CCJ4014 Exam #1 Study

Chapters 1-5 Criminologial Theories Fall 2025

A Tautological explanation is one that is:

True by definition, untestable, and circular in reasoning

T/F a variable correlated with crime is necessarily a cause of crime

False

According to Akers and Sellers, good, sound criminal justice and social polices designed to prevent or control crime that are derived from theories of criminal and delinquent behavior:

Must be shown through empirical evaluation that they are effective

The deterrence doctrine maintains that to be effective, legal penalties for crime must be:

Swift, Certain & Justly Severe

T/F Although the deterrence doctrine was stated by classical criminologists more than 200 years ago, research to test the deterrent effect of punishment on different types of offenses did not begin until the 1960s

True

Theory

A set of interconnected statements or propositions that explain how two or more events or factors are related to one another. Theories are proposed explanations of problems or questions. They help provide answers or guidance as to why things are the way they are

Connection between Theory & Ideology

Theories can be a part of an ideology, but an ideology does not make a theory

Macro Theories

Cover major groups of people, such as a society, and help explain why crimes are committed/what types of people commit them

Micro Theories

Cover small groups of people, possibly even individuals, and help explain why crimes are committed/what types of people commit them

What is the most important for evaluating a theory

Empirical validity

Criteria for evaluating theory

1. Logical Consistency

2. Scope & Parsimony

3. Testability

4. Empirical Validity

5. Usefulness & Policy Implication

Logical Consistency

The theory must make sense, meaning that the central idea is clear and concise

Scope

The overall area to which the theory can be applied

Parsimony

Simplicity of the theory to explain criminal behavior

T/F you want a theory to explain crime in detail with simplicity

True

Testability

• Must be able to repeat evidence to support the theory

• Theories have no scientific value if they cannot be tested against empirical findings

• Testable or non-testable

Usefulness & Policy Implications

Theory explains crime well enough that it can be used as a guideline of prevention (politics and finances can affect the success of a theory)

Traditional Casuality

One thing produces another

Probabilistic Casuality

Human behavior is not 100% determined by external factors nor completely on an individual’s own ideas

2 Classifications of Criminological Theories

1. Making & Enforcing Criminal Law (explains content and behavior)

2. Criminal & Deviant Behavior (commission, occurrence, and patterns)

If a Theory of crime causation is parsimonious, then:

It relies on a few simple simple propositons rather than a complex set of statements

Soft Determinism/Interdeterminism

Multiple factors, including external forces, affect humans along with their individual thought processes, and both of these result in their behavior

Epidemiology (Cressy)

The prevalence and distribution of crime across groups and societies, as well as individual conduct

Categories of Criminal and Deviant Behavior

• Biological (genetic, chemical, neurological, psychological variables)

• Psychological (personally, emotional maladjustment, psychic disturbances, psychological traits)

• Social psychological (behavior, self, and cognitive variables in a group context)

• Sociological (cultural, structural, sociodemographic variables)

Classical criminology

Principles written in the 18th century by Beccaria and Bentham. They focused on legal and penal reform rather than theory. Torture and cruel punishments were commonly used so, Beccaria and Bentham wanted to change them.

Severity (Beccaria and Bentham)

The punishment must be only painful enough to outweigh the pleasure gained by the crime (relies on the idea that the amount of pleasure from committing a crime is the same for everyone).

Proportionality

Should be an exact scale of crimes where punishment is equal across the board to the crimes, not to the individual

Certainty

Offenders understand that if they commit a crime, they will be punished

Celerity

Punishment for the crime is enacted swiftly

Deterrence Theory

Benefits>Costs=Commit crime

Specific Deterrence

Aimed at the specific offender

General Deterrence

Aimed at the remainder of society

Modern Deterrence Composition

• Certainty

• Severity

• Celerity

• Proportionality

• Specific and General

Absolute Deterrence

The amount of crime that does not occur because there is a formal criminal justice system in place, where there is a possibility of punishment

T/F In general, people do not commit crimes because they conform to the norms of a society, rather than because of concern with punishment

True

Limitations of law enforcement

• many protected areas are vast and dangerous settings

• swift responses are difficult

• inadequate criminal justice system

• fines and fences = conservation, a neo-colonial force

• “silent victims” (reporting is limited to areas with law enforcement and willing bystanders)

• Corruption

• Punishments are not certain

Normative Compliance

Moral obligations; Governmental legitimacy is a key component

Acute Conformists

Comply with the law because it’s the right thing to do

Incorrigible Offenders

Commited to crime, nothing will stop them

Deterrable Offenders

Group who are scared of the punishment and will be persuaded not to commit the crime

