SOCIOLOGY OF CRIMES, ETHICS AND HUMAN RELATIONS

CRIM. 1: INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY OF CRIMES

CRIMINOLOGY
- according to Edwin H. Sutherland, “criminology is the entire body of knowledge
regarding crime as a social phenomenon. It includes within its scope the process of
making of laws, of breaking of laws, and the society’s reaction towards the breaking
of laws.”
- Criminology is a body of knowledge regarding crimes, criminals and the efforts of
society to prevent and repress them.
- the scientific study of the causes of crime in relation to man and society who set and
define rules and regulations for himself and others to govern

Criminologist (R.A. 6506)

- any person who is a graduate of the Degree of Criminology, who has passed the
examination for criminologists and is registered as such by the Board of Examiners
of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).

Origin of the word “Criminology”

Etymologically, the term criminology came from the Latin word “crimen” meaning crime
and Greek word “Logos” which means “to study”.
In 1885, Rafael Garofalo, an Italian Law Professor coined the term criminologia.
In 1889, Paul Topinard, French Anthropologist, used the term criminology in French
criminologie for the first time

Principal Divisions of Criminology

1. Etiology of Crimes – the scientific analysis of the causes of crimes and the criminal
behavior.
2. Sociology of Law – refers to the investigation of the nature of criminal law and its
administration
3. Penology – the study of the control of crimes and the rehabilitation of offender

Is criminology a science?
According to George Wilker, criminology cannot become a science because it has not
yet acquired universal validity. Edwin H. Sutherland, the Dean of Modern Criminology, hoped
that it will become a science in the future since the causes of crimes are almost the same which
may be biological, environmental or combination of the two.

Nature of Criminology
1. It is applied science because criminology as a body of knowledge has already
established universally accepted principles and concepts and these are used by other
field of study. (INSTRUMENTATION)
2. It is a social science because it studies crime as a social phenomenon. Crime is a social
problem which has a great impact to society.
3. It is dynamic because the concepts of criminology and their applications adapt to the
changing time.
 4. It is nationalistic because the study of criminology takes into consideration the history,
the culture and the social norms and the laws of the country. Each country has its own
set of laws and crimes are defined by the laws of the country.

Scope in the Study of Criminology

1. Study of the origin and development of criminal law
2. Study of the causes of crimes and development of criminals
3. Study of the other sciences that examine criminal behavior using scientific methods
such as:
criminal demography – the study of the relationship between criminality and population
criminal epidiomology – the study of the relationship between environment and
criminality
criminal ecology – the study of criminality in relation to the spatial distribution in a
community
criminal physical anthropology – the study of criminality in relation to physical
constitution of men
criminal psychology – the study of human behavior in relation to criminality
criminal psychiatry – the study of human mind in relation to criminality
victimology – the study of the role of the victim in the commission of a crime

CRIMES AND CRIMINALS

CRIME
– refers to an act committed or omitted in violation of public law (Phil. Law Dictionary).
- It also refers to an act committed or omitted in violation of a public law forbidding or
commanding it (Reyes 2006).

CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES

LEGAL CLASSIFICATIONS:
1. According to law violated
a. Felony – an act or omission punishable by law which is committed by means of
dolo (deceit) or culpa (fault)and punishable under the Revised Penal Code
b. Offense – an act or omission in violation of a special law
c. Infraction – an act or omission in violation of a city or municipal ordinance
2. According to the manner of committing crime:
a. By means of dolo or deceit – if the crime is committed with deliberate intent.
Thus, it is called intentional felonies.
 freedom or voluntariness
 intelligence
 intent
b. By means of culpa or fault
- felonies committed by means of culpa (fault)
- the act or omission of the offender is not malicious and the injury caused by the
offender is unintentional, it being the simply the incident of another act performed
without malice
 lack of foresight
 lack of skill
 negligence
 imprudence
3. According to the stages in the commission:
 a. Attempted – the crime is attempted when the offender commences the
commission of a felony directly or over acts, and does not perform all the acts of
execution which should produce the felony by reason of some cause or accident
other than this own spontaneous desistance.
b. Frustrated - when the offender performs all the acts of execution which would
produce the felony as a consequence but which, nevertheless do not produce it
by reason of causes independent of the will of the perpetrator.
c. Consummated - when all the elements necessary for its accomplishment and
execution are present
4. According to plurality:
a. Simple Crime – is a single act constituting only one offense.

