THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION

THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION

EXPLORING THE BIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION

Biosocial Theory Biosocial criminology posits that it's not just environmental and social factors
affecting criminal behavior, but biological factors as well. Studies show that
interaction of biological factors and social factors provide the perfect playing ground
for an individual to develop criminal behaviors.

An interdisciplinary field that aims to explain crime and antisocial behavior by

exploring bio-cultural factors.

Evolutionary A broad-based view that certain types of criminal behavior are genetic and passed
Theory down from one generation to the next through evolutionary processes of natural
selection and survival.

Arousal Theory This theory states that an individual’s level of arousal works in conjunction with the
social environment. Those with low levels of arousal are less likely to learn
appropriate ways to deal with aggression and violence and thus are more prone to
commit crime.

Life Course Theory An emerging interdisciplinary theory that seeks to understand the multiple factors
that shape people's lives from birth to death, placing individual and family
development in cultural and historical contexts.

Latent Trait Theory The idea that certain people have a personal characteristic that is responsible for
their need to commit crime. This can be seen in that these individuals have a trait, a
characteristic, which is latent, hidden, that controls their impulses.

Family Studies: The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeble-Mindedness was a 1912
Jukes and Kallikak book by the American psychologist and eugenicist Henry H. Goddard. The work was
Family an extended case study of Goddard's for the inheritance of "feeble-mindedness," a
general category referring to a variety of mental disabilities including intellectual
disability, learning disabilities, and mental illness. Goddard concluded that a variety
of mental traits were hereditary and that society should limit reproduction by people
possessing these traits.

Somatotyping Somatotypes are a set of generalized body types. Psychologist William Sheldon
Theory came up with somatotypes in the 1940s and they were one of the biological theories
developed in this time period that attempted to explain and predict crime based on a
person's body type. These body types broke down into three categories:
ectomorphs, endomorphs, and mesomorphs.

Sheldon developed these categories based on existing knowledge at the time of

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how embryos develop in layers, namely the inner layer, or the endoderm; the middle
layer or the mesoderm; and the outer layer, or the ectoderm.

Generally speaking, ectomorphs are thin and slender and may appear
fragile, endomorphs are round and solid and often appear overweight,
and mesomorphs tend to have developed muscles and appear strong and powerful.

Physiognomy The study of the systematic correspondence of psychological characteristics to

facial features or body structure.

An application of the theory of physiognomy, which is the idea that you can tell all
kinds of things about a “person's character or personality from their outer
appearance

Phrenology The study of the shape of the head through the examination and measurement of
the bumps on an individual's skull.

A theory of human behavior based upon the belief that an individual's character and
mental faculties correlate with the shape of their head.

Nature Theory The etiology of criminal behavior is biologically based in genetic inheritance and the
structure and functions of people's brains and other psychological responses.

DETERMINING THE CLASSICAL THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION

Rational Choice Implies that criminals are rational in their decision-making, and despite the
Theory consequences, that the benefits of committing the crime outweigh the
punishment. Rational choice theory has its fair share of non-supports, simply
because the theory suggest criminals act rational in their thinking. Theory adopts a
utilitarian belief that humans are reasoning actors who weigh means and ends,
costs and benefits, in order to make a rational choice.

Routine Activity A sub-field of crime opportunity theory that focuses on situations of crimes. The
Theory premise of routine activity theory is that crime is relatively unaffected by social
causes such as poverty, inequality, and unemployment

Lifestyle Theory Asserts that crime is both a propensity and developmental process and that the
career criminal and criminal career paradigms, rather than being diametrically
opposed, are actually complementary.

General The doctrine that a community or a society of people can be deterred from
Deterrence and committing a criminal act after having witnessed the punishment of an individual or
individuals for having committed that act.

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Specific This style of deterrence is used with a specific offender in mind. The belief is that if
Deterrence Theory an individual is punished for a criminal act, then that individual will be less likely to
violate the law in the future.

Victim Analyzes how a victim's interaction with an offender may contribute to

Precipitation the crime being committed. The theory is most commonly associated with crimes
Theory like homicide, rape, assault, and robbery.

Incapacitation The term “incapacitation” when used in the context of sentencing philosophy refers
Theory to the effect of a sentence in terms of positively preventing the sentenced person
from committing future offenses. Incapacitation aims to prevent future crimes by
taking away the offender's ability to commit offenses.

The incapacitation theory of punishment advocate that offenders should be

prevented from committing further crimes either by their (temporary or permanent)
removal from society or by some other method that restricts their physical ability to
reoffend in some other way

EXPLAINING THE PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION

Psychodynamic Theory is centered on the notion that an individual's early childhood experience
Theory influences his or her likelihood for committing future crimes.

Behavioral Theory Argues that behavior is learned. Environment is also a major factor in the
development of behaviors. Edwin Sutherland's landmark work, Principles
of Criminology, introduced the theory that criminal behavior occurs in a cultural
conflict where association with criminals increases criminal behavior.

Social Learning The social learning theory of criminology says that people learn from the community
Theory around them. This happens in two ways: Differential association is the idea that
people learn values and behaviors associated with crimes, and differential
reinforcement is the fact that rewards and punishments shape behavior.

Cognitive Theory Crime explains criminal behavior as a defect in moral thinking, thought processes,
and mental development.

