Criminal Theories Essay

An in-depth knowledge of theories is not required at this level, rather deduction of knowledge of two of the biological, sociological and psychological explanations for sorry deportment and how factors such asnegative family influences, escape of education, poverty and unemployment may impact on the demeanor of the offender and how societys views of criminal doings lose changed over time.I confirm that the engage that I am submitting is entirely my own, and I have not copied from any other student or source, unless referenced.P3 Describe two theories of criminal behaviour and the factors that contri onlye to themWhen looking at evil, it is essential that we look the definitions of crime and the theories that explain why crime happens and how this affects both individuals and communities. The study of crime is commonly known as Criminology. Criminology originated from many other disciplines such as sociology, psychology, biology, geography, fair play and anthropology. It is gener every last(predicate)y accepted that there ar three main categories that ar ingestiond to explain why crime happens.To dive deeper into the theories surrounding criminal behaviour we give the bounceanalyse the three main and biggest theories behind a Criminal and their Behaviour A) psychological models B) sociological models and C) biological models. All infer different methods of go for and actions. Its actually difficult to separate the three categories completely as it is generally accepted that all three theories contribute large factors that play a role in the expression of behaviour. more thanover, psychological science consists of several disciplines including biological psychology and societal psychology, so psychological conventions could be applied across all three domains. However, there argon some general principles associated with each of the above three paradigms that would be associated with some specific crime examine policies. This gives in profe ssedly narrow definition for each of the categories but it does simplify the discussion herein.Psychological ApproachesThere a many different psychological models of criminal behaviour ranging from archeozoic Freudian notions to later cognitive and social psychological models. I cannot review them all. Instead, there are several fundamental assumptions of psychological theories of criminality (and human behaviour in general) that follow. These are1. The individual is the primary unit of analysis in psychological theories.2. Personality is the major motivational and influencial element that drives behaviour and their actions within individuals.3. north is generally defined by social consensus.4. Crimes then would result from abnormal, dysfunctional, or illicit mental processes within the personality of the individual.5. Criminal behaviour may be purposeful for the individual insofar as it addresses certain felt needs.6. Defective, or abnormal, mental processes may have a variety of ca put ons, i.e., a diseased mind, inappropriate learning or improper conditioning, the emulation of inappropriate role models, and adjustment to inner conflicts. Given these six principles to establish psychological explanations of criminal behaviour we can suggest first that traditional handcuffs, fines, and other romance sanctions are establish on operant learning models of behaviour for crime learn. Operant learning models are establish onthe utilitarian concepts that all people wish to maximize pleasure and minimize pain or discomfort. Skinnerian based social psychological theories of reinforcement and penalisation are influential in this model of criminal maintain although the idea of punishment for crime has a much longer fib (Jeffery, 1990). Technically speaking, punishments are any sanctions designed to decrease a specific behaviour olibanum, fines, jail sentences, etc. are all forms of punishment.However, Skinner himself recognized that punishment was generally ineffective in behaviour modification and that reinforcement worked better (e.g., Skinner, 1966). Actually, a caveat should be applied here. Punishment is effective if applied properly, but unfortunately it rarely is applied properly. Punishment needs to be immediate (or as close to the time the offence occurred as possible), inescapable, and sufficiently unpleasant (in fact the more it is subjectively perceived as harsh the better). Given the judicial system in the U.S. it would be hard to apply punishment to its maximal effectiveness, thus it is not an effective deterrent as seen in the stable homicide rates of states that carry the death penalty. Nonetheless, punishments and sanctions for criminal behaviour are based on behavioural psychological principles.Because harsh forms of punishment do not appear to significantly decrease recidivism rates, other psychological principles have been applied. In terms of cognitive behavioral psychological principles, rehabilitation and relea rning, retraining, or educational programs for offenders are forms of psychologically based methods to keep in line crime. These methods are based on the cognitive behavioural methods of teaching an secondary functional response in place of a formally dysfunctional one as opposed to simple punishment. These programs can take place in prisons or outside of the prison and have long been demonstrated to be successful (e.g., Mathias, 1995). So any form of retraining, re-education, or re-entry program is based on psychological principles of criminality and