Theories of

Crime
Causations
 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
 Crime it’s Concepts

Crimes in its legal sense are defined as acts or omissions forbidden by law
that can be punished by imprisonment and/or fine. While in its behavioral
definition of crime focuses on criminality, a certain personality profile that causes
the most alarming sorts of crimes. The explanation why crime was committed, or
the causes of crime is not an easy thing to do because there are so many factors
and circumstances to consider thus making it complex. This statement is
supported by SCCJR emphasizing that “there is no one cause’ of crime. Crime is a
highly complex phenomenon that changes across cultures and across time”. Crime
does not evolve from any single source and there are several reasons behind a
person’s criminal behavior (Pratap, 2016). Scholars pointed out their own views on
the causes of crimes and it has been observed that there are agreements and
disagreements which would give an idea of confusion to everyone. Many theories
have common traits, but differences among them still exist. Understanding these
differences is the key to understanding the often contradictory views of crime and
deviance they purport to explain (Akers , Sellers, See and Kieser, 2013).
Theory: Its Concepts and Relevance
 According to Okada (2015), theory is a series of statements that seek to
understand and explain a particular phenomenon. Theoretical explanations
are very significant in providing a clear and wider understanding of criminal
behavior. It also provides a framework in coming up with new policies in
response with crimes like the development of political and social policies and
treatment programs for dealing with criminals and their victims.

 In criminological perspectives, theories help us to understand the

workings of the criminal justice system and the factors in the system. It
suggests the way things are, not the way things ought to be. They are not
inherently good or bad; however, they can be used for good or bad purposes.
It also explains crime in its macro or micro level (Akers, Sellers, See and Kieser,
2013)
Crime as a Problem:

Crime is an aspect of life that all citizens must deal
with as it seems to have been around as long as
civilization itself. According to Escareno, crime
overpowered communities for centuries and becomes
more prevalent in poor inner-city neighborhoods than
those who are rich which is also in agreement with the
report of the Secretary General on the state of crime
and criminal justice in 2015 because people living in
low-income countries suffer the biggest threats to their
security and well-being.
 A Systems Perspective on Crime:
 Criminal Behavior is the product of a systematic process that
involves complex interactions between individual, societal, and
ecological factors over the course of our lives. It explains that from
the beginning onward the intellectual, emotional, and physical
attributes we develop are strongly influenced by our personal
behavior and physical processes, interactions with the physical
environment and interactions with other people, group and
institutions.

 These systematic processes affect the transmission from

generation to generation of traits associated with increased
involvement in crime. To have a better understanding as to how
they work together the following are discussed below.
Ecological Factor
 It involves interactions between people and their activities in a physical
environment. It pertains to physical environment like geography and topography,
crowding, pollution, and recreational opportunities which influences the physical
and emotional development of people over their lives as well as the level of
hostility, fear, or well-being they feel from moment to moment as they
experience, for example, a crowded subway, dark lonely parking lots, or serene
park.

 It also determines what opportunities for crime exist because they include
interaction between people and the ways physical environment channel those
interactions. The routine activities of people in a physical setting can have
important effects on when and where opportunities for crime occur. A crime is
not possible unless a motivated and able offender converges with a victim,
property, or illicit substance or behavior in the absence of capable guardianship
(people or physical barriers to prevent the crime).
Societal or Macrolevel Factor
 Its deals with systematic interaction between
social groups which describe the ways society is
structured. It includes the relative distribution of
the population among groups and the flow of
information, resources, and people between
groups. It also encompasses the variety and
heterogeneity of racial/ethnic/cultural/productive
groups, their behaviors and beliefs, and economic
relations.
Motivation and Opportunity
Individuals actually commit the crimes.
Individual factor always intervene between
any descriptions of the causes of crime.
Individual or micro level factor describe
how a person becomes motivated to
commit a crime.
 What is motivation?

 Is it just the driving force behind our actions? In this discussion,

motivation is more than “I want.” Portion of the equation. It
includes “I could.” What will it cost me compared to what I think
I’ll get? And “Is this right and proper?”
 Motivation is the outcome of a process in which a goal is
formulated, cost and benefits are assessed, and internal
constraints on behavior are applied. Individual motivation varies,
sometimes a person’s motivation is influenced more by rational
decision making, other times by emotions such as gender, greed,
or lush. To some extent there are similarities wherein some
people tend to be more motivated by cost/benefits calculations
more of the time than others.
Can motivation stand alone?

No. Motivation alone cannot cause a crime to

occur; Opportunity also is required. Opportunity itself
may influence motivation (Katz 1988).
In effect the interactions between biological, socio-
cultural and developmental factor affect how motivated
a person is to use force, fraud, or stealth to obtain
resources when an opportunity is presented. It
motivation is sufficiently high in the presence of an
attractive opportunity, a crime may occur so long as the
person has the ability required to commit it.
Crime Causation: Its Historical Overview

Antique Philosophy (4th century BC) – Aristotle offers a philosophical

standpoint on crime causation who stated that the crime is poverty related
describing poverty as a mother of all revolutions and crime.

Medieval Philosophy (17th century) – According to Francis Bacon

criminality will depend on social situations. He described his standpoint in this
sentence: “Opportunity makes a thief” Bacon pointed out that human
behavior will depend on situations.