Informal Deterrence

The idea that sanctions outside of the formal criminal justice system will be the form of punishment that will deter the individual from committing the crime (family disapproval)

Experimental Effect

• The effect of prior behavior on current perceptions of the certainty of arrest

• The more frequently respondents have been involved in law violations in the past, the lower their perceived risk of sanctions is in the present

Deterrent Effect

The effect of perceptions of certainty on beavior

What is the correlation between perceived risks of punishment and criminal behavior, reflecting the experiential effect of behavior on the perceptions of risk more than the deterrent effect of perceived sanctions on behavior

Relatively weak negative correlation

Rational Choice Theory

Based on the expected utility principle, it is proposed as a general, inclusive explanation of both the decision to commit a specific crime and the development of, or desistance from, a criminal career

Miller’s Experiment on Routine Activity Theory

• investigates how participation in structured and unstructured activities with peers creates variations in the types of crimes supported

• Provides evidence that structured activities are not necessarily an improvement over unstructured activities in their effects on crime

Routine Activities Theory Elements (Cohen & Felson)

• an available target

• A motivated offender

• Lack of gurardian(s)

Routine Crime Prevention and Precautions

• Hot Spots Policing

• Geographic Information Systems

• Geographic Profiling

Felson and Clarke Proposed Policies:

1. Formal social controls

2. information supervision

3. signs and instructions about crime warnings

4. product design

5. natural surveillance (increase visibility)

Crime generations

e.g., malls, sports venues

Crime attractors

e.g., drug markets

T/F The “experimental effect” in deterrence research refers to the finding that experiencing legal sanctions prevents recidivism

False

The term atavism refers to:

A more primitive life form that appears to be human

T/F According to Lombroso’s theory of the born criminal, inherited characteristics make the person prone to commit a crime, but the nature of these characteristics cannot be objectively identified

False

Modern biological theories of crime and deliquency

Propose that biological variables interact with sociological and psychological variables in criminal behavior

T/F The idea that physiological factors may play a role in criminal behavior is no longer taken seriously by modern criminologists

False

The policy implications of various biological theories of criminal behavior have included:

• Surgery to remove part of the brain

• Hormonal Injections

• Removal of offenders to criminal reservations

Traditional Biological Theories

Focus on anatomical, physiological, or genetic abnormalities and downplay the effect of social environmental factors in crime

Lombroso

• Borned criminal

• Crime was thought to be a rational choice made by the offender and crime was prevented through deterrence

• Viewed criminals as a distinct set of people who were biologically inferior to or inherently defective

Biological Positivism

Measurable characteristics; Proposed that crime is not a rationally reasoned behavior that will occur unless prevented by the proper threat of punishment, but a result of inborn abnormalities.

Atavism

Throwback to an earlier stage of human evolution

Stigmatas

Physical abnormalities such as large monkey-like ears and extra fingers or toes

Insane Criminal

Idiotic, imbecile, epileptic, psychotic, and mentally unfit for society

Criminaloid

Motivated by passion or have an emotional makeup that compels them to commit crime

Interaction of Biological and Environmental Variables

• Neurobiology deals with biochemistry (weak connection between testosterone levels and antisocial. aggressive behavior) and neurophysiology (Autonomic Nervous System, Childhood intelligence does not predict adolescent delinquency)

• Genetics

• Evolutionary psychology

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

People who inherit ANS are slow to be aroused or react to stimuli and learn to control their aggressive behavior slowly or not at all (Alex Honnold). Right hemisphere dysfunction can affect autonomic arousal, which results in a lower heart rate

Shared environments

Class, Parents, religion

Nonshared environments

Differences is in family and siblings, peer groups, and teachers

T/F Genes DO cause behavior and also facilitate our behaviors and feelings

False, Genes do not CAUSE behavior; they facilitate our behaviors and feelings

Concordance (Twin Studies)

Quantitative measure of the degree to which the observed behavior or attribute of one twin (or sibling) matches that of the other

• Twin studies of delinquency in adolescence show little genetic influence

T/F Children who are adopted and not raised by their biological parents do not inherit their genetic tendencies

False

Policy Implications of Modern Biosocial Theories

• Education programs

• Teacher training

• Promotion of parenting skills

• After-school programs

• Drug treatment

Biological Theories vs. Biosocial Theories

Biological theories believe that criminals are born criminals as a result of genetics, while biosocial theories believe that criminals are not only influenced by genetic makeup but also by their environment.

