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Unreported crimes

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dark figure of crime

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People fear crime for many reasons. A belief held by some is that the media is to blame for creating the fear that all individuals will at some point experience random violence. Sociologist Joel Best disputes this idea in his book titled, Random Violence. Best points out that there are three problems to this idea that violence occurs randomly: Crime is typically very patterned, to the point that the use of the term random violence is incorrect; Most crime is committed to accomplish a purpose rather than just randomly; Violent acts may occur in places throughout the United States, but this does not mean that the acts themselves are random.

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Fear of Crime

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Crime is typically very patterned, to the point that the use of the term random violence is incorrect; Most crime is committed to accomplish a purpose rather than just randomly; Violent acts may occur in places throughout the United States, but this does not mean that the acts themselves are random.

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Joel Best

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criminologists have developed a number of theories of crime that attempt to describe the causes of deviant and criminal behavior.

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Theories of Crime

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High crime rates are associated with poverty.

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A Correlation Is Observed

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Why the crime-poverty connection?

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Questions Are Raised about Causes

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Poverty leads to fewer social opportunities; Restricted opportunity reduces success in other areas of life; Lowered success means lessened self esteem and a reduced commitment to normative values, all of which lead to crime commission.

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A Theory Is Proposed

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Poverty is a root cause of crime.

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Theory-based Understanding Is Achieved

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Breaking the cycle of poverty will reduce crime.

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A Theory-based Hypothesis Develops

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Pilot projects to measure the impact of increased opportunities on crime rates in specific geographic locations are funded and begun. Results prove encouraging and appear to support the hypothesis.

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The Hypothesis Is Tested

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Opportunities for success are increased so the cycle can be broken. Hence, government-funded educational programs, job training, and small business support are put into place among the economically disadvantaged in order to reduce and prevent crime.

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Theory-based Social Policy Results

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In the mid-1700s, Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham worked to reform the criminal justice system. Their ideas are the basis of the classical school of criminology. This theory argues that people freely choose to engage in crime. The classical school of criminology is not concerned with why people commit crimes; motivation is assumed. These two theorists advocated a system of justice based on public education, legal clarity, and equity.

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Classical School of Criminology

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A set of criminological theories that uses the idea of free will to explain criminal behavior.

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Classical School

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Wrote the nine principles in his 1764 work, On Crimes and Punishments. Beccaria believed that punishment should only be as strict as needed to deter crime. He promoted an idea of crime prevention based on humane punishment. His principles still guide many of our ideas about criminal justice today.

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Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794)

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Promoted the theory that people are guided by desires for pleasure and aversion to pain. His utilitarianism theory suggests that people are deterred from committing crime when they perceive that the pain of the punishment outweighs the pleasure of the crime. Bentham's ideas explain why, even today, our criminal sentencing patterns are proportional to the crime; people no longer receive the death sentence for minor crimes.

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Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)

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based on the classical school's belief that crime is essentially the result of free will. Neoclassical criminology emphasizes deterrence and retribution. This school of criminology believes that individuals are basically free to make their own decisions in favor of crime or social conformity.

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Neoclassical Perspective

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Inherent in the neoclassical perspective is the rational choice theory, which holds that criminal behavior is primarily the result of conscious decisions. Rational choice theory states that offenders choose to commit crimes when the benefits of doing so outweigh the risks. A theory that states that people choose criminal behavior consciously. The theory also states that people may choose to commit a crime upon realizing that the crime's benefits probably outweigh the consequences of breaking the law.

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Rational Choice Theory

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A more narrow interpretation of rational choice theory is called routine activities theory. The neoclassical perspective suggests that lifestyles contribute significantly to both the volume and the type of crimes that are committed. Central to this view is the belief that crimes occur when a motivated offender and a suitable target come together in the absence of a capable guardian. A neoclassical perspective that suggests that lifestyles contribute significantly to both the volume and the type of crime found in any society.

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Routine Activities Theory

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one who effectively discourages crime and prevents it from occurring. Under the routine activities theory, an example of a capable guardian would be a neighborhood watch group.

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capable guardian

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True

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A main issue with measuring crime is the fact that many crimes go unreported.

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False

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Crime is a random occurrence.

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True

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The classical school of criminology is based on the belief that individuals freely choose to commit crimes.

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Possible Correlation

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In the process of developing a criminology theory, researchers start with a

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a theory-based understanding

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"Poverty is a root cause of crime" is an example of

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For many years, scientists attempted to find a relationship between the physical body and criminal behavior.

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Biological Theories of Crime

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An attempt by scientists to understand human behavior by looking for physical markers in or on the skull.

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Phrenology

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A theory from Cesare Lombroso that claimed that "born" criminals were not as physically evolved as people who obeyed the law. Lombroso is commonly referred to as the founder of the positivist school of criminology.

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Atavism

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The study of the relationship between physiology and crime.

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Physiology

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A theory popularized by William Sheldon that linked behavior to three variations of body type: endomorphs (soft, round body types), mesomorphs (strong, muscular body types), and ectomorphs (thin, fragile body types).