French Renaissance Philosophy (18th century) – The famous

encyclopedists Voltaire and Rousseau introduce the concept of free will.
Crime is the same as hedonistic behavior and failure to fulfill the social
contract obligation.
 Chapter II
 Traditional Explanation of Crime Causation

 Bringing back the thoughts during the 16th and 17th

century, people are thoughts of being possessed by
demons or evil spirits when they commit crimes and
deviant behavior. Their belief influences the way they
treat the wrong doers hence they are into the practice
of exorcism and banishment.
Demonological Theory
 This is the earliest theory explaining crime and criminal
behavior. It theorized that people believer that evil spirits or
demons entered human body to commit sins.
 Terms like demons, witches and windigo were used for
people who had turned criminals. The society thought that
it happened due to evil influence. Supernatural powers
were considered the best explanation behind the crime and
sin. It was believed that a person did not commit crimes of
his own free will but under evil influence (Pratap, 2016).
This theory relies upon unreal and mythical explanations.
Spiritual vs. Natural Explanations
 Spiritual explanations for crime is primarily
attached into religious beliefs and superstitions
and there is a strong adherence with the divine
intervention. Even at present, some religious
individuals and groups still attribute crime to the
influence of the devil and to sinful human
nature. The problem with these theories is that,
because spiritual, influences cannot be
observed, they cannot be proved. Thus, these
theories cannot be considered scientific.
 Natural explanations for crimes were rooted in
people’s ideas about the nature of reality in the
physical world based on observations of nature but
were not scientific. For example, the natural world
was thought to include inherent good and evil and
cries often were regarded as crimes against nature
or the natural order rather than crime against
victims or against god. Seeking explanations for
crime in the natural world provided a basis of the
development of legal definitions and treatments of
crime. Natural explanations of crime make use of
objects and events in the material world to account
for what happens.
 Chapter III
 Classical and Neo-Classical Explanation of Crime Causation 

 Classical Theory

This theory posits that human behavior as rational and assumes that
people have the ability to choose right from right. It explains that crime is a
product of believes that benefits of committing crimes are far greater
therefore crime is a behavioral human characteristic and a choice. This
theory expresses that the humans did not act according to Gods will or
under the influence of any other supernatural power but acted in their own
free will. They acted after having judged the rewards and punishments. It
only shows an individual has the ability to calculate the outcome of his own
actions and can consider the pleasure and pain to result from his activities.
This is in response to the primitive and cruel European justice system that
existed prior to the French Revolution of 1789.
 Proponents:

Cesare Beccaria
 Jeremy
Bentham
Principles underlying this theory
1. Viewed human behavior as essentially rational in nature;
2. Felt that people had the ability to choose right from wrong;
3. Believed that the major element governing a person’s choice of action was
the basic human desire to obtain pleasure and avoid pain.
To sum up these principles under this theory it is mainly concern with an
explanation of crime. It completely concentrated on criminal act.
People have the ability to choose right from wrong, good from evil. His
explanation for criminal behavior included the idea that people are basically
hedonistic, that is they desire a high degree of pleasure and avoid pain. People
who choose to commit acts think they stand to gain more than they risk losing
by committing the crime all these ideas of Jeremy Bentham was premised under
the principle of utilitarianism.
 What is Utilitarianism?

 Utilitarianism is the doctrine that the purpose of all actions should

bring about the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
It means that human beings are hedonistic (pleasure-seeking) and act
only in their own self – interest.

 What is felicitous calculus, or moral calculus?

 This is used for estimating the probability that a person will engage
in a particular kind of behavior. People weigh the possibility that a
particular behavior pattern or action will cause current of future
pleasure against the possibility that it will cause current or future pain.
In response to the question of why a person commits a crime, Bentham
would probably reply that the pleasure that the person anticipated
from the criminal's act was much greater than the subsequent pain
that might be expected from it.
 Strength of Classical Theory

 It considers bot juveniles and insane people as unable to

commit crimes since they cannot rationally calculate the outcomes
of their actions. Our current criminal and juvenile justice system are
based on the basic propositions of this approach.

1. Deterrence theory

 Deterrence theory highlight that an individual’s choice to

commit or not to commit a crime is influenced by the fear of
punishment. It also includes the idea that forced retribution for a
crime should reduce crime rates. This theory is considered an
extension of classical approach focusing on the link between
punishment and behavior at both individual and group levels.
 What is deterrence?

Deterrence is the act of preventing a criminal act before it occurs,

through the threat of punishment and sanctions.

 What is retribution?

Retribution is the notion that a wrongdoer should be force to “pay

back” or compensate for his or her criminal acts.

 Focus of deterrence theory

A. For punishment to be deterrence to criminal behavior, it must be

certain, swift and severe.
B. The severity must be sufficient to outweigh any rewards that the
criminal may obtain from a criminal act.
 Types of deterrence

1. Specific deterrence
 This is aimed at the wrongdoer and tries to deter him
from crime by punishment him. 

2. General deterrence
 This is aimed at everyone. It deters everyone from
crime by punishing the criminal and thus establishing an
example. The weakness is that it does not clearly
consider the impact of punishment on people which
have not committed but might be ready to commit
crime.
3. Routine activities theory (RAT)
 This theory suggests that crime is a product of people’s daily activities
influence by a number of factors that can become the motivation behind
crime. Living in the company of delinquent peers or being to places
frequently rounded by offenders can motivate anyone to become one of
them. It is used to explain the changing trends in crime.

 It has the idea that criminals are not impulsive (thoughtless) or

unpredictable, because they balance the costs as well as benefits of
committing crimes. This theory is a product of the classical approach
wherein they explain crime as a rational course of action by offenders who
seek to minimize pain and maximize pleasure. 
 According to Lawrence E. Cohen and Marcus Felson, trends in crime
rates are influence in terms of the changing routine activities of everyday
life. It explain why crime and delinquency occur in particular places under
specific conditions like the merging of motivated offender, suitable targets
and the absence of capable guardians against a violation.
 Suitable targets. Things that are valued (e.g. jewelry,
cars, or cash) or people who, when assaulted,
provided positive rewards or pleasure to the
perpetrator.
 Guardians. Objects (e.g. gates, surveillance
cameras or burglar or auto alarms) or individuals
(e.g., guards or police) who are capable of protecting
possible targets or victims. To the offender, the
presences of protective guardians raise crime costs
and lessen target attractiveness.
 What are the assumptions in RAT?

1. Self-interest motivates criminal offenders to commit criminal acts;

2. Many individuals may be motivated to break laws.
 RAT examines how structural changes in everyday activity
patterns influence crime rates by affecting the convergence in
time and space of three requisite conditions for a crime to occur.
 These three conditions include

1. A perpetrator;
2. A victim and/or an object of property (criminal victimization
increases when motivated offenders and targets converge);
3. A relationship or an opportunity (criminal victimization decreases
with the presence of capable guardians).
 Neo Classical Theory

 This theory considers age, gender and social

class of the perpetrators. The perpetrators are
people who think feel, act criminal behavior is
learned within groups by imitation and
identification. It suggests the understanding of
individuals differences of the perpetrators and
sought have to improve the stances towards
perpetrators who should have an impact on the
level of guilt and severity of punishment.
Consequently, not all perpetrators should be
treated in the same fashion, because the evident
differences exist among them. Crime is a result of
many conditions that have ultimately influenced
on the perpetrators to commit it.

