CRIM.

2: THEORIES AND CAUSES OF CRIME

Lesson 1. GENERAL CONCEPT OF THEORIES AND CRIME CAUSATION

A. Understanding the Concept of Theories

Theory is one of those words that makes people uncomfortable, largely because of their
misconceptions of the term. Much of the skepticism about theory is based on the assumption that education
in general, and educational administration in particular, is art, not science, a skepticism that has plagued
all social sciences.

Theory in the natural sciences, on the other hand, has attained respectability not only because it
necessarily involves precise description, but also because it describes ideal phenomena that “work” in
practical applications. Most people think that scientists deal with facts, whereas philosophers delve into
theory. Indeed, to many individuals, including educators and educational
administrators, facts and theories are antonyms; that is, facts are real and their meanings self-evident,
whereas theories are speculations or dreams. Theory in education, however, has the same role as theory
in physics, chemistry, biology, or psychology – that is, providing general explanations and guiding research.

Four Steps in Scientific Method

1. Careful observation – inquiries about a curiosity on events or phenomena.

2. Hypothesis - make logical suppositions to explain the observation - Attempt to develop an
explanation or series of related observation
3. Hypothesis Testing – test one variable of a hypothesis (controlled experiment)
4. Establish a theory- refine the hypothesis; continuous testing and experimentation until it
becomes an established theory and generally accepted explanation (natural law).
What is Scientific Method?
It is the multistep method by which scientists approach problems, formulate them for experimental
inquiry, and validate their conclusions.

Is Criminology a Science?
According to George Wilker, Criminology cannot become a science because it has not yet acquired
universal validity. Edwin H. Sutherland, the Dean of Modern Criminology, hoped that it will become
a science in the future since the causes of crimes are almost the same which may be biological,
environmental or combination of the two or more factors.

B. Definitions of Theory

As the ultimate aim of science, theory has acquired a variety of definitions. Some early agreement,
for example, emerged in the field of educational administration that the definition of theory produced by
Herbert Feigl (1951) was an adequate starting point.

➢ An idea or set of ideas that is intended to explain facts or events. an idea that is suggested or
presented as possibly true but that is not known or proven to be true.

➢ A more general and useful definition for the social sciences was provided by Kerlinger (1986): “A
theory is a set of interrelated constructs (concepts), definitions, and propositions that present a
systematic view of phenomena by specifying relations among variables, with the purpose of
explaining and predicting phenomena”

➢ Willower’s (1975) definition is more parsimonious: He defined theory simply as a body of interrelated,
consistent generalizations that explain phenomena.

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The Concept of Theory

Theory- serves as models or framework for understanding human behavior and the forces that form it. It is
based on verified social facts or readily observed phenomena that can be constantly calculated and measured
– Siegel, 2007.

Why Theory is Important?

CONCEPTS

Moore 1991, enumerated the Importance of Theory:

1. Provides concepts to name what we observe and to explain relationships between concepts. It allows us
to explain what we see and to figure out how to bring about change; Is a tool that enables us to identify a
problem and to plan a means for altering the situation;

2. Is to justify reimbursement to get funding and support-need to explain what is being done and demonstrate
that it works;

3. Is to enhance the growth of the professional area to identify a body of knowledge with theories from both
within/out the area of distance learning. That body of knowledge grows with theory and guides research.

4. Also helps us understand what we don’t know and therefore, is the only guide to research. It increases its
ability to solve other problems in different times and places.

C. Characteristics of a Good Theory

A theory is a statement that is backed by evidence helps us organize and understand items we have
and will observe in archeology. A good theory also has to have three characteristics, it is predictive, its
parsimonious and powerful.

1. Predictive: It gives a good explanation for why they think that is how it is. Theories that give a good
reason to be favored are obviously more likely to be favored. Though the explanation cannot be really
short and give us no reason to believe it, it has to be very convincing.

2. Parsimonious: It has to be pretty simple. The more complex the theory becomes, the more chance a
mistake will be made. One good example is Ockham's razor, because of how simple it is, it is widely
accepted.

