Crime - all theories

Rational choice theory

Law-violating behaviour is the product of careful thought and planning.

Trait theories

Criminality is an outcome of biological/psychological factors.

Attachment theory (John Bowlby)

Suggests that forming emotional bonds is crucial for psychological health. Forming early emotional bonds with caregivers is essential, and failure in this can lead to psychological issues and antisocial behaviours.

Social disorganisation theory

Links crime rates to neighbourhood ecological characteristics.

Broken windows theory (James Wilson & George Kelling - 1982)

Visible signs of crime (e.g. vandalism, public drinking littering, graffiti, etc.) create an urban environment that encourages lawlessness, anti-social behaviour, and in consequence leads to more crime.

Strain theories

View crime as a direct result of frustration and anger among the lower socioeconomic classes.

Anomie-strain theory (Robert Merton)

Explains high crime rates by linking them to a state of normlessness in society. Normlessness in society is created through strain.

Institutional anomie theory (Messner & Rosenfeld - 1994)

The theory predicts that when the institution of the economy dominates all other social institutions, and when norms and values focus heavily on monetary success, crime rates will be higher than when there is less dominance of the economy.

General strain theory (Agnew)

Suggests that crime and delinquency are caused by the presence of negative emotion(s), such as fear, disappointment, depression, anger, and frustration, resulting from an array of strains.

Cultural deviance theory

A combination of social disorganization and strain leads dissatisfied lower socioeconomic groups to create deviant subcultures. Frustrations from failing to achieve middle-class status may result in working-class, male, conformist subcultures that reject middle-class values.

Social learning theories

Assumes people are born good and learn to be bad, suggesting crime is learned from close relationships with criminal peers.

Differential association theory (Sutherland)

Maintains that criminal behaviour is learned through interpersonal communication and social interaction in small, intimate groups.

Neutralisation theory

States that people neutralise conventional norms and values by using excuses that enable them to drift into crime.

Social control theory

Assumes that people are born bad and must be controlled in order to be good.

Social reaction (labelling) theory

Assumes that whether good or bad, people are shaped, directed, and influenced by the evaluation of others.

Marxism (conflict theory)

It assumes that societies are in a state of perpetual conflict because of competition for limited resources.

Critical feminist theory

Capitalism involves class conflict and patriarchy. Crime is male-dominated, and women are overlooked in criminology, which distorts their crimes by focusing on 'female nature.' Media depicts female criminals as 'bad and mad,' and they face 'double deviance.' Criminology remains male-dominated.

Green criminology

A study of environmental laws and criminality, which includes crimes affecting the environment and non-human nature.

Life course theory

Different experiences, influences and transitions influence the likelihood of criminal behaviour.

Latent trait theory

Built in characteristics make them more or less likely to engage in criminal behaviour, it depends on the situation.

Relative deprivation theory

This is where people feel like they have less than some comparative standard.