REVIEW NOTES SUMMARY
Theories of Crime Causation
JERELYN E. AGAD RCRIM
Theory defined
 Theory is a supposition or a system of ideas
intended to explain something, especially
one based on general principles
independent of the thing to be explained. It
derived from the Greek word “theoria” which
means “contemplation or speculation”.
 It is a plausible or scientifically acceptable
general principle or body of principles
offered to explain phenomena. It is
synonymous with the terms thesis,
hypothesis, supposition, and proposition.
 It is a principle or a body of interrelated
principles that purports to explain or predict
a number of interrelated phenomena.
Cause- is a reason for action or condition
(Meriam-Webster)
CRIME – generic term
Felony – punishable by Revised Penal Code
Offense – punishable by Special Law
Misdemeanor – a violation of ordinance
THE NORMALITY OF CRIMES
- David Emile Durkheim said the
criminality is a normalfactor rather than a
pathological one.
- He indicates that crime is found in
societies.
- A society exempts from it would
necessitate a standardization of the
moral concepts of all individuals which
neither normal nor desirable
- Maintain the crime is not only normal for
society but that is necessary.
- WITHOUT CRIME THERE WOULD BE
NO EVOLUTION IN LAW
THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL
- Founded by Cesare Marchese di
Beccaria Bonesana (1738-1794),
Italian criminologist and economist
- Main notion is; better to prevent crimes
than to punish them.
- FREE WILL
- Jeremy Bentham (1848-1832), English
philosopher, economist, and
theoretical jurist
Principle of Utilitarianism
- Mankind was governed by two sovereign
motives, pain and pleasure and the
principle of utility recognized this state of
affairs
Jeremy Bentham
 (Hedonistic Calculus/Felicity involved
weighing of pleasure versus pain.
 Object of all legislation must be the
greatest
 It further believed in the doctrine of
nullum crimen sine lege, no crime
without law.
- Main Principle: <LET THE
PUNISHMENT F0R THE CRIME=
NEO CLASSICAL
 Modified in early 1880’s
 Arose during the French Revolution
with the modification that since children,
lunatics, others have not legally
responsible for their actions.
 QUESTIONED that there are people who
have the ABSENCE OF FREEWILL
hence they must be exempted.
 Fundamental: LET CHILDREN AND
LUNATICS CRIMINAL BE EXEMPTED
FROM PUNISHMENT
THE ITALIAN SCHOOL OR
POSITIVIST SCHOOL
- Made possible because of the
contributions of the three perspective
experts:
a. Cesare Lombroso, and his two
studs
b. Raffaele Garofalo
c. Enrico Ferri
CESARE LOMBROSO (1835-1909)
 Italian criminologist, said that
criminals commit crimes because
they are mentally-ill, sick and
disturbed individuals; that is why they
need to be treated instead of being
punished.
 FATHER OF CRIMINOLOGY
ATAVISM – the idea that criminals manifest
physical anomalies
- that make their biological and
physiologically similar to our primitive
ancestors.
- Came up with the THEORY OF BORN
CRIMINAL

RAFFAELE GAROFALO
 Italian criminologist, noted that the
concept of a criminal presupposes the
concept of CRIME.
 Traced the roots criminal behavior which
is not in physical features but their
psychological equivalents, which is
classed moral anomalies
 Defines crime, not as a violation of a law,
but as a violation of nature.
 An act was a crime if it violated human
nature in either of two forms:
PROBITY; which is honesty and integrity
or PITY; which is compassion for other.
ENRICO FERRI (1856-1929)
 Highly successful trial lawyer
 Stated that crime must be studies on
the offendeR and said that a person is
legally or socially responsible for his
actions
 Said that a man was sentenced, not
according to the seriousness of the
crime/offense but according to the
factors which motivated him to
commit a crime.
 LET THE PUNISHMENT FIT
CRIMINAL
Traditional/Biblical/Demonological Theory
 Possessed
Traditional/Biblical/ by demons
Demonological  Satanic
Theory possessions
Natural Law  There was a
God given
natural Law
 People who
were evil
were
manifesting
original sin
and a fall
from grace
Dr. David Abrahamsen’s Theory of the
Etiology of Criminal Acts
In explaining the birth of criminal
behavior, we must consider three factors:
criminal tendency (T), the total situation (S), and
the person’s mental and emotional resistance to
temptation (R).
T+S
C= R
Where:
C-Crime/Criminal Behavior (THE ACT)
T-CriminalTendency (DESIRE/INTENT)
S-Total Situation (OPPORTUNITY)
R-Resistance to Temptation
(CONTROL)
The formula shows that a person’s
criminal tendency and his resistance to them
may either result in criminal act depending
upon, which of them is stronger. This means that
a crime or criminal behavior exists when the
person’s resistance is insufficient to withstand
the pressure of his desire or intent and the
opportunity.
Perspectives of Crime Causation
There are multiple factors which lead the
individual to commit crime.
