theories of crime causation

1. THEORIES
OF
CRIME
CAUSATION
Presented by: Roched Jay Zarate BSCrim 2

2. Output Outcomes:
 Define classical, psychological, sociological,
economic, bio psychosocial, political/social conflict
theories of crime causation;
 Analyse the differences of the theories of crime
causation; and
 Identify the following person who coined the
theories.

3. CLASSICAL THEORIES
OF CRIME CAUSATION
1

4. is based on the assumption that
people are free of will and thus
completely responsible for their
own actions.

5. A. RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY
• is based on the fundamental tenets of classical
criminology which hold that people freely
choose their behaviour and are motivated by the
avoidance of pain and the pursuit of pleasure.
• assumes that crime is a personal choice, the
result of individual decision-making processes.

6. B. ROUTINE ACTIVITY THEORY
• is based on the assumption that crime can be
committed by anyone who has the opportunity.
• states that victims are given choices on whether to
be victims mainly by not placing themselves in
situations where a crime can be committed
against them.

7. C. LIFESTYLE THEORY
• is the idea that individuals have a high risk of
becoming crime victims if their patterns of
behaviour expose them to victimization.
• certain people may become the victims of crimes
because of their lifestyles and choices.

8. General Deterrence
• which seeks to curb illegal conduct
• the public will avoid committing
crimes from fear of the strict
consequences
• to discourage people from
committing crimes by setting an
example of what the consequences
of crime can be
Specific Deterrence
• to the use of punishment for
criminal activity, intended to
discourage a specific individual
from committing the crime again.
• Retributivism - a legal theory of
punishment that is intended to
assign a punishment
proportionate to the crime.
D. GENERAL DETERRENCE AND
SPECIFIC DETERRENCE THEORY

9. E. VICTIM PRECIPITATION THEORY
• the characteristics of the victim precipitate the
crime.
• a criminology theory that analyses how a victim's
interaction with an offender may contribute to the
crime being committed.
• Common crimes: homicide, rape, assault, and
robbery.

10. F. INCAPACITATION THEORY
• the state has a duty to protect the public
from future wrongs or harms.
• to prevent the most dangerous or prolific
offenders from reoffending in the
community.

11. PSYCHOLOGICAL
THEORIES OF CRIME
CAUSATION
02.

12. • criminal behaviour is the result of
unconscious factors acting on a p
erson's psyche.
• some aggression can leak out of the
unconscious, leading to random acts
of violence.

13. PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY
AND PSYCHOSEXUAL
STAGES OF HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT
A.

14. PSYCHODYNAMIC
THEORY
Sigmund
Freud
unconscious mental
processes acquired in
early childhood control
human personality.
three major compo
nents: bd. ego, ego
, and superego
the psychological drives
and forces within
individuals that explain
human behaviour and
personality.

15. PSYCHOSEXUAL
STAGES OF
HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT
The most basic
human motivation is
Eros, which is
present at birth.
At every stage of life,
humans experience
sexuality.
Stages: Oral,
anal,phallic,
latency
desire to protect and c
reate life Eros is a
sexually expressed
emotion

16. B. BEHAVIORAL THEORY
• John B. Watson developed behavioural theory, which was p
opularized by Burrhus Frederick Skinner.
• It concentrates on certain stimuli and how people react to
• them.
• It also contends that human activities are shaped by learning
experience.

17. C. SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
• is the branch of behavioural theory most relevant to
criminology.
• Albert Bandura's social learning theory emphasizes the
necessity of observing, modelling, and mimicking others'
behaviours, attitudes, and emotional reactions.

18. D. COGNITIVE THEORY
• studies the perception of reality and the mental process
required to understand the world we live.
• It focuses on mental processes- the way people perceive
and mentally represents the world around them.
• contains several subgroups such as the moral and
intellectual development branch. which is concerned on how
people morally represent and reason about the world.

19. E. MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY
• focuses on how children develop morality and moral
reasoning.
• occurs in a series of six stages
• suggests that moral logic is primarily focused on seeking and
maintaining justice.
• Kohlberg suggested that people travel through stages of
moral development and that It is possible that serious have a
moral orientation that differs those law-abiding citizens.

