Criminology 203
What is a Theory?
• The body of rules, ideas, principles, and
techniques that applies to a particular subject, especially when seen as
distinct from actual practice.
Foundations of Criminology: "The Big
Three"
1.
The State, Power and Crime
2.Choice, Opportunity
and-Deterrence
3.Human Development and Crime
Strengths
and weaknesses of criminology
Strenghts
o Diversity (several ideas, schoold of thought)
o Examines both micro and macro levels of crime
o Examines the effects across various points of the life cycle
Weaknesses
o Inability to develop a single paradigm
o Immaturity
o Constant disagreement between schoars, that remain within an
overriding paradigm.
Differences
between Classical and Positicist:
o Classical school argues: Individuals freely choose to engage in
crime, as we are rational human beings.
o Positivist school argues: Crime is due to forces beyond an
individual’s control.
“Demonic perspective”
Crime was said to be the result of
supernatural forces. People engaged in crime because they succumbed to the
temptations of evil forces, such as satan, or because they were possessed by
evil forces.
Punishments were designed to “purge the
body of a sinner of traces of the devil and thereby restore the body of the
community as a whole to its proper relation to God.
The demonic perspective was dominant
throught out the 1700’s. when it was challenged during the age of enlightment
by a group of individuals who came to be known as t6he “Classical”
Criminologists”
Classical Theory
o Dominant through the 1700’s
o Positive
o Moved us away from the “demonic persective”
o Cesare beccaria was the first and most prominent classical
criminologist
o Argues crime is caused by observed and measurable things such as the
absence of effective punishments
o Classical school of thoughts challenged by cesare Lombroso and his
idea of genetic throwbacks”
o He was also the frst to emphasize the scientifictesting of theories.
o Lombriso argued individuals deffer in their motications for crime
and the differences are due to forces beyond one’s control. (Biological and
social factors)
o Developed in reaction to the harsh and corrupt legal system of the
1700’s
o The laws of that legal system
were vague and crimes usually resulted in an overly harsh punishment
o Beccaria and other classical theorists assume people act in a
rational manner that results in the greates pleasure and least pain.
Assumptions
of the classical theory
o Everone is motivated to engage in crime in pursuit of their own self
interest.
o People are rational and engage in crime to minimize their pain and
maximize their pleasure.
o Whether or not people engage in crime is mostly dependent upon the
swiftness, certainty and appropiateness of the punishment.
Beccaria was the father of classical theory
The essential idea is that individuals are
rational beings who persue their own interests, trying to maximize their
pleasure and minimize their pain. And unless they are deterred by the threat of
swift, certain and appropriately severe punishments, they may commit crimes (Harm
to others) in their pursuit of self interest.
Beccaria believed that “if punishments are
very severe, men are naturally led to the perpetration of other crimes, to
avoid the punishment due to the first”
“Beccaria”
Laws are the conditions , under which men,
naturally independent, united themselves in society.
Some motives therefore that strike the
senses, were necessary to prevent the despotism of each individual from
plunging society into its former chaos. Such motives are the punishments
established against infractions of the laws.
Judges, in criminal cases have no right to
interpret the penal laws, because they are not legislators.
Crimes will be less frequent in proportion
as the code of laws is more universally read and understood.
Punishments which I would call political
obstacles prevent the fatal effects of private interest.
The end of punishment is no other than to
prevent the criminal from doing further injury to society, and to prevent
others from committing the like offence.
The more immediately after the commission
of a crime a punishment is inflicted the more just and useful it will be.
Crimes are more effectually prevented by
the certainty than the severity of punishment.
Deterrence Theory
o Strongly reflects the ideas of the classical theory
o Focuses on the impact of official punishments of crime
o Became popular in the 19970’s after the United States
o Deterrence theory focuses on two types of deterrence
i)
Specific deterrence
ii)
General deterrence
Specific deterrence means that punishing
offender for their crimes deters those specific offenders from further crime.
