all about theories of crime

1. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION
ROSALINE S. BRAGAIS, RSW, JD

2. THEORY
 Any system of ideas arranged in rational order that
produce general principles which increase our
understanding and explanations.
 Foundation of criminology and of criminal justice.

3. Three Theories of Criminal Behavior
1)Biological
2)Psychological
3)Sociological

4. Biological Approaches
Biological theories of criminality basically mean that
criminal behavior is the result of some flaw in the
biological makeup of the individual. This physical flaw
could be due to:
1.Heredity
2.Neurotransmitter dysfunction
3.Brain abnormalities that were caused by either of the
above, improper development or trauma

5. Psychological Approaches
 There are many different psychological models of
criminal behavior ranging from Freudian notions to
later cognitive and social psychological models.
 Six Principles to establish psychological explanations of
criminal behavior:

6. 1)The individual is the primary unit of analysis in
psychological theories.
2)Personality is the major motivational element that
drives behavior within individuals.
3)Normality is generally defined by social consensus.

7. 4) Crimes then would result from abnormal,
dysfunctional or inappropriate mental process within the
personality of the individual.
5) Criminal behavior may be purposeful for the individual
insofar as it addresses certain felt needs.

8. 6) Defective or abnormal mental processes may have a
variety of causes, i.e., a diseased mind, inappropriate
learning or improper conditioning, the emulation of
inappropriate role models and adjustment to inner
conflicts

9.  Given these six principles to establish psychological
explanations of criminal behavior, we can suggest first
that traditional imprisonment, fines, and other court
sanctions are based on operant learning models of
behavior for crime control.

10.  Technically speaking, punishments are any sanctions
designed to decrease a specific behavior; thus, fines,
jail sentences, etc, are all forms of punishment.

11.  Because harsh forms of punishment do not appear to
significantly decrease recidivism rates, other
psychological principles have been applied.
 In terms of cognitive behavioral psychological
principles, rehabilitation and relearning, retraining or
educational programs for offenders are form of
psychologically based methods to control crime.

12. Sociological Approaches
 Attempting to connect the issue of the individual’s
criminality with the broader social structures and
cultural values of society, familial or peer group.
 Criminality is viewed from the point of view of the social
construction of criminality and its social causes.

13.  Traditional sociological theories proposed crimes was a
result of anomie, a term meaning “normlessness” or a
feeling of a lack of social norms, a lack of being
connected to society. The term was made popular by
Emile Durkheim (1897), who originally used the term
to explain suicide.

14.  A feature of sociological theories is that society
“constructs” criminality. There are other behaviors
recognized by society as “criminal” that do not result in
harm to others and are therefore criminalized without
sufficient ground, these are the so-called “victimless”
crimes. These include drug use, prostitution, etc.

15. EARLY GENERAL THEORIES ON THE
CAUSES OF CRIME
1)DEMONOLOGICAL THEORY
2)POSITIVIST THEORY
3)NEOCLASSICAL THEORY
4)CLASSICAL THEORY
5)CONFLICT THEORY
6)CRITICAL THEORY

16. 1) DEMONOLOGICAL THEORY
 Demonology is one of the earliest theories in
criminology. In the ancient times, people believed that
evil spirits or demons entered human body to commit
sins.

17.  Supernatural powers were considered the best
explanation behind crime and sin. It was believed that
a person did not commit crimes of his own free will but
under evil influence.

18.  Crime has been viewed as a violation of religious
doctrine. It is called a sin-a violation of sacred
obligation. An individual who commits a crime has
been viewed as possessed by evil spirits or under divine
wrath.

19.  Demonology is unfortunately a borderline science. This
essentially means that modern science will never
accept any explanation that involves non-material or
spiritual forms of evidence.

20.  Officially, any crime that involves demonic possessions
may be qualified as insanity. Psychiatrists are those
who at a request of the Court make a diagnosis and
prognosis about a person’s sanity or insanity.

21.  Main reasons are lawmaker requests for a legal form of
evidence. Evidence can be statement of witnesses,
victims or perpetrators. Those statements get theirs
form of evidence in court records and usually are
backed by consistencies with material and
circumstantial evidence or facts as well as with high
credibility of persons who gave those statements.

22.  Criminology as a science looks out on these matters
from a cultural and a legal perspective. The legal
perspective includes forensic psychiatry and
psychology, while the cultural perspective includes
systems of values of some ethnic group or nation.

23.  For an example, there are still some ritual practices
among the tribes on the African continent that allow
throwing of the first-born male children to the pigs.
Looking on it from our perspective, this is naturally a
crime, but among those tribes this is a tradition.

