Chapter 5 Theories of Crime Causation PDF

**CHAPTER 5 -- THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION** **THEORY -- a well-validated, organized system of ideas or principles that explains a set of phenomena or observations** - **based on evidence, experimentation, and reasoning** - **used to predict outcomes, offer explanations, and provide a fra...

**CHAPTER 5 -- THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION** **THEORY -- a well-validated, organized system of ideas or principles that explains a set of phenomena or observations** - **based on evidence, experimentation, and reasoning** - **used to predict outcomes, offer explanations, and provide a framework for further study** - **In science, a theory explains natural phenomena.** - **In social sciences, theories describe human behavior or societal processes.** **THEORIST -- someone who formulates, develops, or advances theories in a particular field of study** **DAVID EMILE DURKHEIM (French, 1858 -- 1917)** **He advocated the "Anomie Theory", the theory that focused on the sociological point of the positivist school which explains that the absence of norms in a society provides a setting conducive to crimes and other anti-social acts. According to him, explanation of human conduct lies not in the individual but in the group and the social organization.** **Durkheim proposed the following principles:** a. **Crime is a natural thing in the society.** b. **The concept of wrong is necessary to give meaning to what is right.** c. **Crime help society for changes -- it means that a society to be flexible to permit positive deviation must permit negative deviations as well.** **He is also framed the early development of the "Consensus Theory" in sociology. According to him, the order of social life does not derive from individuals but from society because the individual is not sufficient unto him, it is the society that he receives everything necessary to him.** **He also maintained that crime is an "important ingredient of all healthy societies because crime make people more aware of their common interest and help to define appropriate, moral, or lawful behavior."** **SIGMUND FREUD (1856 -- 1969)** **Psychologists have considered a variety of possibilities to account for individual differences -- defective conscience, emotional immaturity, inadequate childhood socialization, maternal deprivation, and poor moral development.** **The Freudian view on criminal behavior was based on the use of psychology in explaining an approach in understanding criminal behavior.** **Sigmund Freud in his Psychoanalytic Theory maintains that:** a. **Criminal behavior is a form neurosis, that criminality may result from an over active conscience.** b. **Crime is result of the compulsive need for punishment to lessen guilt and anxiety.** c. **Criminal behavior is a means of obtaining gratification of need.** d. **Criminal conducts represent a displaced hostility.** e. **Criminality is essentially a representation of psychological conflict.** **ROBERT EZRA PARK (1864 -- 1944)** **Park is a strong advocator of the scientific method in explaining criminality but he is a sociologist, He advocated the "Human Ecology Theory". Human Ecology is the study of the interrelationship of people and their environment. This theory maintains that crime is a function of social change that occurs along with environment change. It maintains that the isolation, segregation, competition, conflict, social contract, interaction and social hierarchy of people are the major influences of criminal and crimes.** **ERNST KRETSCHMER (1888 -- 1964)** **The idea of somatotyping was originated from the work of a German Psychiatrist, Earnst Kretschmer, who distinguished three principal types of physique as:** 1. **Asthenic -- lean, slightly built, narrow shoulder** 2. **Athletic -- medium to tall, strong, muscular, course bones** 3. **Pyknic -- medium height, rounded figure, massive neck, broad face** **He related these body physiques to various psychotic behavioral patterns: Pyknic to manic depression, asthenic and athletics to schizophrenia.** **WILLIAM H. SHELDON (1898 -- 1977)** **Sheldon is an influenced of the Somatotyped School of Criminology, which related body built to behavior. He became popular of his own Somatotyping Theory. His key ideas are concentrated on the principle of "Survival of the Fittest" as a behavioral science. He combines the biological and psychological explanation to understand deviant behavior.** **Sheldon's "Somatotyping Theory" maintains the belief of inheritance as the primary determinants of behavior and the physique is a reliable indicator of personality.** **Classification of Body Physique by Sheldon** 1. **Endomorph -- a type with relatively predominance of soft, roundness throughout the regions of the body. They have low specific gravity. Persons with typically relaxed and comfortable disposition.** 2. **Mesomorph -- athletic type, predominance of muscle, bone and connection tissue, normally heavy, hard and firm, sting and tough. They are the people who are routinely active and aggressive, and they are the most likely to commit crimes.** 3. **Ectomorph -- thin physique, flat chest, delicacy through the body, slender, poorly muscled. They tend to look more fatigue and quiet.