 Gabriel Tarde (Proponent)

 French sociologist
 Founder of neoclassical criminology school
 Published the book “ Penal Philosophy, 1890”
 Chapter IV
Positivist Explanation of Crime Causation
 Phrenology and Physiognomy

Theories of crime before positivist theory existed

1. Phrenology (Doctrine of the Mental Phenomena)

 Greek words: phren – mind

 Logos - knowledge 

 Phrenology is based on the belief that human behavior

originated in the brain.
 Johann Spurzheim- (1776-
1832) a German physician and
a student of Gall’s, coined the
term phrenology to replace
cranioscopy. He also expanded
the map of the brain organs,
developed a hierarchical
system of the organs, and
created a model “phrenology
bust” that depicted the
location of the brain organs.
2. Physiognomy
the study of the systematic
correspondence of psychological
characteristics to facial features or body
structure. Physiognomy was regarded by
those who cultivated it both as a mode of
discriminating character by the outward
appearance and as a method of
divination from form and feature.

 According to Johann Lavater, a

physiognomist, states that the shape
of the skull and some facial features
had an impact on human behavior
and actions.
 Augusts Comte

is known as the founder of

sociology and positivism,
believed that both
external and internal
forces are important for
understanding human
behavior.
 Positivist Theories (Positivist School of Criminology)

 Positivism emphasizes the techniques of observation, the comparative

method, and experimentation in the development of knowledge concerning
human behavior and the nature of society. It also stressed the idea that much
of our behavior is a function of external social forces beyond individual
control, as well as internal forces such as our mental capabilities and
biological makeup. This theory further argued that human behavior is pre-
disposed and fully determined by individual differences and biological traits
meaning it is not freewill that drives people to commit crimes.

 In positivism it highlights the relevance of empirical or scientific study of

crime, criminals and criminal behavior. In this theory it presumed that
scientific study of criminal behavior should find the “causes” of such behavior
believing that the causes of crime are beyond the control of the individual. In
short positivist theory shows a deterministic explanation. It played an
important role in the development of modern criminology. Positivist held that
environment and hereditary factors could be important causal factors behind
crime.
 Effects of positivism

1. People were beginning to be perceived and understood as organism

that are part of the animal kingdom whose behavior is very much
influence (if not determined by social, cultural, and biological
antecedents, rather than as self-determined beings who are free to do
what they want.
2. There is great diversity in positivist theories on the causes of crime:
some stress external (or social) factors more, and others stress internal
(or individual) factors more.

 Based on Comte positivism, Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909) and his

distinguished pupils Enrico Ferri (1856-1929) and Raffaele Garofalo
(1852-1934) founded positivist criminology-the modern, positivist
school of penal jurisprudence-and led what has been called the Italian
school of criminology.
Biological Theory
 Biological explanations of crime assume that some people are “born
criminals” who are physiologically distinct from non-criminals. According to
biological positivists the basic cause of crime is biological inferiority, which is
indicated by physical or genetic characteristic that distinguish criminals from
non-criminals. Biological theorist also advocates brain surgery, chemical
treatment, improved diets, and better mother and childcare.

 Biological theories of criminality basically purport that criminal behavior

is the result of some flaw in the biological makeup of the individual. This
physical flaw could be due to.

a. Heredity
b. Neurotransmitter dysfunction
c. Brain abnormalities that were caused by either of the above, improper
development, or trauma (Raine, 2002)
 Early Biological Theories vs. Modern Biological Theories

 Early biological theories viewed that structure determines function- that is,
individuals behave differently because of the fundamental fact that they are
somehow structurally different. It focus strongly on inherited characteristics.

 Modern biological theories examine the entire range of biological

characteristics, including those that the result from genetic defects (and thus are
not inherited) and those that are environmentally induced. This theory do not
suggest that biological characteristics directly “cause” crime, but it claimed that
biological conditions increase the likelihood that an individual will engage in
maladaptive behavior patterns (e.g., violent or antisocial behavior), and that
those behavior patterns can include actions that are legally defined as criminal. It
focus on the interaction between biological characteristics and the social
environment, rather than looking solely at the effects of biology itself being
called as biosocial theories of crime, and most biological criminologists
recognize that this is where the field must go in the future.
 Proponent: Cesare Lombroso –
(Father of Criminology)

 Profile:

 Born in Venice, Italy, in 1835

 Educated in medicine and psychiatry
 Became a professor of criminal
anthropology at the University of
Turin in 1906
 Published a book entitled, “Criminal
Man” in 1876.
 He pointed out in his book the
explanation of criminal behavior
basing it on biological characteristics
and heredity therefore advocating
the scientific explanations, focused
engage in crime are throwbacks.
 Atavism: Its concept

 Atavism (from Latin atavus, ancestor) claimed a return to a primitive or

subhuman type of man, characterized physically by a variety of inferior
morphological features reminiscent of apes and lower primates, occurring in the
more simian fossil men and, to some extent, preserved in modern “savages.”

 What is the implication of Lombroso’s Theory?

 The “mentality of atavistic individuals is that of primitive man, that these are
biological “throwbacks” to an earlier stage of evolution, and that the behavior of
these “throwbacks” will inevitably be contrary to the rules and expectations of
modern civilized society.”