20. F. INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION
THEORY
• transmission refers to the transfer of individual abilities, traits,
behaviours and outcomes from parents to their children.
• transmission refers to the socialization and social learning
that helps to explain the ways in which children growing up in
a violent family learn violent roles.
• states that criminal and antisocial parents tend to have
delinquent and antisocial children.

21. G. ALTERNATIVE THEORY
• well-known adage that “opposite charges attract”, female criminals are
more likely to marry male offenders.
• First process: homogamy where convicted people tend to choose each
other as mates because of physical and social proximity.
• Second process: called phenotypic assortment where people examine
each other's personality and behaviour and choose partners who are
similar to themselves .
Toto love ashleigh

22. H. DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION -
REINFORCEMENT THEORY
• proposes that (1) the occurrence of criminal activity is
determined by whether it is rewarded or penalized.
• people are more likely to respond positively to the reactions
of the most important people in their lives.
• If criminal behaviour elicits more positive reinforcement or
reward than punishment, the behaviour will persist.
• the role of parents as primary educators is critical.

23. I. EYSENCK’S CONDITIONING THEORY
• claims that all human personalities can be seen in three dimensions.
Psychotic ism, extroversion, and neuroticism.
• score high on psychotic (aggressive, egocentric, and impulsive)
• score high on extroversion scales (sensation-seeking, dominant, and
assertive)
• high levels of neuroticism (low self-esteem, excessive anxiety, and erratic
mood swings)
• humans develop a conscience through conditioning and that criminals
gradually become conditioned and appear to care little if their asocial
actions are condemned.

24. J. INTEGRATED THEORY
• James Q. Wilson and Richard Julius Herrnstein proposed this
theory.
• predatory street crime by demonstrating how human nature
develops as a result of the interaction of psychological, biological,
and social factors.
• that genes and environment influence some people to develop
the type of personality that leads to criminal behaviour.
• also argued that if reward (such as money) is greater than the
expected punishment (small fine)

25. K. MATERNAL DEPRIVATION AND
ATTACHMENT THEORY
• which stated that a kid requires warmth and affection from his or
her mother or a mother replacement.
• the most important phenomenon to social development takes
place after the birth of any mammal and that is construction of an
emotional bond between the infant and his mother.
• the most important phenomenon to social development takes
place after the birth of any mammal and that is construction of an
emotional bond between the infant and his mother

26. THE SLIDE TITLE
GOES HERE!
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27. SOCIOLOGICAL
THEORIES OF
CRIME CAUSATION
03.

28. • explains how a certain individual acquires
criminal or undesirable behaviour
• describes how the agents of socialization
such as family, environment, schools, mass
media, and peer groups contribute to or
affect the behaviour of a specific individual
• and it would also somehow manifest as to
how a person responds or reacts with regard
to the conduct displayed by other persons
whom he or she is socializing with

29. A. SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION THEORY
• Social disorganization theory was developed by Cliffors
Shaw and Henry McKay.
• Crime rates are higher in areas where the fabric of social
life has become frayed.
• Crime-ridden neighbourhoods are seen as places that
citizens are attempting to flee as soon as possible,
according to social disorder
• neighbourhood disintegration and slum conditions were the
fundamental causes of criminal activity

30. B. CONCENTRIC ZONE THEORY
• consisting of a series of 5 concentric circles or zones, and
that there were stable and significant differences in inter
zone crime rates (noticed by Burgess and Park)
• consisting of a series of The transitional inner-city zones,
where huge numbers of foreign-born people have lived,
looked to have the highest concentration of crime. (notice
be Shaw and Henry)
• even though crime rates changed, they found that the
highest rates were always in the central City and transitional
areas

31. C. ANOMIE THEORY
• coined by French sociologist David Emile Durkheim (1858-
1917), and is derived from the Greek a nomos, which
meaning "without rules.
• one in which social standards have broken down or become
ineffective during periods of fast social change or crisis,
such as war or famine
• most prone to arise in cultures transitioning from
mechanical to organic solidarity

32. D. STRAIN THEORY
• Robert K. Merton, an American sociologist, adapted
Durkheim's notions of anomie to criminology.
• believes that crime is the result of a conflict between
people's ambitions and the legal tools to achieve those
aims
• those who were unable to achieve their objectives due to
a lack of resources would experience anger, frustration,
and resentment, which is referred to as strain,

