1. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION
Project Guidelines
150 Points

2. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION Project Guidelines 150 Points
In groups of three, you will closely examine one of the six major groups of theories that attempt to provide answers to the age-old question: “Why do people commit crimes?”
Using the appropriate chapter from Criminology: The Core (3rd ed.) as your baseline resource, your group will create and present a Keynote/Powerpoint presentation that includes but is not limited to the following components:
INTRODUCTION to your group of theories (e.g., development of your group’s approach, influence of theories on social policy, etc...) 30 pts.
SUMMARY of each of the specific theories discussed in your assigned chapter 30 pts.
ANALYSIS of both the strengths and weaknesses of your group of theories 30 pts.
EXAMPLES of crimes/criminals used to support your theories 30 pts.
OTHER RESOURCE MATERIAL that aid in explaining your group of theories (e.g., video clips, graphic statistics, supporting research, etc...); sources in addition to Siegel should be cited uniformly 30 pts.
PROJECT TIMELINE “Start to Finish” 13 Days
Project Introduction/Team & Topic Assignment day
Research & Project Assembly in Lab days
Presentations, Discussions, & Activities days
Review & Test days

3. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION Rational Choice Theory
Individual Choice
Cost-Benefit Analysis (Personal and Situational Factors v. Perceived Consequences)
Crime Prevention
General v. Specific Deterrence
Incapacitation
Policy Implications of Choice Theory: “Three Strikes” sentencing policy, the death penalty

4. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION Rational Choice Theory
Which would concern you more should you be caught shoplifting: receiving legal punishment or having to face the reactions of your friends and family? Would the reactions of your friends be different than the reactions of your family? In what way?
Is it possible to create a method of capital punishment that would actually deter murder—for example, by televising executions? What would be the positive and negative consequences of such a policy?
Consider the recent shooting death of 17-year old Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida. Make a list of elements that might suggest that Zimmerman, who faces a grand jury investigation next month, acted rationally. Share your analysis with the class.
Your friend has decided to build a house and wants it to be secure from crime. Advise your friend about the type of crime prevention or defensible space strategies that can be incorporated or implemented to make the home secure.
Think about times you or your friends might have broken the law or considered breaking the law. Did any of you consider doing so for "the thrill of it?” If so, what type of crime? Were any particular “risk assessment” factors weighed before engaging in the criminal behavior or before considering whether to engage in the illegal behavior?

5. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION Rational Choice Theory

6. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION Trait Theory
Biological Trait Theories
Biochemistry, Diet, Hypoglycemia, Hormones, PMS, Lead Exposure, Environmental Contaminants
Neurophysiology, ADHD, Brain Chemistry, Arousal Theory
Genetics
Evolutionary Views of Crime
Psychological Trait Theories
associations between intelligence, personality, learning, and criminal behavior
Psychodynamic Perspective (Freud)
Attachment Theory
Behavioral Perspective: Social Learning Theory)
Cognitive Theory
Personality, Intelligence, Mental Disorders and Crime
Social Policy and Trait Theory
Primary (before crime) and Secondary (after crime) Prevention Programs

7. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION Trait Theory
If research were to significantly indicate that the tendency to commit crime is inherited, what should be done about or for the children of violent criminals? What programs would students implement and why? What would be the social, policy, and ethical implications?
Discuss the role of the media in terms of influencing violent behavior in society today. Direct students to perform a library search for articles pertaining to violent media's impact on aggression in society. Have students present their findings in class.
Ask students to consider junior or senior high school classmates who engaged in delinquent or criminal acts. Did these teens exhibit any of the "traits" discussed within the chapter?
A variety of mental disorders have been linked to criminal activities. Have students discuss whether criminals who have been deemed mentally ill should be incarcerated for their offenses or housed in a mental health facility. Is it appropriate to incarcerate someone with a mental illness? Are they "getting away with crime" if they are housed in a mental health facility instead of a prison?
Ask students to develop arguments supporting the link between intelligence and crime and against any supposed link between intelligence and crime. Students can be directed to read Murray's Bell Curve (see link) prior to debating the IQ-crime link.

8. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION Social Structure Theory
Economic Structure and Crime
Stratification of American society
Problems of the Lower Class
Child Poverty
Minority Group Poverty
3 Branches of Social Structure Theory
Social Disorganization Theory & The Social Ecology School
Strain Theories
Anomie Theory
Institutional Anomie Theory
Relative Deprivation Theory
General Strain Theory
Cultural Deviance Theory
Theory of Delinquent Subcultures
Theory of Differential Opportunity
Social Structure Theory and Public Policy
Public Assistance/Welfare
Kennedy and Johnson’s “War on Poverty”
Head Start
Weed and Seed Program

9. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION Social Structure Theory
Is there a “transitional” area in your town or city? Does the crime rate remain constant there, regardless of who moves in or out? Are there any clear physical signs of disorganization?
Is it possible that a distinct lower-class culture exists? Do you know anyone who has the focal concerns--trouble, toughness, smartness, excitement, fate, autonomy--Miller (Cultural Deviance Theory) talks about? Were there “focal concerns” in your high school or college experience?
Albert Cohen (Theory of Delinquent Subcultures) suggests that subcultures develop due to a lack of recognition from middle-class decision makers such as teachers, employers, and police officers. Identify additional middle class decision makers and why their recognition might be important to lower class citizens.
Could “relative deprivation” produce crime among college-educated, white-collar workers? Explain why or why not.
Have students explain how they may have benefited from collective efficacy while growing up. What made factors made their neighborhoods cohesive?

10. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION Social Process Theories
SOCIALIZATION and Crime
Social Process Theory
Institutions of Socialization
Family
Education
Peers
Religion
3 Branches of Social Process Theory
Social Learning Theory
Social Control Theory
Social Reaction/Labeling Theory
Social Process Theory and Public Policy
Residential Treatment Programs
Education Programs (e.g., Head Start)
Diversion Programs
Restitution

11. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION Social Process Theories
Have students identify and list the social bonds they maintained as adolescents and that they will maintain after high school. Ask students to compare their social bonds with those students they knew to be antisocial in middle school and those they may know to be antisocial now. What social bonds might account for the differences in behavior?
Ask students if they have ever been given a negative label, and, if so, did this negative label cause them harm? How did students lose the label or did it become a permanent marker that still troubles them today?
After considering the topic in item two, ask students about positive labels that might have been applied to them. How did the positive label improve their social standing and self-concept? Which type of label do students think has more "power" - a negative label or a positive label?
Direct students to consider their own peer relations. Ask if students have had any delinquent friends. If so, why did students not also become delinquent? Have students' delinquent peers continued their delinquency? What do students feel accounts for the difference between their law abiding behavior and the delinquent behavior of their peers?
Direct students to identify recent accounts of crime. What neutralization techniques do students see being used by the offender, by the offender's attorney, and others (such as neighbors and relatives of the offender)?

12. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION Social Process Theories
SOCIALIZATION and Crime
Social Process Theory
Institutions of Socialization
Family
Education
Peers
Religion
3 Branches of Social Process Theory
Social Learning Theory
Social Control Theory
Social Reaction/Labeling Theory
Social Process Theory and Public Policy
Residential Treatment Programs
Education Programs (e.g., Head Start)
Diversion Programs
Restitution

13. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION Social Process Theories
Have students identify and list the social bonds they maintained as adolescents and that they will maintain after high school. Ask students to compare their social bonds with those students they knew to be antisocial in middle school and those they may know to be antisocial now. What social bonds might account for the differences in behavior?
Ask students if they have ever been given a negative label, and, if so, did this negative label cause them harm? How did students lose the label or did it become a permanent marker that still troubles them today?
After considering the topic in item two, ask students about positive labels that might have been applied to them. How did the positive label improve their social standing and self-concept? Which type of label do students think has more "power" - a negative label or a positive label?
Direct students to consider their own peer relations. Ask if students have had any delinquent friends. If so, why did students not also become delinquent? Have students' delinquent peers continued their delinquency? What do students feel accounts for the difference between their law abiding behavior and the delinquent behavior of their peers?
Direct students to identify recent accounts of crime. What neutralization techniques do students see being used by the offender, by the offender's attorney, and others (such as neighbors and relatives of the offender)?

14. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION Social Conflict and Critical Criminology
Origins of Critical Criminology
Marx, Conflict, and Crime
1960s-1970s
National Deviance Conference (NDC)
The New Criminology (Taylor, Walton, and Young)
Law, Order, and Power (Chambliss and Seidman)
The Social Reality of Crime (Quinney)
Contemporary Critical Criminology
issues of social class, crime, social, control, role of government, personal and group power, race and gender bias, threat of global capitalism to the working class, misuse of political/social/media power
Defining Crime
socio-economic structure
state (organized) crime
political corruption
illegal domestic surveillance
human rights violations
state-corporate crime
state violence
Cause of Crime
GLOBALIZATION
Related Theories in Critical Criminology
Instrumental v. Structural Theory
Left Realism
Critical Feminist Theory
Power-Control Theory
Peacemaking Criminology
Critical Theory and Public Policy
Restorative Justice

15. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION Social Conflict and Critical Criminology
How would a conservative reply to a call for the increased use of restorative justice? How would a restorative justice advocate respond to a conservative call for increased imprisonment?
Considering recent changes in American culture, how would a power–control theorist explain recent drops in the U.S. crime rate?
If Marx were alive today, what might he think about increasing globalization and the concepts of surplus value and exploitation of the working class? Do students feel Marx would see replication of the capitalist processes of his day or would he adjust his vision of capitalism and conflict?
While many convicted murderers await execution on death row, few, if any, have gained the international notoriety and support that Mumia Abu-Jamal has. What seems to explain his becoming such a cause célèbre?
Ask students to describe their family environment based on Hagan’s power-control theory. Do they see their behavior as being affected by coming from either a paternalistic or egalitarian family?

16. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION Developmental Theories: Life Course and Latent Trait
Foundations of Life Developmental Theory
integration of biological, psychological, and sociological factors
Life-Course Theory: crime is dynamic and multifaceted
Latent-Trait Theory: “master trait” and propensity to commit crime
Life-Course Theories
Basic Precepts
Problem Behavior Syndrome (PBS)
Pathways to Crime
Authority-Conflict Pathway
Covert Pathway
Overt Pathway
Age-Graded Theory
discrete factors at different stages of development
social capital
trajectories, transitions, and turning points
Latent Trait Theories
Basic Precepts
latent traits and criminal propensity
more biological and psychological (personal traits) than social (external influences)
persistence (stability of criminal propensity)
desistence (opportunity for crime fluctuates)
General Theory of Crime
propensity to crime linked to two traits
impulsive personality
lack of self-control
combination of poor parenting (intergenerational) and biological factors(inherited, prenatal factors)
Public Policy Implications of Development
variety of programs directed at children from preschool through early elementary grades

17. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION Development Theories: Life Course and Latent Trait
Do you consider yourself the holder of social capital? If so, how? Compare your level and quality of social capital with that of high school students you knew to have been deviant.
Do you believe there is a latent trait that makes a person crime prone, or is crime a function of environment and socialization? How are these two perspectives integrated or related?
Do you agree with Loeber’s multiple pathway model? Do you know people who have traveled down those paths? Describe those individuals and how their behaviors fit Lober's pathways.
Sampson and Laub offer several examples of important “turning points” that can have a dramatic effect on one’s behavior. Can you think of other turning points?
Problem behavior syndrome suggests that crime is one behavior among a cluster of antisocial behaviors. Think of someone you know who has a criminal history. Does he/she possess a cluster of antisocial behaviors? Describe those behaviors.