1. Classical Perspective
Crime is a product of situational forces; the
crime is function of freewill and personal choice.
It emphasized that the purpose of punishment is
mainly to deter the occurrence of crime. The
three principles of punishment that became the
trademark of Beccaria’s classical deterrence
doctrine include:
a. Swift-punishment must be swift to be
THE effective. According to Merriam-
Webster’s dictionary, swift means
occurring suddenly or within a very
short time.
b. Certain- people must know they will be
punished for their illegal behavior-that
they cannot evade the strong arms of
the law. That no one may take as
substitute for the punishment of the one
who violated the law.
c. Severe- must be severe enough to
outweigh the rewards of the illegal
action-severity and proportionality are
sometimes at odds especially since
each person is different in terms of what
constitutes a “severe” punishment. It
also stressed out that crime problem
could be traced not to bad people but to
bad laws.
2. Biological Perspective
Crime is the product of internal forces. That
crime is a function of chemical, neurological,
genetic, personality, intelligence or mental traits.
The focus of the study is mainly on the individual
person itself. It may answer the question why a
person becomes a criminal.
3. Process Perspective
Crime is a product of socialization or
interaction of one person to another. That crime
is a function of upbringing, learning and control.
Parents, teachers, environment, mass media
and peer groups may influence behavior. This
concerns on how a person becomes a criminal.
4. Conflict Perspective
Causes of crime is based on economic and
political forces. Crime is a function of
competition for limited resources and power.
Law is a tool of the ruling class in order to control
the lower class. It is designed to protect the
wealthy people. Crime is a politically defined
concept.
5. Biosocial Perspective
It seeks to explain the onset of antisocial
behavior such as aggression and violence by
focusing on the physical qualities of the
offenders. It concentrated mainly on the three
areas of focus: biochemical (diet, genetic,
hormones, and environmental contaminants),
neurological (brain damage), and genetic
(inheritance).
6. Psychological Perspective
Criminal behavior, was the product of
“unconscious” forces operating within a person’s
mind. That conflicts occur at various
psychosexual stages of development might
impact an individual’s ability to operate normally
as an adult. That if the aggressive impulse is not
controlled, or is repressed to an unusual degree,
some aggression can “leak out” of the
unconscious and a person can engage in
random acts of violence..
I. Biological Theories of Crime
Causation
1. Biosocial Theory
 This theory viewed that both thought
and behavior have biological and
social bases.
 Biosocial theorists believe that it is the
interaction between predisposition
and environment that produces
criminality.
 Children born into a disadvantage
environment often do not have the
social and familial support they need
to overcome their handicaps.
 Lack of family support can have long
term physical consequences.
2. Evolutionary Theory
 Rooted in Darwin’s theory of natural
selection, which explains the existence
of aggression and violent behavior as
positive adaptive behaviors in human
evolution; these traits allowed their
bearers to reproduce
disproportionately, which had an effect
on the human gene pool.
Sub-theories:
A. Cheater Theory
 Suggests that a sub-population of men
has evolved with genes that incline
them toward extremely low parental
involvement and that men are sexually
aggressive who use their cunning to
gain sexual conquests with as many
females as possible.
B. R/K Selection Theory
 Holds that all organisms can be
located along a continuum based upon
their reproductive drives. Those along
the “R” end reproduce rapidly
whenever they can and invest little in
their offspring; those along the “K” end
reproduce slowly and cautiously and
take care in the raising their offspring.
K-oriented people are more
cooperative and sensitive to others,
whereas R-oriented people are more
cunning and deceptive
3. Arousal Theory
 Environmental factors influence the
brain’s level of arousal.
 .Thrill is a motivator of crime.
Adolescents may engage in such
crimes as shoplifting and vandalism
simply because they offer the
attraction of getting away it; criminality
is a trilling demonstration of personal
competence.
 It also explained that adolescents with
low heart rates are more likely to
commit crimes, they seek stimulation
to increase their arousal levels to
normal levels.
4.Life Course Theory/ Developmental
Theory (Sheldon Glueck and Eleanor Touroff-
Glueck)
 Criminal behavior is a dynamic
process, influenced by individual
characteristics as well as social
experiences, and that the factors that
cause anti-social behaviors change
dramatically over a person’s life span.
 According to life course view, even as
toddlers, people begin relationships
and behaviors that will determine their
entire life course.
5. Latent Trait Theory
 Human traits alone do not produce
criminality and that it is a combination
of environmental factors such as family
life, educational attainment, economic
factors, and neighborhood conditions.
Physical or mental traits are therefore,
but one part of a large pool of
environmental, social, and personal
factors that account for criminality.