General deterrence means that punishing some offender deters people in the
general population from crime, including those who were not punished.
Nagin defines general deterrence as the
“imposition of sanctions on one person (n order to) demonstrate to the rest of
the public the expected costs of a criminal act, and thereby discourage criminal
behavior in the general population.
In Contrast, andenaer states that if
persons are “deterred by the actual experience of punishment, we speak of
special deterrence”
Rational choice Theory
o Again, assumes offenders are rational people who seek to0 maximize
theory pleasure and minimize their pain.
o Not only examines costs and benefits of crime, but individual
traits, attitudes towards crime and the extent to which individuals have been
reinforced and punished for crime.
o Individual must decide if they are willing to become involved in
crime
o Next, the decision of what type of crime to commit needs to be made.
o Not only does the choice to
Like classical and deterrence theories,
rational choice theory assumes that offenders are rational people who seek to
maximize their pleasure and minimize their pain.
Clarke and Cornish state that a variety of
individual and social factors influence the individual’s estimate of the
benefits and costs of crime.
First, individuals decide whether they are
willing to become involved in crime to satisfy their needs. Second, once
individuals decide they are ready to engage in crime, they must decide to commit
a particular offense.
Its staring point was an assumption that
offenders seek to benefit themselves by their criminal behavior: t6hat this
involves the making of decisions and of choices, however rudimentary on
occasion these processes might be.
A crime specific focus was adopted, not
only because different crimes may meet different needs, but also because the situational
context of decision making and the i9nformation being handled will vary greatly
among offenders.
It was argued that a decision making
approach to crime requires that a fundamental involvement and criminal events,
Criminal involvement.
The rational choice perspective is intended
to provide a framework for understanding all forms of crime.
The Positivist school
o Negative
o Lombroso’s challenge to the classical school of thought allowed him
to present his theory for the first time in the Positivist school of thought in
1876
o Lombroso presented criminals as “genetic throwbacks”
o Traits of criminals according to Lombroso: Large jaw and cheekbones,
swollen or protruding lips, arm span greater that one’s height, excessive
wrinkling, etc.
o The criminal greatly resembled the primitive caveman.
o Lombroso also continued with trend of scientifically studying
criminals
o It was his vast study of criminal and non criminals that allowed him
to recognize environmental factors play a large role in committing a crime.
o Lombroso realized there are several types of criminals. The “born
Criminals” only making up a third of the population
Lombroso is the father of positive school
Lombroso argued that many criminals are
“genetic Throwbacks” or primitive people in the midst of modern technology.
Their primitive, savage state is what leads them to engage in crime. Criminals,
then, are not normal, rational individuals who choose to engage in crime to
maximize their pleasure and minimize their pain. Rather they are fundamentally different
then noncriminals, and these differences compel them to engage in crime.
The positive school argues that crime is
due to forces beyond the individuals control, Biological, psychological, or
social forces. The positive school is distinguished by its search for these
forces or causes of crime and by its reliance on the “scientific method” in
this search.
A central part of the theory argues that
many criminals are less evolved than noncriminals.
Lombroso’s theory was discredited when
subsequent research failed to find that criminals differ from non criminals in
terms of physical features he listed.
Individuals traits and crime
Certain types pf environment, including
family, school, peer groups, and community, are said to increase the likelihood
of crime.
New theories are focusing on a broader
range of biological factors; including genetic inheritance and “biological
harms” such as head injury, exposure to toxins such as lead and birth
complications. Second they better specify how these biological factors lead to
crime.
Third most biological theories now
recognize that the social environment influences whether biological factors
lead to the development of certain traits and whether these traits lead to
crime.
|Evidence suggests that there may be a
genetic component to those traits conducive to crime and that such traits
conducive to crime and that such traits may also stem from |”biological harms”
of a nongenetic nature, such as head injury, exposure to certain toxic
substances, and some types of birth complications.
A central part of the theory argues that
many criminals are less evolved than non criminals.