33. E. RELATIVE DEPRIVATION THEORY
• Judith R. Blau and Peter M. Blau created this theory.
• highlights that a sharp divide between rich and poor fosters
an atmosphere of jealousy and mistrust
• Criminal motivation is motivated by a sense of humiliation
as well as a sense of having the right to humiliate a victim in
return
• when comparing their lives to those of the more affluent,
lower-class individuals may feel both impoverished and
enraged

34. F. GENERAL STRAIN THEORY
• Robert Agnew revised Robert Merton's strain theory.
• claiming that criminality is a direct result of negative emotional
states such as wrath
• Frustration, despair, disappointment, and other negative
emotions associated with stress are all common.
• seeks to explain why people who are stressed and stressed out
are more inclined to commit crimes, and he offers broader
explanations for criminal activity in all aspects of society.
• He discovers that a number of strains can cause negative
emotional experiences.

35. G. CULTURAL DEVIANCE THEORY
• combines the impacts of social disorganization and strain to
explain how residents of failing communities respond to social
isolation and economic deprivation.
• Members of the lower class form a distinct subculture with its
own set of laws and values as a result of their tiring, frustrating,
and demoralizing experiences
• those who are economically deprived and living in disorganized
areas in order to gain success may resort to crime and
delinquency

36. H. DELINQUENT SUBCULTURE THEORY
• Albert K. Cohen first articulated the theory in his classic
book, "Delinquent Boys"
• that delinquent behaviour Of lower-class youth is
actually a protest against the norms and values of the
middle-class
• believe because of status frustration lower-class boys
who suffer rejection by middle-class (rich) people may to
form deviant subcultures

37. I. DIFFERENTIAL OPPORTUNITY THEORY
• incorporates strain and disorganization ideas into a
depiction of a gang-based criminal subculture
• is that people from all walks of life have the same
aspirations for achievement, but those in the lower classes
have fewer resources to achieve them
• Ohlin believed that not all illegal acts are committed by
gang youth; they are the source of the most serious,
sustained, and costly criminal behaviours’

38. J. DRIFT THEORY
• Even the most devoted criminals and delinquents do not
engage in criminal activity all of the time; they also attend
schools, family activities, and religious services
• Their actions can be thought of as falling somewhere
between total freedom and utter restriction
• refers to a shift in conduct from one extreme to the other,
resulting in behaviour that is at times unusual, free, or
deviant, and at other times restrained and sober.

39. K. DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION THEORY
• "Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you
are." and "Birds of the same feathers flock together, and
when they flock together they fly so high" (best describe)
• People commit crimes, he claims, through learning in a
social context through their interactions and dialogue with
others.
• criminal behaviour is taught through interaction with others,
including the tactics of committing the crime as well as the
motives, urges, rationalizations, and attitudes that lead to it.

40. L. CONTAINMENT THEORY
• presented by Walter C. Reckless (1899-1988)
• assumes that for every individual, there exists a containing
external structure and a protective internal structure, both of
which provide defence, protection, or insulation against
delinquency.
• if an individual’s containing external and protective internal
or inner containment are weak then there's a great
possibility that the will commit a crime or may resort to
delinquency

41. M. SOCIAL BOND THEORY
• connects the emergence of criminality to the deterioration of
social bonds
• assumes that everyone is a potential lawbreaker, but they
are kept in check because they are afraid of hurting their
connections with their friends, parents, neighbors, teachers,
and jobs if they break the law
• A person is free to do illegal acts if he or she lacks these
social relationships or attachments, as well as sensitivity to
and interest in others.

42. N. SOCIAL REACTION: LABELING THEORY
• Social reaction: Labelling theory Howard S. Becker developed
the labelling theory.
• states that society develops deviance through a system of social
control agencies that identify (label) certain persons as
delinquents
• People classified as "crazy," for example, are thought to be
dangerous, dishonest, unstable, violent, odd, and otherwise
unsound.
• Negative labels, such as "troublemaker," "mentally sick," and
"dumb,"

43. Primary Deviance
• entails norm deviations or
crimes that have little
impact on the actor and
are easily forgotten.
Secondary Deviance
• occurs when a deviant
event is brought to the
attention of significant
others or social control
agencies, who then
characterize the incident
negatively.
O. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
DEVIANCE

