THEORIES -OF-CRIME-CAUSATION-Prelim.pptx

Theories of crime causation encapsulate a vast range of perspectives that aim to explain the underlying causes of criminal conduct. They are typically categorised into biological theories, psychological theories, and sociological theories.

1. THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION

2. THE FUNDAMENTAL SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN EXPLANINING THE CAUSES OF CRIME INTRODUCTION Anyone who attempts to delineate the work of a scholar is always confronted with the query-how much of the man's work was original and how much was merely the replication of other men's efforts? This question is especially important when dealing with pioneers ( Lunden , 1958). If we understand the pioneers, then we can better understand the current issues in criminology. Tracing the major strands of thought running throughout the pioneer series in terms of theoretical issues, we find at the same time indications of the ways in which these issues have influenced the modern criminologist (Jefferey, 1959).

3. The Classical School The Classical School developed in the 18th century in an attempt to reform the legal system and to protect the accused against harsh and arbitrary action on the part of the state. It is founded by Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794), in full Cesare, Marchese pronounced as "Marquess" DiBeccaria Bonesana , an Italian criminologist and economist (Allen, 2018) It emphasized the principle that people have freewill to choose their behavior, those who violated the law were motivated by personal needs such as greed, revenge, survival and hedonism . Despite o knowing that, that act is wrong still he committed it, then he must be punished. It defined crime in legal terms and within the strict limits of criminal law and focused attention on crime as a legal entity. It further believed in the doctrine of “ nullum crimen sine lege ”, no crime without a law. The law assumes the responsibility of the individual for his voluntary conduct. It advocated a definite penalty foreach crime. It theorized that punishment had a deterrent effect (Jeffery,1959). Classical School's main principle is that, "Let the punishment fit the crime"

4. The Neo-Classical School Classical theory was difficult to apply in practice. It was modified in the early 1800s and became known as neo-classical theory. The Neo-Classical School arose during the French revolution with the modification that since children, lunatics, and others were not legally responsible for their actions . Since classical school generalized that people have freewill, neo-classical school questioned that there are people who have the absence of freewill hence they must be exempted from punishment because they did not know what they were doing; they did not know what they did was wrong or what they did was the product of insanity. However, this legal notion has been under attack by psychiatrists for many years. The Royal Commission on Capital Punishment recommended abrogating the M'Naghten test and leaving it to the jury to determine whether at the time of the act the accused was suffering from disease of the mind to such a degree that he ought not to be held responsible (Jeffery, 1959). Its fundamental notion is that, "Let the children and lunatic criminals be exempted from punishment

5. The Italian or Positivist School The Italian or Positive School developed in the nineteenth century as an attempt to apply scientific methods to the study of the criminal while rejecting the legal definition of crime. This was basically made possible because of the contributions of the three (3) respective experts in the person of Cesare Lombroso, and his two students, namely: Raffaele Garofalo and Enrico Ferri . This school based the study of criminal behavior on scientific determinism-which explained that every act had a cause. Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909), an Italian Criminologists who founded the said school once explained that criminals commit crimes because they are mentally-ill, sick and disturbed individuals; that is why they need to be treated instead of being punished. But this was commented by Sheldon Glueck , a Polish-American criminologist when he said , " A sick person has a right not to be treated; it is only when he becomes contagious that he may be quarantined”.

6. Cesare Lombroso Known as the Father of Criminology put his many years of medical research to use in his theory of criminal atavism- the idea that criminals manifest physical anomalies that make them biologically and physiologically similar to our primitive ancestors, savage throwbacks to an earlier stage of human evolution. He's also the "Founder of Criminal Anthropology." He studied the remains of executed individuals who had been convicted of crimes and came up with the theory of born criminal which stated that criminals are a lower form of life, nearer to their apelike ancestors than non-criminal in traits and disposition.

7. Raffaele Garofalo (1851-1934), an Italian Criminologist and a student of Lombroso noted that the concept of a "criminal presupposes the concept of “crime." He observed that although the naturalists speak. The positivist's rejection of the legal definition was based on the idea that for scientific purposes the concept of crime cannot be accepted as a legal category, since the factors which produce the legal definition are contingent and capricious. However, Garofalo, like many of his contemporary criminologists, didn't accept his teacher's view regarding physical traits (e.g., big forehead or large head); rather he linked criminal behavior to a defect in their physiological make up. He also traced the roots of criminal behavior which is not in physical features but to their psychological equivalents, which he called "moral anomalies "Garofalo defined crime, not as a violation of a law, but as a violation of nature. An act was a crime if it violated human nature in either of two forms: probity, which is honesty and integrity, or pity, which is compassion for others (Jeffery, 1959).

