CRIMINOLOGY

Mirza Faran Baig

 I. Introduction
• Basic concepts used in understanding crime,
criminality and criminal.
 Crime

• Any act punishable under the Criminal Code

whether or not it has come to the attention of
the police.
• Behaviour that breaks the law.
 Globalisation of crime
• The increasing interconnectedness of crime
across societies.
 Crime prevention
• Strategies and measures that seek to
intervene on and modify identified risk factors
in order to reduce the likelihood that a
criminal act will be committed.
 Primary crime prevention
• Programs designed for the general population
that address broad-based socio-economic
factors believed to be related to increased
likelihood of later offending. For example,
early child care, income distribution programs,
and employment support programs.
 Secondary crime prevention
• Programs or interventions designed to address
the risk factors related to pathways to
offending among children and youth, or to
address situations that may enhance crime in
neighbourhoods.
 Tertiary crime prevention
• Directed towards the prevention of criminal
re-occurrence. This includes measures such as
physical modification of repeatedly victimized
buildings, offender rehabilitation programs,
etc.
 Criminality
• An individual's propensity to offend.
Criminality as a concept is (1) the systematic,
causal component of crime; (2) driven by
social, biological, and psychological factors;
and (3) time varying
 Criminality
Criminality is a style of strategic behavior
It is characterized by:
Self-centeredness
Indifference to suffering /needs of others
 Low self-control
 Criminality
Impulsive individuals are more prone:
 To find criminality an attractive style of
behavior
 To them criminality can provide:
 Immediate gratification
Through relatively easy / simple strategies
These strategies of Criminality are:
 Risky
 Thrilling
Usually requiring little skill/planning.
Focusing on criminality rather than political-
legal definitions
Allows us to focus on perplexing problem of :
 Why some acts (e.g., marijuana
consumption) are defined as crimes
 While similar more damaging acts (e.g.,
alcohol consumption) are not.
The above Issues are central to :
 Conflict theories
 Critical theories
 Feminist theories of crime
 Behavioral aspect of Crime

• The behavioral definition of

crime focuses on, criminality , a
certain personality profile that
causes the most alarming sorts
of crimes.
 Behavioral aspect of Crime
All criminal behaviors involve use of :
Force
Fraud
Stealth
To obtain material/symbolic resources.
 Legal aspect of Crime

• Legally, crimes usually are

defined as acts or omissions
forbidden by law that can be
punished by imprisonment
and/or fine
 Legalistic view of Crime
Murder, robbery, burglary, rape, drunken
driving, child neglect, and failure to pay your
taxes all are common examples of legal
aspect of crime
CRIME THEORIES
 Rational Choice Theory
Developed by Cornish and Clarke
Utilitarian belief that :
Man is a reasoning actor
Situational Crime Prevention
People act in their self-interest
 Rational Choice Theory
Potential Criminal weighs :
Means and ends
Costs and benefits
Makes a rational choice
Make decisions to commit crime
After weighing/potential risks (including getting
caught and punished)
Against the rewards to commit crime
 Social Disorganization Theory
Pioneered by Clifford X. Shaw Henry W. McKay
Chicago School
Suggested that high crime rates occur
in disorganized communities
Links crime rates to neighborhood ecological
characteristics
 Social Disorganization Theory
Such Neighborhoods are Characterized by :
Poverty
 Ethnic heterogeneity
Residential mobility
Weakened social stability
Person’s physical / social environments:
Primarily responsible for behavioral choices
 Social Disorganization Theory
 That high rates of crime occur in those
communities that exhibit :
Declining populations
 Physical deterioration
Neighborhood that has:
Poor schools
 Vacant and vandalized buildings
 High unemployment
 Social Disorganization Theory
A mix of commercial and residential property
Decaying social structures
No social control
Unable to provide essential services
Are More likely to have high crime rates
 Strain Theory
Pioneered by Robert King Merton (1957)
Followed by :
 Albert K. Cohen (1955)
 Robert Agnew (1992)
Suggests that social structures within society
May pressure citizens to commit crime.
Most people have similar aspirations
 Strain Theory
But they don’t all have the same :
Opportunities
Abilities.
When people fail to achieve society’s
expectations through approved means:
Hard work
Delayed gratification
They may attempt to achieve success through
crime.
 Social Learning Theory of Crime
Propounded by Criminologists Ronald Akers/
Robert Burgess
Integrated the principles of :
Social learning theory
Operant conditioning
 Edwin Sutherland's Differential Association
Theory
 Social Learning Theory of Crime
 Burgess and Akers emphasized
 That criminal behavior is learned
 It includes both social/nonsocial situations
 Through combinations of :
 Direct reinforcement
 Explicit instruction
 Observation
 Social Learning Theory of Crime
Probability of exposure to certain behaviors
Reinforcement dependent on group norms.
People develop motivation to :
 Commit crime
Skills to commit crime
 Through the people they associate with
 Social Control Theory
Most people would commit crime when
informal controls / sanctions that society
places on individuals through institutions
such as :
Schools
Workplaces
 Churches/ Mosques
 Families
 Social Control Theory
 Such informal Social Controls
Are weak
Have lost their influence over individuals
Or Society as a whole
 LABELING THEORY
• Labeling theory is the theory of how the self-
identity and behavior of individuals may be
determined or influenced by the terms used
to describe or classify them.
• It is associated with the concepts of self-
fulfilling prophecy and stereotyping.
 Labeling Theory
People in power decide what acts are crimes
Act of labeling someone a criminal is what
makes him a criminal
Once a person is labeled a criminal
Society takes away his opportunities
Ultimately lead to more criminal behavior
• Labeling theory is closely related to social-
construction and symbolic-
interaction analysis.
• Labeling theory was developed by sociologists
during the 1960s.
• Howard Saul Becker's book Outsiders was
extremely influential in the development of
this theory and its rise to popularity
 LEARNING THEORY
• Learning theories are conceptual frameworks
describing how information is absorbed, processed,
and retained during learning.
• Cognitive, emotional, and environmental influences,
as well as prior experience, all play a part in how
understanding, or a world view, is acquired or
changed and knowledge and skills retained.
 Biology Genetics Evolution
Poor diet
Mental illness
Bad brain chemistry
Evolutionary
Rewards for aggressive criminal conduct
Have been proposed as explanations for
crime.
THANK YOU