Criminal Sociology

Criminal sociology - investigates the social causes of criminal behavior in an effort to ultimately end them.Criminal sociologist identify the sources outside of a person in society that influence and even as some theorists believe,compel criminal action.
                            

Criminology Theories

1. Strain Theory - people has aspirations like wealth and education.
     There goals are blocked along the way. They resort to illegal
     activities what they  can not achieved through legitimate means.
     People may reduce their aspirations or increase   opportunities.
   
2. Learning Theories - follow the lead of Sutherland's  theory of
     differential association. Criminals learn from their peers.

3. Control Theories - focuses on the relationship of  a person to
     their parents, teachers, officers of the law and other agents of
     socialization. Effective    bonding with such authority figure help
     keep people out of trouble from the law.
 
4. Labelling Theory - People who are branded as criminals will
     eventually criminal.

5. Conflict Theory - society is based on conflict  between competing
     interests group.

6. Radical Theory - crime is seen as a reflection of   class struggle.

7. Left Realism - people of the working class prey  upon one
    another.Poor people victimize other  poor people of their
    own race and kind.
 
8. Peacemaking Theory - making "war on crime"  will not work.
    Making peace is the solution to crime.

9. Feminism - crime can not be understood without  considering
    gender. Crime is shaped by the different social experiences and
    power is exercise   by men and women. Men may use crime to
    exert control over women and to demonstrate  masculinity.

10.Critical Theory - Inequality in power and material  well being
     create conditions that lead to street crime and corporate crime.
     Capitalism and its   market economy are especially criminogenic
     because they create vast inequalities that    impoverishes many
     and provides opportunities for exploitation for the powerful.
     
11.Social Disorganization - disorganized communities   cause crime
     because informal social controls breakdown and criminal cultures
     emerge. They  lack collective efficacy to fight crime and disorder.

12. Classical - crime occurs when the benefits      outweigh the
      costs,when people pursue self  interest in the absence
      of effective punishments.  Crime is a free willed choice.
   
13. Positivist - Crime is caused or determined.Placed more
     emphasis on biological deficiencies, while  later scholars would
     emphasize psychological and    sociological factors.Use science to
     determine the factors associated with crime.

14. Individual Trait - criminals differ from non criminals   on a number
      of biological and sociological traits.These traits cause crime in
      interaction with the   social environment.
    
15. Differential Association - crime is learned through associations
      with criminal definitions.These  definitions might be generally
      approving of   criminal conduct or be neutralization that justify
      crime only under certain circumstances.Interacting  with anti
      social peers is a major cause of crime.Criminal behavior will be
      repeated and become  chronic if reinforced.When criminal
      subculture exist then many individuals can learn to commit crime
      in  one location and crime rates, including violence  may become
      very high.
   
16. Anomie - the gap between a persons goal or   economic success
      and the opportunity to obtain this goal creates structural
      strain.Norms weakens   and anomie ensues,thus creating high
      crime rates.When other social institutions such as family are
      weak to begin with or also weakened by a persons goal, the
      economic institution is dominant.When   such an institutional
      imbalance exists,then crime rates are very high.
 
17. Rational Choice - Building on classical theory,crime  is seen as a
      choice that is influenced by its costs and benefits,that is, by its
      rationality.Crime will be  more likely to be deterred if its costs are
      raised especially if the costs are certain and immediate.
      Information about the costs and benefits of crime  can be
      obtained by direct experiences with  punishment and punishment
      avoidance and  indirectly by observing whether others who
      offend are punished or avoid punishment.
 
18. Routine Activities - crime occurs when their is an  intersection
     in time and space of a motivated offender,an attractive target,
     and a lack of capable  guardianship.Peoples daily routine activities
     affect the likelihood they will be an attractive target who 
     encounters an offender in a situation where no effective
     guardianship is present.Change in   activities in society can affect
     crime rates.
 
19. Developmental Life Course - crime causation is a  
      developmental process that starts before birth  and continues
      throughout the life course.  Individual factors interact with social
      factors to  determine the onset,length, and end of criminal 
      careers.The key theoretical issues involve
      continuity and change in crime.Some theories  predict continuity
      across the life course,others predict continuity for some
      offenders and change  for other offenders, and some predict
      continuity and change for the same offender.

20. Integrated - these theories use components from  other
      theories,usually strain,control, and social learning to create a
      new theory that explains   crime.They are often are life course
      theories,arguing that causes of crime occur in a sequence  
      across time.


                 Introduction to Criminology: Next Page
 

Related Readings: Criminal Sociology
1. Introduction to Criminology Reviewer 1
2. Sociology of Crimes Review Questions