Study Document
Criminology - Theory Understanding Crime Essay
Pages:2 (561 words)
Sources:2
Subject:Theories
Topic:Criminological Theory
Document Type:Essay
Document:#25210065
Certainly, the reason that some individuals become criminals has to do with biological predisposition, particularly in the case of many crimes of violence. On the other hand, circumstances, greed, desperation, and opportunity also play an undeniable role in many crimes. Social class and exposure to deviant subcultures also contributes to criminal behavior (Henslin, 2002; Macionis, 2003), but even so, those risk factors do not affect everyone the same; therefore, those approaches also fail to explain crime in many cases (Henslin, 2002; Macionis, 2003).
In some ways, the recent occurrences involving Bernard Madoff and several other high profile white collar criminals do not seem to fit any of the traditional criminological theories other than rational choice and possibly psychological disorder. These perpetrators were already the recipients of the considerable benefits of social class and opportunity and were already wealthy even by contemporary American definitions of wealth before resorting to crime to accumulate even greater wealth. Likewise, the collapse of the U.S. housing market because of widespread fraud in the mortgage and loan industry also seems to defy traditional theories about crime other than the convergence of motive and opportunity. Ultimately, crime may simply be a function of the inherent selfishness and free will of man and a comprehensive theory of crime nothing more than a cataloging of all the common manifestations of that selfishness.
Bibliography
Henslin, J.M. (2002). Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Macionis, J.J. (2003). Sociology 9th Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Schmalleger, F. (2007). Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text for the 21st…
Sample Source(s) Used
Bibliography
Henslin, J.M. (2002). Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Macionis, J.J. (2003). Sociology 9th Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Schmalleger, F. (2007). Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text for the 21st Century. Hoboken, NJ: Prentice Hall
Related Documents
Study Document
Criminology Clearance and Crime Rates
In fact, and quite surprisingly, one of the key findings of the Rand Report was that 50% of the nation's detectives could be eliminated without having a significant effect on clearance rates in the country (O'Connor). This conclusion flies in the face of conventional wisdom on police work, yet was fully supported by the exhaustive study. The study was funded by the National Institute of Justice and was designed
Study Document
Crimes and Civil Action Court Cases May
Crimes and Civil Action Court cases may occur in their criminal or civil nature attracting different kinds of penalties for the offenders. In the criminal justice practice, civil action often comes in the form of a lawsuit that has been advanced to enforce, protect, or redress the rights of the plaintiffs and defendants. The focus of a civil action undertaken against a party is to protect the civil rights of the
Study Document
Criminology Inaccurate and Selective Observations Are Common
Criminology Inaccurate and selective observations are common problems in all realms of research. In fact, they are basic perceptual fallacies that can lead to problems like stereotyping. Selective observation and inaccurate observations often occur unnoticed, and it take a lot of effort to recognize when such problems occur. However, researchers must remain aware of such errors, by being vigilant about their own work and by peer reviewing the work of others. Schutt
Study Document
Criminology Has Serious Limitations
Criminology Research Is Criminology a Hard Science? Criminology is a discipline within the social sciences and as such is the study of people (Bhattacherjee, 2012). By comparison, researchers within the natural sciences focus primarily on physical phenomenon, such as the speed of radio waves through different materials or the impact of a drug on blood pressure. Since social science researchers, including criminologists, focus on the behavior of people as individuals and in
Study Document
UCR Uniform Crime Report
UCR Uniform Crime Report Uniform Crime Report It is the belief of some people that the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system, through the Uniform Crime Reports collected by the FBI, provides a completely accurate indicator of crime in the United States. However, not everyone shares this opinion. There are two reasons why some people feel the UCR is not accurate as a representation of crime throughout the United States, and both of
Study Document
Measuring Gang-Related Crime Is an
The authors do not state that public perceptions of severity should be discounted, but merely that these should not be over-emphasized, as was the case in previous literature. Another existing mode of measuring crime severity is that of economic models. Economic measures of costs may seem more objective, but given that they also involve speculative losses (such as lost productivity), they are not universally agreed upon. One widely-used model to