Theories of Crime Causation

Psychological theories

Expressed that criminal behavior, was the product of “unconscious” forces operating within a person’s mind.

Charles B. Goring (1870-1919)

Defective intelligence rather than physical characteristics was the main factor why a person commits a crime.

Gabriel Tarde (1843-1904)

Theory of imitation, people learn from one another through a process of imitation.

Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic Psychology

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) human personality is controlled by unconscious mental process developed in early childhood.

Id

Pleasure principle

Superego

Morality principle

Ego

Reality principle

Eros

Present at birth, instinct to preserve and create life., expressed sexually.

Oral Stage

1st year of life, child attains pleasure by sucking and biting.

Anal Stage

2nd to 3rd year of life, elimination of bodily waste.

Phallic Stage

3rd year of life, children focuses their attention on the genitals.

Latency Stage

6th year in life, feelings of sexuality are repressed.

Genital Stage

Begins at puberty stage, marks the beginning of adult sexuality.

Fixated

if the child meet conflict in any of the psychosexual stages of human development.

Psychosexual Stages of Human Development

this theory explains that behavioral problems manifested by a certain individual can be traced back to his early stage of life.

Behavioral theory

Created by John B. Watson (1878-1958) & popularized by Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-1990). concerned with the study of observable behavior rather than unconscious processes.

Social Learning

Albert S. Bandura (1973), people are not actually born with the ability to act violently but that they learn to be aggressive through their life experiences.

Behavior modeling

1. Family members

2. Environmental experiences

3. Mass media

Cognitive Theory

Branch of psychology that studies the perception of reality and the mental process required to understand the world we live.

Cognitive development theory

Jean William Fritz Piaget (1896-1980) Swiss psychologist, a child’s reasoning processes develop in an orderly manner, from birth onward and it has 4 stages.

Moral Development Theory

Lawrence A. Kohlberg (1927-1987), people who obey the law simply avoid punishment or who have outlooks mainly characterized by self-interest are more likely to commit crimes than those who view the law as something that benefits all of society and who honor the rights of others.

Intergenerational transmission

Socialization and social learning that helps to explain the ways in which children growing up in a violent family learn violent roles and, subsequently, may play out the roles of victim or victimizer in their own adult families as adults.

Intergenerational Transmission Theory

Criminal and antisocial parents tend to have delinquentand antisocial children, as shown in the classical longitudinal surveys by Joan McCord in

Alternative Theory

Assortative mating where female offenders tend to cohabit with or get married to male offenders.

Social Homogamy

Convicted people tend to choose each other as mates because of physical and social proximity.

Phenotypic Assortment

People examine each other’s personality and behavior and choose partners who are similar to themselves.

Differential-association Reinforcement

Ernest W. Burgess (1886-1966) & Ronald L. Akers.

1. The presence of criminal behavior depends on whether or not it is rewarded or punished

2. The most meaningful rewards and punishments are those given by groups that are important in an individual’s life.

Theory of Conditioning

Hans J. Eysenck (1916-1997), all human personalities may be seen in three dimensions.

Psychoticism

Aggressive, egocentric, and impulsive

Extroversion

sensation-seeking, dominants, and assertive.

Neuroticism

low self-esteem, excessive anxiety, and wide mood swings.

Cortical arousal

Activation of the cerebral cortex of the brain which is responsible for higher intellectual functioning, information processing, and decision-making.

Integrated Theory

James Q. Wilson (1931-2012) & Richard Julius Herrnstein, predatory street crime by showing how human nature develops from the interplay of psychological, biological, and social factor.

Maternal Deprivation and Attachment Theory

Edward John M. Bowbly (1907-1990), a child needs warmth and affection from his/her mother or a mother substitute. Most important phenomenon to social development takes place after the birth of any mammal and that is the construction of emotional bond between the infant and his mother.

Anxious attachment

Forms when child is separated from their mother, it affects the capacity to be affectionate and to develop intimate relationship with others.

Social structure theories

Suggest that social and economic forces operating in deteriorated lower-class areas push many of their residents into criminal behavior patterns.

Social Process theories

Which hold that criminality is a function of individual socialization.

Social disorganization theory

Clifford R. Shaw (1895-1957) & Henry D. Mckay (1899-1980), linked crime rates to neighborhood ecological characteristics. Crime ridden neighborhoods as those in which residents are trying to leave at the earliest opportunity.

Transitional neighborhoods

neighborhood disintegration and slums.

Concentric Zone Theory

Ernest W. Burgess (1886-1966) & Robert E. Park (1864-1944) , however Clifford R. Shaw and HEnry D. McKay (1930) who noted that distinct ecological area had developed in the city of Chicago compromising a series of 5 concentric circle or zones, and that there were stable and significant differences in interzone crime rates.

Zone 1

Central business district

Zone 2

Zone of transition

Zone 3

Lower income working people

Zone 4

High income residence

Zone 5

Commuter zone

Anomie Theory

David Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) introduced the term “anomie”, derived from the Greek word nomos, means without norms.

Anomic Society

Rules of behavior (norms) have broken down or become inoperative during periods of rapid social change or social crisis such as war or famine.

Mechanical Solidarity

a character from pre-industrial society, which is held together by traditions, shared values. and unquestioned beliefs.

Organic solidarity

Post-industrial system of society in which the place is highly developed and dependent upon the division of labor people are connected by their interdependent needs for each other’s services and production.

Strain theory

Robert K. Merton (1910-2003), goal-means blockage

Social adaptation

Some people have inadequate means of attaining success : other people have the means reject societal goals as being unsuited to them.

Conformity

Acceptance & acceptance

Innovation

Acceptance & rejection

Ritualism

Rejection & acceptance

Retreatism

Reject & rejection

Rebellion

either both ways

Relative deprivation theory

Judith R. Blau & Peter M. Blau (1918-2002), Sharp division between the rich and the poor creates an atmosphere of mistrust.

Constant frustration

Suffered by the deprived individuals because of their economic status that may lead to aggression and hostility and may result to violence and crime.

General Strain Theory

Robert Agnew (1992), criminality is the direct result of negative affective states (anger, frustration, depression, disappointment, etc.)

Cultural Deviance Theory

Combines the effects of social disorganization and strain to explain how people living in deteriorated neighborhoods react to social isolation and economic deprivation.

Delinquent Subculture Theory

delinquent behavior of lower-class youth is actually a protest against the the norms and values of the middle-class U.S. culture.

Status frustration

state where youths are incapable of achieving their legitimate goals in life because of the social conditions that they are into.

Corner boy

role is the most common response to middle-class rejection.

College boy

embraces the cultural and social values of the middle-class.

Delinquent boy

adopts set of norms an principles in direct opposition to middle-class values.

Differential Opportunity Theory

Richard A. Cloward (1926-2001) & Lloyd E. Ohlin (1918-2008), combination of strain and disorganization principles into a portrayal of a gang-sustaining criminal subculture.

Criminal gangs

Stable lower-class areas

Conflict gang

Highly disorganized areas

Retreatist gang

double failures because they are unable to gain success through legitimate means and unwilling to do so through illegals.