
society, consisting of:
1. Attachment to others
2. Commitment to conventional lines of action
3. Involvement in conventional activities
4. Belief in the moral order and law