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Somatotyping

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An extra Y chromosome makes some males extremely tall and have a lower IQ; this theory represents a shift toward more sophisticated science in looking for physical differences between criminals and the rest of the population.

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Chromosome Theory

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Addresses issues such as hormones, brain structure, and brain chemistry to understand why some individuals commit crimes.

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Biochemistry

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Psychological theories of crime try to explain criminal behavior by focusing on the mind without considering the influence of the body. Most psychological theories of crime make the following fundamental assumptions: The individual is the primary unit of analysis; Personality is the major motivational element within individuals and is the source of motivation; Crimes result from inappropriately conditioned behavior or from abnormal, dysfunctional, or inappropriate mental processes within the personality; Defective or abnormal mental processes may have a variety of causes, including a diseased mind and inappropriate learning or improper conditioning, commonly occurring in early childhood.

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Psychological Theories of Crime

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developed a psychological paradigm that focused on unconscious forces and drives. He contended that the personality comprises three parts: the id, ego, and superego. Freud's psychoanalysis theory formed the basis of all psychologically based theories of criminology. Psychological theories attempt to categorize, understand, and predict the behavior of offenders based on behavioral clues they provide.

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Sigmund Freud

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Sociological and social process theories focus on the social situation or environment as a cause of crime.

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Sociological Theories of Crime

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This theory states that crime is considerably dependent on aspects of social structure such as poverty, illiteracy, lack of schooling, unemployment, and illegitimacy. Crime is dependent on social structures that might be lacking for some groups, such as adequate schooling

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Social Ecology Theory

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Formalized by Robert Merton, this theory describes a disconnection between socially acceptable goals and means within American society. Lack of means for some in society means disconnection from ability to achieve socially acceptable goals

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Anomie Theory

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This theory is based on the belief that the shared values and norms of various subcultures, as opposed to those of the main culture, are responsible for criminal behavior. Norms in groups within society can outweigh broader cultural norms

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Subcultural Theory

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These theories believe that social conditions are the root cause of criminal behavior. Social policy-based theories attempt to change the cultural conditions and societal arrangements that are believed to result in crime. Social conditions are the root cause of crime

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Social Policy-based Theories

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Developed by Edwin Sutherland, this theory concludes that crime is learned in intimate personal groups. Crime is learned within intimate groups

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Differential Association Theory

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Restraint theories focus less on the causes of crime and more on forces that prevent individuals from committing crimes. Common restraint theories are the Containment theory, the Social Control theory, and neutralization techniques, all of which seek to prevent criminal behavior by constraining individual actions. Focus on the containment of impulses that lead to crime

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Restraint Theories

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Developed by Edwin Lemert, this theory concludes that people commit deviant behavior because they see themselves as "outsiders" and therefore try to live up to that label. People commit crime with they see themselves as criminals

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Labeling Theory

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This is an approach to explaining crime and deviance that studies developments and turning points over the course of a person's life. A theory based in studying developments and milestones in life and linking these to crime commission

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Life Course Perspective

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Conflict theories purport that crime is the natural consequence of economic and other social inequities. Conflict theorists highlight the stresses that arise among and within social groups as they compete with one another for resources. The social forces that result are viewed as major determinants of group and individual behavior, including crime. Two of the leading conflict theories are radical criminology and peacemaking criminology.

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Conflict Theories

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A conflict perspective that sees crime as engendered by the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and other resources, which adherents believe is especially characteristic of capitalist societies. Also called critical criminology; Marxist criminology. Radical criminologists claim that the inequitable distribution of wealth in society produces frustrations and pent-up hostilities that lead to criminality. According to radical criminology, the criminal law is a tool used by the powerful to maintain their place in the social world.

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Radical Criminology

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A theoretical perspective that serves as an alternative to the war on crime. It focuses on nonviolence, social justice, and reducing the suffering of both the victim and the offender.

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Peacemaking Criminology

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Some new and developing theories describe a range of perspectives that consider social justice as a legitimate end.

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Emergent Perspectives on Crime

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Criminologists who study Karl Marx's ideas of social control point out that those in power control the making and the enforcement of the law.

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Marxism

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Feminism examines how women are treated differently from men in a society dominated by male power structures. Much of what is reported about female offenders and female criminal justice system practitioners is based on the study of males.

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Feminist theory

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These theories attempt to link biological, psychological, and sociological theories to explain crime.

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Integrated theories

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This refers to the study of the process by which individuals create an ideology of crime that sustains the notion of crime as a concrete reality.

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Constitutive Criminology

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Postmodern criminology believes that past criminological theories have failed to realistically determine the true causes of crime. This study attempts to fashion workable solutions for crime control based on evolving theories and practices.

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Postmodern Criminology

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Focus on the social situation or environment as a cause of crime

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Sociological Theories

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Associated with Karl Marx

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Critical Sociological Theories

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Examples include phrenology, Lombroso's atavisms, Hooton's work with physiology, Sheldon's somatotyping, and XYY syndrome as causal factors of criminal behavior

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Biological Theories

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Associated with Sigmund Freud and B.F. Skinner

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Psychological Theories

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