8. Enrico Ferri (1856-1929), a highly successful trial lawyer and Italy's perhaps greatest contemporary forensic orator, stated that "crime must be studied in the offender and said that a person is legally or socially responsible for his actions by the fact that he is a member of society, not because he is capable of willing an illegal act. He went for a year to Turin to study with Lombroso and, as his student, visited prisons, mental hospitals, and laboratories. Fer said that a man was sentenced, not according to the seriousness of the offense, but according to the factor or factors which motivated him to commit a crime. He argued that criminals should not beheld morally responsible for their crimes, because they did not choose to commit crimes rather, were driven to commit crimes due to economic, social and political factors (moral responsibility). The purpose of criminal justice was to afford maximum protection or defense of society against the criminal. The defense of society was placed above the rights of individuals and recommended penal colonies, indeterminate sentences, hospitals, scientifically trained judges, and the abolition of juries (Jeffery, 1959). Italian or Positivist School's main notion is that, “Let the punishment fit the criminal."

9. PERSPECTIVE OF CRIME CAUSATION The previous lesson talked about the basic schools of thought explaining the causes of crime, today’s lesson talked about the perspective of crime causation. When we say perspective, it also means viewpoint which discusses the causal factors regarding the birth of crime. In the field of criminology, it is an undeniable fact that there are multiple factors which lead the individual to commit crime. Understanding these factors is also the same when we speak of the perspective of crime causation. This lesson will only discuss the classical, biological, process, conflict, biosocial, and psychological perspectives. Classical Perspective Classical perspective viewed crime as a product of situational forces; that crime is function of freewill and personal choice. It emphasized that the purpose of punishment is mainly to deter the occurrence of crime. The three principles of punishment that became the trademark of Beccaria's classical deterrence doctrine include:

10. A.) Swift - punishment must be swift to be effective. According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary swift means occurring suddenly or within a very short time. Certain-people must know they will be punished for their illegal behavior-that they cannot evade the strong arms of the law. That no one may take as substitute for the punishment of the one who violated the law. B.) Severe-must be severe enough to outweigh the rewards of the illegal action-severity and proportionality are sometimes at odds especially since each person is different in terms of what constitutes a "severe" punishment. It also stressed out that crime problem could be traced not to bad people but to bad laws (Adler et al, 2012)

11. Biological Perspective Biological perspective regarded crime as the product of internal forces. For example: A person who is suffering from kleptomania. According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary kleptomania is a persistent neurotic impulse to steal especially without economic motive. That crime is a function of chemical, neurological, genetic, personality, intelligence or mental traits. The focus of the study is mainly on the individual person itself. It may answer the question of why a person becomes a criminal.

12. Process Perspective This perspective claimed that crime is product of socialization or interaction of one person to another that crime is a function of upbringing, learning and control. Parents, teachers, environment, mass media and peer groups may influence behavior. This concerns on how a person becomes a criminal.

13. Conflict Perspective Conflict perspective stressed the causes of crime based on economic and political forces. Crime is a function of competition for limited resources and power. Law is a tool of the ruling class in order to control the lower class. It is designed to protect the wealthy people. Crime is a politically defined concept.

14. Biosocial Perspective Biosocial perspective seeks to explain the onset of antisocial behavior such as aggression and violence by focusing on the physical qualities of the offenders. It concentrated mainly on the three areas of focus: biochemical (diet, genetic, hormones, and environmental contaminants), neurological (brain damage), and genetic (inheritance) (Siegel, 2007). 

15. Psychological Perspective Psychological perspective expressed that criminal behavior, was the product of " unconscious " forces operating within a person's mind. That conflicts occur at various psychosexual stages of development might impact an individual's ability to operate normally as an adult. That if the aggressive impulse is not controlled, or is repressed to an unusual degree, some aggression can "leak out of the unconscious and a person can engage in random acts of violence ( Bartol , 2002)

16. Theories of Crime Causation What is Crime? A crime is an illegal act that is punished by a legal authority. A crime is an act that is harmful to the person who commits the crime as well as to the society, community, or state. Crime is caused due to various reasons that may force an individual to commit it to fulfill its needs. There are some theories of causation of crime that we are going to discuss. First of all, we need to know how crime has been caused and what are the reasons behind it.

17. Crime Causation Crime caution is a discouraging and multiplex field. For centuries, philosophers have reviewed the meaning of the conception of cause as it regards human behavior. Growingly, research advises that individuals are unaware of the causes of the other people’s behavior as well as the causes of much of their performance. Modern crimes cause models to favor an interdisciplinary lens that recognizes how different fields complement, rather than contract with, one another. This approach acknowledges that no single theory can explain all the types of criminality nor the legal and moral issues that convoy them.