24. 2) POSITIVIST THEORY
 Johan Lavater
 The physiognomist, thought that the shape of the skull
and some facial features had an impact on a human
behavior and actions.

25.  Cesare Lombroso
 Positivist theorist of crime, he compared a large
number of criminals and non-criminals using human
physical traits like: ear size, hair length and other.

26.  Goring
 Conducted the research on crime heredity.
 The only physical difference he found between an
experimental and control group was the significant
dissimilarity in body weight and stature.

27.  Positivist theory of crime presumed that scientific study
of the criminal behavior should find the “causes” of
such behavior. They also believed that the causes of
crime are beyond the control of the individual.

28.  Positivist theory of crime implemented the idea of social
Darwinism that individuals or groups develop certain
physical and psychological attributes which allow them
to function more efficiently in the social and natural
environment.

29.  The positivist theory of crime understanding was
limited on the external appearance as the way to
identify the physical characteristics, which were
present in criminal approach of phrenology.
 Positivist criminology began to emerge, which is the
study of criminal behavior based upon external factors.

30.  This theory acts on the proposition that one who
commits a crime cannot morally comprehend the
wrongfulness of his actions. The mind of this
individuals has been affected in a particular way and
therefore does not have the capability to make a
conscious, rational choice to obey the law.

31. 3) NEOCLASSICAL THEORY
 Represented by the theoretical study of Jeremy
Bentham and Cesare Beccaria
 Bentham was a founder of English utilitarianism.
 He thought that human beings are hedonistic (the
belief that pleasure or happiness is the most important
goal in life) and act only in their own self-interest.

32.  Neoclassical crime theory sought to improve the
stances towards perpetrators who should have an
impact on the level of guilt and severity of punishment.

33.  Crime is a result of many conditions that have
ultimately influenced on the perpetrators to commit it.
 Neoclassical criminology theory considers age, gender
and social class of the perpetrators.

34. 4) CLASSICAL THEORY
 New theorists like Beccaria and Bentham looked at the
causes of criminal and delinquent behavior, and began
to scientifically explain such deviance.
 Beccaria sought a way to make the punishment for
committing a crime more rational.

35.  He believed that there should be a hierarchy of
punishments for more and more serious crimes and the
number of times a criminal had been charged
previously.
 Crime is a behavioral human characteristic and a
choice.

36.  Beccaria and Bentham believed that people acted on
the principle of free will; they made a choice of what
behaviors to indulge in and therefore should suffer the
consequences if caught in criminal acts.
 The individual commits the crime from his own free will
being well aware of the punishment.

37. 5) CONFLICT THEORY
 Conflict theory is a theory propounded by Karl Marx
that claims society is in a state of perpetual conflict
due to competition for limited resources.
 It holds that social order is maintained by domination
and power, rather than consensus and conformity

38.  According to conflict theory, those with wealth and
power try to hold on to it by any means possible, chiefly
by suppressing the poor and powerless.
 The following are four primary assumptions of modern
conflict theory:
1)Structural inequality: inequalities in power and reward
are built into all social structures.

39. 2) Competition: competition over scarce resources
(money, leisure, sexual partners, and so on) is at the
heart of all social relationships.
3) Revolution: it is often abrupt and revolutionary rather
than evolutionary.
4) War: as well as war may set an end to whole societies.

40. 6) CRITICAL THEORY
 Critical theory upholds the belief that a small few, the
elite of the society, decide laws and the definition of
crime; those who commit crimes disagree with the laws
that were created to keep control of them.

41.  Critical criminology sees crime as a product of
oppression of workers, (particularly, the poorer section)
and less advantaged groups within society, such as
women and ethnic minorities, are seen to be the most
likely to suffer oppressive social relations based upon
class division, sexism and racism

42.  A critical theory has a distinctive aim: to unmask the
ideology falsely justifying some form of social or
economic oppression, to contribute to the task of
ending that oppression.
 Critical theory is a social theory oriented towards
critiquing and changing society as a whole, in contrast
to traditional theory oriented only to understanding or
explaining it.

43. BIOLOGICAL THEORIES
According to biological theories, punishment will not
affect deterring the individual from the crime, because
the person (criminal) has some inherited remnant,
stigmata, etc.. Biological theories of crime causation
were the first theories where scientific methodology
was used.

44. 1)LOMBROSIAN THEORY
2)WILLIAM SHELDON’S THEORY
3)BIOCHEMICAL THEORIES OF DELINQUENCY:
THE AGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR CAUSED BY DIET
4)GENERAL INFERIORITY THEORY/ HOOTON’S
THEORY

45. 1) LOMBROSIAN THEORY
 The father of modern criminology was the Italian
Cesare Lombroso. He proposed that criminals are
biologically different from other human beings.
 Basic Idea of the Positive Theory:
 Criminals are born not made
 This is an example of nature, not nurture

46.  Focused on biological and psychological factors to
explain criminal behavior
 Lombroso developed the theory about “born criminal”
and later changes and develops a new theory.