b. Complex Crime – single act constituting two or more grave felonies or an is a

necessary means for committing the other
Two (2) Kinds of Complex Crime:
1. compound crime (delito compuesto)
2. complex crime proper (delito complejo)
5. According to gravity:
a. Grave felonies - are those to which the law attaches the capital punishment or
penalties which in any of their period are afflictive.
b. Less grave felonies - are those which the law punishes with penalties which in their
maximum period are correctional.
c. Light felonies - are infraction of laws for the commission of which the penalty of
arresto menor or a fine not exceeding 200 pesos or both is provided.
6. According to the nature of the act:
a. Crimes mala in se – are acts that are inherently evil. Examples are murder, robbery,
etc.
b. Crimes mala prohibita – are acts which are prohibited only because there are laws
forbidding such acts. Examples are Illegal Possession of firearms, Traffic Violations,
etc.

CRIMINOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATIONS OF CRIME

1. According to the result of the crime:
a. Acquisitive crime – if the offender acquired or gained something by committing the
crime. Examples are robbery, estafa, bribery, etc.
b. Destructive crime – if the crime resulted in destruction, damage or even death.
Examples are arson, murder and homicide, damage to property, etc.

2. According to the time or period of commission:

a. Seasonal crimes – are crimes that happen only during a particular season or period
of the year. Examples are violation of election law, tax law violations, etc.
b. Situational crimes – are crimes committed when the situation is conducive to the
commission of the crime and there is an opportunity to commit it. Examples are
pickpocketing, theft, etc.

3. According to the length of time of the commission:

a. Instant crimes – are those crimes that can be committed in a very short time.
Example: theft
b. Episoidal crimes – are crimes committed through series of acts or episodes and in
much longer time. Example: serious illegal detention
 4. According to place or location:
a. Static crimes – are committed only in one place. examples are theft and robbery
b. Continuing crimes – are crimes that take place in more than one place or several
places. examples: abduction, kidnapping, etc.

5. According to the use of mental faculties:

a. Rational crimes – when the offender is capable of knowing what he is doing and
understanding the consequences of his actions.
b. Irrational Crimes – when the offender suffers from any form of mental disorders,
insanity or abnormality. Thus, the offender doesn’t know what he is doing.

6. According to the type of offender:

a. White Collar Crimes – crimes committed by those persons belonging to the upper
socio-economic status or in the course of his occupational activities.
b. Blue Collar Crimes – are those crimes committed by ordinary criminals as a means
of livelihood.

CRIMINAL
- in the legal sense, a criminal is any person who has been found to have committed a
wrongful act in the course of the standard judicial process; there must be a final
verdict of his guilt
- in the criminological sense, a person is already considered a criminal the moment he
committed a crime

CLASSIFICATIONS OF CRIMINALS
1. According to etiology
a. Acute criminal – is a person who committed crime as a result of reacting to a
situation or during a moment of anger or burst of feeling.
b. Chronic criminal – is one who committed a crime with intent or deliberated thinking.
1. Neurotic criminal – is one who has mental disorder.
2. Normal criminal – a person who commits crimes because he looks up to,
idolizes people who are criminals.
2. According to the type of offender:
a. Ordinary criminal – a criminal who engages in crimes which do not require
specialized or technical skill
b. Organized criminal – is one who possesses some skills and know-how which
enable him to commit crimes and evade detection.
c. Professional criminal – a highly skilled criminals which are engaged in a large
scale criminal activities ad usually operate in groups.
3. According to criminal activities:
a. Professional criminal – a criminal who earns his living through criminal activities.
b. Situational criminal – a person who got involved in criminal act because the
situation presented itself.
c. Habitual criminal – one who repeatedly commits criminal act for different reasons.
d. Accidental criminal – a person who accidentally violated the law due to some
circumstances.
STUDY OF CRIMINAL LAW
EVOLUTION OF CRIMINAL LAWS
A) PREHISTORIC CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
Primitive Tribes
- punishment may be in the form of ostracism and expulsion
 - adultery may be punished by the aggrieved husband who may kill the adulterer and his
own offending wife
- crime may be avenged by the victim himself or by the victim’s family

B) THE EARLY CODES

1) CODE OF HAMMURABI
- Hammurabi, the king of Babylon during the eighteenth century BC, is recognized as the
first codifier of laws
- it provides the first comprehensive view of the laws in the early days
- the Code was carved in stone
- the “law of talion”, or the principle of “tit for tat”,(an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth)
appears throughout the Code
- under the principle of the law of talion, the punishment should be the same as the harm
inflicted on the victim