 Lombroso not only focused on the “born criminal,” atavism, and degeneracy;
as q positivist, he also expressed concern for factors such as the social and physical
environment of the offender. He emphasized a mutual interactive relationship
between heredity and environment and, in other written works, stressed
environmental conditions as a causing or having an effect on criminality.
 Profile:

 Born in Mantua, Italy, in

1856
 Published his dissertation
entitled criminal sociology
in 1878
 An acknowledge leader of
the positivist school of
criminology
 Student of Lombroso at the
University of Turin
 Coined the term “born
criminal”
 The Five-Fold Scientific Classification of Criminals

1. Born or Instinctive Criminal – one who carries from the birth, through
unfortunate heredity from his ancestors, a reduced resistance to criminal stimuli
and also an evident and developed tendency to crime.
2. Insane Criminal – one who is affected by a clinically identified mental disease or
by a neuropsycopathic condition which groups him with the mentally disease.
3. Passional Criminal – one who, in two varieties, the criminal through passion ( a
prolonged and chronic mental state), or through emotion (explosive and
unexpected mental state), represents a type at the opposite pole from the
criminal due to congenital tendencies
4. Occasional Criminal – one who constitute the majority of lawbreakers and is the
product of family and social milieu more than of abnormal personal physiomental
conditions.
5. Habitual Criminal – the criminal by acquired habit, who is mostly a product of the
social environment in which, due to abandonment by his family, lack of education,
poverty, [and] bad companions, already in his childhood begins as an occasional
offender.
 According to Ferri, “classes of criminals do not exist in nature
however, they are a necessary “instrument by which the human mind
can better understand the multiform reality of things.” On the other
hand he also emphasize the significance and interrelatedness of social
economic and political factors.

 In the book of Ferri on Criminal Sociology he pointed out the

following as the causes of crimes:

 Physical (race, climate, geographic location, seasonal effects,

temperature, etc.)
 Anthropological (age, sex, somatic [body] conditions, psychological
conditions, etc.)
 Social (density of populations, customs, religion, organization of
government, economic and industrial conditions, etc.)
Proponent: Raffaele Garofalo

Profile:

 Born of Italian nobility in

Naples in 1852
 Third of the leading exponents
of positivism
 Professor of criminal law at the
University of Naples
 Known principally in the
United States for his major
work, Criminology
Four Types of Criminals on the Basis of Moral Defecits

1. Murderer  
The man in whom altruism is wholly lacking and whose sentiments of both pity
and probity are absent and such a criminal will steal or kill as the occasion arises 

2. Violent Criminal

Those characterized by the lack of pity (may also commit crimes of passion,
sometimes under the influence of alcohol; such crimes are indicative of inferior innate
moral capacities; certain environments contribute to crimes against property)

3. Thief
Those thieves who lacks probity (such offenses are committed by a small
minority of the population)
4. Lascivious Criminal
A group of sexual offenders whose conduct is characterized less by the absence
of the sentiment of pity than by a low level of moral energy and deficient moral
perception.
 Garofalo’s Sociological Definition of Crime:

 “Those acts which no civilized society can refuse to recognize as criminal

and repress by punishment.”

 Natural Crime. Conduct which offends the basic moral sentiments of pity
(revulsion against the voluntary infliction of suffering on others) and probity
(respect for property rights of others (Garofalo).

Natural Crime is a behavior which violates certain basic moral

sentiments. The true criminal is the one whose altruistic (humane)
sensibilities are lacking or are in a deficient state of development and
considered as abnormal. The concepts of crime and the criminal are thus
integrally related.”

Garofalo’s concepts of crime and criminals provide base for his “social
defense” against criminality because of the “absence or deficiency of the
basic altruistic sentiments ,” the criminal demonstrates his “unfitness” or lack
of adaptation” to his social environment.
 Somatotyping is the classifying of
people into types according to
body build.

 Proponent: William Sheldon

 Profile:

 American psychologist practicing

in the early to mid-1900s 

 Research

 He observed the varieties of

human bodies and came up with
three types: ectomorphs,
endomorphs, and mesomorphs.
1. Somatotype theory
This theory relates to the distinctive body
types to personality characteristics and relates
criminal behavior to the body types (Morin, R.,
2014). People are born with an inherited body
type based on skeletal frame and body
composition.
 He observed the varieties of human bodies
and came up with three types: ectomorphs,
endomorphs, and mesomorphs.
1. Ectomorphs
 thin and fragile
 flat-chested, fragile,
lean lightly muscled,
small shouldered and
thin
 likely to commit suicide
Endomorphs
 soft and fat
 underdeveloped
muscles and a round
physique
 have the difficulty losing
weight
 likely to be mentally ill
Mesomorphs

 muscular and athletic

 hour glass-shaped when
they’re female, or
rectangular shape in males
 have excellent posture, they
gain muscle easily and they
have thick skin
 most prone to commit crime
or other deviant behaviors
2. Y Chromosome Theory
This theory holds that criminal have an
extra Y chromosome that gives them an XYY
chromosomal makeup rather than an XY
makeup. This creates a strong compulsion
within them to commit crimes and being
known as “super male”. According to
studies the proportion XYY males in the
prison population is higher than general
male population.
3. Neuroscience Theory
 Neuroscience is the study of nervous system concerning
biological basis of consciousness, perception, memory, and
learning. Neuroscience links our observations about cognitive
behavior with the actual physical processes that support such
behavior. Nervous system as a lineage structure with features of
self-organizing and changes with use throughout the lifetime.

 Rapid development of neuroscience has brought to form of new

theories of crime. Neuroscience point out that crime is a
psychopathological or psychological disorder. The proponents of
using neuroscience evidence in the courtroom argue that the
introduction of these brain scans will empower judges and
injuries to draw more accurate conclusions about whether a
defendant is responsible for his or her actions.
4. Genetics Theory
Genetics explain the causes of crime. In a family
studies focus on the criminal history and background of
families it was found out that families with criminal
backgrounds, are said to be more likely to produce
children with criminal tendencies also, almost as
through crime is a gene carried through generations.
 Characteristics and traits of a person can be inherited
through genes and it is argued that criminal behavior
may be an inheritable, polygenic trait much like eye
color, height and skin tone etc.
 Researches

1. Family studies

Researchers; Osborne and West (1982)

 They undertook the study of families and family history comparing of sons
and fathers, criminal fathers and non-criminal fathers.