44. ECONOMIC
THEORIES OF
CRIME
CAUSATION
04.

45. • The causes of crime are numerous, and a
discipline based on rational conduct, such as
economics, may be at a disadvantage in
understanding a phenomenon that is widely
regarded as irrational.
• created the "supply of offense" function as part of
a bigger model to investigate optimal criminal
justice policy
• shows the elements that influence the amount of
crimes a rational individual commits

46. A. ECONOMIC MODEL OF CRIMINAL
BEHAVIOR: BASIC THEORY
• is a standard model of decision-making in which individuals
choose between illegal and legal action based on the
expected benefit from those activities.
• Participation in illegal behaviour is seen to be the result of a
self-optimizing individual responding to incentives.
• Specifying an equation to capture the incentives in the
criminal decision is a natural first step in most analyses of
the crime as work models.

47. B. KARL MARX’S THEORY
• viewed crime as the result of law enforcement tactics similar to a
labelling process theory
• perceived a link between criminality and the injustices seen in the
capitalist system.
• claims that as a result of its evolution, employees have become a
dehumanized mass who live lives at the mercy of their capitalist
employers.
• concluded that the character of every civilization is determined by
its mode of production-the way its people develop and produce
material goods (materialism)

48. B. KARL MARX’S THEORY
• capitalist society is Subject to the development of a rigid
class culture with the capitalist bourgeoisie at the top,
followed by working proletariat, and at the bottom, the fringe
members who produce nothing and live, parasitically, off the
work of others -dependent
• it is more crucial to have the capacity to exploit people
economically, legally, and socially than it is to have a
certain quantity of wealth or status to be a member of the
capitalist class.

49. C. FRIEDRICH ENGEL’S AND WILLEM
BONGER’S THEORY
• depicted crime as a result of societal demoralization—a collapse
of people's humanity reflecting a fall in society
• capitalist society demoralizes workers, trapping them in a cycle
that leads to crime and violence
• Working people turned to crime because the alternative was
famine or a quick death at the hands of the law
• argued that the cruelty of the capitalism system converts workers
into animal-like beings with no will of their own.
Friedrich Engel’s Theory

50. C. FRIEDRICH ENGEL’S AND WILLEM
BONGER’S THEORY
• believed that crime is of social and not biological origin, but
exception of few special cases, crime lies within the
boundaries of normal human behaviour
• no act is naturally immoral or criminal. He viewed crimes as
antisocial acts that reflect current morality.
• felt that society is divided into two groups: those who have
and those who do not
WILLEM BONGER’S
THEORY

51. BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL
THEORIES OF
CRIME CAUSATION
05.

52. • discusses how adjustments or modifications to a
person's "bio," "psycho," and "socio" components
affect his or her behaviour.
• The "psycho" component investigates a person's
emotions, thoughts, and motivations for
committing crime, while the "socio" component
evaluates how the person socializes or interacts
with others.

53. A. BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL MODEL OF CRIME
CAUSATION
• integrates or combines both the "bio," "psycho," and "socio"
aspects of crime causation.
• This theory's "bio" component investigates factors of biology that
influence health. Things like brain alterations, genetics, or the
functioning of main body organs like the liver, kidneys, or even
the motor system could be among them.
• examined in the "psycho" component of the theory. Thoughts,
emotions, and behaviors are examples of such things.

54. B. MORAL INSANITY AND CRIMINAL
RESPONSIBILITY
• Moral insanity was a term used to describe persons who were
normal in all respects except that something was wrong with the
part of the brain
• Ray questioned whether people could be held legally responsible
for their acts if they had such impairment, because such people
committed their crimes without intent to do so.
• can be classified as "crazy or criminal depending on the
perspective from which they are viewed."

55. C. PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME
• Refers to onset of the menstrual cycle that triggers excessive
amounts of the female sex hormones, which affect antisocial,
aggressive behaviour.
• indicated that these females are more likely to commit suicide
and be aggressive and otherwise antisocial just before or during
menstruation.
• concludes that there is a link between heightened levels of
female hostility and menstruation.

