Explaining Crime
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
•Define criminal theory.
•State the causes of crime according to classical and
neoclassical theory.
•Describe the biological theories of crime causation.
•Describe the different psychological theories of crime
causation.
•Explain sociological theories of crime causation.
•Distinguish major differences among classical,
positivist, and critical theories of crime causation.
What is a theory?
A theory of crime attempts to explain why or how a certain
thing or certain things are related to criminal behavior.
The failure to understand the theoretical basis of criminal
justice policies leads to two undesirable consequences:
1. If you do not know the theories on which your criminal
justice policies are based upon then you will also be
unaware of the problems that are likely to undermine the
success of those policies.
2. If people’s lives are going to be disrupted by criminal
justice policies, it seems only fair that there be very good
reasons for the disruption.
Classical Theory
• Product of the Enlightenment period.
• Human beings commit crime because they
rationally calculate that the crime will give
them more pleasure than pain.
• Classical criminologists were more concerned
with protecting rights of humankind from
corruption and excesses of existing legal
institutions.
Cesare Beccaria – best known classical criminologist
• Only justified rationale for law and punishments is the
principle of utility; “the greatest happiness shared by
the greatest number.”
• Basis of society = social contract
• Only legitimate purpose of punishment is deterrence
• 4 ways to prevent/deter crime:
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Enact laws that are clear, simple, and unbiased
Educate the public
Eliminate corruption from the administration of justice
Reward virtue
Neoclassical Theory
• Conceded that certain factors might inhibit the
exercise of free will
• Thus the idea of premeditation was introduced as
a measure of the degree of free will exercised
• Impact on criminal justice policy:
– Provided a reason for nonlegal experts to testify in
court
– Offenders began to be sentenced to punishments that
were considered rehabilitative
Positivist Approaches
Key assumptions of positivist school of thought:
– Human behavior is determined and not a matter
of free will
– Criminal are fundamentally different than
noncriminals
– Crime is frequently caused by multiple factors
– Society is based on a consensus not social contract
Biological Theories
criminals are physiologically different than noncriminals
• Criminal Anthropology: can be recognized by physical
characteristics (must have more than 5)
• Body-Type Theory: delinquents are more mesomorphic
than non-delinquents
• Heredity Studies: criminals are genetically different from
noncriminals
• Limbic System Disorders: unprovoked violent criminal
behavior is caused by destructive processes of the limbic
system
• Chemical Dysfunctions: criminal behaviors are believed to
be influenced by low levels of brain neurotransmitters
• Minimal Brain Damage: brain damage increases an
individual’s chances of being identified as delinquent
• Endocrine Abnormalities: criminal behavior is associated
with endocrine abnormalities
Psychological Theories
• Intelligence and Crime: crime is product primarily
of people of low intelligence
• Psychoanalytic Theories: crime is a symptom of
more deep-seated problems and if resolved
would go away
• Humanistic Psychological Theory: crime is a
means by which individuals satisfy their basic
human needs (Maslow) or crime is one of several
adaptations to the helplessness caused by
oppression (Halleck)
Characteristics of a Psychopath
(according to Freud those with deep seated unresolved problems)
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Superficial charm
Absence of delusions
Absence of nervousness
Unreliability
Untruthfulness
Lack of remorse
Inadequately motivated antisocial behavior
Poor judgment
Incapacity for love
General poverty in major affective reactions
Specific loss of insight
Unresponsiveness in general interpersonal relations
Fantastic and uninviting behavior
Suicide rarely carried out
Sex life impersonal
Failure to follow any life plan
Sociological Theories
criminal behavior is determined by their environment
• Durkheim: crime is a normal aspect of society; crime is caused by
dissociation of the individual from general sense of morality of the
times
• Chicago School: crime is caused because the usual controls over
delinquents are largely absent, delinquent behavior is often approved
of by parents, there are many opportunities for delinquent behavior,
and there is little encouragement, training, or opportunity for
legitimate employment
• Anomie/Strain Theory: source of crime is a contradiction between the
cultural goal of achieving wealth and the social structure’s ability to
provide legitimate institutional means of achieving the goal
• Learning Theories: crime is committed because it is positively
reinforced, negatively reinforced, or imitated
• Social Control Theories: People are expected to commit crime unless
they are prevented from doing so or people will commit crime unless
they are properly socialized
Critical Approaches to Crime
How are they different than other approaches?
1. Human beings are the creators of the
institutions and structures that ultimately
dominate and constrain them
2. Assume that society is characterized
primarily by conflict of moral values
3. They believe it is impossible to be objective
or value-neutral in anything a persons does
Critical Approaches
• Labeling Theory: the distinguishing feature of all
criminals is they have been designated by the
state and its agents as different and bad
• Conflict Theory: assumes society is based
primarily of conflict between competing interest
groups-criminal law and criminal justice system
are used by dominant groups to control
subordinate groups
• Radical Theory: (based on Marx) competition
between rich and poor people and the practice of
taking advantage of other people causes crime
Other Critical Approaches
• British or Left Realism: identified relative
deprivation as potent, though not exclusive cause
of crime
• Peacemaking Criminology: solutions to all social
problems are the transformations of human
beings into communities of caring people
• Feminist Theory: problems of women lie in the
institution of patriarchy
• Postmodernism: crime is the culmination of
certain processes that allow persons to believe
that they are somehow not connected to other
humans and society