Findings:

 Fathers with criminal convictions meant that 40% of sons also have criminal
convictions.
 Even when a father had no trace of a criminal conviction, still 13% of sons did.
Genes do not completely determine criminality but yet still may have an
influence 
 Criminality is higher in sons with criminal fathers, is still necessary to understand
as to why 60% of them did not commit crimes and why 13% of sons of non-
criminal fathers did (ainsworth, 2000)
2. Adaptation Studies

 Researchers; Hutchings and Mednick (1975)

Findings:

 Even if the adoptive or biological father did not have a record of criminal behavior,
their sons still had one about 10% of the time.
 With an adoptive father with a criminal record, 11% of the time sons would too
and a biological father with criminal record 21% of the time as did their sons. The
significant 36 per cent where both parents had traced criminal records.
 No relationship between the number of convictions of adoptive parents and their
adopted children.
 There is a significant correlation between the number of criminal convictions of
biological parents and their offspring, although this did not include violent crimes.
 There is a genetic influence on criminality but other factors such as environment
must be considered.
 Researchers; Bohman et al, 1982

Findings:

 Criminality may not be genetically inherited but other traits may be.
Traits such as alcoholism and addiction can be genetically inherited,
and research shows that genes are responsible for about half the risk
of alcoholism and addiction. These traits are associated with violent
behavior which can help to explain the genetic link to crime.
 Although genetics has an influence, it may not be crime which is
inherited but other genes which may lead to criminal behavior.
Adopted children may have been adopted months after birth and the
possibility of their early life experiences contributing to criminal
behavior in later life
 Stress the being the inherited gene causing behavioral disorder in
offspring.
3. Twin Studies

 Researchers; studies of twins and the link to criminality

 Findings:

 An inheritable trait may increase the risk of criminal behavior. They compare the
concordance rate of MZ and DZ twins to assess the role of genetic and environmental
influences. To support the biological approach , the concordance rate of MZ twins would
be higher than DZ twins, (tehrani and mednick,2000).

 Karl Christiansen undertook a study of twin’s studies which support this statement
where concordance for MZ was 35% and only 13% for DZ, his studies were based on
twins he gathered from Denmark between 1880 and 1910. He studied their police and
court records through these years. MZ and DZ is that MZ are identical which may suggest
this had an influence on the results. Being identical may mean they are treated similarly
throughout their lives. Being aware of their physical similarities may also mean they
mimic each other throughout life and so any criminal behavior may also be mimicked but
the behavior isn’t solely influenced by genetics. The fact DZ twins are different sex twins
most of the time, may mean that gender has more of an influence on criminal behavior
than genetics do.
2. Sociological Theories
The sociological approach theorizes that crime is shaped by factors
external to the individual: their experiences within the neighborhood, the
peer group, and the family. It means that society “construct” criminality. It
attempts to connect the issues of the individual's criminality with the
broader social structures and cultural values of society, familiar, or peer
group.

It suggest that crime is caused by anomie, or the dissociation of the

individual from the collective conscience: by social disorganization: by
anomie resulting from a lack of opportunity to achieve aspirations: by the
learning criminal values and behavior: and by the failure to properly
socialize individuals.

This theory suggest that the explanations of criminal behavior lie

outside the individual. It is attributed on the criminogenic social
conditions.
 What are the social conditions responsible for
criminality?
 Broken families

 Poor parenting

 Low quality educational experiences

 Delinquent peer relations

 Poverty

 Lack of equal economic opportunity

 Inadequate socialization
 What are the major sociological theories?

1. Social Disorganization Theory

Social Disorganization refers to the breakdown in traditional social control and

organization in the society, community neighborhood, or family so that deviant and
criminal ativity result. It states a person’s physical and social environments are
primarily responsible for the behavioral choices that a person’s makes. At the core of
social disorganization theory, is that location matters when it comes to predicting
illegal activity. It is most often applied to urban crime. It simply focus on the immediate
social environment, like the family, peer group, and school.

this is a macro theory looking across different communities or neighborhoods

because it focused on the larger social environment, especially the community and the
total society. It attempts to explain why some groups – like communities and societies
– have higher crime rates than other groups.

It seeks to explain community differences in crime rates by identifying the

characteristics of communities with high crime rates and draws on social control
theory to explain why these characteristics contribute to crime.
 Characteristics of communities where crime is more likely to
happen:

 Economically deprived
 Large in size
 High in multi unit housing like apartments
 High in residential mobility (people frequently move into and
out of the community)
 High in family disruption (high rates of divorce, single parent
families)

 Proponents: Clifford R. Shaw and Henry D. Mckay

 Profile: Sociologist at the University of Chicago (1920s AND

1930s)
 What was the research of Shaw and McKay all about in relation
with social disorganization theory?

 A spatial mapping to examine the residential locations of

juveniles referred to court was conducted, and it was found out that
patterns of delinquency were higher in areas characterized by poor
housing, poor health, socio – economic disadvantage and transient
populations. They were able to establish a pattern that the highest
rates of deviance concentrated in the inner city and diminishing
outward from the core city. With their findings they suggest that
crime was a function of neighborhood dynamics and not due to
individual actors and their actions. Factors in a city that have been
examined by others include the poverty rate, unemployment rest,
percentage of female- headed households, percentage of those
under the age of 18, and various measures of community
involvement.
David Émile Durkheim was a
French sociologist. He
formally established the
academic discipline of
sociology and, with Max
Weber, and Karl Marx, is
commonly cited as the
principal architect of modern
social science.
 2. Strain/Anomie Theory
 This theory explains the breakdown of social norms that often accompanies
rapid social change. A concrete example is when old rules or values are no longer
relevant and new values or rules in direct conflict with old rules and values are
no longer relevant and new values or rules are in direct conflict with old rules
and values. It is also on this context that, criminal behavior arises when
confronted with the inability to achieve success and when faced with the strain
that ensures following the realization that personal talents, training, or desires
cannot achieve that which is desire.
 Merton states that, “Anomie refers to a psychological state of confusion
caused by rapidly changing industrial evolution and accompanying social
dislocation and the effect this change has on people. This state is popularly
conceptualized as “normlessness”. It is a feeling, an attitude a psychological
perspective that causes those who experience is to feel confused, frustrated,
annoyed angry, hostile, embarrassed, and even resigned or doomed. He
contended that those who feel this way may attempt to relieve themselves by
committing deviant acts while others may resort to an extreme aggravated
resolution and commit suicide. It can be said as an overreaction, but many are ill
equipped with the pushes and pulls they face and for some, those extreme
measures described by him may have been the only viable solution.
 According to Robert Merton (1957), an American sociologist drew on this
idea in explaining criminality and deviance in the USA arguing that crime
occurs when there is a gap between the cultural goals of a society (e.g.
material wealth, status) and the structural means to achieve these (e.g.
education, employment). This strain between means and goals results in
frustration and resentment and encourages some people to illegitimate or
illegal means to secure success. He saw that psychological stress results
from a perceived inability to successfully compete for social capital. To
illustrate, those who have access or successfully compete for social capital
(money), are more contented (have less anomie), where those who do not
are less satisfied and therefore experience more anomie.
 People experience strain or stress, they become upset, and they
sometimes engage in crime as a result. They may engage in crime to reduce
or escape from the strain they are experiencing. For example, they may
engage in violence to end harassment from others, they may steal to reduce
financial problems, or they may run away from home to escape abusive
parents. They may also engage in crime to seek revenge against those who
have wronged them. And they may engage in the crime of illicit drug use to
make themselves feel better.
 Merton developed the concept of ‘anomie’ to describe this imbalance between
cultural goals and institutionalized means. He argued that such an imbalanced society
produces anomie – there is a strain or tension between the goals and means which
produce unsatisfied aspirations.