2) THE HITTITES
- the Hittites existed about two centuries after Hammurabi and eventually conquered
Babylon

3) CODE OF DRAKON
- knows as the “ultimate in severity”
- codified by Drakon, the Athenian lawgiver of the seventh century BC

4) LAWS OF SOLON
- Solon was appointed archon and was given legislative powers
- Solon repealed all the laws of the Code of Drakon, except the law on homicide
- Solon was one of the first to see that a lawgiver had to make laws that applied equally
to all citizens and also saw that the law of punishment had to maintain proportionality to
the crimes committed

5) ROME’S TWELVE TABLES

- Roman law began with the Twelve Tables which were written in the middle of the sixth
century BC
- the Twelve Tables were the foundation of all laws in Rome and written in tablets of
bronze
- the Twelve Tables were drafted by the Decemvirs, a body of men composed of
patricians

CRIMINAL LAW
– is that branch of public law which defines crimes treats of their nature and provides for
their punishment.

Revised Penal Code or Act No. 3815

– book that contains the Philippine Criminal Law and different special laws and decrees
which are penal in nature. It is called as RPC because the old penal code which took effect in
the country on July 14, 1887 and was in force until Dec. 31, 1931 was revised by the Committee
created by Administrative Order No. 94 of the Department of Justice, dated Oct. 18, 1927,
composed of Anacleto Diaz as Chairman, Alex Reyes and Mariano de Joya as members.The
RPC was approved on Dec. 8, 1930 and took effect on January 1, 1932.
Principal Parts of the RPC
It is composed of two books; book one which is composed of Articles 1-113 and book
two covering Articles 114-367.
a. Articles 1-20 – principles affecting criminal liability
b. Articles 21-113 – penalties including criminal and civil liability
c. Articles 114-367 – felonies

Characteristics of the RPC

1. Generality – the law is applicable to all persons within the territory irrespective of
sex, race, nationality or civil status except:
a. Head of state
b. Foreign diplomats, ambassadors, who are duly accredited to our
country
c. Foreign troops permitted to march within the territory
2. Territoriality - the RPC is applicable to felonies committed within the Philippine
territorial jurisdiction.
a. Philippine archipelago – all the islands that comprise the
Philippines
b. Atmosphere water – all bodies of water that connect all the islands
such as bays, rivers and streams
c. Maritime zone – the twelve (12) Nautical Mile limit beyond our
shore measured at low tide

EXCEPTIONS TO THE TERRITORIAL CHARACTER OF THE REVISED PENAL CODE:

The Revised Penal Code shall be applicable to all cases committed outside the
Philippine territorial jurisdiction under the following circumstances:
a) should commit an offense while on Philippine ship or airship;
b) should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine Island or
obligations and securities issued by the government of the Philippines;
c) while being a public officer or employee, should commit an offense in the exercise of
their functions’
d) should commit any of the crimes against national security and law of nations

3. Prospectivity - the provisions of the RPC cannot be applied if the act is not yet
punishable on the time the felony was committed. However, it may have a
retroactive effect if it is favorable to the accused who is not a habitual delinquent.

4. It is specific and definite.

Criminal law must give a strict definition of a specific act which constitutes an
offense. Where there is doubt as to whether a definition embodied in the Revised Penal
Code applies to the accused or not, the judge is obligated to decide the case in favor of
the accused. Criminal law must be construed liberally in favor of the accused and
strictly against the state.

5. It is uniform in application.
An act described as a crime is a crime no matter who committed it, wherever
committed in the Philippines and whenever committed. No exceptions must be made as
to the criminal liability. The definition of crimes together with the corresponding
punishment must be uniformly construed, although there may be a difference in the
enforcement of a given specific provision of the penal law.
 6. There must be a penal sanction or punishment.
Penal sanction is the most essential part of the definition of the crime. If there is
no penalty to a prohibited act, its enforcement will almost be impossible. The penalty is
acting as a deterrence and as a measure of self-defense of the state to protect society
from the threat and wrong inflicted by the criminal.

SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN CRIMINOLOGY

School of Thought – refers to a group of beliefs or ideas that support a specific theory.

Theory – set of statements devised to explain behavior, events or phenomenon, especially

one that has been repeatedly tested and widely accepted.