** **Comparison of Somatotypes:** - **Asthenic = ectomorph (slim, delicate build)** - **Athletic = mesomorph (muscular, balanced build)** - **Pyknic = endomorph (rounded, stockier build)** **EDWIND SURTHERLAND (1883 -- 1950)** **Sutherland has been referred to as "the most important criminologist of the twentieth century" because his explanation about crime and criminal behavior can be seen as a corrected extension of social perspective. For this reason, he was considered as the "Dean of Modern Criminology". He advocated the DAT -- Differential Association Theory, which maintains that the society is composed of different group organization, the societies consist of a group having criminalistic tradition and anti-criminalistic tradition. It is learned through the process of committing the crime, motive and attitude.** **WALTER RECKLESS (1899 -- 1988)** **A broad analysis of the relationship between personal and social controls is found in Walter Reckless' Containment Theory. This theory is a form of control, which, suggests that a series of both internal and external factors contributes to criminal behavior (Schmalleger, 1998).** **KARL MARX, FREDERICK ENGLE, WILLEM BONGER (1818 -- 1940)** **They are the proponents of the Social Class Conflict and Capitalism Theory. Marx and Engle claimed that the ruling class in a capitalist society is responsible for the creation of criminal law and their ideological bases in the interpretation and enforcement of the ideological bases in the interpretation and enforcement of the laws. All are reflected on the demoralized surplus of population, which is made up of the underprivileged usually the unemployed and underemployed.** **ROBERT KING MERTON (1910)** **Robert Merton is the premier sociologist of the modern days who, after Durkheim, also related the crime problem to anomie. He advocated the Strain Theory, which maintains that the failure of man to achieve a higher status of life caused them to commit crimes in order for that status/ goal and the social structure is behavior assumes that people are law abiding but when under great pressure will result to crime.** **ALBERT COHEN (1918)** **He advocates the Sub-Culture Theory of Delinquency. Cohen claims that the lower class cannot socialize effectively as the middle class in what is considered appropriate middle-class behavior. Thus, the lower class gathered together share their common problems, forming a subculture that rejects middle class values. Cohen called this process as reaction formation. Much of this behavior comes to be called delinquent behavior; the subculture is called a gang and the kids are called delinquents. He put emphasis on the explanation of prevalence, origins, process and purposes as factors to come.** **GRESHAM SYKES (1922)** **He advocated the Neutralization Theory. It maintains that an individual will obey or disobey societal rules depending upon his or her ability to rationalize whether he is protected from hurt or destruction. People become law abiding if they feel they are benefited by it and they violate it if these laws are not favorable to them.** **LLOYED OHLIN (1928)** **He advocated the DOT -- Differential Opportunity Theory. This theory explains that society leads the lower class to want things and society does things to people. Ohlin claimed that there is differential opportunity, or access, to success goals by both legitimate and illegitimate means depending on the specific location of the individual with in the social structure. Thus, lower class groups are provided with greater opportunities for the acquisition of deviant acts.** **FRANK TENNENBAUM, EDIN LEMERT, HOWARD BECKER (1822 -- 1982)** **They are advocates of the Labeling Theory -- the theory that explains about social reaction to behavior. The theory maintains that the original cause of crime cannot be known, no behavior is naturally criminal, behavior becomes criminal if it is labeled as such.** **EARL RICHARD QUINNEY (1934)** **Quinney is a Marxist criminologist who advocated the Instruments Theory if capitalist rule. He argued that the state exists as a device for controlling the exploited class -- the class that labors for the benefit of the ruling class. He claims that upper classes create laws that protect their members of society. Quinney major contribution is that he proposed the shift in focus from looking for the causes of crime from the individual to the examination of the Criminal Justice System for clues.** **CHARLES DARWIN'S THEORY (1809 --1882)** **In the Theory of Evolution, he claimed that humans, like other animals, are parasite. Man is an organism having an animalistic behavior that is dependent on other animals for survival. Thus, man kills and steal to live.** **CHARLES GORING'S THEORY (1870 -- 1919)** **The medical officer in prison in England who accepted the Lombroso's challenge that body physique is a determinant to behavior. Goring concluded that there is no such thing as physical criminal type. He contradicted the Lombroso's idea that criminality can be seen through features alone. Nevertheless, Goring accepted that criminals are physically inferior to normal individuals in the sense that criminals tend to be shorter and have less weight than non-criminals.** **EARNEST HOOTON'S THEORY (1887 -- 1954)** **An Anthropologist who reexamined the work of Goring and found out that "Tall thin men tend to commit forgery and fraud, undersized men are thieves and burglars, short heavy person commit assault, rape and other sex crimes; whereas mediocre (average) physique flounder around among other crimes."** **ADOLPHE QUETELET (1796 -- 1874)** **Quetelet was a Belgian Statistician who pioneered Cartography and the Cartographical School of Criminology that placed emphasis on social statistics. He discovered, basing on his research, that crimes against persons increased during summer and crimes against property tends to increase during winter.**