 Merton argued that when individuals are faced with a gap between their goals
(usually finances/money related) and their current status, strain occurs. When faced
with strain, people have five ways to adapt:

1. Conformity: pursuing cultural goals through socially approved means.

2. Innovation: using socially unapproved or unconventional means to obtain culturally
approved goals. Example: dealing drugs o stealing to achieve financial security.
3. Ritualism: using the same socially approved means to achieve less elusive goals (more
modest and humble).
4. Retriatism: to reject both the cultural goals and the means to obtain it, then find a
way to escape it.
5. Rebellion: to reject the cultural goals and means, then work to replace them.
 Strain Theory: Robert Agnew (1992)

 Strain may result from the failure to attain a variety of goals. The theorists focus on the
failure to achieve three related goals: money, status/respect, and – for adolescents-
autonomy from adults. It explains that the failure to achieve ones goal, strain may result
when people take something one values or present one with noxious or negative stimuli.
Such negative treatment may upset or anger people and crime may be the result.

 Research Findings:

1. A range of negative events and conditions increase the likelihood of crime.

2. Crime has been linked to child abuse and neglect, criminal victimization, physical
punishment by parents, negative relations with parents , negative relationship with
teachers, negative school experiences, negative relations with peers, neighborhood
problems, and a wide range of stressful life events – like the divorce/separation of a parent,
parental unemployment, and changing schools.
 Major Types of Strain (Agnew)

1. Others prevent you from achieving your goals, and

2. Others take things you value or present you with negative or noxious stimuli.
3. Subcultural Theory

This theory is linked to anomie and strain exemplifying concepts of

status frustration and differential opportunity, which North American
subcultural theorists used to explain the delinquent activities of
disadvantaged groups in the 1950s and 60s.

In the study of Albert Cohen in relation with status frustration, he

argued that lower-class youths could not aspire to middle-class cultural
goals and so, frustrated they rejected them to create their own subcultural
system of values.

Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin (1960) built on these ideas,

pointing to the differential opportunity structures available to lower-class
young people in different neighborhoods: criminal (making a living from
crime), conflict (territorial violence and gang fighting) and retreatist (drugs
and alcohol).
4. Social Control Theory

This theory does not address the causes of crime, but rather
focuses on why people obey the law. In other words, it explains
conformity rather than deviance. This theory is associated with the work
of Travis Hirshi (1969), an American social scientist who proposed that
people general conform to social norms due to strong social bonds.
Conversely, they engage in delinquent acts when these bonds are broken
or weak. It is non-traditional criminological perspective because they seek
to explain why individuals conform to societal norms, and not why they
commit crime.

It simply suggests that individuals will commit criminal or

delinquent acts when their ties (bonds) to society are weakened or have
broken. When the bonds are strong, an individual will refrain from
criminal activity.
Key components of social bonds are:

 Attachment

 How strong or weak is an individual’s relationship with others? Do these others expect
certain kinds of behavior (such as obeying the law) from this individual? The stronger the
attachment and the stronger the expectations, the more likely it is that the individual will conform.

 Commitment

 The more an individual commits his/herself to a particular lifestyle (for example, being
married, being a parent, having a job), the more he/she has to lose if he/she becomes involved in
crime (and so deviate from the lifestyle).

 Involvement  
 This component comes down to time – the more time the individual spends engaging in law
abiding behavior, the less time he/she has to engage in law breaking behavior. 
 Belief

 This relates to upbringing. If an individual has been brought up to be law abiding, they are less
likely to become involved in crime.
 Edwin Hardin
Sutherland was an
American
sociologist. He is
considered one of
the most influential
criminologists of
the 20th century.
 Proposed the
Differential
Association Theory.
5. Differential Association Theory
This theory emphasized that crime is a result of social learning by engaging in deviant
behaviors by those with whom we socially interact. It is a learning theory that concentrates on
one's associates and the normative definitions one learns from them.