 Family Studies: Jukes and Kallikak
Family
A. Jukes Family
According to Richard Louis Dugdale
in his book, “The Jukes”: A Study in Crime,
Pauperism, Disease and Heredity, Also
Further Studies of Criminals, stated the origin
of the stock of the “Jukes”, there was a hunter,
a fisher, a hard drinker, and a jolly-man named
Max who was also a descendant of the
Dutchess settler. Two of Max’s sons married
two out of six sisters (Jukes). The
whereabouts of the sixth sister is nowhere to
be found. Of the five that are known, three had
illegitimate children before marriage. One is
called “Ada Juke” but publicly known by many
as “Margaret, the mother of criminals”. Ada
Juke had one bastard son, who is the
progenitor of the distinctively criminal line.
52.40 percent of 84 of the descendants of Ada
are into harlotry (prostitution). Dugdale found
out among the thousands of descendants that
there 280 paupers, 60 thieves, 7 murderers,
40 other criminals and 40 percent sons have
venereal disease.
B. Kallikak Family
Dr. Henry H. Goddard, a prominent
American psychologist together with
Elizabeth
S. Kite conducted a study entitled the
“Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of
Feeblemindedness,” wherein they traced the
family tree of revolutionary war
soldier”pseudonym Martin Kallikak, Sr.” The
former had an illegitimate son named as
Martin Kallikak Jr., the great-great
grandfather of Deborah (an 8-year old girl
who was interviewed by Goddard). Deborah
gained admission at the Training School at
Vineland because she did not do well at
school and might possibly be feeble-minded.
And from him (Martin Kallikak Jr.) have come
480 descendants: 143 were or are feeble-
minded, while only 46 have been found
normal. The rest are unknown or doubtful.
Among these 480 descendants, 36 have been
illegitimate. There have been 33 sexually
immoral persons, mostly prostitutes. There
have been 24 confirmed alcoholics, 3
epileptics, 82 died in infancy, 3 were criminal,
8 kept houses of ill fame. These people have
married into other families, generally of about
the same type, so that we now have on record
and charted eleven hundred and forty-six
individuals. Of this large group, Goddard have
discovered that 262 were feeble-minded,
while 197 are considered normal, the
remaining 581 being still undetermined
7. Somatotyping Theory
A. Ernst Kretschmer (1888-1964).
Associates body physique to behavior and
criminality. Three types of body physiques:
1. Pyknic. Those medium height, rounded
figure, massive neck and broad face
2. Athletic. Those medium to tall, strong,
and muscular.
3. Asthenic. Those lean, slightly built, and
narrow shoulders.
Since Kretschmer was a psychiatrist, he
related these body shapes to various
psychiatric disorders: pyknics to manic
depression (bipolar disorder); asthenics and
athletics to schizophrenia (dementia
praecox).
B. William Sheldon (1898-1977).Association
of body types to human temperament:
1. Endomorphic. Those who are fat;
rounded and soft, have tendency toward a
“viscerotonic” personality (i.e., relaxed,
comfortable, extroverted)
2. Mesomorphic. Those with square and
muscular body ,have a tendency toward a
“somotonic” personality (i.e., active,
dynamic, assertive, aggressive)
3. Ectomorphic. Are those slim,thin and
fine-boned, have a tendency toward a
“cerebrotonic” personality (i.e., introverted,
thoughtful, inhibited, sensitive)
People with predominantly mesomorph traits
tend more than others to be involved in illegal
behavior.
C. Earnest A. Hooton (1887-1954)
Characteristics of criminals according to
Hooton:
 less often married and more often
divorced;
 often have tattoos;
 thinner beards and body hair, and hair
is more often reddish-brown and straight;
 often have blue-gray or mixed colored
eyes, and less often dark or blue eyes; low
sloping foreheads, high nasal bridges, and
thin lips; and ears often have rolled helix
and a perceptible Darwin’s point.
Human somatotype associated with crimes:
a) Tall-slender men are predisposed for
murder and robbery;
b) tall-medium heavy men for forgery;
c) tall-heavy men for first degree murder;
d) medium height-heavy for antisocial
behavior;
e) short-slender for burglary and larceny;
f) short-medium heavy for arson; and
short-heavy men for sexual offenses
8. Physiognomy
 Outer appearance, particularly the
face, may give insights on one’s
character or
personality.
A. Giambattista della Porta (1535-1615)
“Father of Physiognomy”
 He came up with the idea for
physiognomy through his alchemical
experiments, in which he attempted to
boil down and distill from substances
their “tincture,” or pure essence.
 He made an analogy to the human
essence, suggesting that one could
deduce an individual’s character from
empirical observation of his physical
features.
 His widely disseminated book on the
subject, De humana physiognomia,
was instrumental in spreading
physiognomy throughout Europe.
Illustrations in the book depict human
and animal heads side by side,
implying that people who look like
particular animals have those
creatures’ traits.
 According to Porta, a thief had large
lips and sharp vision. Criminals
frequently have huge jaws and strong
canine teeth that are common to
carnivores who tear and devour meat
raw.
B. Johann Caspar Lavater (1741-1801)
 In the second half of the 18th century,
Johann Caspar Lavater became the
new king of physiognomy.