Lombroso’s theory was discredited when
subsequent research failed to find that criminals differ from noncriminals in terms
of physical features he listed.
Certain types of environments, including
family, school, peer group, and community, are said to increase the likelihood
of crime.
In recent years criminologists have began
to focus on a broader range of biological factors including genetic inheritance
and biological harms. “such as head injuries, exposure to toxins such as lead,
and birth complications. “ Second they better specify how these biological
factors lead to crime. Third, most biological theories now recognize that the
social environment influences whether biological factors lead to the
development of certain traits and whether these traits lead to crime.
Evidence suggests that there may be a
genetic component to these traits conducive to crime and that such traits may
also stem from “biological harms” of a nongenetic nature, such as head injury,
exposure to certain toxic substances and some types of birth complications.
If crime is genetically inherited, we would
expect identical twins to be more similar in crime than fraternal twins. Most
studies indicate that this is the case. Twin studies however suffer from
certain problems. Most notably some evidence suggests that identical twins- because
of their more similar appearances and traits are more likely to spend time
together and be treated the same than fraternal twins.
Adoption studies focus on children who were
separated from their biological parents early in life. The traits of these
children are compared to the traits of their biological parents. If crime is inherited
we would expect more crime among adopted children whose biological parents are
criminal than among adopted children whose biological parents are not
criminals. Most data suggests that this is the case.
Twin and adoption studies suggest that
there is some genetic basis for crime, but they do not identify those genes
that may influence the predisposition for crime.
Studies suggests that crime is most likely
when the individual possesses a biological predisposition for crime and is in
an environment conductive to crime.
These theories all argue that genes have an
effect on traits conductive to crime and that under some conditions individuals
with such traits “might be able to reproduce at fairly high rates” Thereby
passing their genes on to others.
The
interactive effect of biological factors, traits, and the social environment on
crime
Bio
social theories
The evidence is generally supportive of the
idea that crime is especially likely when biologically predisposed individuals
are in environments conducive to crime. Some studies find that biological
factors are most likely to lead to crime in advantaged rather than
disadvantaged environments.
Such findings are usually explained by
arguing that biological factors are most important when the “social push” for
crime is minimal.
In sum biological factors and the
individual traits influenced by such factors play6a central role in the
explanation of crime. They influence the social environments in which people
find themselves and likely play a major role in determining how people respond
to such environments.
The
central and Autonomic nervous system
Most researchers suggest that genetic
inheritance and biological harms contribute to traits and crime through their
effect on the central nervous system (the brain and the spinal cord) and the
autonomic nervous system (which controls the heart ate and gland secretions,
among other things, and influences the emotional reaction to stimuli)
Genetic factors and biological harms may
also contribute to dysfunctions in the left hemisphere of the brain that have
been linked to low verbal IQ scores. And biological factors may affect the
autonomic nervous system, which data suggesting that criminals are under
aroused.
This underarausal may contribute to such
traits as impulsivity, sensation seeking, the inability to learn from
punishment, and hyperactivity. Individuals who are under aroused are less
affected by punishment and require more to stimulate them.
Environmental
influences on traits
Whether individuals develop such traits
depends on the socialization efforts f parents and others.
Biological
characteristics and criminal disposition.
Rowe argues that genetic factors and
biological harms affect individual traits through their impact on the central
nervous system and autonomic nervous system (which includes the sympathetic and
parasympathetic nervous systems)
Finding
the physiological basis of criminal disposition
Deficits in the prefrontal cortex may
reduce the executive function- that is, the ability to plan and to reflect on
one’s actions. Impaired executive function implies impulsive and disorganized
behavior, a focus on the present rather than on the future.
Serotonin
levels
A consistent association has been found
between low cerebral spinal fluid SM Levels and suicidal impulses, suicide
attempts, and completed suicides. Spinal Fuid SM levels are also lower in
violent criminals. Furthermore people with suicidal ideation are sometimes
impulsively aggressive, and their aggression is associated with lower Sm
levels.