Sutherlands Propositions for Differential Association Theory

1. Criminal behavior is learned

2. Criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a process of
communication
3. The principal part of the learning of criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal
groups
4. When criminal behavior is learned, the learning includes (a) techniques of committing the
crime, which are sometimes very complicated, sometimes very simple, and (b) the specific
direction of motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes.
5. The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of the legal codes as
favorable or unfavorable
6. A person becomes delinquent because of an excess of
definitions unfavorable to violation of the law.
7. The process of learning criminal behavior by association with
criminal and anti-criminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms
that are involved in any other learning
8. Although criminal behavior is an expression of general needs
and values, it is not explained by those general needs and values,
because noncriminal behavior is an expression of the same needs
and values.
9. Differential association varies in frequency duration, priority, and
intensity. The most frequent, longest running, earliest and closest
influences will be most efficacious or determinant of learned
behavior.
6. Cultural Deviance Theory
This theory signifies that conformity to the
prevailing cultural norms of lower class society causes
crime. Lower class subculture has a unique set of values
and beliefs, which are invariably in conflict with the
conventional social norms. Criminality is an expression
of conformity to lower class subcultural values.
Members of the working class commit crimes as they
respond to the cultural norms of their own class in an
effort to deal with problems of social – middle class –
adjustment.
7. Social Learning Theory

This theory underscored that people learn to engage in crime, primarily

through their association with others. They are reinforced for crime, and they are
exposed to criminal models. They view crime as something that is desirable or at
least justifiable in certain situations. Juveniles learn to engage in crime in the same
way they learn to engage in conforming behavior: through association with or
exposure to others. Primary or intimate groups like the family and peer group
have an especially large impact on what we learn. In fact, association with
delinquent friends is the best predictor of delinquency other than prior
delinquency. However, one does not have to be in direct contact with others to
learn from them: for example, one may learn to engage in violence from
observation of others in the media.

The primary version of social learning theory in criminology is that of

Ronald Akers and the description that follows draws heavily on his work. Akers
theory, in turn, represents an elaboration of Edwin Sutherlands differential
association theory.
 Three mechanisms by which individuals learn to engage in
crime

1. Differential Reinforcement of crime.

Individuals may teach others to engage in crime through

the reinforcement and punishments they provide for behavior.

 What are the instances wherein crime is more likely to occur?

 Is frequently reinforced and infrequently punished

 Results in large amounts of reinforcement ((e.g. s lot of money,
social approval, or pleasure) and little punishment: and
 Is more likely to be reinforced than alternative behaviors.
 Positive vs. Negative Reinforcement

 Positive Reinforcement

The behavior results in something good – some positive

consequence like money, the pleasurable feelings associated with drug
use, attention from parents, approval from friends, or an increase in
social status.

 Negative Reinforcement
 The behavior results in the removal of something bad – a punisher is
removed or avoided.
 Example: suppose ones friends have been calling her a coward
because she refuses to use drugs with them. The individual
eventually takes drugs with them, after which time they stop calling
her a coward. The individual’s drug use has been negatively
reinforced.
2. Beliefs Favorable to crime.

 Other individuals may not only reinforce our crime,

they may also teach us beliefs favorable to crime.
Most individuals, of course, are taught that crime is
bad or wrong. They eventually accept or
“internalize” this belief, and they are less likely to
engage in crime as a result. Some individuals,
however, learn beliefs that are favorable to crime
and they are more likely to engage in crime as a
result.
 Three categories of beliefs favoring crime. 

 Some people generally approve of certain minor forms of crime, like certain forms of
consensual sexual behavior, gambling, “soft” drug use, and for adolescents – alcohol
use, truancy, and curfew violation. 

 Some people conditionally approve of or justify certain forms of crime, including some
serious crimes. They believe that crime is generally wrong, but that some criminal acts
are justifiable or even desirable in certain conditions.

 Some people hold certain general values that are reinforcement and punishment
individuals receive, but also of the behavior of those around them. Individuals often
imitate or model the behavior of others – especially when they like or respect these
others and have reason to believe that imitating their behavior will result in
reinforcement.

Example: Individuals are more likely to imitate others behavior if they observe
them receive reinforcement for their acts.
3. The imitation of criminal models.
Behavior is not only a function of beliefs, and the
reinforcements and punishment individuals receive, but
also of the behavior of those around them. Individuals
often imitate or model the behavior of others –
especially when they like or respect these others and
have reason to believe that imitating their behavior will
result in reinforcement.
 Example: individuals are more likely to imitate others
behavior if they observe them receive reinforcement
for their acts.
4. Environmental Criminology
Environmental criminology is the study of crime,
criminality, and victimization as they relate, first, to
particular places, and secondly, to the way that individuals
and organizations shape their activities spatially, and in so
doing are in turn influenced by place – based or spatial
factors. Further it is a positivist theory that suggests crime
is influenced, if not caused, by a person’s spatial
environments which include space (geography), time, law,
offender, and target or victim.
 Proponents: Paul and Patricia Brantingham
5. Psychological Theory
This theory has a general perspective that looks to the
psychological functioning, development, and adjustment of
an individual in explaining criminal or deviant acts. Under
this approach, the criminal act itself is important only in
that it highlights an underlying mental issue ( Akers and
Seller, 2013). It focuses on the association among
intelligence, personality, learning and criminal behavior. It
further explains criminal behavior, in part, as a factors
affecting individuals such as negative childhood
experiences, or incomplete cognitive development.
 What are the probes of the Psychological Theory?

1. Charles Goring (1870-1919)

 Findings:
 There was a relationship between crime and flawed intelligence. Goring
examined more than 3,000 convicts in England
 Criminals are more likely to be insane, to be unintelligence, and exhibit poor
social behavior

2. Gabriel Tarde (1843-1904)

 Findings:
 Maintained that individuals learn from each other and ultimately imitate one
another
 Out of 100 individuals, only 1 was creative or inventive and the remainder were
prone to imitation ( Jacoby, 2004)
1. Psychodynamic Theory

A theory individual’s personality is controlled by unconscious mental

processes that are grounded in early childhood. Child experiences influences
his or her likelihood for committing future crimes. This theory was originated
by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the founder of psychoanalysis. He thought
that human behavior, including violent behavior, was the product of
“unconscious” forces operating within a person’s mind and felt that early
childhood experiences had a profound impact on adolescent and adult
behavior.

