Theoretical
Contemporary Criminology
Ron D. Young
December 15, 2014
Abstract
Theoretical contemporary criminology involves the views of
past and new analysis scientist and analysis alike test subjects to figure out
their mental capacity. How fare can a person go before they become violent, why
do people commit crime, what type of people commit crime, how do people respond
to situations, and what are the controls that make people civilized are some of
the theoretical studies that produce information that explains why a person
reacts to a situation in the way that they do. The first type of theoretical
exploration of crime came from spirituality. In the middle ages, lords ruled
over the lands and proposed that the laws were met by spiritual reconciliation.
The people lived by the laws made by the community that followed rules within
their religion. These rules made up of reading that have been pasted down from
generation to generation required full belief in the religion that they
followed most of their rules were punishable by capital punishments that showed
the public what happens to you if you break the laws. Most of these laws have
value in our society today. In retrospect, the laws had to made more complex
because the communities they served became larger. Our modern prison system was
actually built around spiritual beliefs of separating the bad from the good as
a punishment. In seventeen nineties the
Quakers made up the concept of isolation by only providing a bible the Quakers
made the first prisons. Later after many unanswered questions, the theorist
started to become festinated with the way criminals think. Newer more
explanative studies revealed contemporary methodology that had more precise
demonstrations of why civilians commit crime. The main ideals that exaggerated
why criminals commit crime are rational choice, deterrence theory, economic
model of crime, routine activity theory, cultural conflict theory and
subculture theory.
.
Rational
choice this theory was created by Derrick Cornish and Ronald Clark. Rational
choice theory explains how a citizen makes decisions by their situation,
influenced by others that are considered to be close to the one that is making
the decision. Rational choice theory is classified as Neoclassical theory
because of its manner of decision making. This theory explains why people make
certain decisions. When faced with an illegal act the ration choice theory has
a positive outlook and a negative outlook. When making decisions there are many
different there are many different choices to choose from positive and
negative. The surroundings, personal background, friends, family, religion,
schooling, social being, economic stability and geographical location all sway
the decision making process explaining how one may react to situations that
occur to do wrong. Other factors of Rational Choice theory include the intent
or reason why one might benefit from a criminal act that allows the decision
maker to think of how they may be rewarded for the crime they commit. Rational
choice also recognizes the reasoning behind breaking the law and what might
happen if they were to be caught. The way a person learns can also be a great
factor within the rational choice theory if a person is mentally ill or have a
learning disorder this will affect the learning process making it hard for them
to comprehend wrong from right. Mental disorders can range from schizophrenia
to manic pain disorder. These types of disorders and sicknesses can spark a
person to do many wrong things including committing homicide and suicide.
Mental disorders will most likely disturb the decision maker. Many people do
not recognize mental disorders due to the complexity that they present.
Mentally ill people look and act just like the ones without mental disorders
most likely it takes an event to make them uneven. It has been found that there
are also those who are thrill seekers. This type of person does anything to
spark adrenalin. The adrenalin rush makes them go further than others to
produce this chemical. Many lifetime
criminals participate in crime for two reasons the adrenalin rush and peer
pressure. Peer pressure can make for a large amount of problematic issues when
the criminal is involved with groups of people such as gang relations the
choice to commit crime is ultimately up to the person who is tempted to commit
the crime. Peer pressure makes it harder for the subject to back out of
committing the crime. Rationalizing criminal activity is a difficult task to
take on. When dealing with rational choice theory the subject is considered to
be a threat that has to determine what choice to make. When confronted with an
opportunity the rational choice theory makes the delivery of thought bringing the
capacity of intent to the question of is there a reason that a person may make
decisions that do. Deterrence
theory suggests that the decision making process is made upon the rules and
laws thus keeping the possible criminal from committing the crime. The harsher
the punishment the punishment the less likely the possible criminal will commit
a crime. Steep punishments are for more server crimes. Crimes that include
homicides, rape, intent to kill, and intent to cause bodily harm are some
crimes that bring on more server punishments.