reform. Rehabilitation programs are often rarely implemented in jail or prison however.Many of these programs appear to be oddly beneficial for drug and alcohol offenders. Likewise, any form education such as the DARE program and recent efforts to curb bullying in schools are based on these methods. In line with this, changing the environment of the offender such as providing more opportunities would be a psychological behavioural p rinciple designed to cutcrime. In line with other psychological methods are policies aimed at maintaining a visible presence of law enforcement and methods to maintain self-awareness of people in tempting situations. Such methods are preventative. For instance, it has been a well-known social psychological principle that situations that diminish self-consciousness and self-awareness lead individuals to being less restrained, less self-regulated, and more likely to act without considering the consequences of their actions (e.g., Diener, 1979).The simple act of placing mirrors in stores can increase self-awareness and decrease shop-lifting. Likewise, the presence of visible law-enforcement can cut down on advantageously crime. Making sanctions and the consequences for crime well-publicized and available to the public is another psychological method to control crime in this vein. Various forms of criminal profiling are based heavily on psychological principles and represent an effort to either apprehend existing criminals or to identify persons at risk for certain behaviour (Holmes & Holmes, 2008). More recently there have been efforts to develop methods to identify individuals at risk for certain forms of deviant behaviour including criminal activities based on personality and social variables. Sociological ApproachesSociological principles and psychological principles of criminality are intertwined and technically not independent. As with psychological theories there are numerous sociological formulations of the cause and control of criminality. For purposes of this paper we will define sociological notions of criminality as 1. Attempting to connect the issues of the individuals criminality with the broader social structures and cultural values of public, social, familial, or coadjutor group. 2. How the contradictions of all of these interacting groups contribute to criminality. 3. The ways these structures ,cultures and contradictions have historically devel oped and evolved. 4. The current processes of change that these groups are undergoing. 5. Criminality is viewed from the point of view of the social make up and construction of criminality and its social causes.Traditional sociological theories proposed that crimes was a result of anomie, a term meaning normlessness or a feeling of a lack of social norms, and feeling departed from a social peer group or departed a lack of being connected tosociety. The term was do popular by mile Durkheim (1897). Durkheim originally utilise the term to explain suicide, but later sociologists used the term to describe the dissociation of the individual from the joint conscience or the criminality resulting from a lack of opportunity to achieve aspirations or by the learning of criminal values and behaviours. Therefore criminality results by the failure to properly socialize individuals and by unequal opportunities between groups. Durkheim believed that crime was an inescapable fact of society and advocated maintaining crime within reasonable boundaries.A vaunt of sociological theories is that society constructs criminality. Thus, certain types of human activity are harmful and are judged so by society as a whole. But it is alike true that there are other behaviors recognized by society as criminal that do not result in harm to others and are therefore criminalized without sufficient ground, these are the so-called victimless crimes. These include drug use, prostitution, etc. Therefore according to this view if carried to its extreme 100% of the members of a society are lawbreakers at some point. One of the sociological insurance insurance policy methods of crime control would be to advocate for decriminalization of these victimless crimes or at least a capacious reduction in their penalties (Schur, 1965). Social programs aimed at socializing children properly and providing support for single family homes are also examples of sociological methods to control crime. There are a number of these programs including career academies (small learning communities in low-income high schools, offering academic and career/technical courses as well as workplace opportunities).Finally, sociological policies to control crime would enable stronger and harsher penalties to be enforced when regarding serious crimes such as murder, round, are more effective law enforcement. Again, sociologists accept the reality that crime is a social phenomenon that will not disappear no matter how many interventions are enacted to control it. Sociologists note that of every 100 crimes committed within the join States, only one is sent to prison. A vast number are unreported and of those that are reported only a small portion goes to outpouring as a result of the victim being too scared to come forward and fear for their social morbidity. If a justice system is to work properly it must be able to rely on its law enforcement system and judicial system to bring to justice and prose cute serious offenders. The purposes ofimprisonment include punishment, rehabilitation, deterrence, and selective confinement. All