1. DEMONOLOGICAL THEORY - asserts that a person commits wrongful acts due to the
fact that he was possessed by demons.

2. CLASSICAL SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY

The classical school of criminology grew out of a reaction against the barbaric system of
law, punishment and justice that existed. There was no real system of criminal justice in Europe
at that time. Some crimes were specified, some were not. Judges had discretionary power to
convict a person for an act not even legally defined as criminal.
This school of thought is based on the assumption that individuals choose to commit
crimes after weighing the consequences of their actions. According to classical criminologists,
individuals have free will. They can choose legal or illegal means to get what they want, fear of
punishment can deter them from committing crime and society can control behavior by making
the pain of punishment greater than the pleasure of the criminal gains.
This theory, however, does not give any distinction between an adult and a minor or a
mentally-handicapped in as far as free will is concerned. Founders of classical school of
criminology are Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham.

Cesare Beccaria (Cesare Bonesana Marchese di Beccaria) (1738-1794)

- best known for his essay, “On Crimes and Punishment” which presented key ideas
on the abolition of torture as legitimate means of extracting confession.
- His book contains almost all modern penal reforms but its greatest contribution was
the foundation it laid for subsequent changes in criminal legislation
- his book was influential in the reforms of penal code in France, Russia, Prussia and it
influenced the first ten amendments to the US Constitution

Beccaria believed that:

a. people want to achieve pleasure and avoid pain.
b. Crime provides some pleasure to the criminal.
c. To deter crime, he believed that one must administer pain in an appropriate
amount to counterbalance the pleasure obtain from crime.
d. Famous in sayings “ Let the punishment fit the crime”

HIGHLIGHTS OF CESARE BECCARIA’S IDEAS REGARDING CRIMES AND THE

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
1. In forming a human society, men and women sacrifice a portion of their libery so as to
enjoy peace and security.
2. Punishments that go beyond the need of preserving the public safety are in their nature
unjust.
 3. Criminal laws must be clear and certain. Judges must make uniform judgments in
similar crimes.
4. The law must specify the degree of evidence that will justify the detention of an accused
offender prior to his trial.
5. Accusations must be public. False accusations should be severely punished.
6. To torture accused offenders to obtain a confession is inadmissible.
7. The promptitude of punishment is one of the most effective curbs on crime.
8. The aim of punishment can only be to prevent the criminal from committing new crimes
against his countrymen, and to keep others from doing likewise. Punishments,
therefore, and the method of inflicting them, should be chosen in due proportion to the
crime, so as to make the most lasting impression on the minds of men…
9. Capital punishment is inefficacious and its place should be substituted life imprisonment.
10. It is better to prevent crimes than to punish them. That is the chief purpose of all good
legislation.

Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)

- his contribution to classical school of criminology is the concept of utilitarianism and
the felicific calculus.
- proposed “Utilitarian Hedonism” which explains that person always acts in such a
way to seek pleasure and avoid pain.
- founded the concept of UTILITARIANISM – assumes that all our actions are
calculated in accordance with their likelihood of bringing pleasure and pain
- devised the pseudo-mathematical formula called “felicific calculus” which states that
individuals are human calculators who put all the factors into an equation in order to
decide whether a particular crime is worth committing or not
- he reasoned that in order to deter individuals from committing crimes, the
punishment, or pain, must be greater than the satisfaction, or pleasure, he would
gain from committing the crime

Utilitarianism
– is a philosophy which argues that what is right is the one that would cause the greatest
good for the greatest number of people.
- others refer to it as the greatest happiness principle or the principle of utility.
- from this principle, Bentham formulated the “felicific calculus”.

Felicific Calculus or the pleasure-and-pain principle – is a theory that proposes that individuals
calculate the consequences of his actions by weighing the pleasure (gain) and the pain
(suffering) he would derive from doing the action.

3. NEOCLASSICAL CRIMINOLOGY
This theory modified the doctrine of free will by stating that free will of men may
be affected by other factors and crime is committed due to some compelling reasons
that prevail. These causes are pathology, incompetence, insanity or any condition that
will make it impossible for the individual to exercise free will entirely. In the study of legal
provisions, this is termed as either mitigating or exempting circumstances.

4. POSITIVIST SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY

- The term “positivism”, refers to a method of analysis based on the collection of
observable scientific facts.
- Positivists believe that causes of behavior can be measured and observed.
 - It demands for facts and scientific proof, thus, changing the study of crimes and
criminals into scientific approach.
- Positive theorists were the first to claim the importance of looking at individual
difference among criminals. These theorists who concentrated on the individual
structures of a person, stated that people are passive and controlled, whose
behaviors are imposed upon them by biological and environmental factors.

