Chapter 3 - Updated

1. Chapter 3
Introduce
Theory:
Understanding
Crime and
Victimization

2. Introduction
Theory conceptualization is difficult for most
intro / first year students
 We do not expect you to memorize all of them
Theory can be a semester long class itself – In
our class, we are just introducing theory to you
 You will study theory further in:
 Intro to Criminology, Research Methods, Senior
Seminar… more in Masters / PHD.
 Goal for us – as we learn, simply think about the
theories, what theory represents your view, which
theories seem accurate, which seems flawed…

3. The Cause of Crime
Criminologist (Definition)
Social scientists who use the
scientific method to study the nature,
extent, cause, and control of
criminal behavior

4. Choice Theory
People choose to commit crime after
weighing the potential benefits and
consequences of their criminal act
 People will commit a crime if they believe
it will provide immediate benefits without
the threat of long-term risks
If the rewards are great, the perceived risks
small, and the excitement high, the
likelihood of committing additional crimes
increases

5. Video: Air marshals
Choice Theory

6. Video: Discussion
Questions
Does having air marshals on
airplanes deter crime?

7. Recap - Choice Theory
 Crime is a matter of rational choice,
involving a calculated decision made after a
motivated offender weighs the potential
costs and benefits of illegal activity
 The decision to commit a specific crime is a
matter of personal decision based on the
evaluation of available
information
 Even predatory street
criminals exhibit stealth
and planning in their
criminal acts

8. Crime Prevention
Situational Prevention
General Deterrence
Specific Deterrence

9. Situational Crime Prevention
Increase the effort needed to commit the crime
 Lighting, fencing, video, “target hardening”
Increase the risks of committing the crime
Reduce the rewards for committing the crime
Induce shame or guilt
Reduce provocation
Remove excuses

10. Situational Crime Prevention
Situational crime prevention strategies
are designed to convince would-be
criminals to avoid specific targets
If crime is rational, then painful punishment
should reduce its future allure
Techniques of painful punishment include
harsh prisons, long sentences, and stiff fines

11. General Deterrence
If crime is a matter of choice, it follows
that it can be controlled by convincing
criminals that breaking the law is a bad
or dangerous choice to make
 General deterrence is designed to make
potential criminals fear the consequences of
crime
 The threat of punishment can convince rational
criminals that crime does not pay
 Potential criminal fears punishment because
they know of someone else who was punished

12. General Deterrence
Inhibiting Factors:
 One of the factors that inhibits the
deterrent power of the criminal law is the
lack of efficiency of the justice system.
80 percent of serious reported crimes do not
result in an arrest.

13. Specific Deterrence
Specific deterrence strategies punish
known criminals so severely that they
will never be tempted to repeat their
offenses
 Problems with these strategies are that
criminals do not fear punishment, and the
certainty of arrest and punishment is low
 Techniques include death penalty, mandatory
sentences, and aggressive policing

14. Video: Death Penalty
Legal Issues
Choice Theory

15. Video: Discussion
Questions
 In what ways do criminological
theories impact whether or not the
death penalty is considered
acceptable by majority of society?
 Do any criminological theories make
it acceptable to put someone to
death even if it is a painful death?
 What is your position on the death
penalty? Do you view this as
impacted by a criminological theory?
Why or why not?

16. Trait Theories
Biochemical Factors
Neurological Factors
Genetic Factors

17. Trait Theories
Crime is caused (not by choice... but)
by inherited and uncontrollable
biological and psychological traits:
 Intelligence
 Body build
 Personality
 Biomedical makeup
Assumes that variation in human
physical traits can explain behavior

18. Biochemical Factors
Environmental contaminants has
been shown to influence brain
functioning and intelligence levels
 Some research efforts have linked
antisocial behavior to vitamin and mineral
deficiencies, food additives, and improper
diet
Hypoglycemia
Excessive levels of testosterone have been
linked to violence and aggression

19. Neurological Factors
 Some suspect that the cause of abnormal
neurological function is impairment in
neurotransmitters, which are chemical
compounds that influence or activate brain
functions
 The presence of brain abnormality causes
irrational and destructive behaviors
 Research shows that youths
with ADHD who grow up in a
dysfunctional family are the
most vulnerable to chronic
delinquency that continues
into their adulthood

20. Genetic Factors
Modern bio-criminologists are
concerned with the role of heredity in
producing crime-prone people
 Your genes
 Your DNA
Minnesota Twin study
 Despite growing up separate – display
same traits and behaviors