of these should be utilized where appropriate for the individual (Hester & Eglin, 1992). Biological ApproachesBiological theories of criminality basically purport that criminal behavior is the result of some flaw in the biological makeup of the individual. This physical flaw could be due to (Raine, 2002) (1) Heredity(2) Neurotransmitter dysfunction(3) Brain abnormalities that were caused by either of the above, improper development, or trauma. Biological theorists would also endorse a harder penalty and better law enforcement techniques for crime control, but there are several methods of crime control that are specific to the biological theories of criminality. I will discuss these briefly here. Psychosurgery Brain surgery to control behaviour has rarely been applied to criminal behaviour. for sure much more common between the 1930s to the late 1970s t here were over 40,000 frontal lobotomies performed. Lobotomies were used to treat a wide slog of problems from depression, to schizophrenia.However, while widely discussed as a potential discourse for criminal behaviour a perusal of the literature could not find a court ordered case for a lobotomy as a sentence for a convicted criminal Lobotomies were also used for people who were considered an annoyance because the demonstrated behaviours characterized as moody or they were children who were defiant with authority figures such as teachers. The lobotomy involves separating the prefrontal cortex from the rest of the brain either surgically or in the case of the transorbital lobotomy with a sharp ice-pick like instrument that was inserted in the eye socket between the upper eyelid and the eye. In this method the patient was not anesthetized, not even children. The psychiatrists hit the end of the instrument with a hammer to disconnect the nerves in the frontal lobe of the brain. Aft erwards behaviours were changed, but at a high price as you can imagine. Today the lobotomy has fallen out of favour due medications used to control behaviour, although some view the use of medications as equivalent to a lobotomy (e.g., see Breggin, 2008).Psychosurgery appears to be an option that will most likely not be put into use due to the stigma associated with it. Chemical methods of control Theuse of pharmacological treatments to try to control crime has been ongoing in two major areas chemical castration for invoke offenders and pharmacological interventions for drug or alcohol addicts. However, addicts can stop the medication and return to use. Sex offenders are closely monitored and there is some evidence that this policy has been efficacious. Sometimes mentally ill people in the criminal justice system been ordered to take medications to treat their mental illness. Other pharmacological interventions to control crime seem plausible and are being investigated, but do not appear to have been widely used.Others Deep brain stimulation is used for some disorders such as Parkinsons disease, but has yet been investigated for criminal behaviour. Biological theorists have advocated changes in diet to deal with criminality (Burton, 2002) and better dealings between parents. There is also the famous patrimonial XYY combination that was once thought to be a marker for a criminal type, but as it turned out these individuals were found to be less intelligent or more likely to have learning difficulties as opposed to being criminal types. While there are many studies indicating a connection between antisocial personality disorder or criminal behavioural and heredity, there are no policies being implemented to advocate for selective breeding, genetic testing etc. for criminals. I do not yet envision a policy of genetic testing for criminals as the variables are not stable enough in order to predict with set of gene combinations are predictive of a biological cr iminal type (Rutter, 2006) although this is certainly a possibility.If the biological model of criminality has any significant effect on policy outside the use of chemical castration for wake up offenders, it would be the policy that certain forms of criminal behaviour or certain individuals may not be rehabilitated and the advocacy for harsher and stricter imprisonments or even executions are viable methods of control in these instances. The issue for the community is how to recognize a significant biological contribution to criminal behaviour since genetic testing is unreliable and there are no other physical markers of criminality. It seems that currently in the absence of very harsh crimes like murder and rape one must be recognized as a repeat offender before we can acknowledge a possible innate course towards criminality.By that time the damage, which is often irreparable, is done. Perhaps the answer lies in stricter probation and parole practices for first-time offenders. H owever,this policy is expensive and tax payers may not support it. The policy mandating convicted sex offenders to be monitored over their lifetime and certain restrictions placed on them is a result of the acknowledgment of a biological predisposition to engage in this crime and therefore traditional forms of treatment or remediation do not appear to be effective. Similar policies might follow with habitual criminal offenders based on the biological theories of criminality.Reference ListAmerican Psychiatric Association (APA, 2002). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th Ed.). Arlington, VA Author. Breggin, P.A. 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