 He blended an examination of
silhouette, the profile, portraiture, and
proportions into his best-selling book,
Essays on Physiognomy, which
included a detailed reading of the face
broken down into its major pieces,
including the eyes, brows, mouth, and
nose.
 The expression “stuck-up” comes from
this time, when a person with a nose
bending slightly upwards was read as
having a contemptuous, superior
attitude.
9. Phrenology
Determination of character,
personality, traits, and criminality on the basis
of the shape of head. Phrenology posited
that bumps on the head were indications of
psychological propensities. This is a theory of
brain and science of character reading which
is known as “the only true science of mind”.
A. Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828)
Phrenology was derived from the
theories of the distinctive German-French
anatomist and physiologist, Franz Joseph
Gall. The following are the basic tenets of
Gall’s system:
1. The brain is the organ of the mind.
2. The mind is composed of multiple
distinct, innate faculties.
3. Because they are distinct, each
faculty must have a separate seat or
“organ” in the brain.
4. The size of an organ, other things
being equal, is a measure of its
power.
5. The shape of the brain is determined
by the development of the various
organs.
6. As the skull takes its shape from the
brain, the surface of the skull can be
read as an accurate index of
psychological aptitudes and
tendencies.
B. Johann Kaspar Spurzheim,
Gall’s pupil served as research assistant and
collaborator led him to the development of his
theories concerning brain localization and
phrenology, which he initially referred to as
cranioscopy. He characterized his primary
goal to develop a functional anatomy and
physiology of the brain as well as a revised
psychology of personality as “organology”.
10. Nature Theory
 Low intelligence is genetically
determined and inherited. This was
supported by Henry H. Goddard in his
studies in 1920 that many
institutionalized people were what he
considered “feebleminded” and
concluded that at least half of all
juvenile delinquents were mentally
defectives. In similar vein, William
Healy and Augusta Bronner tested a
group of delinquents in Chicago and
Boston and they found that 37 percent
were subnormal in intelligence. Healy
and Bronner concluded that delinquent
boys were 5 to 10 times more likely to
be mentally deficient than delinquent
boys.
II. The Classical Theory
This theory is based on the assumption
that people exercise free will, and are thus
completely responsible for their actions. In
classical theory, human behavior, including
criminal behavior, is motivated by a hedonistic
rationality, in which actors weigh the potential
pleasure of an action against the possible pain
associated with it.
1. Criminals weigh/assess the costs and
benefits and makes a conscious,
rational choice to commit
 crime/maximization of pleasure and
minimization of pains.
2. Human beings have free will to choose
legal or illegal behavior i.e. a crime is
committed after an individual weighs
the pros and cons.
3. Crime is attractive.
Crime control & Punishment:
· The basis of the society, as well as the origin
of punishments and the right to punish, is
the social contract.
·Crime may be controlled through the fear of
punishment.
·Punishment works best when perceived to
be: severe, certain, & swift.
· The only legitimate purpose of punishment
is deterrence (i.e. specific and general
deterrence).
· An effective policy/law/punishment should
provide the greatest happiness shared by
the greatest number i.e. utility.
Critique:
Under the theory, juveniles are treated
the same as adults, likewise first-time offenders
are treated the same as recidivists/repeated
offenders (proportionality theory. Besides, the
theory focuses on the actus reus and ignored
the mens rea.
Development of the Classical Theory:
Classical theory was difficult to apply in
practice. It was modified in the early 1800s and
became known as Neoclassical Theory.
Essentially, neoclassical theory is a modification
of classical theory in which it was conceded that
certain factors, such as insanity, might inhibit the
exercise of free will.
1. Rational Choice Theory
 Man is a reasoning actor who weighs
means and ends, cost and benefits,
and makes a rational choice.
 It holds that person will engage in
criminal behavior after weighing the
consequences and benefits of their
actions.
 Criminal behavior is a rational choice
made by a motivated offender who
perceives that the chances of gain
outweigh any possible punishment or
loss.
2.Routine Activity Theory (Lawrence E.
Cohen and Marcus Felson)
Crime is a “normal” function of the
routine activities of modern living; offenses
can be expected if there is a motivated
offender and a suitable target that is not
protected by a capable guardians.
Motivated offender suitable targetlack of
capable guardianCRIME
3. Lifestyle Theory
 Crime is a developmental process
guided by an ongoing interaction
between three variables (incentive,
opportunity, and choice). During each
phase of the criminal lifestyle (initiation,
transition, maintenance, and
burnout/maturity), incentive,
opportunity, and choice take on
different values and meanings.
4.General Deterrence and Specific
Deterrence Theory
 General Deterrence Theory
 is aimed at making potential criminals
fear the consequences of crime showing that
crime does not pay.
 It focuses on potential offenders and
that these offenders must receive punishment
in severe, swift and certain way.
 It is also manifesting societal
deterrence which aimed to target would be
offenders.