People make decisions that rectify their reasoning this rational choice
deterrence goes further than that it deters criminals from committing crime on
a large scale. The greater he punishment the more the punishment the more they
are to follow the rules and regulations in the area that they live. Severity of
the laws has proven over history to be an effective way of deterring
crime. The police presence and
intervention makes a large difference in the community. During the Kansas City
Missouri, police study the removal and addition of police presence did not stop
criminal activity. Overtime the crime rate will plummet thus reducing the
percentage of crime. Analysis found that lenient rules promote more crime
because arrestees receive less punishment. Being at the midpoint of
neoclassical theory deterrence theory revolutionized the way politicians made
rules. Before the deterrence theory it was mandated that people follow the
rules or be imprisoned most prison sentencing was for the actual crime and the
intent of the crime its self. After the deterrence theory, the intent of the
crime became just as important as the crime being committed. In most cases by
using the method of deterrence, they found that many criminals were stopped while
committing crime. This type of proactive
policing causes many to view the police force as being more commutative
rather than responding to a police call they simply hired more police officers
to patrol the most dangerous areas. Specific studies have concluded that the
rise in prison time and the crime rate both intertwine Analysis have proven
that the more prison time a criminal may receive the higher rate of reduction
occurred. The deterrence theory also suggested that retribution be used to deter
crime. Giving harsher penalties in the form of retribution such as community
service can drastically reduce petty theft. Being placed under community
service is not only embarrassing but also a hard won fact that if you trade
work for criminal activity that the criminal would choose a different reward
for their efforts. Retribution can cause many problems within the prison system
especially if the prisoners do not want to participate in the activities that
are assigned to them. This none –participation could lead to more sever prison
punishments. Just deserts is a policy that elaborates that those who commit
crime deserve to be punished. Under this model many are incarcerated longer
sentencing times for petty crimes. This type of sentencing keeps repeat offenders
away thus reducing the recidivism rate. When faced with harsh penalties one
might think twice before committing a crime. A smaller criminal act may not be
worth trouble. In evaluation most people are rationalized thinkers as the
justice model shows, if the propose of committing their crime is lesser than
what the benefits are then the subject would change their idealism. A great
deal of their time is spent contemplating if their situation is worth
committing crime over.
The
economic model of crime theory explains that when a person is confronted with
the same alternatives they will commit the same acts. Within the economic model, they propose that
people that are in the lower commit more crime than people that are middle
class or higher class. In fact this is not true most lower class stick together
during hard times while middle and higher class separate. In most situations,
those that are found not to have a placement are usually mentally ill. With
polices of schizophrenia, Hyper Attention Disorder, Emotional stress disorder,
manic headache disorder such as brain tumors, anger disorder, and other mental illnesses that are sure come
from the extent of child hood rearing. Some disorders are reconcilable while most
disorders are considered medical with only medications to slow down the process
of brain malfunction. The mentally ill gradually declining in mental stability
most mentally unstable subjects commit crimes because of loss of control rather
than planed intent. Economic stability is one part of crime that will never go
away. When a person feels they are understated or left behind the economic
winds have passed them by they tend to commit crime as a way to survive. Only a
hand full of subjects are actually made to be life time criminals simply because
of the stress and pressure of having authority over an area. The criminal
calculates what they should do in this type of situation they most often
calculate the same when presented the same situation. In the economic model of
crime, theory most people located in a specific community will commit the same
crime.
Routine
activities theory, also called RAT suggests that people tend to make a routine
out of criminal actions. Routine activities theory created by Lawrence E. Cohen
and Marcus Felson explains why criminal delinquency occurs in specific places
under the same conditions. The motivation, targets, and absence of possible
guardians against violations help possible offenders make their decisions on
whether to be delinquent or not. Interest in ones possible criminal
self-motivation to become a offender succeeding to criminal activity. Many motivational individuals may break laws
to trend with the people around them. The value of the criminal act is measured
by how much energy is spent on the assault or the subsequent crime may be. The deterrence of breaking the law includes
burglar alarms, auto alarms, guards, surveillance cameras, lights, gates, open
uncovered spaces. All of these protect possible victims from being sought after
by criminals. Routine criminal activity
makes the public aware that there is a problem with their security that allows
the place or type of people that are being sought after. This situation calls
for special attention by the police department because of the severity of the
situation at hand. Most likely, the reported criminals have recidivism they
have been put in jail or prison before and are released to the same situation
that they were in before being incarcerated. Having the same friends, family
members, groupings, social background as before committing a crime the routine
criminal will most likely strike in the same places that they had struck
before. Routinely burglarizing, robbing, and selling illicit drugs is a way of
life for these types. Routine activities theory focuses on predatory violators
that are usually perpetrators of victims. Routine activities focus on the
redundancy of crime rather than criminals themselves.
According to criminologist Thorsten Sellin the creator of Culture Conflict
theory he suggested that all societies have normalized propaganda that change
from each cultural background. Sellin noticed changes the laws from one culture
to the next. What may be against the law in one culture may not be against the
law in another. Persons who posses power within the community are able to
control the conduct of norms. Powerful people make rules up that suite their
type of living style. When the area is
extended with the controllers laws they then take over another area in most
cases causing conflict with the old leader. When members of one cultural group
migrate to another, the cultural code is broken to adapt to the others rules
and laws. The evolution of our own culture explains that the origin changes as
they take over other cultures. Sellin uses American Indians as an example
because of their laws and rules. American Indians lived in America before
Europeans where able to cross the Atlantic Ocean when the first settlers made
home in James Town in 1607 the Indians were already their Thanks giving was a
feast to commemorate the hard times that the Plymouth colony in 1620 had when
they first landed and the Indians taught them how to survive in their new
environment. Secondary conflicts such as morals and laws made as the Europeans
took over the made the Indians have to adapt or move away. This made many
American Indians distained from Europeans and eventually retaliate causing the
great Indian wars. The Europeans ways of business producing liquor, and
shipping of goods conflicted with the Indians simple life of migration.