Heart
rate tests of criminal disposition
Heart rate is physiological activity that
is exquisitely sensitive to many environmental demands. Although the heart is a
peripheral organ from the brain, the activity of the brain, including a
psychological appraisal of situations, determines heart rate through the
nervous system.
All 14 studies found a lower resting heart rate
to be associated with a greater rate of crime.
Skin
conductance Tests of criminal disposition
Skin conductance is measured by recording
how much the fingers sweat.
Association have been found between a weak
skin conductance response and criminal disposition.
One underlying factor for both a weaker
skin conductance and lower resting heart rate may e a lower state of arousal in
the brain.
Tests
of brain anatomy and function
Raine and his colleagues have explored the
relationship between brain images and criminal disposition.
Their general finding is that the frontal
lobes- the brain region most involved in higher thought proves and in the integration
of emotions and thought- may malfunction in the brain of criminally disposed
individuals.
Routine activity theory
o Three elements are necessary for a crime to occur
i)
Motivated offenders
ii)
Suitable targets
iii)
Lack of capable guardians
Rational choice theory argues that
individuals choose to engage in crime. But “people make choices, but they
cannot choose the choices available to them.”
According to this theoretical approach,
three elements are necessary for a crime to occur: Motivated offender must come
in contact with suitable targets in the absence of capable guardians.
According to the theory the supply of
suitable targets and the pretense of capable guardians are a function of our
everyday or “routine activity”
It
argues that in order for crime to occur, motivated offenders must converge with
suitable targets in the absence of capable guardians. It also argues that the
probability of this occurring is influenced by our “routine activities”
including our work, family, leisure, and consumption activities.
Unraveling
juvenile delinquency
The delinquents as a group are
distinguishable from the non-\delinquents: (1) physically, in being essentially
mesomorphic in constitution (solid, closely knit, muscular) (2)
Temperamentally, in being restlessly energetic, impulsive, extroverted,
aggressive, destructive (often sadistic) – traits which may be related more or
less to the erratic growth pattern and its physiological correlates or
consequences. (3) in attitude y being hostile defiant, resentful, suspicious,
stubborn, socially assertive, adventurous, unconventional, non-submissive to
authority. (4) Psychologically, in tending to direct and concrete, rather than
symbolic, intellectual expression, and in being less methodical in their
approach to problems (5) socio-culturally, in having been reared to a far
greater extent than the control group in homes of little understanding,
affection, stability, or moral fibre by parents usually unfit to be effective
guides and prote4ctors or according to psychoanalytic theory, desirable sources
for emulation an the construction of a consistent well balanced and socially
normal superego during the early stages of character development. Nahile in
individual cases the stresses contributed by any one of the above pressure-areas
of dissocial behavior tendency may adequately account for persistence in
delinquency as dependent upon the interplay of the conditions and forces from
all these areas.
Containment theory
Walter Reckless believed that individuals
are exposed to an array of conditions that could predispose them to break the
law. These criminal propensities might be "pushes," which might come
either from troubled psyches or from pressures generated by stressful
circumstances outside the individual. Or these propensities might derive from
"pulls" such as family members, friends, or older role models in the
neighborhood who are engaged in, and seemingly enjoying and profiting from,
various criminal enterprises.
Reckless recognized that pushes and pulls
toward crime were not evenly distributed in society, and thus that not everyone
was equally motivated to break the law.
He understood that pushes and pulls varied
across communities.
Outer containment is similar to what
criminologists today call”
informal social control"
Inner containment involves possessing
conventional beliefs, a commitment to goals, a self concept as a
"good" person, the ability to handle distress, and a strong
conscience- among other things.
A middle range theory
Containment theory does not explain
criminal or delinquent activity which is a part of "normal" and
"expected" roles and activities in some families and communities.
Between these two extremes in the spectrum
of crime and delinquency is a very large middle range of norm violation.
