THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION

1. BIOLOGICAL THEORIES

- this refers to the set of theories that point to physical, physiological and other natural factors as the
causes for the commission of crimes of certain individuals.

- This explanation for the existence of criminal traits associates an individual’s evil disposition to physical
disfigurement or impairment.

a. Physiognomy – the study of facial features and their relation to human behavior.

1. Giambiatista dela Porta

- founder of human physiognomy

- according to him criminal behavior may be predicted based on facial features of the person.

2. Johann Kaspar Lavater

- supported the belief of dela Porta

- he believed that a person’s character is revealed through his facial characteristics.

b. Phrenology, Craniology or Cranioscopy – the study of the external formation of the skull in relation to
the person’s personality and tendencies toward criminal behavior.

1. Franz Joseph Gall

- he developed cranioscopy which was later renamed as phrenology.

2. Johann Kaspar Spurzheim

- assistant of Gall in the study of phrenology.

- he was the man most responsible for popularizing and spreading phrenology to a wide audience
c. Physiology or Somatotype – refers to the study of body build of a person in relation to his
temperament and personality and the type of offense he is most prone to commit.

1. Ernst Kretschmer

- he distinguished three (3) principal types of physiques: asthenic, athletic, pyknik and dysplastic.

a. asthenic – characterized as thin, small and weak.

b. athletic – muscular and strong.

c. pyknic – stout, round and fat.

d. dysplastic – combination of two body types

2. William Herbert Sheldon

formulated his own group of somatotype: ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph.

a. ectomorph – tall and thin and less social and more intellectual than the other types.

b. mesomorph – have well-developed muscles and an athletic appearance.

c. endomorph – heavy builds and slow moving.

d. Heredity – the transmission of traits from parents to offspring.

1. Richard Louis Dugdale

- conducted a study of the Jukes family by researching their family tree as far back 200 years. He
discovered that most of the ascendants of the Jukes were criminals.

2. Henry Goddard

- he traced the descendants of the Martin Kallikak from each of his two wives and found a distinct
difference in termsof quality of lives of descendants. He coined the term “moron”.

3. Charles Goring

- he believed that criminal traits can be passed from parents to offspring through the genes.

- he proposed that individuals who possess criminal characteristics should be prohibited from having
children.

INTELLIGENCE AS A FACTOR IN CRIMINALITY

The classic studies of the Juke and Kallikak families were among the first to show that feeblemindedness
or low-intelligence can be inherited and transferred from one generation to the next. Numerous test
were also conducted that lead to the development of the use of IQ tests as a testing procedure for
offenders. The very first results seemed to confirm that offenders had low mental abilities and they
were found to be mentally impaired.

ALFRED BINET – a French psychologist who developed the first IQ test.

- the test measured the capacity of individual children to perform tasks or solve problems in relation to
the average capacity of their peers.

2. PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES

- refers to the theories that attribute criminal behavior of individuals to psychological factors, such as
emotion and mental problems.

a. Sigmund Freud

- he is recognized as the FATHER OF PSYCHOANALYSIS

- known for his psychoanalytic theory

- according to him, criminality is caused by the imbalance of the three (3) components of personality: the
id, the ego, and the superego.

- according to him there are three parts of personality:

1. ID – this stands for instinctual drives; it is governed by the “pleasure principle”; the id impulses are not
social and must be repressed or adapted so that they may become socially acceptable

2. EGO – this is considered to be the sensible and responsible part of an individual’s personality and is
governed by the “reality principle”; it is developed early in life and compensates for the demands of the
id by helping the individual guide his actions to remain within the boundaries of accepted social
behavior; it is the objective, rational part of the personality

3. SUPEREGO – serves as the moral conscience of an individual; it is structured by what values were
taught by the parents, the school and the community, as well as belief in God; it is largely responsible for
making a person follow the moral codes of society

3. SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES

- sociological factors refer to things, places and people with whom we come in contact with and which
play a part in determining our actions and conduct. These causes may bring about the development of
criminal behavior.
a. Emile Durkheim

- he stated that crime is a normal part of the society just like birth and death.

- proposed the concept of “anomie” or the absence of social norms. It is characterized by disorder due to
lack of common values shared by individuals, lack of respect for authority and lack of appreciation for
what is acceptable and not acceptable in a society.

b. Gabriel Tarde

- introduced the theory of imitation which proposes the process by which people become criminals.