Ex.: imposing long prison sentences or life
imprisonment for committing heinous crimes
 Specific Deterrence Theory
 holds that if offenders are punished so
severely, the experience will convince them
not to repeat their illegal acts, its main targets
are those offenders who have already been
convicted and it also claimed that punishing
more criminals will reduce their involvement in
criminal activity.
 Proponents of specific deterrence also
believe that punishing offenders severely will
make them unwilling to reoffend in the future.
A drunk driver, for example, would be
deterred from drinking and driving because of
the unpleasant experience he or she suffered
from being arrested, or having his or her
license taken away or his or her car
impounded
5. Victim Precipitation Theory
People may actually initiate the
confrontation that eventually leads to their
injury or death. By acting in certain
provocative ways, some individuals initiate a
chain of events that lead to their deaths. Two
types:
1. Active precipitation. This occurs
when victims act provocatively, use
 threats or fighting words, or even attack
first.
2. Passive precipitation. This occurs
when the victim exhibits some personal
characteristic that unknowingly either
threatens or encourages the attacker.
6. Incapacitation Theory
 Reductions in crime rates are achieved
through higher imprisonment rates
since the offender cannot commit new
crimes while incarcerated.
 This theory supported on the idea of
imprisonment of criminals.
III.The Psychological Theories
1. Psychodynamic Theory (Sigmund Freud)
The Tripartite Personality - Freud believed
that personality had three parts- the id, ego,
and superego- referring to this as the tripartite
personality.
Id
- Allows us to get our basic needs met
- based on the pleasure principle i.e. it
wants immediate satisfaction, with no
consideration for the reality of the
situation.
Ego
-The ego's job is to meet the needs of the id,
while taking into account the constraints of
reality.
-The ego acknowledges that being impulsive or
selfish can sometimes hurt us, so the id must be
constrained (reality principle).
Superego (Conscience of Man) - The
superego develops during the phallic stage as a
result of the moral constraints placed on us by
our parents.
2. Behavioral Theory
 It is originally created by John B. Watson
(1878-1958) and popularized by Burrhus
Frederic Skinner (1904-1990) commonly
known as B.F Skinner
 concerned with the study of observable
behavior rather than unconscious
processes.
 It focuses on particular stimuli and how
do people response toward that stimuli. It
maintains that human actions are
developed through learning experiences;
that behavior is learned when it is
rewarded and extinguished by negative
reactions or punishments.
3. Social Learning Theory
People are not actually born to act violently
but they learned to be aggressive to their life
experiences. Criminality is learned through
close relationships with others; asserts that
children are born “good” and learn to be “bad”
from others. This theory further holds that a
person’s learning and social experiences,
coupled with his or her values and expectations
determine behavior.
Sources of behavior:
a) Family member/Parents (Adults to whom
they are in close contacts with)- family life
showing children who use aggressive
tactics have parents who use similar
behaviors when dealing with others.
b) Mass-media such as movies and films
shows commonly depict violence
graphically.
c) Environment are people who reside in
areas where violence is a daily occurrence
are more likely to act violently than those in
low crime areas.
Steps in Behavior Modeling Process:
1. Attention
2. Retention
3. Reproduction
4. Motivation
4. Cognitive Theory
 A branch of psychology that studies the
perception of reality and the mental
process required to understand the
world we live. It focuses on mental
processes-the way people perceive and
5. Intergenerational Theory
 Intergenerational transmission refers to
the socialization and social learning that
helps to explain the ways in which
children growing up in a violent family
learn violent roles and subsequently,
may play out the roles of victim or
victimizer in their own adult families.
 Intergenerational transmission theory
stated that criminal and antisocial
parents tend to have delinquent and
antisocial children on family violence.
6. Alternative Theory
 Alternative theory beats the famous
saying, “Opposite charges attracts”.
 It focuses on assortative mating: female
offenders tend to cohabit with or get
married to male offenders. In a study in
New Zealand, Robert F. Krueger and his
colleagues found that sexual partners
tended to be similar in their self-reported
antisocial behavior. Children with two
criminal parents are likely to be
disproportionally antisocial. There are
two main classes of explanations
concerning similar people tend to get
 married, cohabit, or become sexual
partners.
 The first is called social
homogamy- convicted people
tend to choose each other as
mates because of physical and
social proximity; they meet each
other in the same schools,
neighborhood, clubs, pubs, and
so on.
 The second process is called
phenotypic assortment- people
examine each other’s personality
and behavior and choose partners
who are similar to themselves.
7. Differential Association-Reinforcement
Theory
 In 1966, Ernest W. Burgess and
Ronald L. Akers combined
Bandura’s social learning theory
and Sutherland’s theory of
differential association to produce
the theory of Differential
Association-Reinforcement. This
theory suggest that:
(1) the presence of criminal behavior
depends on whether or not it is rewarded or
punished;and
(2) the most meaningful rewards and
punishment are those given by groups that are
important in an individuals’ life-the peer group,
the family members, teachers in school and so
forth.
 criminal behavior will continue if it is positively
rewarded than being punished.
 disintegration and slum conditions to
8. Eysenck’s Conditioning Theory
Hans J. Eysenck claims that all human
personality may be seen in three dimensions
such as psychoticism, extroversion, and
neuroticism.
a. Psychoticism are aggressive,
egocentric and impulsive.
b. Extroversion are sensation-seeking,
dominant and assertive.
c. Neuroticism are those with low self-
esteem, excessive anxiety and wide
mood swings.
