Crim Theories for Final

Victim Precipitation Theory

• Victims actively or passively initiate the circumstances for their victimization

• Active precipitation is the actions performed that contribute

• Passive precipitation is the characteristics exhibited

Routine Activities Theory

• The motive, opportunity, and people willing to commit crime exist in abundance

• The result of combination of suitable targets, motivated offenders, and absence of capable guardians

• Ex. Homeless person steals from an unlocked car in a secluded area

Rational Choice Theory

• Criminals consider personal needs and situational factors before committing a crime

• Unlikely to commit a crime if it presents little benefit or there are legal and available means to achieve same goal

• Critiqued for assuming rationality

• Ex. Speeding at night because you do not suspect it will pose a risk to anyone and you want to get home faster

Situational Crime Prevention

• Proactive approach that maximizes risk of crime and minimizes rewards

• Increases effort and risk while reducing provocations, rewards, and excuses to engage in crime

• Only focuses on immediate solution, may cause displacement

• Ex. Putting cameras and security guard in store, lacking most valuable stuff behind cases

Deterrence Theory

• May be general (threat of punishment to anyone committing crime) or specific (punishment is so severe that nobody reoffends)

• Crime rates should be negatively associated with swiftness and severity of punishments

• Does not really make any difference in crime rates

Social Disorganization Theory

• Crime is a constant in urban areas regardless of demographic

• Residents in crime ridden areas want to leave but cannot; weakening sense of community

• Issue of ecological determinism

Theory of Anomie

• When goals are at odds with the means available to achieve them, anomie occurs and norms are violated

• Ex. Turning to crime after working hard to achieve success gets you nowhere

• Fails to account for white collar crime

General Strain Theory

• Crime is the result of negative affective states at the micro level

• May be caused by:
  - Failure to achieve goals
  - Disjunction of expectations and achievements
  - Removal of positive stimuli
  - Presentation of negative stimuli

• Does not account for individual differences in coping

Subcultural Focal Concerns

• Values that have evolved to fit the norms of socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods

• Contradict middle class conformity

• Do not account for crimes committed by people of higher status

• Ex. Getting into fights after slight provocation to prove your toughness

Delinquent Subcultures

• Crime is a form of protest against middle class behaviours

• Creation of new norms where one may be appreciated

Differential Opportunity Theory

• Goals for success are comparable across all groups but they differ in how they feel they can approach these goals

• May become criminal, conflict, or retreatist

Differential Association Theory

• Criminality is learned through contact with pro-crime values

• One’s associates are the strongest indicator of if they become criminal

• Ex. If you are raised around gangs, you are likely to join a gang

• Do not explain individual variation

Neutralization Theory

• Delinquents use verbal constructs to minimize the guilt felt from their criminal acts

• Rationalization occurs before the crime so they may drift between criminal and conventional morality

• May deny responsibility, injury, victim, condemn condemners, or appeal to higher authority

• Limited to fairly minor forms of delinquency

Containment Theory

• Forces may pull people towards crime but containments push them away

• Inner containments are internalizations of norms

• Outer containments are primary groups influencing behaviour

• Critiqued for being vague and not encompassing all crime

Theory of the Bond

• Weakening of ties that bond people to conventional society lead to criminality

• Bonds include:
  - Attachment
  - Commitment
  - Involvement
  - Belief

• Mostly encompasses petty delinquence

Labelling theory

• People become labelled as criminals and accept that definition

• Assuming identity based on the appraisal of others

• Doesn’t explain initially deviant behaviour, more reoffences

Marxist Theory

• The bourgeoisie pass laws to control behaviour of proletariat

• Economic powers control the definitions of crime

Peacemaking Criminology

• Critiques harsh punishment as leading to more crime

• Favours humanistic solutions to resolve conflict

• The state enacting violence is just as bad as criminals doing it

• Divert normal court processes and criminal labels

• Involves participation of victim

Somatype Theory

• Somatypes are associated with temperment

• Endomorphs are sociable, mesomorphs are adventurous, and ectomorphs are introverted

• Fails to account for how body type influences socialization

Psychodynamic Perspective

• Personality is controlled by unconscious mental processes that may be shaped by childhood trauma

• Weak ego can create immaturity and frustration that lead to crime