- according to this theory, individuals imitate the behavior of other individuals based on the degree of
their association with other individuals and it is inferior or weak who tend to imitate the superior and
strong.

c. Adolphe Quetelet and Andre Michael Guerry

- He repudiated the free will doctrine of the classicists

- founder of cartographic school of criminology.

- founder of moral statistics.

- cartographic school of criminology made use of statistical data such as population, age, gender,
occupation, religious affiliations and social economic status and studies their influences and relationship
to criminality.

MODERN SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION

- environmental factors such as the kind of rearing or family upbringing, quality of teaching in school,
influences of peers and friends, conditions of the neighborhood, and economic and other societal factors
are believed to be contributory to crime and criminal behavior.

1. SOCIAL STRUCTURE THEORIES

- refers not only to the physical features of the communities but also to the way society is organized.

- include such things as level of poverty and unemployment and the amount of crowded housing which
are believed to affect behavior and attitudes of individuals which in turn contribute to their commission
of crimes.

- also called social environment

- includes social disorganization theory, strain theory and cultural deviance theory.

a. Social Disorganization Theory

- popularized by Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay.

- according to this theory, crimes in urban areas are more prevalent because residents have impersonal
relationships with each other.

- increase in the number of broken families and single parenthood are also very common in disorganized
communities.

- another feature of disorganized community is poverty as evidenced by poor living conditions such as
rundown houses, unsanitary and unsightly streets and high unemployment rates.

b. Strain Theory

- strain refers the individual’s frustration, anger and resentment.

- holds that crime is a function of the conflict between the goals people have and the means they can
use to legally obtain them. This also argues that the ability to obtain these goals is class dependent;
members of the lower class are unable to achieve these goals which come easily to those belonging to
the upper class. Consequently, they feel anger, frustration and resentment, referred to as STRAIN.

c. Cultural Deviance Theory

- gives emphasis on the concept of culture and sub-culture.

- according to this theory, because people in the lower class feel isolated due to extreme deprivation or
poverty, they tend to create a sub-culture with its own set of rules and values. This is characterized by
deviant behavior which results in criminal behavior among its members.

2. SOCIAL PROCESS THEORY

- refers to a group of theories which point to the individual’s socialization process as the cause for the
commission of crimes. These theories cite interaction with people and experiences and exposure to
different element in the environment as primary factors to criminality.

- under this theory is the social learning theory which in turn has three (3) sub-theories: differential
association theory, differential reinforcement theory and neutralization theory.

a. Differential Association Theory

- formulated by Edwin Sutherland

- this theory states that criminal behavior is learned through socialization.

- criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a process of communication.

b. Differential Reinforcement Theory

- according to this theory, individual’s behavior depends on how people around him react toward s his
behavior.

- an act that is rewarded is repeated; an act that is punished will be avoided.

c. Neutralization Theory

- introduced by David Matza and Gresham Sykes.

- sometimes referred to as “drift theory”

- according to this theory, people know when they are doing something wrong, however, they
rationalize and justify their actions. This rationalizing is what we called “neutralization”.

3. SOCIAL REACTION THEORY

- more commonly called labeling theory.

- it states that people become criminals when significant members of society label them as such and
they accept those labels as a personal identity.
4. SOCIAL CONTROL THEORIES

- maintain that everyone has the potential to become criminal but most people are controlled by their
bonds to society.

- social control refers to the agencies of social control such as family, school, religion or church,
government and laws and other identified authorities in society.

- there are two (2) sub-theories: containment theory and social bond theory.

a. Containment Theory

- proposed by Walter Reckless

- he stated that inner and outer containments help prevent juvenile offending.

- containment means the forces within and outside the individual that has the power to influence his
actions.

- inner containments include positive self-concept, tolerance for frustration and an ability to set realistic
goals.

- outer containments include family.

b. Social Bond Theory

- propagated by Travis Hirschi

- this theory views crime as a result of individuals with weakened bonds to social institutions.

- according to this theory, there are four (4) elements of social bonds: attachment, commitment,
involvement and belief.

d. attachment – refers to the degree to which an individual care about the opinions of others.

e. commitment – refers to an individual’s investment of enrgy and emotion in conventional pursuits,

such as getting good grades.

f. involvement – refers to the amount of time an individual spends on a conventional pursuit.

g. belief – refers to acceptance of the norms of conventional society.