Gene-Environment Interactions (GxEs)

Represent a two-way relationship in which he effect of the environment depends on the presence of genetic variables and the impact of genetic variables relies on the presence of the environment (e.g., Tony Soprano)

Diathesis-Stress model (Risk Alleles)

Risk Principle/Rehabilitation;

Variations that are associated with maladaptive outcomes (risk alleles) interact with a negative environment, thereby increasing the likelihood of antisocial behaviors.

Differential-susceptibility model (plastic alleles)

Responsivity Principle/Prevention Interventions;

Genes are viewed as plasticity genes and they indicate the degree to which an individual is vulnerable to their environment. However, these alleles will not only be the most vulnerable to adverse environments, but they will also be highly susceptible to positive environments.

The following is a graph displaying results comparing youth (11-14 years) with no genetic risk and those with genetic risk based on their participation in the Strong African American Families (SAAF) Program compared to the control group that received no intervention program (Brody et al., 2009). Reading the graph, which group had the greatest improvement in mean risk behavior frequency?

SAAF treatment group with genetic risk

Psychonanalytic Theory

Freudian personality development (Id, Ego, Superego). According to this theory, multiple stages of development occur in early childhood, and if something goes wrong, this could cause the child to become more susceptible to crime (crime can be explained through underlying mental issues).

Id

Basic Instincts and drive

Superego

Conscience of the individual

Ego

Rational part of the personality

Personality Theory

• The belief that crimes are committed as a result of a deviant nonforming individual’s personality

• Explains delinquent behavior as an expression of deviant personality traits like impulsiveness, aggressiveness, sensation seeking, etc.

Tests to Determine Personality Traits

• MMPI: measures abnormal personality traits such as depression, hysteria, paranoia, and psychopathology

• CPI: Measure variations in personality traits, such as dominance, tolerance, and sociability

Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory

• proposed as an explanation of criminal behavior

1. Criminal behavior is learned

2. Criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a process of communication

3. The principal part of the learning of criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal groups

4. When criminal behavior is learned, the learning includes techniques of committing the crime & the specific direction of motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes.

5. The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of the legal codes as favorable or unfavorable

6. A person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to the violation of the law

7. May vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity

8. The process of learning criminal behavior by association with criminal and anti-criminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning

9. Criminal behavior is not explained by those general needs and values because noncriminal behavior is an expression of the same needs and values

Differential Reinforcement (Akers)

Operant behavior conditioned by rewards and punishment

Classical/Respondent Conditioning (Akers)

The conditioning of involuntary reflex behavior

Discriminative Stimuli (Akers)

The environmental and internal stimuli that provide cues or signals for behavior

Schedules of reinforcement (Akers)

The rate and ratio at which rewards and punishments follow behavioral responses

Aker’s Social Structure

Social strutures are hypothesized to have an influence on an individual.

DIfferential social organization

The structural correlates of crime in the community or society that affect crime rates: age, composition, population densities

Differential location in the social structure

Sociodemographic characteristics of individuals and social groups within the large structure (class, gender, ethnicity)

Theoretically defined structure variables

Refer to anomie, class oppression, social disorganization, group conflict, and patriarchy to identify crimogenic conditions of groups/societies

Differential social location in groups

The individual’s membership in and relationship to primary, secondary, and reference groups (family, friends, church, teams)

Interactional Dimension

Direct and indirect association

Normative dimnsion

Different patterns of norms and values to which an individual is exposed through this association

Definition; Social Learning Theory

• How an individual identifies a behavior (good or bad)

• Under this theory, the definitions can be both (general or specific) or positive, neutral, or negative.

• Discriminative stimuli (operate as cues or signals to the individual as to what responses are appropriate or expected in a given situation)

Differential Reinforcement

• Positive and negative reinforcement (affect the likelihood of criminal activity

• Modalities of reinforcement (amount, frequency, and probability that reinforcement will occur)

• Social reinforcement (how the individual thinks or knows they will be punished by society)

• Self-reinforcement (individual exercising self-control)

Imitation

Individuals can imitate behaviors they have observed

Feedback Effect

The feedback from the initial event will determine if the act is repeated or not

Family & Deliquency

Family is typically a preventive measure against deviant behavior. Children with involved parents are less likely to become criminals because they have positive interactions and reinforcement through their parents

Differential Peer Association

Teens who surround themselves with non-delinquent friends are less likely to perform deviant acts, therefore making them conformists.