9. Integrated Theory
 proposed by James Q. Wilson and
Richard Julius Herrnstein
 explain predatory street crime by
showing how human nature develops
from the interplay of psychological,
biological, and social factors.
 stated that the factors that pushed the
individuals to commit crimes are
intelligent quotient, body build, genetic
makeup, impulsiveness, ability to delay
gratification, aggressiveness, and even
those mothers who drink and smoke
while pregnant.
 10. Maternal Deprivation and Attachment
Theory
 Edward John M. Bowlby devised this
theory
 expressed the notion that child needs
warmth and affection from his/her mother
or a mother substitute.
Sociological Theories of Crime Causation
These theories explain how a certain
individual acquires criminal behavior; describes
how the agents of socialization such as family,
environment, schools, mass media, and peer
groups contribute to the behavior of a specific
individual; and would manifest as to how a
person responded or reacted to the conduct
displayed by other persons whom they
socialized with.
Two subfields:
1. Social Structure Theories. Social and
economic forces operating in deteriorated
lower-class areas push many of their
residents into criminal behavior patterns.
2. Social Process Theories. Holds that
criminality is a function of individual
socialization.
Social Structure Theories
1.Social Disorganization Theory (Clifford R.
Shaw and Henry D. Mckay)
 The primary causes of criminal
behavior were neighborhood
place what they called transitional
neighborhood which refer to the place
in Chicago where ridden by poverty
and which suffers high rates of
population turnover and were
incapable of inducing residents to
remain and failed to defend the
neighborhoods against criminal
groups.
2. Anomie Theory (David Emile Durkheim)
 Anomie derived from the Greek word
nomos which means without norms
 . Anomic society is one in which rules
of behavior (norms) have broken down
or become inoperative during periods
of rapid social change or social crisis
such as war or famine
4. Strain Theory (Robert King Merton)
 Holds that crime is a function of
the conflict between the goals
people have and the means they
can use to legally obtain them.
Consequently, they feel anger,
 frustration and resentment, which
is referred to as STRAIN.
Behavioral Patterns of individuals in
response to means and ends:
1. Conformity. This occurs when individuals
both embrace conventional social goals
and also have the means at their disposal
to attain them.
2. Innovation. This occurs when individuals
accept the goals of society but rejects or is
incapable of attaining them through
legitimate means. This is the mode of
adaptation followed by those law violators
because the success of those criminal
shows that innovative means work better
and faster than conventional one.
3. Ritualism. This is less concern about
accumulating wealth and instead gain
pleasure from practicing traditional
ceremonies regardless of whether they
have a real purpose or goal.
4. Retreatism. Otherwise known as the
“escapist mode” which rejects both the
goals and the means of the society.
5. Rebellion. This involves substituting an
alternative set of goals and means for
conventional ones.
Example: Informal settlers are forced to
violate the law because they obey the rules of
the deviant culture with which they are in
close and immediate contact
6. General Strain Theory (Robert Agnew)
 Criminality is the direct result of
negative affective states – the
anger, frustration, depression,
disappointment and other
adverse emotions that derive
from strain.
 Agnew explains why individuals
who feel stress and strain are
more likely to commit crimes and
offers more explanation of
criminal activity among all
elements of society rather than
restricting his views to lower-
class crime. He finds the
negative affective states are
produced by a variety of sources.
Sources of Strain:
1. Failure to achieve positively valued
goals. This occurs when a youth
aspires to wealth and gain, but lacking
financial and educational resources,
would assume that such goals are
impossible to achieve.
2. Disjunction of expectations and
achievements. This happens when
people compare themselves to peers
who seem to be doing a lot better
financially or socially.
3. Removal of positively valued stimuli
from the individual. The adolescent
tries to prevent the loss, retrieve what
has been lost, obtain substitutes, or
seek revenge against those
responsible fo the loss.
4. Presentation of negative stimuli.
7. Cultural Deviance Theory
 combines the effects of social
disorganization and strain to
explain how people living in
deteriorated neighborhoods react
to social isolation and economic
deprivation.
 8. Delinquent Subculture Theory (Albert
K. Cohen)
 refers to the state where youths
are incapable of achieving their
legitimate goals in life because of
the social conditions that they are
into such as having poor parents
and living in slum areas.
1. The Corner Boy. The most common
response to middle-class rejection. He is
not a chronic delinquent but may be a
truant who engages in petty or status
offenses, such as sex before marriage
and recreational drug abuse.
2. The College Boy. Embraces the
cultural and social values of the middle-
class. He actively strives to be successful
by those standards.
