CHAPTER IV

ETIOLOGY OF CRIME
 CAUSES OF CRIME ACCORDING TO EARLY
THELOGIANS:
St. Augustine expressed the
early church’s position on
crime. The church thought of
an individual as a God. Early
theoligians located the cause
of crime in the relationship
between the humankinds and
ST. AUGUSTINE the evil.
 CAUSES OF CRIME ACCORDING TO EARLY
THELOGIANS:
Stated that people by nature
tried to perform good acts.

He pictured out that the

individuals as prone to do
well.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

 CAUSES OF CRIME ACCORDING TO EARLY
PHILOSOPHERS:
PLATO ARISTOTLE

stated that certain social and stressed the ability of the law to improve
political factors encouraged social condition the distribution of right for
crime. obedience to the state..
 CAUSES OF CRIME ACCORDING TO EARLY
PHILOSOPHERS:
VOLTAIRE ROUSSEAU

Philosphers who argued all in the

century of Christ.
THEORIES OF CRIME
ETIOLOGY
Classical Theories

This based on the assumption that criminals choose

to commit crimes after weighing the consequences of their
action.

According to the Classical Criminologist,

individuals have free well to choose legal or illegal
meansto get their want.
CESARE BONESANA, MARQUIS De BECCARIA
A graduate of a law degree from the University of
Pavia.

July 1764, under the title DEIDELTTI E. DEUE

PENE (On crimes and punishmenet) ,he presented to
the world a coherent, comprehensive design for an
enlightenment of criminal justice system that was
serve the people rather than the monarchy.

He became “THE FATHER OF CLASSICAL

SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY”
CESARE BONESANA, MARQUIS De BECCARIA
PRINCIPLES PROPOSED BY BECCARIA
1. Laws should be used to maintain the social contact.
2. Only legislator should create laws.
3. Judges should impose punishment in accordance with the law.
4. Judges should not interpret the law.
5. Punishment should be based the pleasure/ pain principles.
6.Punishment should be based on the act, not on the actor.
7. The punishment should be prompt and effective.
8. Punishment should be prompt and affective.
9. All people should be treated equality.
10. Capital punishment sould be abolished.
11. The use of torture to gain confession should be abolished.
12. It is better to prevent crimes than to punish them.
JEREMY BETHAN
Bethan devoted and breaking his life to developing
scientific approach to the making and breaking news.

He was concerned with achieving “the greatest

happiness of the greatest member”.

He proposed, which he called “ Felicitous Calculus”.

according to his reasoning, individuals are “ human
calculators” who put all the factors into equation in
order to decide whether or not a particular crime is
woth committing.
ENRICO FERRI
He is one of Lombroso’s pupils.

His greatest contribution was his attack on the

classical doctrine of freewill, which argued that
criminals should be held morally responsible for their
crime.

He believed that criminals could not be held morally

responsible because they did not choose to commit
crimes, but rather were driven to commit them
conditions in their lives.
RAFFAELE GAROFALO

An Italian nobleman, magistrate, senator and

professorof laws. He treated the roots of criminals’
behaviour not to physical fatures but to their
psychological equivalent, which he reffered to as
moral anomalies.
ERNST KRETCHNER

He distinguished three principal types of physiques.

a. Asthenic- lean, slightly built, narrow shoulders

b. Athletic- medium to all, strong, muscular, coarse

bones.

c. Psyknic- medium light, rounded figure massive

neck, broard face.
SOCIAL ANALYSIS SEARCH FOR THE CAUSES OF CRIME:
1. BECCARIA - He was a Mathemathecian with interest in economics and the administration of
justice established the Classical School of Criminology.
The Classical School was the first systematic attempts to explain crime.
Classicist argued that the human kind reasons in such a way as to gain pleasure and avoid pain.

2. LOMBROSO- he is the biological source of crime, a physician who established the Positivist
School of Criminology about a century after the birth of the Classical School.
The positivist School represented the first scientific approach to the study of crime.
Positivist denied the existence of freewill and believed the crime was determined by biological
force.

