Theories Of Criminal Behavior

The first crime theory I will discuss is Differential Association theory. According to Edwin H. Sutherland, differential association is a learning theory that explains criminal behavior

Finally, take a stand and tell me which of the theories you think provides the best overall framework for explaining patterns in crime (make sure to explain why).

As societal crime rate continues to escalate, the epidemic of homicides and mass murders remains a prevalent social problem. Thus, the emergence of serial killers has caused alarm among many criminologists and psychologists. Serial killers usually have an impulsive desire to kill for no particular reason, which makes it difficult for law enforcement and criminal professionals to understand their motives. Thus, the motives of serial killers have led to heated debates and challenged the nature vs. nurture theory. Many scientists believe that serial killers are genetically incline to commit murders, while criminologists associate violent crimes to childhood and surroundings. Essentially, exploring how and why serial killers commit crimes is an important area because it will help

The classical theory of crime says that people make rational choices when they commit crimes. “Individuals have the will and rationality to act according to their own will and desires. Individuals will calculate the rationality of the crime based on the benefits of the crime versus the consequences of the crime” (Robinson, 2014). This theory discuses that how people think about the negative and positive outcomes before they commit crime. Even though they realize it is not right, they still continue to commit illegal offence because they believe that what they are doing is for the greater

Why do people commit crimes? What goes through their minds before they actually commit a crime? These are questions asked from society to criminologist every time one decides they want to commit a crime. Criminologists has given us different crime causations, theories, to explain the answer to these questions. A theory is a speculation about how phenomena, behavior, or process are caused and what takes place after the cause is determined (Anderson, 2015). There are numerous theories that have evolved over time to explain why crimes are committed. These theories include anomie, strained, social control, and rational choice theory. In this research paper I will be focusing on rational choice theory. Majority of these theories focus on a macro-level, which is the largest, meanwhile some focus on a micro-level, the smaller level, depending on the circumstances. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize how rational choice theory is integrate with different crimes. The crimes included are burglary, white collar crime, and murder.

Many theories attempt to explain why individuals commit crime and delinquency acts. Sociologists and criminologists alike utilize empirical evidence to support theories that best explain criminal and deviant behavior. Criminology theories introduced decades ago continue to be hypothesized and tested with current and relevant data to disprove, support, and build upon traditional criminology theories. One such theory, Agnew’s General Strain Theory (GST), was derived from classic strain theory ideas developed from such criminologists as Merton, Cohen, Cloward, and Ohlin who implied that “blocked opportunities to attain successful goals generate a pressure that leads to criminality” (Froggio, 2007, p. 383). Since being introduced in 1992, GST continues

A theory is a set of statements or principles developed to explain a group of facts or phenomena. It has been repeatedly tested and used to make predictions. Theories in this category attempt to explain why an individual commits a crime or delinquent behaviors. The primary goal of criminological theory is to help one gain an understating of why and how certain things are related to criminal behavior (Bohm and Vogel, 2011). Theories dissect the making and the breaking of the law, criminal different behavior, as well as patterns of criminal activity. Theories can be used to guide policy making and can be weighed on a number of criteria including biological things, psychological things, sociological things, economic things or a combination of

In the criminal justice system, perhaps one of the most well-known are deterrence and labeling theory. It is clear that these theories contradict the positions of effects on formal punishment in the US justice system. Which one most accurately represents the effect of legal punishment? I would argue that the constant shift of politics and legislation change the effects of legal punishment from these theories. Deterrence works better in some neighborhoods rather than others based on what people actually view is deviant. However, in most western countries, policy implications and the goals of punishment augment a deterrence effect.

The word science comes from the Latin "scientia," meaning knowledge. Science attained through study or practice and can be rationally explained and reliably applied. Modern science is typically subdivided into the natural sciences, which study the material world, the social sciences which study people and societies, and the formal sciences like mathematics. The formal sciences are often excluded as they do not depend on empirical observations.[5] We have to keep in mind that science helps us describe how the world is, but it cannot make any judgments about whether that state of affairs is right, wrong, good, or bad and individual people must make moral judgments.

In a recent article published by the Wall Street Journal, journalist Nicole Hung explored the role of gangs in white-collar crimes. According to the article, entitled “Gangs Turn to Bank Fraud”, crimes such as “check fraud and identity theft are…lucrative, harder to detect and carry lighter prison sentences” (Hung). Thus, providing gangs an opportunity to use their critical thinking skills as an advantage in order to commit while-collar crimes. In addition, according to the article in recent years the rate of white-collar crimes by gangs has increased as a result of a number of “high-profile data breaches…of credit card numbers” (Hung). Most importantly, the increase of white-collar crimes by gangs has become a major focus the police whose goal is to prevent gangs from continuing to defraud banks and people nationwide (Hung).

Furthermore, the psychology of criminal behavior, psychology, and criminology all have a primary objective of achieving an understanding of the variation in the criminal behavior of individuals (Andrews and Bonta , 2010). Empirically, the study of variation in criminal behavior is done by the studying of covariates (Andrews and Bonta , 2010). The primary covariates that PCC studies are biological, social, and psychological (Andrews and Bonta , 2010). Although, criminology tends to assess criminality at an aggregate level, in comparison to the psychology of criminal conduct’s focus on an individual level. Additionally, a psychology of criminal conduct involves applying what is learned by the studying of psychological information and methods to the predicting and influencing the propensity of criminal behavior on an individual

This theory states that criminal procedures are part and branch of philosophy that focuses on punish those who break the law. There is a strong correlation between criminal procedures and the philosophy of law as well as the morals and ethical standards of society. Criminal law theorists put more emphases on offenses that can be seen as illegal and that warrant criminalization of the activities or events. Thus, most of these theorists believe that there is the need to punish the lawbreakers to set an example to other individuals who may have intentions of following their suit or engaging in legal activities. Some of the activities classified by criminal law theorist as a crime or illegal include murder, rape and

Karl Popper was a twentieth-century philosopher that had a dissatisfaction with the definition of what could be considered a “science.” The claim of falsification, being able to equally be observed false, made Popper’s argument of demarcation appealing to those with the same inquiries about the method of scientific progress. Popper said to be defined as a real science, one needs to make risky, bold predictions that could easily be refuted by observation. I will argue that the construction of Popper’s scientific progress is flawed due to the refutations of infinite hypotheses and observational unreliability.

Immanuel Kant defines the Enlightenment as “humankind release from its self-incurred immaturity.”Immanuel Kant defines the Enlightenment as “humankind release from its self-incurred immaturity.”So to be enlightened would mean to use one’s own ability to observe the world around them. Take a look at the enlightenment in a broader sense. The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy defines enlightenment as “the process of undertaking to think for oneself, to employ in determining what to believe and how to act”. While the enlightenment went against the customs and norms of the time period, it played a major part in shaping the culture of America because it had a huge impact on the culture and traditions of the 16th century, many scientists and philosophers spread their idea amongst the society, and it influenced a lot of modern day culture in America.

There are loads of theories on crime and why people commit them. If I had to pick a favorite one I would pick rational choice theory. Rational choice theory definition is the view that people behave as they do because they believe that performing their chosen actions has more benefits and less costly than living a legal life. That is, people make rational choices based on their goals, and those choices govern their behavior.