3. The Delinquent Boy. Adopts set of
norms and principles in direct opposition
to middle-class values. He strives for
independence and that nobody can
control his behavior, he may join gang
and willing to take risks and violate the
law.
9.Differential Opportunity Theory (Richard
A. Cloward and Lloyd E. Ohlin)
 This theory is a combination of
strain and disorganization
principles into a portrayal of a
gang-sustaining criminal
subculture. People in all strata of
society share the same success
and goals but that those in lower
class have limited means of
achieving them.
People who perceive themselves as
failures with conventional society will seek
alternative or innovative ways to gain
success, such as joining drug syndicate
and any other forms of illegal activities.
Three types of Gangs:
1. Criminal Gang. Exist in stable lower-
class areas in which close
connections among adolescent,
young adult, and adult offenders
create an environment for successful
criminal enterprise such as joining
gang.
2. Conflict Gang. Thrive in highly
disorganized areas marked by
temporary residents and physical
deterioration. Members of the conflict
gang are tough adolescents who fight
with weapons to win respect from
rivals and engage in destructive
assaults on people and property.
They are willing to fight to protect
their own and their gang’s integrity
and honor.
3. Retreatist Gang. Retreatists are
double failures because they are unable to
gain success through legitimate means and
unwilling to do so through illegal ones. They
have tried crime or violence but are either too
weak or scared to be accepted in criminal or
violent gangs.
Social Process Theories
Neutralization/Drift Theory(David C. Matza
and Gresham M. Sykes)
Suggest that delinquents hold values
similar to those law abiding citizens but they
learn techniques that enable them to
neutralize those values and drift back and
forth between legitimate and delinquent
behavior.
Sykes and Matza suggest that a
person develop a distinct set of justifications
for their behavior when it violates accepted
social rules and norms.
Neutralization techniques:
a) Denial of the Victim such as he has it
coming, she talked back, and he has a
bad attitude. Criminals would neutralize
their acts by maintaining that the victim
of crime “had it coming”. In this case, the
criminal would blame his victim.
b) Denial of Responsibility such as they
made me do it, I don’t have a choice, and
it’s either me or him. Young offenders
sometimes claim their unlawful acts
were simply not their fault.
c) Denial of Injury such as they have
insurance, they have too much money,
what’s one CD to a big store. Criminals
are able to neutralize their behavior by
denying the wrongfulness of their act.
d) Appeal to Higher Loyalties such as I
have to protect my buddies, only
cowards run away. Novice criminal often
argue that they are caught in the
dilemma of being loyal to their own peer
group while at the same time attempting
to abide by the rules of the larger society.
e) Condemnation of the Condemners
such as everyone steals, why pick on
me? A criminal would view the world as
a corrupt place.
 Differential Association Theory (Edwin H.
Sutherland)
“Tell me who your friends are and I will
tell you who you are” a Mexican proverb
that would best describe this theory.
Suggests that people commit crime by
learning in a social context through their
interactions with others and communication
with them.
Criminal behavior is learned by
interaction with others, and this includes
learning the techniques of committing the
crime, and the motives, drives,
rationalizations, and attitudes for
committing it.
12. Containment Theory (Walter Reckless)
 Assumed that in every
individual there is a containing
internal psychological and
protective external social
structure both of which provides
defense and insulation against
criminality.
 People commit crimes because of
weak inner and outer containment
factors.
13. Social Bond Theory (Travis Hirschi)
Criminality results from commitment
to the major social institutions (family,
peers and school); lack of such
commitment allows them to exercise
antisocial behavioral choices. People
engage in crime and delinquency because
of broken or weak social bonds.
Elements of social bond:
1. Attachment that is person’s
sensitivity to and interest to others.
2. Commitment which involves time,
energy and effort in line of action
3. Involvement that is heavy
involvement in conventional
activities
4. . Belief such as admiration of legal
code, adherence to values
Social Reaction: Labeling Theory (Howard
Becker and Frank Tannenbaum)
 Explained that society creates
deviance through a system of
social control agencies that
designate (label) certain
individuals as delinquent, thereby
stigmatizing a person and
encouraging them to accept this
negative personal identity.
Economic Theories of Crime
ECONOMIC THEORIES OF CRIME
CAUSATION
Karl Marx’s Theory
 it claimed that it is not necessary to
have a particular amount of wealth or
prestige to be a member of the
capitalist; it is more important to have
the power to exploit others
economically, legally and socially.
The Contribution of Friedrich Engels
 it portrayed crime as a function of
social demoralization- a collapse of
people’s humanity reflecting a decline
in society.
 workers are demoralized by the
capitalist society, are caught up in the
process that led to crime and violence.
THE BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL THEORIES
OF CRIMES CAUSATION
 biopsychosocial theory of crime
causation is an integration or
combination of both the bio, psycho and
the socio.
1. Bio- component of this theory
examines aspects of biology that
influence health. These might be
included things like brain changes,
genetics, or functioning of major body
organs, such as the liver, the kidneys
or even the motor system.