18. DESIRE ABILITY OPPORTUNITY CRIME MUST HAVE THESE THREE ELEMENTS TO COMPLETE

19. A SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE ON CRIME CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR: is the product of a systematic process that involves complex interactions between individual, societal, and ecological factors over the course of our lives. It explains that from the beginning onward the intellectual, emotional, and physical attributes we develop are strongly influenced by our personal behavior and physical processes, interactions with the physical environment and interactions with other people, groups and institutions.

20. A SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE ON CRIME 1. Ecological Factors- It involves interactions between people and their activities in a physical environment. It pertains to physical environment like geography and topography, crowding, pollution, and recreational opportunities which influences the physical and emotional development of people over their lives as well as the level of hostility, fear, or well-being they feel from moment to moment as they experience, for example, a crowded subway, dark lonely parking lot, or serene park. 2. Societal or Macrolevel Factors- It deals with systematic interactions between social groups which describe the ways society is structured. includes the relative distribution of the population among groups and the flows of information, resources, and people between groups. It also encompasses the variety and heterogeneity of racial/ethnic/cultural/productive groups, their behaviors and beliefs, and economic relations. 3. Motivation and Opportunity- Individuals actually commit the crimes. Individual factors always intervene between any descriptions of the causes of crime. Individual or microlevel factors describe how a person becomes motivated to commit a crime.

21. What is motivation? Is it just the driving force behind our actions? In this discussion, motivation is more than the "I want." portion of the equation. It includes "I could." "What will it cost me compared to what I think I'll get?" and "Is this right and proper? “ Motivation is the outcome of a process in which a goal is formulated, costs and benefits are assessed, and internal constraints on behavior are applied. Individual motivation varies, sometimes a person's motivation is influenced more by rational decision making, other times by emotions such as anger, greed, or lust. To some extent there are similarities wherein some people tend to be more motivated by cost/ benefit calculations more of the time than others. Can motivation stand alone? No. Motivation alone cannot cause a crime to occur; opportunity also is required. Opportunity itself may influence motivation (Katz 1988).In effect the interactions between biological, socio- cultural and developmental factors affect how motivated a person is to use force, fraud, or stealth to obtain resources when an opportunity is presented. If motivation is sufficiently high in the presence of an attractive opportunity, a crime may occur so long as the person has the ability required to commit it.

22. Biological Theories Are based on the belief that criminals are physiologically different from noncriminal. BIOLOGICAL INFERIORITY- a criminal’s innate physiological makeup produces certain physical or genetic characteristics that distinguish criminals from noncriminal. Anthropological criminology (sometimes referred to as criminal anthropology, literally a combination of the study of the human species and the study of criminals) is a field of offender profiling, based on perceived links between the nature of a crime and the personality or physical appearance of the offender.

23. CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY Lombroso’s theory consisted of the following proposition: 1. Criminals are, by birth, a distinct type. 2. That type can be recognized by physical characteristics, or stigma, such as enormous jaws, high cheekbones, and insensitivity to pain. 3. Because of their personal natures, such persons cannot desist from crime unless they experience very favorable lives.

24. Body-type Theory Body-type theory is an extension of Lombroso’s criminal anthropology, developed by Ernst Kretchmer and later William Sheldon. 1. Endomorphic( soft, fat) 2. Mesomorphic (athletically built) 3. Ectomorphic (tall, skinny)

25. Body-type Theory Sheldon found that delinquents were more mesomorphic than nondelinquents, and serious delinquents were more mesomorphic than less severe delinquents. Sheldon did not consider that delinquents are more likely to be mesomorphic because, for example, mesomorphs are more likely to be selected for gang membership.

26. Heredity Studies Several studies have attempted to determine if criminality is hereditary by studying: Family trees Statistics Identical and fraternal twins Adopted children All of these methods fail to prove that criminality is hereditary, because they cannot separate hereditary influences from environment influences.

27. Modern Biocriminology Ongoing research has revealed numerous biological factors associated either directly or indirectly with criminal or delinquent behavior: Chemical, mineral, and vitamin deficiencies in the diet Diets high in sugar and carbohydrates Hypoglycemia Ingestion of food dyes and lead Exposure to radiation Brain dysfunctions

28. Modern Biocriminology Limbic System is a structure surrounding the brain stem that is believed to moderate expressions of violence. A structure surrounding the brain stem that in part controls the life functions of heartbeat, breathing, and sleep. Violent criminal behavior has also been linked to disorders in other parts of the brain.