Introduction to Criminology Theories

Exam Information

• Exam will cover: History of Criminology, Policing, CJS, and Theory Overview
• Exam will cover all readings and all class content
• Format: Online in Brightspace
• Mix of multiple choice, true/false, and essay questions
• No review class on Monday, but regular class time for studying is available

Understanding Causal Theories

• Criminology theories seek to understand motivations for criminal behaviour
• Are some motivations more acceptable than others? Do motivations change?
• What is a typical offender profile? (e.g., 18-24 male) and how does this limit understanding?
• Is a "general theory" possible (one size fits all)?

Understanding Causal Theories: Nature vs Nurture

• Nature: factors like brain, education levels, biology, personality
• Nurture: factors like family, unemployment, and disorganized neighborhoods
• Relationship between internal and external factors (fixed vs. dynamic)?
• Role of gender, sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity in criminal behaviour?
• Can criminal behaviour be stopped? (individually or collectively?)

Criminological Theories (Perspectives)

• Individual: Demonological, Classical, Positivist
• Structural: Ecology, Strain, Sub-cultural theories, Conflict
• Social Processes: Social Learning, Social Control, Differential Association, Drift, Labeling
• Postmodern: Constitutive, Edgework

Is Human Behaviour Determined or Freely Willed?

• Individual perspectives focus on the source of human behaviour
• Demonological: Evil spirits
• Classical: Man is hedonistic
• Positivist: Criminal Man
• Theories like Classical and rational choice assume humans are independent, aware, reflective, self-interested, in control, and rational decision-makers.

Classical Theory: The Freely Acting Agent

• Hedonism: Individuals seek pleasure and avoid pain.
• Free will & rationality: Laws create order to limit war and chaos. People sacrifice some freedoms.
• Punishment: Equal punishments for equal crimes, discouraging crime. Greater incentives for more severe crimes.

Do We Choose Freely?

• Free choice requires several assumptions:
• Ability to act as individual units with a range of possible actions.
• Ability to differentiate between actions and alternatives.
• Ability to control actions and consequences.
• Capacity for reason.
• Rational basis for selection of actions.

Positivism: The Criminal Man

• Biological: Atavism (evolutionary throwbacks), biological abnormalities, body type (Lombroso), inherited feeblemindedness
• Psychological: Unconscious forces shaped in childhood, criminal personality

Structural Theories

• Influence of internal or external forces on behaviour
• Structural theories: individual actions influenced by external factors.
• Relevant external factors: Economic strain, disorganized communities, class, race, gender inequality, major social systems

Strain Theory

• Robert K. Merton's theory
• Basic values: emphasis on achievement and success.
• Lower class limitation on avenues for success
• Dilemma of abandoning values or abandoning obedience to the law.
• Disconnect between desire to achieve goals and ability to achieve them.

Strain Theory (Continued)

• American Dream disconnect from reality.
• Means to achieve goals: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, rebellion.

Social Ecology

• Focuses on aspects of the physical environment and their influence on crime and social problems.
• Zones in the city with various levels of crime, indicating social disorganization and concentration of poverty.

Sub-Cultural Theory

• Certain groups marginalized by society, not just individuals.
• Criminality: not simply about monetary success, but also about expressing frustration and developing alternative opportunity networks.

Conflict Theory: Marx

• Crime as a byproduct of capitalism.
• Exploitation of the working class (low wages, high cost of living).
• Domination of lower classes by upper class, leading to injustice.
• Criminal Justice System as a tool for injustice - unfairly targeting lower classes.

Summary (Individual and Structural Causation)

• Interaction of individual pathology/decision making and external factors.

Social Process Theories

• Deviance as learned behavior
• Learned through interactions with significant others:
• People learn to offend and not offend
• How individuals adopt a deviant identity.
• Human nature as blank slate (tabula rasa) initially assimilating surrounding culture, unless other patterns in conflict.

Socialization Processes Into Offending

• Poor primary relationships
• Weak bonds or poor self-control
• Rationalizing deviant behavior
• Situational learning and reinforcements.

Social Learning

• Criminal behavior learned through interaction with intimate social groups (family and friends).
• Learning involves reward/punishment, observation of others, and pride in certain behaviors.
• Reinforcement and punishment for criminal behaviors learned through observation.

Differential Association

• Similar to social learning
• Recognizes variance in behavior due to association with different groups (parents vs. university peers)
• Crime as a fluid process, not static.

Social Control (Bonding)

• All capable of committing crimes but bonds with others prevent it.
• Strong social ties make one more invested in what others think, leading to conforming to collective values.

Drift and Neutralization

• Gang members able to drift in/out of a group..
• Conventional and delinquent values overlapping (excitement, risk-taking).
• "Techniques of neutralization" or rationalization. Redirecting negative behaviors to avoid conflict with mainstream values.

Labeling

• Social processes where individuals/groups label others' behaviours.
• Criminality doesn't exist; behaviors become deviant because they are labeled as such.
• Example: graffiti as vandalism instead of art.
• Labels lead to social reactions and internalization, potentially marginalizing individuals further.

Purpose of Law and Societal Perspectives

• Conservative, Liberal, and Radical perspectives on law and society.
• Different perspectives on the source and purpose of law, as well as the effects of and on social constructs.

Applying Theory: Sex Work

• Different theoretical perspectives on sex work.
• Applying individual, structural, social process, and postmodern theories to explain the cause and consequences of engaging in sex work (sex trafficking etc).

Why is it Important to Understand the Nature of a Causal Explanation (Theory)?

• Implications for all areas within criminal justice: law enforcement, crime prevention, and related areas in the courts and prisons.