Understanding Crime and Victimization

Chapter 3

Violent crime

Gang violence

Serial and mass murder

Terrorism

Intimate violence

Substance abuse

Economic crimes

White-collar crime

Organized crime

What is Crime?

A general statement or set of statements that explains many different

facts by reference to underlying principles and relationships.

A statement that organizes a set of concepts in a meaningful way by

explaining the relationship among the concepts.

What Is a Crime Theory?

Rational choice theorists separate the reasons people become

criminals and the reasons they commit crime. It is possible to have

criminal tendencies but choose not to commit crime because

conditions are not right.

Rational Choice Theory (Because They Want to)

Rational criminals may decide to forgo or desist from illegal behavior

Rational choice is a function of a person’s perception of conventional

alternatives and opportunities

Rational crime can often be observed in white-collar and

organized crime settings

Some rationality can be observed even with violent crimes, for

example, choosing a target that is close to home or in an area

routinely traveled by the victim and perpetrator

Rational Criminals and Rational Crimes

Figure 3.1 Preventing Crime

Increasing the effort needed to commit crime.

Increasing the risks of committing crime.

Reduce rewards for committing crime.

Inducing guilt or shame for committing crime.

Four Main Types of Crime Tactics in Use Today

Biological throwbacks (atavistic or degenerate anomalies)

The criminal is a physical and biological throwback to early

stages of human evolution that adjusts poorly to modern society

and is thrust into criminal activities.

Biological Theories (Because They are Different)

Some biochemical studies suggest that offenders have abnormal

levels of organic substances that influence their behavior and in

some way make them prone to anti-social behavior.

Biochemical Theories: It’s in their Blood

Focus is on the relationship of brain activity to behavior.

Impairment of neurotransmitters has been researched for a link to crime:

Does the level of dopamine, serotonin, monoamine oxidase and

other chemicals relate to aggression?

Does ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) lead to

antisocial behavior in childhood?

Biological Theories: Neurological Abnormalities and Genetic Factors

Nurture (environment) and nature (genetics) have been the focus of

much research.

Are monozygotic twins more likely to demonstrate similar

antisocial behaviors?

Are dizygotic twins raised in the same environment likely to

demonstrate similar antisocial behaviors?

Do adopted children reflect their birth parents’ behavior patterns?

Biological Theories: Neurological Abnormalities and Genetic Factors (cont.)

Psychoanalytic Theory – The Disturbed Mind

Behavioral Theory – Learning to Commit Crime

Cognitive Theory – Developing Criminal Ideas

Psychopathic Theory – Personality and Crime

Psychological Theories (It’s in their Heads)

Numerous studies link low IQ to violent and aggressive behavior and

crime.

A Philadelphia-based study found that scores on intelligence

tests were the best predictor of violent behavior and could be

used to distinguish between groups of violent and non-violent

offenders.

In Denmark, researchers found that children with a low IQ tended

to engage in delinquent behaviors because their poor verbal

ability was a handicap in the school environment.

In a longitudinal study of Swedish youth, low IQ measures taken

at age three were significant predictors of later criminality over

the life course.

IQ and Crime

It is unlikely that crime patterns and trends can be explained by

biological or psychological factors alone. Official, self-report, and

victim data all indicate social patterns in crime rates. Sociologist

Emile Durkheim concluded that crime was an essential part of

society and a function of its internal conflict.

Sociological Theories

The focus of these theories is a stratified society and the unequal

distribution of wealth and status as causes of crime.

Disorganized neighborhoods and crime

Deviant values and subcultures and crime

Inability to achieve social success and crime

Poverty and crime

Social Structure Theory: Because They’re Poor

Figure 3.2 Poverty: 1959 - 2001

Figure 3.3 Poverty Rates by Race and Hispanic Origin:1959 - 2001

Some crime experts believe that crime is a product of neighborhoods

that are characterized both by physical deterioration and by

conflicting values and social systems.

Major sources of informal social control (family, school,

neighborhood, civil service) are broken and ineffective.

Urban areas are believed to be crime-prone because their most

important social institutions cannot function properly.

The establishment of deviant values and cultures may be a form

of adaptation to disorganized neighborhoods that also leads to

criminal behavior.

Disorganized Neighborhoods and Crime

Exhibit 3.2 Miller’s Lower-class Focal Concerns

Figure 3.4 Agnew’s Sources of Strain and their Consequences

Crime results from socialization in family life, the educational

experience, and institutions in society.

Criminal behaviors, attitudes and values can be taught.

Associating with deviant peers also exerts tremendous influence on

behaviors, attitudes and beliefs.

Social Process Theories

Advocates hold that people enter into a life of crime when, as

adolescents, they are taught the attitudes, values and behaviors that

support a criminal career.

Learning crime techniques comes from a variety of intimates,

including parents and family members.

Differential Association Theory is the best-known example of

learning theory.

Learning Theories

The nucleus of social control theory stems from observations that in

high school there are people who seem detached and alienated from

almost everything and everyone. They do not care about school,

they have poor relationships at home and even though they may

hang with a tough crowd, their relationships with their peers are

superficial and often violent. It is these same people who often get

into trouble at school, have run-ins with the police and are involved in

drugs and other antisocial behaviors.

Control Theory

Figure 3.5 Elements of the Social Bond

Figure 3.6 The Labeling Process

Figure 3.6 The Labeling Process

Figure 3.6 The Labeling Process

Seek to identify, describe and understand the developmental factors

that explain the onset and continuation of a criminal career.

Why do some offenders persist in criminal careers while others

desist from or alter their criminal activities as they mature?

Why do some people continually escalate their criminal

involvement while others slow down and turn their lives around?

Are all criminals similar in their offending patterns or are there

different types of offenders and paths to offending?

Developmental Theories

Figure 3.7 General Theory of Crime

Figure 3.7 General Theory of Crime

Figure 3.7 General Theory of Crime

Criminality is a dynamic process that is influenced by a multitude of

individual characteristics, traits and social experiences.

The process of “living life” provides for changing perception and

experiences and, as a result, behavior changes, sometimes for the

worse.

Crime is one among a group of antisocial behaviors that cluster

together in some people’s lives.

“Age Graded Theory” focuses on turning points in a criminal career.

Life Course Theory

Figure 3.8 Life Course Theories

Figure 3.9 Routine Activities Theory