August Comte
- was a French philosopher and sociologist and is believed to be the one who reinvented
the French term sociologie.
- he was recognized as the “Father of Sociology and Positivism”.

THE (UN) HOLY THREE (3) OF CRIMINOLOGY

1. Cesare Lombroso
2. Enricco Ferri
3. Raffaelle Garofalo

Cesare Lombroso
- recognized as the “Father of Modern and Empirical Criminology” due to his application
of modern scientific methods to trace criminal behavior, however, most of his ideas are
now discredited
- known for the concept of atavistic stigmata (the physical features of creatures at an
earlier stage of development).
- he claimed that criminals are distinguishable from non-criminals due to the presence of
atavistic stigmata and crimes committed by those who are born with certain recognizable
heredity traits.
- according to his theory, criminals are usually in possession of huge jaws and strong
canine teeth, the arm span of criminals is often greater than their height, just like that of
apes who use their forearms to push themselves along the ground.

- other physical stigmata include deviation in head size and shape, asymmetry of the
face, excessive dimensions of the jaw and cheekbones, eye defects and peculiarities,
ears of unusual size, nose twisted, upturned or flattened in thieves, or aquiline or
beaklike in murderers, fleshy lips, swollen and protruding, and pouches in the cheek like
those of animal’s toes

- Lombroso’s work supported the idea that the criminal was a biologically and physically
inferior person

- according to him, there are three (3) classes of criminals:

a. born criminals – individuals with at least five (5) atavistic stigmata
b. insane criminals – those who became criminals because of some brain defect
which affected their ability to understand and differentiate what is right from what
is wrong.
c. criminaloids - those with makeup of an ambiguous group that includes habitual
criminals, criminals by passion and other diverse types

Enricco Ferri
- he focused his study on the influences of psychological factors and sociological
factors such as economics, on crimes.
 - He believed that criminals could not be held morally responsible because they did not
choose to commit crimes, but rather were driven to commit crimes by conditions in their
lives.

Raffaelle Garofallo
- He treated the roots of the criminals’ behavior not to physical features but to their
psychology equivalent, which he referred to as moral anomalies.
- He rejected the doctrine of freewill.
- Classified criminals as Murderers, Violent Criminals, Deficient Criminals, and Lascivious
Criminals.

THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION

1. BIOLOGICAL THEORIES
- this refers to the set of theories that point to physical, physiological and other natural
factors as the causes for the commission of crimes of certain individuals.
- This explanation for the existence of criminal traits associates an individual’s evil
disposition to physical disfigurement or impairment.

a. Physiognomy – the study of facial features and their relation to human behavior.

1. Giambiatista dela Porta

- founder of human physiognomy
- according to him criminal behavior may be predicted based on facial features of
the person.
2. Johann Kaspar Lavater
- supported the belief of dela Porta
- he believed that a person’s character is revealed through his facial
characteristics.

b. Phrenology, Craniology or Cranioscopy – the study of the external formation of

the skull in relation to the person’s personality and tendencies toward criminal
behavior.

1. Franz Joseph Gall

- he developed cranioscopy which was later renamed as phrenology.

2. Johann Kaspar Spurzheim

- assistant of Gall in the study of phrenology.
- he was the man most responsible for popularizing and spreading phrenology
to a wide audience

c. Physiology or Somatotype – refers to the study of body build of a person in relation

to his temperament and personality and the type of offense he is most prone to
commit.
1. Ernst Kretschmer
- he distinguished three (3) principal types of physiques: asthenic, athletic,
pyknik and dysplastic.
a. asthenic – characterized as thin, small and weak.
 b. athletic – muscular and strong.
c. pyknic – stout, round and fat.
d. dysplastic – combination of two body types

2. William Herbert Sheldon

formulated his own group of somatotype: ectomorph, mesomorph and
endomorph.
a. ectomorph – tall and thin and less social and more intellectual than the
other types.
b. mesomorph – have well-developed muscles and an athletic appearance.
c. endomorph – heavy builds and slow moving.

d. Heredity – the transmission of traits from parents to offspring.