Moral Theory refers generally to theories of individual psychology that investigate

Development how moral reasoning emerges and develops as the individual matures.
Theory

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Intergenerational Suggest why children of convicted parents have a higher risk of offending and
Transmission investigated whether having a convicted parent influenced this association.
Theory

Differential Theory explains that criminal behavior is learned by the reinforcements we receive
Association- after committing deviant behavior. A theory developed by Edwin Sutherland
Reinforcement proposing that through interaction with others, individuals learn the values, attitudes,
Theory techniques, and motives for criminal behavior.

Eysenck’s Focused on two dimensions of higher-order traits, extraversion vs. introversion and
Conditioning emotional stability vs. neuroticism, or emotional instability. Extraverts are commonly
Theory known as being loud and outgoing while introverts are often thought of as quiet and
reserved.

Integrated Theory Theoretical integration is the process of joining ideas from two or more
criminological theories into a single theoretical statement, often to provide a more
complete and accurate explanation of crime or delinquent behavior.

Theories that combine the concepts and central propositions from two or more prior
existing theories into a new single set of integrated concepts and propositions. ...
The most common form of integration involves combining social control and social
learning theories

Maternal Bowlby's (1953) Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis proposed that a “warm, intimate &
Deprivation and continuous relationship with a mother (figure)” is necessary for healthy
Attachment psychological/ emotional development. “Mother-love in infancy/ childhood is as
Theory important for mental health as are vitamins & proteins for physical health.”

Attachment Bowlby's evolutionary theory of attachment suggests that children come into the
Theory world biologically pre-programmed to form attachments with others, because this will
help them to survive.

CATEGORIZING THE SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION

Social Theory suggest that a person's residential location is more significant than the
Disorganization person's characteristics when predicting criminal activity and the juveniles living in
Theory this areas acquire criminality by the cultures approval within the disadvantaged
urban neighborhoods

Concentric Zone One of the most used theories in the criminal justice world. It enables developing
Theory strategies to fight criminal activities development of social groups within the
community. The data identified criminal activity and crime spike in various ages, and
groups.

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The concentric zone model, also known as the Burgess model or the CCD model, is
one of the earliest theoretical models to explain urban social structures.

Anomie Theory Anomie is a social condition in which there is a disintegration or disappearance of

the norms and values that were previously common to the society. The concept,
thought of as “normlessness,” was developed by the founding sociologist,
Émile Durkheim.

Strain Theory A sociology and criminology theory developed in 1938 by Robert K. Merton.
The theory states that society puts pressure on individuals to achieve socially
accepted goals

Relative A view of social change and movements, according to which people take action for
Deprivation social change in order to acquire something (for example, opportunities, status, or
Theory wealth) that others possess and which they believe they should have.

General Strain General strain theory (GST), as put forth by sociologist Robert Agnew, refers to the
Theory notion that some people react to the various stressors they experience in life via
unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as turning to crime.

Strain theories state that certain strains or stressors increase the likelihood of crime.
These strains lead to negative emotions, such as frustration and anger. These
emotions create pressure for corrective action, and crime is one possible response

Cultural Strain Strain theory explains deviant behavior as an inevitable outcome of the distress
Theory individuals experience when they're deprived of ways to achieve culturally valued
goals. For example, Western society places value on economic success, even
though wealth is accessible to just a small percentage of people

Delinquent Cohen's basic assumption is that most juvenile criminals are members of delinquent
Subculture Theory subcultures. Subcultures are defined as subsystems or anti-systems of society with
their own attitudes and norms that often contradict the moral concepts of majority
society.

Differential The differential opportunity theory simply put holds that a poor kid growing up in the
Opportunity slums might take to crime because of the lack of opportunity in his environment but
Theory if the environment is reversed and he is put in an opportunity rich environment he
will move away from a life of crime.

Drift Theory Theory proposes that juveniles sense an obligation to the law. This obligation to the
law remains in place most of the time. However, when this obligation is strained,
juvenile delinquents tend to drift into crime.

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Differential A theory of crime and delinquency developed by Sutherland. This is a social

Association learning theory presented in nine steps. Criminality is basically the result of
Theory engaging in inappropriate behaviors exhibited by those with whom we interact. Also,
one of the four main concepts of Akers’s social learning theory. Akers retains the
process of differential association, and expands upon it in his theory.

Containment A form of control theory proposed by Walter Reckless in the 1940s–1960s.

Theory The theory contends that a series of external social factors and internal qualities
effectively insulate certain individuals from criminal involvement even when
ecological variables induce others to engage in crime.

Social Bond A framework that criminologists and sociologists use to explain why a person would
Theory decide to engage in criminal behavior. The social ties an individual has with his
group. Four different types of social bonds by Hirschi that ensure socialization i.e.
attachment, commitment, involvement and personal norms. Attachment refers to a
person's interest in his/ her social surroundings.

Social Reaction: The theory that the formal and informal application of stigmatizing and deviant
Labeling Theory “labels” or tags applied to an individual by society will not deter, but rather instigate
future deviant or criminal acts.

Primary Deviance Deviant acts that are committed in the absence of or preceding the application of a
deviant label for the acts. While it may or may not be the first crime a person has
committed, it is not based on a response to being labeled as a deviant

Secondary Criminal or deviant acts that is committed in response to, or because of, a label that
Deviance has been applied to an individual.

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