2. Psycho- component of the theory
examines psychological components,
things like thoughts, emotions or
behaviors.
3. Social- component of the
biopsychosocial model examines
social factors that might influence the
health of an individual; things like our
interactions with others, our culture or
our economic status.
Moral Insanity
 was a term used to describe persons who
were normal in all respects except that
something was wrong with the part of the
brain that regulates affective responses.
Premenstrual Syndrome
 refers to onset of the menstrual cycle that
triggers excessive amounts of the female
 sex hormones, which affect anti-social,
aggressive behavior.
Battered Child Syndrome.
 a medical diagnosis based on evidence
indicating that the child has been
subjected to a pattern of serious and
unexplained abuse.
Battered Woman Syndrome
 is a psychological term used to describe
women who are stuck within or have
recently left a violent relationship
characterized by the cycle of violence.
THE POLITICAL/SOCIAL CONFLICT
THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION
Marxist Criminology
 views crime as a function of the capitalist
mode of production
Conflict Theory
 views as the outcome of class struggle.
The classes that are struggling here are
the upper, middle and lower class.
Social Reality of Crime.
 the wealthy and the poor those who hold
power will be the ones to create the laws
that benefit themselves.
Left Realism Theory
 the crime happens when a person is
being deprived economically plus the
governing body in the community (like
barangay chairman) do not know how to
render solutions to problems (like
rampant stealing in his barangay)
 Example (If the thief succeeds in his first
stealing, then there is a big possibility
that he’ll keep repeating his criminal
conduct.)
Postmodern Theory
 focuses on the critical analysis of
communication and language in legal
codes.
 it believes that language is value laden
and can promote the same sort of
inquiries that are present in the rest of the
social structures.
Institutive-Constitutive Theory
 defines crimes as the application of harm
to others.
 eople who are defined as the committing
criminal acts are at the same time being
made unequal or disrespected; they are
rendered powerless to maintain or
express their humanity.
Conservatives Ideologies
 assume that the ideal society is/are in
which authority is unquestioned.
 the hierarchy of wisdom and virtue is
accepted by all as based on recognizing
natural inequalities.
Liberalism
 assumes that the ideal society is one in
which there is equality of opportunity and
a general consensus to accept
differences in rewards as the outcomes
of fair competition.
Identity Fusion Theory
 defined as a visceral feeling of oneness
with the group that is associated with
increased permeability of the boundary
between the personal and social self.
Age Graded Theory
 the type of crime committed by a certain
individual is in consonance with his age
or his age governs or dictates the type of
crime to be committed by him.
Control Balance Theory
 expands the concept of personal control
as predisposing element for criminality.
THEORIES OF WOMEN OFFENDERS
Theory of Masculinity
 Criminalities of women are mainly
dependent on the masculinity behavior of
female.
 The empowered women are involved in
more serious violent crime than
empowered women due to masculinity.
Opportunity Theory
 this theory argued that the involvement of
criminal activities is increased and
women have different opportunities.
 increasing opportunities of women
reduced the rates of violent female
offending, but increased the rates of
property crimes.
Marginalization Theory
  Marginality (low salary, inadequate job,
lower-class position, family victimization)
of a woman penetrates criminality in
contemporary societies.
 Those women are motivated to commit
crime as a rational response to poverty
and economic uncertainty that they
perceive.
Critical Feminist Theory.
 This theory holds that gender in equality
starts from the unequal power of men
and women and the subsequent
exploitation of women by men.
 The cause of female criminality
originates with the onset of male
supremacy and the efforts of males to
control female sexuality.
Ecological System Theory
 explain how the inherent qualities of a
child and his environment interact to
influence how he will grow and develop.
Broken Windows Theory.
 was a simple demonstration of how
something that is clearly neglected can
quickly become a target for vandals.
Crime Pattern Theory
 important in developing and
understanding of crime and place
because it combines rational choice and
routine activity theory to help explain the
distribution of crime across places.
References

Power Control Theory Caño, G.J. (2019). The theories of crime

 Suggests that class influences causation. 1977 C.M Recto Avenue, City
delinquency and criminality by controlling of Manila. Rex Bookstore Inc.
the quality of family life. Meriam-WebsterDictionary ,https//Meriam
webster.com/dictionary
Penis Envy Theory.
 A theory in Freudian psychoanalytic
theory that proposes that very young girls
feel deprived and envious that they do
not have a penis.

Chivalry or Paternalism Theory

 According to this theory, women are
treated more leniently than men because
when are believed to be born biologically
inferior and in need of protection from
men.
 traditional women are treated with
extreme leniency due to chivalry resulting
from paternalistic attitudes within a
patriarchal society.

THE ECOLOGY ON ENVIRONMENTAL

THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION

Human Ecology Theory

 one of the principles of human ecology
theory is that communities consist of
series of interrelated and interdependent
corporate groupings which cooperate to
extract their needs from the
environmental.