Containment theory seeks to explain this
large middle range of offenders.
Containment theory seeks to ferret out more
specifically the inner and outer controls over normative behavior.
Social bond theory
Delinquency and social bonds are inversely
related. Second, the concept of social bonds has four elements- Attachment,
commitment, involvement, and belief-
A General Theory of crime
Some criminologists see crime as a by
product of people with low self control who have high criminogenic
propensities, coming into contact with illegal opportunities.
Self control not opportunities will be the
primary determinant of people's involvement in crime across their life course.
A power control theory of gender and delinquency
In patriarchal families, girls are raised
in a "cult of domesticity"
In which the goal is to have them to grow
up to be house wives like their mothers.
In egalitarian families, however, the goal
is to prepare both daughters and sons for the labor force.
In patriarchal families, boys are more
involved in delinquency than girls because they experience fewer controls and
develop preferences for taking risks. In egalitarian families however, boys and
girls are exposed to comparable levels of parental control and thus their risk
preferences and involvement in delinquency are similar.
A theory of differential association
Sutherland’s theory is that criminal
behavior is learned by interacting with others, especially intimate
others. It states that “a person becomes
delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to law violation over
definitions unfavorable to violation of law”
Factors such as social class, race, and
broken homes influence crime because they affect the likelihood that
individuals will associate with others who present definitions favorable to
crime.
Association with delinquent others is the
best predictor of crime, and that these delinquent others partly influence
crime by leading the individual to adopt beliefs conducive to crime.
- Criminal behavior is learned.
- Criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons
in a process of communication.
- The principal part of the learning of criminal behavior occurs
within intimate personal groups.
- When criminal behavior is learned the learning includes a)
Techniques of committing the crime, which are sometimes very complicated,
sometimes very simple b) the specific direction of motives, drive,
rationalizations and attitudes.
- The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from
definitions of the legal codes as favorable or unfavorable.
- A person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions
favorable to violation of law over definitions unfavorable to violation of
law.
- Differential association may vary in frequency, duration,
priority, and intensity.
- The process of learning criminal behavior by association with
criminal and anti criminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms that
are involved in any other learning.
- While criminal behavior is an expression of general needs and
values, it is not explained by those general needs and values since
non-criminal behavior is an expression of the same needs and values.
Techniques of
Neutralization
The dominant
view was that delinquents held values which were the opposite of middle-class
values.
The first part
their article presents evidence suggesting that delinquents do not generally
approve of delinquency. The second part
of their article presents and alternative formulation, in which they contend
that delinquents are able to engage in delinquency by employing certain
“techniques of neutralization.” Although
delinquents believe that delinquency is generally bad, they claim that their
delinquent acts are justified for any one of several reasons (e.g., the victim
had it coming, they didn’t really hurt anybody.) These justifications are said to be sured
before the delinquent act, and they make the delinquent act possible by
neutralizing the individual’s belief that it is bad.
A Social Learning Theory
of Crime
Akers argues
that we learn to engage in crime through exposure to and the adoption of
definitions favorable to crime. Akers, however, more fully describes the nature
of such definitions.
He argues that
crime may also be learned though imitation and differential reinforcement.
The Central Concepts and Propositions of Social
Learning Theory
The basic
assumption in social learning theory is that the same learning process in a
context of social structure, interaction, and situation, produces both
conforming and deviant behavior. The
difference lies in the direction…[of] the balance of influences on behavior.
Differential association. Differential
association refers to the process whereby one is exposed to normative
definitions favorable or unfavorable to illegal or law-abiding behavior.
Differential reinforcement. Differential
reinforcement refers to the balance of anticipated or actual rewards and
punishments that follow or are consequences of behavior.