This theory considers that criminal offenders are frustrated and

aggravated and are constantly drawn to past events that occur in their early
childhood. Because of a negligent, unhappy, or miserable childhood, this is
most often characterized by a lack of love and/or nurturing, a criminal
offender has a weak (or absent) ego. Most important, research suggests that
having a weak ego is linked with poor or absence of social etiquette,
immaturity, and dependence on others. Research further suggests that
individuals with weak egos may be more likely to engage in drug abuse.
 According to Freud, aggression was thus a basic (idbased)
human impulse that is a repressed in well-adjusted
people who have experienced a normal childhood.
However, 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. Freud referred to this as
“displaced aggression” (see Englander, 2007; Bartol,
2002)
 Three elements of structures that make up the human personality (Freud)

1. The Id (pleasure principle)

It represents the unconscious biological drives for food, sex, and other necessities over the life
span which is concerned with instant pleasure or gratification while disregarding concern for others. This
is known as the pleasure principle, and it is often paramount when discussing criminal behavior.

2. The Ego (Reality Principle)

It is thought to develop early in person’s life. For example, when children learn that their wishes
cannot be gratified instantaneously, they often throw a tantrum. It compensate for the demands of the id
by guiding and individuals actions or behaviors to keep him or her within the boundaries of society.

3. The Superego (Morality)

It develops as a person incorporates the moral standards and values of the community: parents,
and significant others, such as friends and clergy members. It serves to pass judgment on the behavior
and actions of individuals (Freud, 1993). The ego mediates between the ids desire for instant gratification
and the strict morality of the superego. One can assume that young adults as well as adults understand
right from wrong. However, when a crime is committed, advocates of psychodynamic theory would
suggest that an individual committed a crime because he or she has and underdeveloped superego.
 What are the types of mood disorders?

1. Conduct Disorder
Children who have difficulty in following rules and
behaving in socially acceptable ways (Boccaccini, Murrie,
Clark, & Comell, 2008). It is manifested as a group of
behavioral and emotional problems in young adults. These
children diagnosed with conduct disorder are viewed by
adults, other children, and agencies of the state as “trouble,
bad, delinquent, or even mentally ill. The most prominent
causes are child abuse, brain damage, genetics, poor school
performance, and traumatic event.
 Sign and Symptoms:

1. Exhibit aggressive behaviors toward others (Boccacini et al., 2008), and cruel
to animals
2. Engaged in bullying, intimidation, fear, initiating fights and using weapon such
as a gun, a knife, a box cutter, rocks, a broken bottle, a golf club, or a baseball
bat.
3. Teenagers force someone into unwanted sexual activity
4. Property damage may also be a concern: one may observe these children
starting fires with the ultimate intent to destruct property or even kill
someone.
5. Other unacceptable behaviors associated with conduct disorder include lying
and stealing, breaking into an individuals house or an unoccupied building or
car, lying to obtain desirable goods, avoiding obligations, and taking
possessions from individuals or stores.
6. Violate curfews despite their parents desires
7. Run away from home and to be late for or truant from school
 Possible Treatments

 Medical doctor or psychological clinician to consider is

convincing the child to develop a good attitude, learn to
cooperate, trust others, and eliminate fear in their lives.
 Behavior therapy and psychotherapy may be necessary to
help the child learn how to control and express anger.
Moreover, special education classes may be required for
children with learning disabilities. In some cases, treatment
may include prescribed medication, although medicine would
ideally be reserved for children experiencing problems with
depression, attention, or spontaneity/ impulsivity.
2. Oppositional Defiant Disorder (Siegal, 2008)

Children showing defiance, uncooperativeness, irritability, a very

negative attitude a tendency to lose ones temper and exhibiting
deliberately annoying behaviors toward peers, parents, teachers and
other authority figures such as police officers (Siegal, 2008)

 Theories explaining this disorder

1. Problems begin in children as early as the toddler years

2. Adolescents and small children who develop oppositional defiant
disorder may have experienced a difficult time developing
independent or autonomous skills and learning to separate from their
primary caretaker or attachment figure. In essence, the bad attitudes
that are characteristics of oppositional defiant disorder are viewed as
a continuation of developmental issues that were not resolved during
the early toddler years.
 Symptoms

1. Frequent temper tantrums

2. Excessive argument with adults
3. Refusal to comply with adult requests
4. Questioning rules
5. Refusing to follow rules
6. Engaging in behavior intended to annoy or upset others
7. Blaming others for ones misbehavior or mistake
8. Being easily annoyed by others
9. Frequently having an angry attitude
10. Speaking harshly or unkindly

11. Deliberately behaving in ways that seek revenge

 Treatment

1. Psychotherapy
that teaches problem-solving skills,
communication skills, impulse control, and anger
management skills
2. Family therapy focused on making changes within
the family system with the desired goal of improved
family interaction ad communication skills.
3. Peer group therapy, which is focused on developing
social skills, also is an option
4. Medication.
 Examples of Mental Health Disorders

 Bipolar Disorder

It is marked by extreme highs and lows the person alternates between excited,
assertive, and loud behavior and lethargic, listless, and melancholic behavior.

 Schizophrenia

Individuals often exhibit illogical and incoherent thought processes, and they often
lack insight into their behavior and do not understand reality. A person with paranoid
schizophrenia also experiences complex behavior delusions that involve wrongdoing or
persecution (Jacoby, 2004). Individuals with paranoid schizophrenia often believe everyone is
out to get them. It is important to note the research shows that female offenders appear to
have a higher probability of serious mental health symptoms than male offenders. These
include symptoms of schizophrenia, paranoia, and obsessive behaviors.

At the same time, studies of males accused of murder have found that three quarters
could be classified as having some form of mental illness. Another interesting fact is that
individuals who have been diagnosed with a mental illness are more likely to be arrested,
and they appear in court at, a disproportionate rate. Last, research suggests that delinquent
children have a higher rate of clinical mental disorders compared with adolescents in the
general population (Siegal, 2008).
3. Behavioral Theory
It focuses on behavior modeling and social learning. It maintains that
all human behavior – including violent behavior – learn through the
interaction with the social environment. Behaviorist argues that
people are not born with a violent disposition. Rather, they learn to
think and act violently as a result of their day-to-day experience
(Bandura, 1977). These experiences, proponents of the behaviorist
tradition maintain, might include observing friends or family being
rewarded for violent behavior or even observing the glorification of
violence in the media. Studies of family life, for example, show that
aggressive children often model the violent behaviors of their parent.
Studies have also found that people who live in violent communities
learn to model the aggressive behavior of their neighbor’s (Bartol,
2002).