3. The Neoclassical School of Criminology- the school held that individuals choose to act though
free will.
Neoclassical argued that some individuals are less capable of free choice that the others.
The Neo-classicists begin to hint the idea that punishment should play a part in character
reformation.
The following are the Theories of causes of Crime:

1. Biological theories
2. Psychological theories
3. Sociological theories
 BIOLOGICAL
THEORIES OF CRIME
BODY TYPES OF CRIME
1. The study of Charles Goring - he concluded that criminals as a group a physically the same as non-
criminals.

2. The study of Ernest Hooton- conducted a study involving a comparison of large sample of prisoners
and non- prisoners in the U.S, he conducted that criminals are biologically inferiors.

3. The study of William Sheldon- he claimed that there where three body types to wit.

a. Endomorphs which were shorts small bone, and fat, they were also through to easy going
to crave affection, and to favor comfortable life styles.

b. Mesomorphs, which were athletics, heavy with large torso, hands and wrists. They were
described as aggressive excitement loving and very active.

c. Ectomorphs were thin frail, and had unstable attitude and inclination to be withdrawn
BODY TYPES OF CRIME

4. The study of Eleanor Glueck - stressed, however that the built is not a direct cause of delinquency.
Rather a person’s physical appearance may simply just affect his behaviour.

5. The study of Cortes and Gatti agreed generally with the Glueck’s conclusion that deliquent are
decidely more mesomorphis that non- delinquency.
GLANDULAR DYSFUNCTION AND CRIME
These theories maintain the balance in the endocrine glandular system
produces motional instability that may lead to criminal acts.

The gland produces hormones that affect the sex drive, weights, height,
excitement and actively level.

During the 192ffs,some criminologist began to associate glandular dysfunction

with criminal behavior.

Glandular dysfunction orientations are subject to much of the same criticisms

as body type approaches, thus, most people have glandular abnormalities.
GLANDULAR DYSFUNCTION AND CRIME
Schlapp and Smith claimed that almost suffer from irregular glandular
functioning.

Ellis and Austine found aggressive behaviour among female offenders was very
pronounced during premenstrual and menstural periods.

CROMOSOME IRREGULARITIES
Normal individual have two sex chromosomes. Female posses two Y,
whereas male have one X and one Y chromosomes, researchers in the 1960’s
began to study male offenders who possessed extra male or Y chromosomes.
ABNORMAL BRAIN OR NERVOUS SYSTEM ACTIVITY
>The brain affects emotion.

Electroencephalogrpahp- is a technique for locating brain disorder.

>This measures brain activity and its capable of recording unusual or

abnormal patterns.
EARLY BIOLOGICAL THEORIES
AND THEIR THEORY OF THE
CAUSES OF CRIME
1. JOHN LAVATER
He stated that criminals had peculiar appearances such as dishonest
smile, sneaky eyes, curious eyebrows and the like.

2. FRANZ GALL
study of pharnology the theory that one’s skull shape indicates mental
characteristics.

3. CESARE LAMBROSO
He noted that the notorious thief’s skull formation matched those found
among some apes and monkeys.
BIOLOGICAL DETERMINE
Aguste comte (1798 - 1857), a French sociologist, firmly rooted the
application of the modern methods of the physical sciences with his volume
COYUJRS de philosophie positive (course of positive philosophy).
Punishment between 1830 and 1842,

STUDY OF HEREDITY AS THE CAUSES OF CRIME:

Criminality of the offspring is used to determine the nature of the parents
and nature not to accept the role of heredity in the formation of criminal
behavior of men.
STUDY OF KALLIKAK FAMILY(GODDARD):
Martin kallikak was a soldier of the American revolutionary and had
illicit relations with a feeble minded girl. 489 descendants from this
lineage where traced which included 143 feeble - minded and only 46
were normal. Thirty - six were illegitimate, 3 were epeleptic, 3 criminals,
8 kept brothers and 82 died in infancy.