21. Psychological Theories
Psychodynamic Theory
Behavioral Theory
Cognitive Theory
Personality and Crime
IQ and Crime

22. Psychological Theories
Psychological theories suggest that
criminals may be suffering from a
psychological abnormality or stress
that has a long history

23. Psychodynamic Theory
Some people encounter problems
during their early development that
cause an imbalance in their
personality
 Theorists believe that law violators may
have suffered damage to their egos, or
superegos, early in their development that
renders them powerless to control their
impulses

24. Behavioral Theory
View behavior as learned through
interactions with others
 Behavior that is rewarded becomes
habitual
 Behavior that is punished becomes
extinguished

25. Video: Violent Crime
Theoretical Explanations

26. Video: Discussion
Questions
According to the media clip,
what are the reasons for the
rise in violent crime?
How would each theory
explain violent crime?
What theory of crime BEST
explains violent crime?

27. Cognitive Theory
Concerned with the way people
perceive and mentally represent the
world in which they live
 Another area is moral development theory

28. Personality and Crime
Some psychologists view criminal
behavior as a function of a disturbed
personality structure
 Antisocial personality
Failure to conform to social norms
Deceitfulness
Impulsivity
Irritability
Disregard for safety
Irresponsibility
Lack of remorse

29. IQ and Crime
Studies link low IQ to violent and
aggressive behavior, however there
are problems with these studies
 The link between intelligence
and crime is one of the most
enduring controversies in the
psychology of crime literature

30. Sociological Theories
Social Structure Theory
The Disorganized Neighborhood
Social Process Theories

31. Sociological Theories
Place emphasis on environmental
conditions
 Equate the cause of criminal behavior with
social factors, such as poverty and
unemployment

32. Social Structure Theory
Suggest that people’s place in the
socioeconomic structure influences
their chances of becoming a criminal
 Poor individual’s are more likely to commit
crimes because they are unable to achieve
monetary or social success in any other
way
 Racial disparity
The problems of lower-class culture are
particularly acute for racial and ethnic
minorities

33. The Disorganized
Neighborhood
The effects of income inequality,
poverty, racism, and despair are a key
cause of youth crime and drug abuse

34. Social Process Theories
Social Learning Theory
 Suggests that people learn the techniques and
attitudes of crime from close relationships
with criminal peers
 People become violent because they model
their behavior after others and have had that
behavior positively reinforced
Social Control Theory
 Maintains that everyone has the potential to
become a criminal but that most people are
controlled by their bonds to society; crime
occurs when the forces that bind people to
society are weakened or broken

35. Agnew’s Sources of Strain
and Their Consequences

36. Social Process Theories
Social Reaction / Labeling Theory
 Suggests that people become criminals
when significant members of society label
them as such and they accept those labels
as a personal identity

37. The Labeling
Process

38. Critical Criminology
Social Inequality

39. Critical Criminology
Crime in any society is caused by
class conflict
 Laws are created by those in power to
protect their rights and interests
One of the theory’s most
important premises is that
the justice system is biased
and designed to protect the
wealthy

40. Developmental Theories
Life Course Theory
Latent Trait Theory
The General Theory of Crime

41. Developmental Theories
Life course theories suggest that events
take place over the life course to
influence criminal choices
 The causes of crime constantly change as
people mature
 At first the nuclear family influences behavior
 In adolescence, the peer group dominates
 In adulthood, marriage and career are critical
 According to Sampson and Laub, the two most
critical turning points in a criminal career are
Marriage and Employment

42. Life Course Theory

43. Developmental Theories
Latent Trait Theory
 Suggests that a master trait guides people
over the life course
The General Theory of Crime
 Suggests that impulsive people have low
self-control and a weak bond to society;
they often cannot resist criminal
opportunities

44. Victimization Theories
Lifestyle Theory
Routine Activities Theory
(We are NOT blaming the Victims)
- however -
There is some theoretical support for placing
oneself in a situation where we can easily become
a victim

45. Theories of Victimization
Victim precipitation theory looks at the
victim’s role in the criminal incident
 Lifestyle Theories
Suggest that victims put themselves in danger by
engaging in high-risk activities
 More Danger: Someone who goes out late at night
 Less Danger: Someone married who stays in at night

46. Theories of Victimization
 The Routine Activities Theory
Maintains that a pool of motivated offenders exists
and that these offenders will take advantages of
suitable, unguarded targets
 Motivated Offenders
 Suitable Targets
 Capable Guardians (Includes Police Officers)

47. Routine Activities
Theory

48. End
End of Chapter 3