Current Issues
Topic #11: Social Interactions
Analyzes the causes of Criminal behavior and its impact
What Causes Crime?
It is difficult to control or reduce crime without knowing what causes it.
Criminology: The scientific study of the nature, extent, cause and control
of criminal behavior.
There are various theories about what causes crime:
• Choice Theory
• Biological Theories
• Psychological Theories
• Sociological Theories
• Conflict Theories
• Integrated Theories
• Victimization Theories
Choice Theory
• Belief that people commit crime when they perceive
benefits of law violation outweigh the threat and pain
of punishment.
• Belief that criminals use Rational Choice in deciding to
commit crime.
Biological Theories
Belief that crime is caused not so much by human choice but by
inherited and uncontrollable biological and psychological traits.
• Intelligence
• Diet
• Personality
• Body Build
Psychological Theories
1. Psychoanalytic Theory
2. Behavioral Theory
3. Cognitive Theory
Psychoanalytic Theory
• Belief that the development of personality in early life influences
behavior for the rest of a person’s life.
• Belief that criminals have weak egos and damaged personalities.
Behavioral Theory
• Belief that people commit crimes when they model behavior after
others they see being rewarded for the same acts.
• Belief that behavior is enforced by rewards and extinguished by
punishments.
Cognitive Theory
• Belief that individual reasoning processes influence behavior.
• Reasoning is influenced by the way people perceive their
environment, and by their moral and intellectual development.
Biological & Psychological Theories Practical Implications
• If criminals are inherently “flawed”, Incarcerate them to protect the
public
• Similarity to the Crime Control Perspective
Different From Rehabilitation Perspective
• Help people not responsible for their actions
Sociological Theories
• Sociological explanations of crime are the most common because:
• Crime patterns have a definite social orientation
• Why are sociological theories of crime so important?
They make the connection between social factors and crime:
• Poverty
• Unemployment
Social Structure Theory
•Contends social strata are created by the unequal distribution of
wealth, power and prestige
•Obvious social class distinctions in AmericaUpper, Middle and Lower Class
•Conflicts and problems of urban social life and communities control
the crime rate
How do fix this: If poverty and strain cause crime, efforts to improve
economic opportunity should be able to help reduce crime.
Strain Theory
• Contends that members of the lower class experience animosity
when their means to achieve culturally defined goals, like wealth and
financial success, are insufficient.
• Inability of lower class to achieve culturally defined goals results in
alternative solutions(Crime) to meet their need for success.
Social Process Theories
• Theories that people learn to commit crime by exposure to Antisocial
Behaviors
• Belief criminal behavior depends on experience with rewards and
punishments
• Rewards for deviance leads to crime
Labeling Theory
• Belief that society produces criminals by stigmatizing some persons as
deviants.
• Labeled persons come to accept that as their identity.
Social Control Theory
• Belief that most people do not violate the law due to social bonds to
family, peers, school and other institutions.
• Also believe that if the bonds weaken or are absent, crime may result.
Political Theories
• Conflict Theory
• View that crime results from the rich and powerful imposing their
moral standards and economic interests on the rest of society.
Integrated Theories
1. Latent Trait Theory
2. Developmental Theory
Latent Trait Theory
• Belief that some people have a personal characteristic that controls
their likelihood to commit crime.
• Low Intelligence
• Impulsive Personality
• Genetic Defect
Developmental Theory
• Belief that the reasons people commit crime and its frequency
change during the course of their lives.
• As people mature, the factors that influence behavior change:
Building social capital (positive relationships that foster self worth and
inhibit crime) and social bonds reduces long term criminality
Life events help terminate or sustain criminal careers
Causes Of Crime: Theories Of Victimization
• Some theories of crime examine the role victims play in provoking or
encouraging crime.
1. Lifestyle Theory
2. Routine Activities Theory
Lifestyle Theory
• Theory that some people become victims because their lifestyle
increases exposure to criminal offenders
• Partying and drug use increases likelihood of violent crime
involvement
Routine Activities Theory
Theory that crime is a product of three factors
• Motivated Offenders
• Suitable Targets
• Lack of Capable Guardians(security devices, police)