Criminology Theory

Abstract

Some people cannot get away from crime. There are repeat offenders with a rap sheet that dates back several decades, while others have never had so much as a speeding ticket. Why do people commit crime? What factors influence the decisions to commit offenses? This paper will describe the criminological theory focusing on biological, psychological, and sociological reasoning behind these questions. This paper will also discuss the relationship between criminological theory and statistical data focusing on how statistical data is used to support the criminological theory.

The Relationship Between Criminological Theory

When focusing on why a person commits a delinquency, criminal justice professionals can initiate ways to govern crime or reeducate offenders of the law. There are numerous theories to criminology. Some theories accredit crime to the person; weighting the pros and cons and making the choice whether to execute a misconduct.

The objective of the criminological theory is to support researchers in connecting crime and criminal justice. Some criminologists theorize that the main reason individuals commit crime is since it’s in one’s nature. There is evidence to suggest that some individuals are naturally more likely to commit crime from factors such as malnourishment, psychological illness, and chemical imbalance of the brain (Sullivan, 2011).

Behavioral Theory of Criminology

The behavioral theory argues that behavior is learned. It is theorized that unlawful behavior occurs in an ethnic conflict where relationships with offenders increases illegal behavior. In fact, hereditary, physical, and biological features are fundamental causes just as is household, upbringing, or region. Law-breaking is theorized to be from deviance (Sullivan, 2011). Sullivan (2011) goes on to add that deviating from social norms is likely due to biological makeup. A study of 411 South London males ranging in age from 8 to 46, studied the delinquency rate of men who lost their mother or father by their 15th birthday. Results showed that children who lost their mother were expected to become deviant than children who lost their father. The study further showed that after a disruption of family (death or divorce), boys who continued to live with their mother had similar delinquency rates from those with unbroken balanced relations (Juby & Farrington, 2001).

Sociological Theory of Criminology

Social structures within a community may cause people to commit crime. There are certain types of deviance one engages in, depending on certain variables in the situation. Therefore, the social theory of criminology theorizes that one learns bad behavior from others. Illegal acts express and influence societal connotations, and these are devoted to behaviors. Likewise, criminal law impacts behaviors (Sergi, 2017).

On a beautiful Sunday morning on April 26, 2015, police arrive at a gruesome scene where lays a young man’s body riddled with bullets. This young victim is only 26 years old, but a son to a reputed Mafia associate. According to reports gathered by police, this young man walked in his father’s tracks into a life of organized crime (Meintje, et.al., 2018).

Organized crime is not within reach as other typical crimes, and goings-on require intimate collaboration amongst offenders. Many organized crime figures are not born criminals whose antisocial behavior gets unscrupulous as one becomes older but appears to respond to tempting occasions presented to them in the social environment with which the offender interacts daily (Koppen, 2013).

 

The Psychological Theory of Criminology

The psychological theory of criminology focuses on the views, thoughts, and intentions of criminals and responsive reactions to crime. Since offending is viewed as a natural response to biological makeup and environmental factors, most psychological theories maintain that crime is inhibited by the conscience (Stolarek, 2018). Stolarek (2018) further adds that social and cultural dislocation, personality crisis, and identity shift have all been examined by researchers. The focus of psychological analysis is on crime, guilt, human conscience, and ethics in confronting new, unfamiliar environments and different cultural norms.

One psychological factor in correlating statistical data to the criminological theory is the personality traits of spontaneity, thrill seeking, boldness, simplicity, and compliant. For instance, as seen in Patricia Highland’s novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, a psychological novel which addresses the issue of impersonation, the main character transcends into a bizarre, grotesque spectacle of disintegration. Ripley, a confirmed psychopath imposes his own code of ethics on the world. The psychological theory examines a troubled conscience in the face of crisis situations (Stolarek, 2018).

Conclusion

Examining why crime happens is a challenge to criminal justice professionals. The criminological theory using statistical data addresses reasons why crime happens. The biological factors are analyzed to focus on stages of one’s life from infancy and the likelihood that one will turn to crime based on familial factors such as the death or divorce of parents. The sociological theory addresses the likelihood of social and environmental factors that will cause one to choose to commit crime. Being in close communication with others who are committing offenses will likely influence another to commit the same offenses. Lastly, the psychological theory focuses on aspects of the conscience as a determining factor to commit offenses. Research statistics in criminal justice allows analysts to focus on patterns of criminal activity and administer policies and anticrime programs that address deviant behaviors.

References

Juby, H., & Farrington, D. P. (2001). Disentangling the link between disrupted families and delinquency. The British Journal of Criminology, 41(1), 22-40. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=8&sid=a860a14e-6a84-44dc-bffb-6117aa61364b%40pdc-v-sessmgr04&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXNoaWImc2l0ZT1lZHMtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=edsjsr.23638892&db=edsjsr

Koppen, M. (2013, February). Involvement mechanisms for organized crime. Crime, Law, & Social Change, 59(1), 1-20. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=7&sid=e861396d-7f6c-4ef2-8d7b-a482e404223a%40sdc-v-sessmgr01

Meinjte, D., Kleemans, E., & Eichelshein, V. (2018, April). Children of organized crime offenders: Like father, like child? An explorative and qualitative study into mechanisms of intergenerational discontinuity in organized crime families. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, (), 1-20 Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10610-018-9381-6#citeas

Sergi, A. (2017). From Mafia to Organized Crime: A Comparative Analysis of Policing Models. New York, NY: Palgrave McMillan.

Stolarek, J. (2018). Fluid identities and social dislocation in the face of crime, guilt, and ethics in Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr Ripley and the Tremor of Forgery. Brno Studies in English, 44(2), 145-156. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=6e3aa839-ca06-41f9-8865-11171134bba7%40pdc-v-sessmgr04&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXNoaWImc2l0ZT1lZHMtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=136898692

Sullivan, C. J. (2011, August). The utility of the deviant case in the development of criminological theory. Criminology, 49(3), 905-920. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=a860a14e-6a84-44dc-bffb-6117aa61364b%40pdc-v-sessmgr04&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXNoaWImc2l0ZT1lZHMtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=64115614&db=i3h

.