1. Richard Louis Dugdale
- conducted a study of the Jukes family by researching their family tree as far
back 200 years. He discovered that most of the ascendants of the Jukes
were criminals.
2. Henry Goddard
- he traced the descendants of the Martin Kallikak from each of his two wives
and found a distinct difference in termsof quality of lives of descendants. He
coined the term “moron”.
3. Charles Goring
- he believed that criminal traits can be passed from parents to offspring through
the genes.
- he proposed that individuals who possess criminal characteristics should be
prohibited from having children.

INTELLIGENCE AS A FACTOR IN CRIMINALITY

The classic studies of the Juke and Kallikak families were among the first to show that
feeblemindedness or low-intelligence can be inherited and transferred from one generation to
the next. Numerous test were also conducted that lead to the development of the use of IQ
tests as a testing procedure for offenders. The very first results seemed to confirm that
offenders had low mental abilities and they were found to be mentally impaired.

ALFRED BINET – a French psychologist who developed the first IQ test.

- the test measured the capacity of individual children to perform tasks or solve problems
in relation to the average capacity of their peers.

2. PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES
- refers to the theories that attribute criminal behavior of individuals to psychological
factors, such as emotion and mental problems.

a. Sigmund Freud
- he is recognized as the FATHER OF PSYCHOANALYSIS
- known for his psychoanalytic theory
- according to him, criminality is caused by the imbalance of the three (3)
components of personality: the id, the ego, and the superego.
- according to him there are three parts of personality:
1. ID – this stands for instinctual drives; it is governed by the “pleasure principle”;
the id impulses are not social and must be repressed or adapted so that they
may become socially acceptable
 2. EGO – this is considered to be the sensible and responsible part of an
individual’s personality and is governed by the “reality principle”; it is developed
early in life and compensates for the demands of the id by helping the individual
guide his actions to remain within the boundaries of accepted social behavior; it
is the objective, rational part of the personality

3. SUPEREGO – serves as the moral conscience of an individual; it is structured

by what values were taught by the parents, the school and the community, as
well as belief in God; it is largely responsible for making a person follow the
moral codes of society

3. SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
- sociological factors refer to things, places and people with whom we come in contact
with and which play a part in determining our actions and conduct. These causes
may bring about the development of criminal behavior.

a. Emile Durkheim
- he stated that crime is a normal part of the society just like birth and
death.
- proposed the concept of “anomie” or the absence of social norms. It is
characterized by disorder due to lack of common values shared by
individuals, lack of respect for authority and lack of appreciation for what
is acceptable and not acceptable in a society.

b. Gabriel Tarde
- introduced the theory of imitation which proposes the process by
which people become criminals.
- according to this theory, individuals imitate the behavior of other
individuals based on the degree of their association with other individuals and
it is inferior or weak who tend to imitate the superior and strong.

c. Adolphe Quetelet and Andre Michael Guerry

- He repudiated the free will doctrine of the classicists
- founder of cartographic school of criminology.
- founder of moral statistics.
- cartographic school of criminology made use of statistical data such as
population, age, gender, occupation, religious affiliations and social
economic status and studies their influences and relationship to
criminality.
MODERN SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION
- environmental factors such as the kind of rearing or family upbringing, quality of
teaching in school, influences of peers and friends, conditions of the neighborhood,
and economic and other societal factors are believed to be contributory to crime and
criminal behavior.

1. SOCIAL STRUCTURE THEORIES

- refers not only to the physical features of the communities but also to the way society
is organized.
- include such things as level of poverty and unemployment and the amount of
crowded housing which are believed to affect behavior and attitudes of individuals
which in turn contribute to their commission of crimes.
 - also called social environment
- includes social disorganization theory, strain theory and cultural deviance theory.

a. Social Disorganization Theory

- popularized by Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay.
- according to this theory, crimes in urban areas are more prevalent because
residents have impersonal relationships with each other.
- increase in the number of broken families and single parenthood are also very
common in disorganized communities.
- another feature of disorganized community is poverty as evidenced by poor living
conditions such as rundown houses, unsanitary and unsightly streets and high
unemployment rates.

b. Strain Theory
- strain refers the individual’s frustration, anger and resentment.
- holds that crime is a function of the conflict between the goals people have and
the means they can use to legally obtain them. This also argues that the ability to
obtain these goals is class dependent; members of the lower class are unable to
achieve these goals which come easily to those belonging to the upper class.
Consequently, they feel anger, frustration and resentment, referred to as
STRAIN.

c. Cultural Deviance Theory

- gives emphasis on the concept of culture and sub-culture.
- according to this theory, because people in the lower class feel isolated due
to extreme deprivation or poverty, they tend to create a sub-culture with its
own set of rules and values. This is characterized by deviant behavior which
results in criminal behavior among its members.

