Theories of Crime

Psychological Sociological Biological Conflict

Psychological Individual differences in people such as criminal potential or antisocial personality The pursuit of pleasure is the main motivating factor The ‘conscience’ prevents many people from committing crime (development of ‘conscience closely linked to parenting) Impulsiveness or an inability to consider consequences Linked to poor ‘abstract’ thinking

Sociological Theories Strain theory Social learning theory Control theory

Strain Theory People commit crime due to pressure or ‘strain’ Crimes are an attempt to reduce or get away from that strain e.g. – Theft to escape strain of poverty – Violence to end strain of harassment – Drug use to escape the strain of poor lifestyle The way societies are structured causes strain – e.g. societies value ‘success’ but many in society are prevented from gaining ‘success’ (poor, un-educated etc)

Social Learning Theory People ‘learn’ to engage in crime The ‘learning’ may be from peer groups, families etc Criminal behaviour brings approval / status which further reinforces that behaviour Association with others who commit crime is one of highest indicators of likelihood to commit crime Development of a belief structure which favours crime Modelling – individuals often imitate or ‘model’ behaviour of those around them esp. if they ‘admire them

Control Theory Control theorists believe people will ‘naturally’ commit crime and that it is the ‘controls’ in societies which prevent it: – Direct control exerted by: Family school Colleagues Police / courts Religion – Stake in conformity – those who have ‘something to lose’ (job, status etc) less likely to commit crime – Internal control: ability to ‘resist’ crime, high levels of self contol

Biological Theories Criminal behaviour has clear genetic element Violent behaviour may be associated with disturbance in foetal development (e.g. flu virus or smoking during pregnancy) Lower levels of serotonin esp. in relation to ‘impulsive’ violent acts Frontal lobe ‘deficits’ in violent offenders

Conflict Theory Main cause of crime = forces operating within society / the way society is structured Criminal justice system ‘protecting’ the rich from the poor (e.g. much more severe punishments for ‘street crimes’ than large scale financial and business crimes Marx – in capitalist societies the owners of the ‘means of production’ – the capitalist class – use the state to protect them from the working class Radical feminism – males are more involved in crime than females and the reasons for males committing crime are different from the reasons for female offending Left realism – crime impacts much more on the poor than rich and crime is caused by poverty Right realism – the main focus should be on the control, prevention and punishment of criminal behaviour rather than on ‘causes’