Introduction to
Criminal Justice
Explaining Crime
Chapter Three
Bohm and Haley
Theory
A theory is an assumption (or set of assumptions)
that attempts to explain why or how
things are related to each other.
A theory of crime attempts to explain
why or how a certain thing or certain things
are related to crime and criminal behavior.
Key word: Causation
From Classical Choice Theories to
Modern Rational Choice Views
(Beccaria)
The basis of this perspective over time has dealt
with four key relationships:

1) Law

2) Crime

3) Punishment

4) Deterrence
Core Concepts of Choice or
Classical Criminology
People choose
all behavior,
including criminal
behavior. Derived from
the notion of free-will.
People’s choice
can be controlled
by the fear of
punishment.
The more severe, certain and swift
the punishment, the greater its ability
to control criminal behavior. Punishment
must also be proportional to the
crime.
Structuring Crime
(Classical Theory)
Not only do criminals structure their
career but they rationally choose:

The type of crime to commit

Where it occurs

Who or what will be the target

The time the crime will be committed
Question
Do you think that a criminal act
is a matter of “rational choice?”
In order for behavior to be rational should behavior be learned first,
in order to make a structured choice of crime?
How Are These Behaviors the
Product of Rational Thought?
Are there different
definitions of
“rational”?

Street Crime

Drug Use

Violence
Deterrence
The punishment philosophy that says
punishment’s aim
is
to prevent future offenses
by setting an example
for both the offender and others;
i.e., specific and general deterrence.
General Deterrence
The version of deterrence that seeks to
prevent crime by using punishment to show others
who are considering a criminal act
that they will suffer painful consequences
if they commit that act.
Specific Deterrence

The version of deterrence that seeks to prevent crime by using
punishment to show the criminal that the criminal act was
undesirable because it brought more pain than pleasure.
Possible problems include:

Chronic offenders may increase their rate of offending or defiance.

Juveniles may experience leniency in punishment.

The effect of specific deterrence as a punishment strategy is
uncertain.
Foundations of Biological
Trait Theory
The biological explanation of criminal behavior
first became popular during the middle part of
the 19th Century with the introduction of
positivism.
What is positivism?
Positivism

Positivism rejects the concept of free will.

Positivism assumes that human behavior is
determined.

Crime can only be understood if it is studied by
the scientific method (cause and effect).

Human behavior is a function of internal and
external forces – multiple factors, i.e., social,
biological, psychological, or socio-economic
forces.
Early Positivists

Early positivists included:

Lombroso (belief that certain physical characteristics

Garofalo (certain physical characteristics and

Ferri (belief in biological, social and organic factors as a

Sheldon (belief in body types which were susceptible to
indicate a criminal nature).
psychological characteristics indicate criminal nature).
cause of crime and delinquency).
certain types of delinquent behavior).
TRAIT THEORIES
(Positivist Approach)


Trait theories are made up of biosocial
and psychological theories.
The primary focus of trait theories is
human behavior and the link to
anti-social behavior, i.e., aggression,
violence, and criminality.
Biological and Psychological
Traits



Both biological and psychological traits have
been linked to criminal behavior, but not as
causal linkages.
It is the “multiple factor” approach or the
interaction of mental and physical traits with
environmental and social factors that either
suppress or trigger criminal behavior.
The focus is generally on persistent or chronic
offenders.
Biosocial Trait Theories


Biochemical Conditions and Crime
Neurophysiological Conditions and
Crime

Genetics and Crime

Evolutionary Views and Crime
PSYCHOLOGICAL
TRAIT THEORIES
(Freud)
Psychodynamic


Behavioral
Cognitive
Social Learning
Mental Illness and
crime

Personality and Crime

Intelligence and Crime
Personality and Crime - Trait
Personality can be defined as the reasonably stable
patterns of behavior, including thoughts and emotions
that distinguish one person from another. Personality
reflects a characteristic way of adapting to life’s
demands and problems.
Psychopaths
Anti-Social Personalities
I
Abnormal Affect
Sociopaths
SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
(Positivist Approach)
Criminal Behavior Patterns
Are Affected By:

Places - Places not people cause crime, i.e.,

Socioeconomic placement in society can influence
deteriorated lower-class areas.
the potential for criminal behavior, i.e., unable to attain
social or economic success.
Sociological Theories:
The Underlying Premise


The real crime problem is a lower class
phenomenon.
Those that live in equivalent social
environments tend to behave in a predictable
fashion. If the environment did not affect
human behavior, then crime rates would be
dispersed equally across the social structure.
ELEMENTS OF
SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION THEORY:
(Shaw and McKay)

Poverty

Social Disorganization

Breakdown of Social Control

Criminal Areas

Cultural Transmission

Criminal Careers
STRAIN THEORIES
Crime is a direct result of the
frustration and anger of the lower-class
to achieve culturally defined goals, i.e., wealth,
success, power;
however,
the means to acquire these goals
are stymied by the stratification
of class and status in society.
ANOMIE

Durkheim: Norms have broken down because of
rapid social change, i.e., traditions and values.