2. SOCIAL PROCESS THEORY

- refers to a group of theories which point to the individual’s socialization process as the
cause for the commission of crimes. These theories cite interaction with people and
experiences and exposure to different element in the environment as primary factors to
criminality.
- under this theory is the social learning theory which in turn has three (3) sub-theories:
differential association theory, differential reinforcement theory and neutralization
theory.

a. Differential Association Theory

- formulated by Edwin Sutherland
- this theory states that criminal behavior is learned through socialization.
- criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a process of
communication.

b. Differential Reinforcement Theory

- according to this theory, individual’s behavior depends on how people around
him react toward s his behavior.
- an act that is rewarded is repeated; an act that is punished will be avoided.
c. Neutralization Theory
- introduced by David Matza and Gresham Sykes.
- sometimes referred to as “drift theory”
 - according to this theory, people know when they are doing something wrong,
however, they rationalize and justify their actions. This rationalizing is what we called
“neutralization”.

3. SOCIAL REACTION THEORY

- more commonly called labeling theory.
- it states that people become criminals when significant members of society label them
as such and they accept those labels as a personal identity.

4. SOCIAL CONTROL THEORIES

- maintain that everyone has the potential to become criminal but most people are
controlled by their bonds to society.
- social control refers to the agencies of social control such as family, school, religion or
church, government and laws and other identified authorities in society.
- there are two (2) sub-theories: containment theory and social bond theory.

a. Containment Theory
- proposed by Walter Reckless
- he stated that inner and outer containments help prevent juvenile offending.
- containment means the forces within and outside the individual that has the
power to influence his actions.
- inner containments include positive self-concept, tolerance for frustration and
an ability to set realistic goals.
- outer containments include family.

b. Social Bond Theory

- propagated by Travis Hirschi
- this theory views crime as a result of individuals with weakened bonds to
social institutions.
- according to this theory, there are four (4) elements of social bonds:
attachment, commitment, involvement and belief.

d. attachment – refers to the degree to which an individual care about the

opinions of others.
e. commitment – refers to an individual’s investment of enrgy and emotion
in conventional pursuits, such as getting good grades.
f. involvement – refers to the amount of time an individual spends on a
conventional pursuit.
g. belief – refers to acceptance of the norms of conventional society.

CRIME STATISTICS
- refers to the measure of the level or amount of crimes.
- The collection or study of numerical data of crimes recorded/reported to the police.
- it uses the terms index crimes and non-index crimes in classifying crimes.
Index crimes are crimes which are sufficiently significant and which occur with sufficient
regularity to be meaningful, such as murder, homicide, physical injury, robbery, theft and rape.
Non-index crimes are crimes that are not classified as index crimes. Violations of special laws
and other crimes against moral and order. These crimes are generated from the result of
positive police initiated operations.

STATISTICAL FORMULA:
1. Crime Solution Efficiency (CSE) – percentage of solved cases out of the total number
of reported crime incidents handled by the police for a given period of time. It is a
general measure of law enforcement agency’s investigative capability or efficiency.

Formula:

CSE = {¿ TotalNoNo. of. ofSolved

¿
Cases
Reported Cases }
X 100

2. Crime Rate – the number of incidents in a given period of time for every 100, 000
inhabitants of an area/place.

Formula:
Crime Volume
CR =
{ ¿¿
Population }
X 100 , 000

3. Average Monthly Crime Rate (AMCR) – the average number of crime incidents
occurred per month for every 100, 000 inhabitants in a certain area.

Formula:

Crime Volume
AMCR =
{ ¿¿
Population }
X 100 , 000 ÷ no . of months

4. Variance (or % change) – one way of analyzing crime trends. It measures the
percentage change over a given period of time.

Formula:

Current data−previous data

=
{ ¿¿
previous data
X 100
}
5. Crime Analysis

a. Percentage Share of Crime Volume of a Certain Area

Formula:

= {Crime volume of a certain area X 100

¿ Crime Volume Nationwide }
¿

b. Percentage Share of the Occurrence of a Type of Crime

 Formula:

{Total number of occurences of a type of crime X 100

¿ Crime Volume Nationwide
¿
}