STUDY OF JUKE FAMILY TREE(Dugdale and Estrabrook):

Dugdale traced 1,200 descendants for 75 years from its origin and
280 as paupers, 140 criminals, 60 habitual thieves, 300 infants
prematurely born, 7 murders, 50 prostitutes, 400 contaminated with
sexual diseases, 30 were prosecuted for bastardly.
STUDY OF SIR JONATHAN EDWARDS FAMILY TREE
Sir Jonathan Edwards was famous preacher during the colonial
period. On the other hand, many become presidents of the united States
government, members of supreme Court, famous writers, preachers and
teachers.
PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF THE
THEOERIES OF THE CAUSES OF
CRIME
DEFINITIONS:
psychonalyctic- the analysis of human behavior
psychiatry- the study of human mind

Psychological and Psychiatric theories of crime have much in

common with biological explanation
I. MENTAL CAPABILITIES:
The early explanation of crime as the result of mental defect was closely
tied to biology. In particular the role of heredity in producing feebleminded
offspring was considered important. At the time of Lombroso's writing, Richard
Dugdale investigated a family known as the Jukes. He determined that one of
the llegitimate Juke's daughter produce over 1,000 descendants. Most of the
were found be defect. Some were criminals, other are prostitutes, had veneral
disease and many were guilty of being poor.
 IQ (Intelligence and Crime)

It is claimed that about one haft of criminal population was

subnormal in intelligence.
II. PERSONALITY STRUCTURE

Psychodynamic interpretations se criminal behavior as a symtom of

motivation and psychological conflits that may be conscious or
subconscious.

Psychological instruments administered to criminals and

Delinquents.

1. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

2. Rorchshack Test
3. California Psychological Inventory (CPI)
4.Thematic Appereception Test (TAT)
MENTAL DISTURBANCES AS CES OF CRIME
1. Mental Deficiency- state of arrested or incompplete development of
the mind existing before the age of 18.

CLASSES OF MENTAL DEFICIENCY

a. idiot person- their mentality is compared to a 2 years old person.

b. Imbeciles- incapable of managing themselves or their affairs their
mental is like a child 2 to 7 years old.
c. Feeble-minded persons- those in whose case there exist mental
defectiveness through not amounting to imbelicity.
d. Moral Defectiveness- regquires cares and supervision control for
their
own, or for the protection of others.
MENTAL DISTURBANCES AS CES OF CRIME
2. Schizophrenia- person appearance is dilapidated and patient is liable

to impulse act, destructive and may commit suicide.

3. Compulsive Neurosis- this is uncontrollable or irresistible impulse to

do something.

This Neurosis maybe in the following forms:

a. pyromania- compulsive desire to set things and object on fire

b. Homicide compulsion- the irresitible urge to kill somebody.
c. Kleptomania- the irrational craving
d. Dipsomania- the habitual compulsive desire to drink alcoholic
beverages.
MENTAL DISTURBANCES AS CES OF CRIME
4.. Psychopathic Personality - this is the most important causes of criminal
among youth offender and habitual criminals. It is characterize by infantile
level of response lack of conscience, deficient environment and other people.

5. Epilepsy- this is a condition characteerize by compulsive seizures and

tendency to mental deterioration.

Types of Epilepsy:

a. Grand Mal- there is complete loss of consciousness and general cnstraction

of the muscle.
b.Petit mal- Mild or complete loss of conciousness and construction of muscle.
c. Jacsonism type- localized contaction of muscles with or without loss of
conciousness.
MENTAL DISTURBANCES AS CES OF CRIME
6. Alcoholism - this is the form vice causing mental disturbance. It is a condition
where in a person is under the influence in intoxicating liquor or alcohol.

7. Drug Addiction- this is another form of vice which causes strong mental
disturbance.
The vice addict can commit crime againsts property once he has no more
money to buy the drugs.
 VARIOUS STUDIES OF HUMAN
BEHAVIOR AND MIND IN RELATION
TO THE CAUSES OF CRIMES
 VARIOUS STUDIES OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR
AND MIND IN RELATION TO THE CAUSES OF CRIMES

Several noted criminologists have advanced the theories that criminal behavior is developed among
individuals consonant with the development of his human mind, traits and behavior, among them are:

1.AICHORN- In his book entitled wayward youth, the child first few years of his life. As child
the human beings normally follow only his pleasure impulse, which he must control.

2.ABRAHAMSEN- his crime in the human mind 1945. Criminal behavior equals criminalististic
tendencies plus inducing situation divided by the person's mental emotional and resistance to
temptations.