Eventually the American Indians had to either move to a region of their own or
fight for their land. They ended up fighting for their land. Since the European
could not stand having the Indians in their culture, they then found a way that
both the American Indians and the Europeans descendants could be happy that was
by making reserves for the American Indians to live on. This is an excellent
example of secondary conflict it explains about culture and what happens when
two cultures do not agree with one another.
Culture conflict theory provides boundaries such as New York and
immigrants the original New Yorkers thought of immigrants as not as worthy as
the first settlers that settled the United States in the sixteen hundreds to
the eighteen hundreds. The early settlers complained that the newer nineteen
hundred immigrants were taking over the area and the city grew during the
nineteen twenties even though work became scarce and everyone blamed it on
immigration. While still trying to join in to the normalized crowd the nineteen
twenties immigrants started to form gangs and especially the Italians. The laws
were made stricter to counter the cultural differences of the original settlers
and the new immigrants. As time proceeded, the abolishment of liquor became the
result of unruly behavior of the city. Gang violence still increased as illegal
liquor sales and gambling became the norm in the city. The police force was
increased to keep away violence, vandals, and thieves. The rules continued to
change placing call boxes at corners during the great depression and the
industrial revolution police communications changed as the CB radio took effect
and proactive community policing became the norm. After many years, they found
that the immigrants that had first settled in the early nineteen hundreds help
build the city while the ones that came during the great depression had a
distorted view of America and what stood for. Not formulating to the style of
diplomacy that their earlier ancestors had taken on by building the city the
later immigrants and the earlier children of the poor immigrants joined to
produce crime syndicates. This taking over the city of New York is still in
effect today, each area was segregated by individuals from each country they
used to live in, these block wars have calmed down but the cultural differences
still remains. The subculture of violence theory was made by Wolfgang in 1958 this theory
presents the logic of racism in the world especially black and white Americans.
The equality of each citizen was measured by Wolfgang on each subculture this
study explains what each subculture is able to get away with without being
harmed by civilians in the communities they lived in. Wolfgang studied cases of
homicide and found that in the subculture of his dwelling in Philadelphia in
the nineteen fifties that whites were able to murder blacks but not the
opposite way around. The proper gander
was that in his time period blacks had no supporting groups that made it hard
for whites to murder blacks. This is not true in today’s culture that follows
laws in a strict manner but in the nineteen fifties if a black murdered a white
this became a personal matter that was handled by the local citizens rather
than the police and public authorities. Wolfgang found that the crime was
measured differently between whites and blacks if a black was to steal from
another black this was looked upon as being a none prosecutable offense but if a black was to steal from a white it
was considered as a highly dangerous area for the black to be. In most cases,
this is not as truthful today as it was sixty-five years ago. This theory had many problems with it because
even though wolf gang explains cultural indifference he had little clerical
value and no subjects to test his theory on. Later they revised Wolfgang’s
theory and it was called the Subcultural theory code of the streets in, this
theory Elijah Anderson 1994 discovered that instead of cultures being defined
as skin color classification that grouping of people were at fault for
discrimination against one another. Anderson found that the discriminative
groups were not well-educated citizens but the ones that found their selves in
hard times while they saw other groups in better situations than themselves.
Discriminating against those who are not like themselves but may have a better
educational background and a higher social class made the lower class who was
socially known as the norm to become more or less discriminative of the higher
class none citizens blaming them for taking away their rights to live
comfortable. These analysis help explain about how the systematic process of
Subcultural Theory came to being by groupings in the streets defining them as
hate groups and people with antisocial skills. These groups are traditional
opposed by the police and find ways to avoid policies and regulations that
allow Americans to have equal rights. Anderson explains that hate groups do not
simply exist between races but also sex, religion, and beliefs. There has
been related instances between
communities and police such as the Brown
case that started when a police officer used over excessive force on a
teenager that made the community riot and cause destruction in New Orleans
where a Police officer shot and killed
Michael Brown a high school student for stealing from a local convenience
shop. These controversies will never
cease to exist but our views, laws, rights, and protections can possibly stop
racially inclined tension. The goal of police is to stop criminals from
committing crime they have to be proactive in communities that accept crime and
responsive in areas that have less crime.
References
Charles R.
Tittle (2014). Criminal Justice Volume 1, The Nature of Crime: Continuity and Change Theoretical
Development Criminology https://www.ncjrs.gov/criminal_justice2000/vol_1/02b.pdf
Lisa
Landis Murphy, decoding crime Explanations for Criminal Behavior Chapter 3
Mcgraw Hill
http://www.ablongman.com/html/productinfo/glick/images/61832_CH03_058-085-r.pdf
Bernard , Thomas J. & Engel, Robin S. (2013). ARTICLES CONCEPTUALIZING CRIMINAL JUSTICE
THEORY http://www.uc.edu/content/dam/uc/ccjr/docs/articles/engel_articles/Conceptualizing_CJ_Theory.pdf