Merton: Culturally defined goals and socially
approved means for obtaining them have broken
down, i.e., education and hard work.

Messner and Rosenfeld: The American
Dream as a goal and a process. Crime becomes the
strategy for attaining wealth.
Cultural Deviance Theory:
Cohen’s Theory of Delinquent
Subcultures
MAJOR PREMISE
STRENGTHS
Status frustration of
lower-class boys,
created by their failure to
achieve middle-class
success, causes
them to join gangs.
Shows how the
conditions of lower-class
life produce crime.
Explains violence and
destructive acts.
Identifies conflict of lower
class with middle class.
Cultural Deviance Theory:
Cloward and Ohlin’s Theory of Differential
Opportunity
MAJOR PREMISE:
Blockage of conventional opportunities causes lower-class
youths to join criminal, conflict, or retreatist gangs.
STRENGTHS:
Shows that even illegal opportunities are structured in
society. Indicates why people become involved in a
particular type of criminal activity. Presents a way of
preventing crime by providing the means for juveniles to
obtain success.
The goal of social conflict theorists is to explain
crime within economic and social contexts and to
express the connections among social class, crime
and social control. Crime is an outcome of class
struggle. Issues of concern to them include:




The role government plays in creating a criminogenic
environment.
The relationship of personal or group power in
controlling and shaping the criminal law.
The role of bias in the operations of the justice system.
The relationship between a capitalist free-enterprise
economy and crime rates.
Conflict Theory
(Vold andTurk)
STRENGTHS
Accounts for class differentials in the crime
rate. Shows how class conflict influences
behavior.
MAJOR PREMISE
Crime is a function of class conflict. The
definition of the law is controlled by people
who hold social and political power.
Marxist Theory
(Radical Theory)
MAJOR PREMISE
The capitalist means of production creates
class conflict. Crime is a rebellion of the
lower class. The criminal justice system is an
agent of class warfare.
STRENGTHS
Accounts for the associations between
economic structure and crime rates.
Social Conflict Theories:
Deconstructionism
(Postmodernists)
MAJOR PREMISE
Language controls the meaning and use of
the law.
STRENGTHS
Provides a critical analysis of meaning.
Social Conflict Theories:
Peacemaking – Restorative Justice
MAJOR PREMISE
Peace and humanism
can reduce crime;
conflict resolution strategies can work.
STRENGTHS
Offers a new approach to
crime control through
mediation.
Social Learning Theory:
Differential Association


Sutherland and Cressey.
Criminal behavior and criminal techniques are
learned. Learned behavior is a byproduct of
interacting with others.

Learned behavior begins when a person is in their
adolescence from close friends and relatives.

Criminal behavior occurs when the definitions
toward crime outweigh the definitions against crime.
Social Control Theories

Reckless’ containment theory – a strong selfimage insulates a youth from crimogenic
influences.

Hirshi’s social bond theory – onset of criminality
is linked to the weakening of social ties or bonds.
Elements of the Social Bond
Commitment
Attachment
Criminal
Behavior
Belief
Involvement
Hirschi’s Control Theory
MAJOR PREMISE
A person’s bond to society prevents him or her from
violating social rules. If the bond weakens,
the person is free to commit crime.
STRENGTHS
Explains the onset of crime; can apply to both middleand lower-class crime. Explains its theoretical
constructs adequately so they can be measured.
Has been empirically tested.
LABELING THEORY
(Edwin Lemert)
This theory holds that
criminality is promoted by
becoming negatively labeled
by significant others.
Key Word: Secondary Deviance
Labeling Theory:
The Basis for Self-Concept
Decision
to Label
Creation
of a New
Identity
Detection
by the
Justice
System
Acceptance
of Labels
Initial
Criminal
Act
Deviance
Amplification