Theories of Crime Causation

Theories of Crime Causation

Demonological Theory

• Maintains that criminal behavior was believed to be the result of evil spirits and demons something of natural force and controls behavior.

• During the medieval period, the most common explanations for the commission of wrong act is said to be caused by the devil. From this account, method uses in the determination of truth (trail) were arbitrary and fear of satanic possession dominated the thinking. People who violated social norms or religious practices were believed to be witches and or possessed by demons. The prescribed method for dealing with the possess was burning at stake, a practiced that survived into the 17th Century.

Classical Theory

• It asserts that human beings are endowed with absolute dree will to choose right from wrong. Human beings are fundamentally rational, and most human behavior is the result of free will coupled with rational choice.

• Pain and Suffering are the two central determinants of human behavior.

• It was introduced by Cesare Beccaria (Essay on Crimes and Punishment) and Jeremey Bentham (Utilitarian Hedonism)

Elements of Deterrence

• Certainty- refers to how likely it is that an individual will be caught and punished for a crime that he or she committed. Certainty is the most important of the three elements

• Severity- refers to how harsh the punishment for a crime will be.

• Celerity- refers to how quickly an individual is punished after committing a crime

Arguments against the Classical Theory

• Unfair

• Unjust

• The nature and definition of punishment is not individualized

• It considers only the injury caused not the mental condition of the offender

Neo-Classical Theory

• This maintains that there are some situations or circumstances that made it impossible to exercise freewill, thus humans are not always responsible for their actions.

Positivist Italian School

• The term positivism refers to a method of analysis based on the collection of observable scientific facts. It maintained that crime as any other act is natural phenomenon and is comparable to disaster or calamity. Crime is a social and moral phenomenon which cannot be treated and checked by the imposition of punishment but rather rehabilitation or the enforcement of individual measures

Holy Three

• Cesare Lombroso- Father of Modern Criminology (Crimes: It's Causes and Remedies)

• Enrico Ferri

• Raffaele Garofalo

Pyschoanalytic theory

• Personality is composed of three elements which includes ID, EGO, and SUPEREGO. Introduced by Sigmund Freud

• ID- is the only component of personality that is present from birth. This aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and includes the instinctive and primitive behavior.

• EGO- is the component of personality that holds all the internalized moral standards and ideals that is acquired from both parents and society. It provides guidelines for making judgment

• criminal behavior is a form of neurosis, that criminality may result from an overactive conscience

Somatotyping Theory

• it maintains the belief that inheritance is the primary determinant of behavior and the physique is a reliable indicator of personality was introduce by William Sheldon

Classification of Body Physique by William Sheldon

1. Endomorph- relatively with predominance of soft roundness through out the regions of the body
2. Mesomorph- athletic type, predominance of muscle, bone and connective tissue normally heavy, hard and firm sting and tough
3. Ectomorph- thin physique, flat chest, slender, poorly muscled

Classification of Body Physique by Ernest Kretschmer

1. Pyknic- medium height, rounded figure, massive neck, broad face
2. Athletic- medium to tall, strong muscular, course bones
3. Asthenic- lean, slightly built, narrow shoulders
4. Dysplastic/Mixed Type- combination of three

Differential Association Theory

• It asserts that a person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violation of law over definitions unfavorable to violation of law. In other words, criminal behavior emerges when one is exposed to more social messages favoring criminal conduct than pro social messages.

• It was introduced by Edwin Sutherland

Sub Culture Theory

• This maintains that the lower class cannot socialize effectively as the middle class is what considered appropriate middle class behavior. Thus, the lower class forms a subculture that rejects middle class values

• Introduced by Albert Cohen