3.CYRIL BURT (yuong delinquency 1925) an excess of submissive instincts account for the
tendency of many criminals to be weak willed or easily led fear and absconding may be due to
the impulse of fear
VARIOUS STUDIES OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR
AND MIND IN RELATION TO THE CAUSES OF CRIMES

4.HEALY ( INDIVIDUAL DELINQUENCY) personality demand removal of pain and the pain is
eliminated by substitute behavior that is crime delinquency of the individuals.

5.BROMBERG(CRIME AND THE MIND,1948)himself and in harmony to the society. An

emotional immature person rebel against rules and regulations tend to engage in unusual
activities and experience a felling of guilt due to inferiority complex.

6.SMUND FREUD (the Ego and personality and crimes has the followIng explanations.

a. "ID" is impulse or instinct of social drives. At this point, the human being is biological

drives

b."EGO"the basis of expediency. Decisions are reached in terms of reality principle

c."SUPER EGO"-means conscience of man. It is the role agencies outside the home that

tries to control the ego.

SIGMUND FREUD PSYCHO ANALYSIS AND CRIME

Mechanisms that keep the ID in check.

One important defence mechanism is repression. It operates to force it drives
into subconscious so that they are not acted out. Freud through that much
antisocial symbolized a search for needs not sufficiently resolved or repressed
by the egoPsychoanalysis is an attempt to unravel the internal conflicts and
repressions that may be at the heart of antisocial (criminal or delinquent)
behaviour, Regarding crime psychoanalysis assumes that the cause or motives
are subconscious.
THE GIANEL INDEX OR CRIMINALITY

1. Need frustration
the person before committing the crime is likely to fell unhappy,
unsatisfied, resentful or angry about something in particular about life in general.

2. Internal Inhibition
it refers to all types of internal forces, which may prevent a person from
commiting crime. These forces may be the person conscience, or his principles, or
his of slef-respect of the particular conception experience if he commits certain
actions.

3. External Inhibition
this refers to all types of external forces, which may prevent an individual
from committing crime.
THE GIANEL INDEX OR CRIMINALITY

4. Contract with reaility

this refers to the extent to which person can learn from his past
experiences

5. Situational Crime Potential

this refers to the culture opportunity to commit a crime offered by a
given place, situation person or environment.

6.. Potential Satisfiction

it refers to the balance of gain loss that a person may experience if he
commits a given crime.
SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF
THE CAUSATION OF CRIME.
 SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES

> how a certain individuals acquires criminal or undesirable behavior;

> how the agents of sociolization such as family, environment, school ect.

General categories of sociological theories that causes crime.

1. The Environment Theory

2. The Sociological Theory
3. Neutralization Theory
1. The Environment theory
PHYSICAL CONDITIONS PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTOR

Slum Housing hostility

Disease Negativism
Malnutrition Dispair

ENVIRONMENT ALSO LACK OF OPPORTUNITIES BOTH

LEGITIMATE AND ILLEGITIMATE

LEGITIMATE ILLEGITIMATE

Employment Crime and

Education Delinquency
1. The Environment theory

Ecological Approach
believed that the area characterized by the presence of “flop
houses”, werehouse, poverty ,truancy ang high rates of suicide and mental
illness encourage crime and delinquency.

Sub- cultural Approach

rest upon the concept of anomie (condition where a commonly
approved social norms and values become weakened or disappear.)
2. The Sociological theory
which view a crime as a function of association or social
contacts.

differential association theory

>this focused on peer groups such as friends, employee, etc.
>this theory believed that criminal is learned association with
others.
differential identification theory
>this emphasized the both personal and impersonal group’s
associates ithat may provides a references.
2. The Sociological theory

Labeling theory.
>examine the impact of social reactions to devices upon the future
behavior of the offender.
>this theory stresses that once society reacts to a deviant act. as a
response.
3. The Neutralization theory
was developed as means for explaining how criminal offenders engage
in rule- breaking activity while negating their culpability or blame.

according to this theory deliquent did not form sub- cultures that have
values contrary to the rest of the society.
SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACHES

a Belgian mathematician who

analyze the criminal statistics,
which he called “amoral statistics”,
he concluded that if we look overall
patterns of behaviors of group
across a whole society, we find a
starting regularity of rates of
various behaviors.
ADOLPHE QUETELET
SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACHES

Gabriel Tarde- he formulated his theory

in term of law of imitation-principle that
govern the process by which the people
become criminal.

