Theories of crime causation

RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY

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• School of thought based on the assumption that individuals choose a course of action that is most inline with their personalpreferences.

• used to model human decision making, especially in the context of microeconomics, where it helps economists better understand the behavior of a society in terms of individual actions as explained through rationality, in which choices are consistent because theyare made according to personal preference.

STRAIN THEORY

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They experiences that or stress, they become upset, and they sometimes engage in crime as a result. They may engage in crime to reduce or escape from the strain they are experiencing.

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• For example, they may engage in violence to end harassment from others, they may steal to reduce financial problems, or they may runaway from home to escape abusive parents.

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• They may also engage in crime to seek revenge against those who have wronged them. And they may engage in the crime of illicit drug use to make themselves feel better

TRAITS THEORIES

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• Trait theories posit that crime is caused by certain traits, biological or psychological, among individuals which predispose them to crime.

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• These traits control the individual's coping strategies and ultimately result in criminal behavior.

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• Social philosopher Cesare Lombrosso, working in the early 1900's, theorized that there were common physical traits shared by criminals.

LEFT REALISM

Focus of research is on why street crime (e.g., assault, robbery) happens, why people become victims of Street times, and how incidents of street crimes can be lessened.

FEMINIST THEORY

Explores why women have been ignored in criminological theories. Attempts to help people understand why women engage in crime and are victims of crime. Also, explores how the justice system treats women.

POWER-CONTROL THEORY

Focuses on the parenting style used and how the way boys versus girls are taught to act helps to explain why boys offend more than girls.

SOCIAL PROCESS THEORY

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• In the social process theory, three areas are covered. The three are social learning theory, social control theory, and social reaction theory.

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• The definition of the social learning theory is People learn through observing others’ behavior, attitudes, and outcomes of those behaviors.

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• “Most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action.” (Learning Theories

Knowledge base) .

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• Most people learn through watching other. As a child, we learn by mocking what we have observed repeatedly.

CONTROL THEORY

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• According to control theorists, people do not engage in crime because of the controls or restraints placed on them.

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• These controls maybe viewed as barriers to crime —they refer to those factors that prevent them from engaging in crime. So, while strain and social learning theory focus on those factors that push or lead the individual into crime, control theory focuses on the factors that restrain the individual from engaging in crime.

LABELING THEORY

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• According to labeling theory, official efforts to control crime often have the effect of increasing crime. Individuals who are arrested, prosecuted, and punished are labeled as criminals. Others then view and treat these people as criminals, and this increases the likelihood of subsequent crime for several reasons.

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• Labeled individuals may have trouble obtaining legitimate employment, which increases their level of strain and reduces their stake in conformity. Labeled individuals may find that conventional people are reluctant to associate with them, and they may assist with other criminals as a result. This reduces Their bond with conventional others and fosters the social learning of crime.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE THEORY

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• Sociological theories explore relationships among groups and institutions and envision crime as the result of social processes, as the natural consequence of aspects of social structure, or as the result of economic and class struggle.

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• Social structure theories, with which this chapter has mostly been concerned, are only one of three types of sociological explanations for crime. Social structure theories emphasize poverty, lack of education, absence of marketable skills, and subcultural values as fundamental causes of crime.