47.  Classification of criminals is made into three
categories:
1)Born criminals (30% of all criminals)
2)Abnormal criminals (idiots, imbeciles, paranoids,
melancholics, paralytics, epileptics, demented persons,
alcoholic and hysterics)

48. 3) Occasional criminals
 criminaloids- had difficulties during their childhood and can
occasionally behave delinquently.
 pseudo criminals- are insane persons and those committed
crime in self-defense.
 criminals out of habit- had a poor education during their
childhood or have been in social interaction with criminals

49.  Five key principles of the classical school of criminology:
1)Rationality- the classical school assumes that people have
free will and that they choose to commit crimes
2)Hedonism- the classical school assumes that people seek
pleasure and try to avoid pain.
3)Punishment- the classical school believes that punishment
works as a deterrent to crime.

50. 4) Human rights- all individuals have rights and society
needs to respect the rights of individuals. That means
that they should not torture or institute punishment that
is unreasonably harsh.

51. 5) Due process- the idea of due process is that people
accused of crime are considered innocent until proven
guilty and that they have the chance to go to trial and
face the judicial system

52.  Victim precipitation
 Is a criminology theory that analyzes how a victim’s
interaction with an offender may contribute to the
crime being committed.
 The theory is mostly associated with crimes like
homicide, rape, assault and robbery

53.  The phrase “victim precipitation” was first introduced
by Marvin Wolfgang. He describes the victim as the
first in the homicide drama to use physical force
against his subsequent slayer.

54.  Under this theory, the victim is viewed an active
participant in the crime. This happens in two ways:
first, the victim is the participant in the crime who acts
first; second, the victim encourages or provokes the
offender to commit the crime. These are the primary
components of the victim precipitation theory.

55. 2) WILLIAM SHELDON’S THEORY
 Is an American psychologist.
 Sheldon used his observations to classify body types
into three categories: ectomorph, endomorph and
mesomorph

56. Categories Physical
Characteristics
Personality
ECTOMORPH Focused on Nervous
System and the
Brain
 Thin and tall
 Soft/frail body
 Very little body fat
 Lack of muscle
Artistic and
conscious about
themselves
 More sensitive
 Tend to be more
“anti-social”

57. ENDOMORPH Focused on Digestive
System, particularly
the stomach
 Round shape
 Soft body
 Has more body fat
 Wide hips
Having well behaved
with the love of food
and a loving
personality
 Relaxed and both
tolerant and
sociable

58. MESOMORPH Focused on
Musculature and the
Circulatory System
 Rectangle shape
 Muscular body
 Little body fat
 Great posture
 Thick sin
More active as well
as energetic
 More assertive and
aggressive
 They like to be
adventurous
 Not afraid to take
risks or chances

59. 3) BIOCHEMICAL THEORIES OF
DELINQUENCY: THE AGGRESSIVE
BEHAVIOR CAUSED BY DIET
 Crime and sugar
 Low levels of blood sugar(hypoglycemia) can cause the
development of negative behavior, nervous behavior, mental
confusion, physical weakness, delirium and violence
 Excessive consumption of alcohol can cause hypoglycemia
and increase aggressive behavior

60.  Cholesterol and crime
 Low levels of cholesterol are associated with persons
who have difficulties with internalization of social
norms and have the tendency to be irresponsible.
 Low cholesterol levels can cause hypoglycemia.

61.  Vitamins and crime
 Theory states that low intake of vitamins and minerals
can cause delinquent behavior

62. 4) GENERAL INFERIORITY
THEORY/ HOOTON’S THEORY
 Earnest Albert Hooton was an American physical
anthropologist known for his work on racial
classification and applied it to the area of criminal
behavior.

63.  According to Hooton:
 Criminals are less often married and more often
divorced
 Criminals often have tattoos
 Criminals have low sloping foreheads, high nasal
bridges, and thin lips

64.  Based on these observations Hooton concluded that the
underlying cause of criminal behavior is to be found in
physical characteristics:
 Tall-slender men- are predisposed for murder and robbery
 Tall-medium heavy men-for forgery
 Tall-heavy men- for first degree murder

65.  Medium-height heavy men-for anti-social behavior
 Short-slender- for burglary and larceny
 Short-medium heavy men- for arson
 Short-heavy men- for sex offenses