Gabriel Tarde
 the prosses of term of Law of Imitation
1. Individual imitate others in propotion to the intensity and
frequency of their contacts

2. Inferiors imitate superior, and

3. When two behavior pattern clash, one take the place of others,
crime is a normal part of society as birth and death. Theoretically
crime could disappear altogether only if all numbers of society had
the same values and such standardization of individuals is neither
possible nor desirable.
Sociological causes of crimes
- sociological causes refers to things, places and people
with whom we come in contract and which play a part
determining out actions and commit.
These are the following process
1. That criminal behavior is learned that conclusion negates the theory that criminal behavior is
inherited. Likewise criminal behavior is not invention by the criminal himself but learned in the
process of association with others.

2. That criminal behavior is learned in the process of communication with other people.

3. That the principal part of occurs within the intimate personal group.

4. That upon learning criminal behavior, the crimnal lears the technique of committing crimes.

5. The learning process may vary in frequency, duration, priority and intensity.

6. That while criminal behavior is an expression of needs and value, it is not explained by those
general needs and values since non-criminal behavior is an expression of the same needs and
values.

7. lack of parental guidance.

8. Broken home and Family

Characteristics of Normal Home
a. Physically complete where both natural parents are present.

b. There is social and religious similarity in the group.

c. It must be economically stable to maintain normal health.

d. Both parents must have the same culture background.

e. There must be physical and psychological normality.

f. There must be functional adequacy.

Basic needs of children

a. Security- economics and affection security must be provided the children.

b. Recognition-the parents are the once who first recognize whatever accomplished
a child has for himself.

c. Status- this is the ticket for admission to statusTin other constructive group.

d. Companionship- relationship with brother and sister require the child to adjust
to more or less friendly rivalry.
Kinds of Disorganized of Broken Homes
a. Home with criminal pattern.

b. Home in which there are unsatisfactory relations be of domination,

favoritism, non-solicitor, over server neglect, jelousy step parent and
interfering relatives.
T

c. Home socially or normally maladjusted because of difference race,

religion of an immoral situation.

d. Home is which one parent has physical or mental disability.

e. Home under economic pressure unemployment.

THEORIES OF SOCIOLOGICAL CAUSES OF CRIME
1. Deferential Identification Theory by Daniel Classer
it was maintained that a person pursues criminal behavior to the
extent that he identifies himself with real ar imaginary person from whose
propensities his criminal behavior seems acceptable.

2. Imitation- Suggestion, Theory of Gabriel Tarde

delinquecy and crime matters are learndT and adopted.The learning
process may either be conscious type of copying imitation or unconscious
copying suggestions of confrontating pattern of behavior.

3. Differential Social Organization Theory

this is something called social disorganization.there is social
disorganization when there are breakdowns changes conflict of values
between the new and old.
THEORIES OF SOCIOLOGICAL CAUSES OF CRIME

4. Conflict of Culture theory by Thersten Selin

it was emphasized that the multiplicity of conflict culture is the principal
source of social disorganization.

5. Containment Theory by Reckless

according criminality is brought about by
T the inability of the group to
contain the behavior and that of effective containment of the individual into
the value of system and structure of society will minimize crime.
OTHERS NON- CRIMINOLOGY
FACTORS WHICH CAUSES OF
CRIMES
A. Failure of the School in the character development of the children and the
youth.
The duty of the school in the character development is
complentary to the home.

B. The Teaching of Religion may sometimes be misdirected from its purpose

and Objectives.
T

The relative of religion to criminality has always been considered on

how much it helps in combating delinquency.
C. The Mass Communication Media develop an artificial environment of crime
and delinquency and influence the public to violate the law.

There is no doubt the with the perfect of the modern technology in mass
communication media, newspaper, radio, motion picture, comic book, and
television gave the most effective means of disseminating information to our
public in the country today.
T
THANK YOU