The Social Learning Process: Sequence and Feedback Effects
This process is
one is which the balance of learned definitions, imitation of criminal or
deviant models, and the anticipated balance of reinforcement produces the
initial delinquent or deviant act. The
facilitative effects of these variables continue in the repetition of acts,
although imitation becomes less important than it was in the first commission
of the act. After initiation, the actual
social and non-social reinforces and punishers affect whether or not the acts
will be repeated and at what level of frequency. Not only the behavior itself, but also the
definitions are affected by the consequences of the initial act. Whether a deviant act will be committed in a
situation that presents the opportunity depends on the learning history of the
individual and the set of reinforcement contingencies in that situation.
Social Structure and Social Learning
Akers has
proposed a SSSL (social structure and social learning) model in which social
structural factors are hypothesized to have an indirect effect on the
individual’s conduct. They affect the
social learning variables of differential association, differential
reinforcement, definitions, and imitation which, in turn, have a direct impact
on the individual’s conduct.
Four dimension
of social structure that provide the contexts within which social learning
variables operate:
i)
Differential Social
Organization
ii)
Differential Location in the
Social Structure
a.
Class, gender, race and
ethnicity, marital status, and age
iii)
Theoretically Defined
Structural Variables
a.
Anomie, class oppression,
social disorganization, group conflict, patriarchy
iv)
Differential Social Location
refers to individuals’ membership in and relationship to:
a.
Family, friendship/peer groups,
leisure groups, colleagues, and work groups
The Thesis of a Subculture
of Violence
Wolfgang and
Ferracuti draw on Sutherland’s differential association theory….
..Among other
things, they note that the subculture of violence is not completely at odds
with the larger culture, it does not unconditionally approve of violence, and
it is not share to the same extent by all members of the “subsociety.” The subculture is most prominent among young
adults, and it defines violence as an expected, even required response to a
range of situations. Violence is only
required in certain situations. The
subculture is learned in interaction with others, although they note that
personality variables may influence the extents to which the subcultural
attitudes are assimilated. Individuals
who assimilate the subculture of violence will interpret certain situations
differently than other people.
The code of the streets
Andeerson argues that there exists a “code
of the streets” in poor, inner city African-american communities. While most
people do not accept the values underlying this code, the code places all young
African American men unfer much preassure to respond to certain situacions
–Shows of disrepct- with violence.
While most people are opposed to the
subculture, the subcultured nevertheless
shapes the behavior of most communitiy residents. Further, the influence of the
subculture4 is pervasive, affecting one’s behavior in a wide range of
situacions and most especially affecting how one interprets and responds to
challenges.
Decent
and street families
Decent residents judge themselves to be so
while judgiung others to be of the street, and street individuals often present
themselves as decent, drawing distinctions between themselves and other people.
SO-Called decent families tend to accept
mainstream vbalues more fully and attempt mainstream values more fully and
attpemt to instill them in their children.
Decent Parents tend to be strict in their
child rearing practices, encouraging children to respect authority and walk a
straight moral line.
So called street parents, in contrast often
show a lack of consideration for other people and have a rather superficial
sense of family and community.
Microlevel learning theories
Sutherland’s theory of differential
assocation was a microlevel earning theory. It sates that criminal behavior is
learned in interaction with others particularly intimatye others like friends
and family.
Indiiduals are most likely to engage in
crime if they are exposed to definitions favorable to law violation 1) Early in
life, 2) on a relatively frequent basis, 3) Over a long period of time, and 4)
from sources they like and respect.
Macro Level Learning theories
The Macro level version of learning theory
argue that there are certain groups in the nited States with values that are
conducive to crime or that approve of or justify crime in cerain circumstances.
Other theorists have argued that young
people constitute a deviant subculture. In particular, young people are said to
approve of certain minoir forms of crime, like gambling and underage drinking,
and to hold values that are conducive to crime.
The
origins of these deviant subcultures
Strain
theory
Individuals who are unable to achieve
valued goals through legitimate channels may attempt to achieve them throught
illegitimate channels or they may substitute alternative goals which they are
capable of achieving in their place.
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