56. D. BATTERED CHILD SYNDROME
• medical diagnosis based on evidence indicating that the
child has been subjected to a pattern of serious and
unexplained abuse.
• The condition does not prove that a specific individual is to
blame; rather, it suggests that a child who has sustained
serious, recurring injuries did not sustain them by chance.
• used to draw the logical conclusion that only someone who
is routinely caring for the child would have opportunity to
inflict these types of injuries.

57. E. BATTERED WOMAN SYNDROME
• a phrase that describes women who are trapped in or have
recently left a violent relationship marked by a cycle of abuse
• is based on the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
experienced by Vietnam veterans and was later applied to rape
victims
• is a type of learned helplessness
• This psychological abuse degrades and humiliates the woman
thereby facilitating the destruction of her self-esteem and by
implication her moral person hood

58. F. POSTPARTUM STRESS SYNDROME AND
POSTPARTUM PSYCHOSIS
• type of postpartum depression that occurs between the
baby blues and postpartum depression
• defined as a condition that lasts longer than three weeks
following the birth of a child
• marked by a sadness that seeps into a woman's pores and
pervades her life
• Mothers with psychosis may need to be hospitalized for a
short time

59. POLITICAL / SOCIAL
CONFLICT THEORIES
OF CRIME
CAUSATION
6

60. • asserts that society is in a permanent state of internal
struggle, with various groups attempting to force their will
on others.
• Those with money and power are able to influence the
law in order to suit their wants and protect their interests
• Delinquents and criminals are characterized as
adolescents whose behaviour does not conform to the
demands of the ruling elite.
• laws are used by the upper class to keep the lower class
under control.
• Though the lower classes do not commit all crimes, they
are the ones who are arrested the most.

61. A. MARXIST CRIMINOLOGY
• Crime is viewed as a result of the capitalist mode of production
• The rich (bourgeoisie) use the fear of crime as a tool to maintain
their control over society: the poor are controlled through
incarceration; the middle class are diverted from caring about the
crimes of the powerful because they fear the crimes of the
powerless
• criminals came from a third class in society the lumpen
proletariat—who would play no decisive role in the expected
revolution.

62. B. CONFLICT THEORY
• result of a class war. The high, medium, and lower
classes are all battling in this area.
• Conflict encourages crime by creating a social
environment
• individuals in positions of authority define crime
• Power refers to a person's or a group's ability to
influence and control the conduct of others

63. C. SOCIAL REALITY OF CRIME
• combining his beliefs about power, society, and
criminality into a theory
• , represent the interests of those in positions of
power in society
• conflict between social groups, such as the wealthy
and the poor
• conflict between social groups, such as the wealthy
and the poor

64. D. LEFT REALISM
• street criminals prey on the poor
• crime victims in all classes need and deserve
protection
• crime happens when a person is being deprived
economically plus the governing body in the
community do not know how to render solutions to
problems

65. E. POSTMODERN THEORY
• focuses on the critical analysis of communication
and language in legal codes
• language is value laden and can promote the same
sort of inequities
• Those in power are able to use their own language
to define crime and law while excluding or
dismissing those who are in opposition

66. F. INSTITUTIVE – CONSITUTIVE THEORY
• crime is defined as the intentional infliction of
harm on others
• classified as criminals are made unequal or
disregarded at the same time
• are rendered unable to maintain or exhibit
their humanity

67. Conservatism
• authority is uncontested
• people require disciplinary
education for those who
have the necessary
capacity and restraint for
those who do not
• their crimes are the results
of pathologies of mind and
body
Liberalism
• everyone has equal
opportunity and everyone
accepts variations.
• everybody's opinion is
respected
• ideal society as one in
which people who are
naturally creative and
freedom-loving
G. CONSERVATISM AND LIBERALISM
THEORY

68. H. RADICALISM
• faulty society should be replaced
• favouring of racial and ethnic minorities is a
recurring element in rightist ideology
• other types of discrimination are pushed by the
ruling classes to keep the workforce divided,
particularly those motivated by Marxism, thus more
easily controlled.

69. I. IDENTITY FUSION THEORY
• defined as a visceral sense of belonging to a group that is
linked to a permeability increase in the boundary
• both strengthen and are strengthened by the group,
resulting in more personal agency
• see the group as a family and believe that being a part of it
necessitates making sacrifices
• strongly fused people will make extreme sacrifices for the
group.