3. Powerful: It has to effect peoples life's in a massive way, like Darwin's evolution theory, changed the
perspective of millions because it told them where us, intelligent humans have our roots from. Another
example Like Gravity explains why we don't float into space.

D. Development of Theory

CONCEPTS

Scientists formulate theories, test theories, accept theories, reject theories, modify theories and use theories
as guide to understanding and predicting events. Theories are fruits of scientific research. Scientific research
is a process that is designed to extend our understandings and to determine if they are correct or useful.

Three Stages of Theory Development:

1. Speculative- attempts to explain what is happening.

2. Descriptive- gathers descriptive data to describe what is happening.

3. Constructive- revises old theories and develops new ones based on continuing research.

E. Understanding the Theories of Crime

There is no one ‘cause’ of crime. Crime is a highly complex phenomenon that changes across cultures
and across time. Activities that are legal in one country (e.g. alcohol consumption in the UK) are sometimes
illegal in others (e.g. strict Muslim countries). As cultures change over time, behaviors that once were not
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criminalized may become criminalized (and then decriminalized again – e.g. alcohol prohibition in the USA).
As a result, there is no simple answer to the question ‘what is crime?’ and therefore no single answer to ‘what
causes crime?’ Different types of crime often have their own distinct causes.

Virtually all criminological theories are causal in that they focus on variables purportedly responsible
for crime. Although some crime theorists eschew the term “cause,” they substitute such terms as “influences,”
“leads to,” “affects,” “determines,” “structures,” “prevents,” “creates,” ”depends on,” “brings about,” “increases
(or decreases),” “results in,” “is due to,” “produces,” and “forces” (Glenn, 1989).

It is important that criminological theories are causal because non-causal or conversational theories
lack policy applications. One of the principal reasons to construct causal theories in the social sciences,
whether they are about crime or any outcome variable, is to apply them, that is, to use them to identify effective
intervention policies for individuals or populations (Freedman, 1997; Glymour, 1997; Hart and Honore, 1985;
Marini and Singer, 1988). In the case of crime, the idea is that if X causes crime, then we may be able to
identify an intervention to effectively change X, thereby reducing, if not eliminating, crime.

Criminological theories tend to recognize multiple causes, as do theories about most other outcome
variables in the social sciences (Ragin, 2000). There is recognition of multiple causes in theories outside the
social sciences as well, including the experimental sciences. However, in theory testing in the experimental
sciences, the effects of particular causes can be separated from the effects of other causes through
randomization.

Lesson 2. THE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT IN CRIMINOLOGY

A. The Evolution of School of Thought in Criminology

In the mid-18th century, criminology arose as social philosophers gave thought to crime and concepts
of law. Over time, several schools of thought have developed. There were three main schools of thought in
early criminological theory spanning the period from the mid-18th century to the mid-twentieth
century: Classical, Positivist, and Chicago. These schools of thought were superseded by several
contemporary paradigms of criminology, such as the sub-culture, control, strain, labeling, critical
criminology, cultural criminology, postmodern criminology, feminist criminology and others discussed below.

➢ School of thought - is a term that refers to a group of beliefs or ideas that support specific theory.

➢ Theory - is a set of statements devised to explain behaviour, events or phenomenon, especially one
that has been repeatedly tasted and widely accepted.

Edwin Sutherland pointed out that a school of criminology connotes “the system of thought
which consists of an integrated theory of causation of crime and of policies of control implied
in the theory of causation”.

Therefore, the school of criminology implies the following three important points:

1. The adherents of each school try to explain the causation of crime and criminal behavior in their own
way relying on the theory propounded by the exponent of that particular school.

2. Each school of criminology suggests punishment and preventive measures to suit its ideology.

3. And, each of the school represents the social attitude of people towards crime and criminal in a given
time.

In an attempt to find a rational explanation of crime, a large number of theories have been propounded.
Various factors such as evil spirit, sin, disease, heredity, economic maladjustment etc. have been put forward
either singly or together to explain criminality. With the advance of behavioral sciences, monogenetic
explanation of human conduct is no longer valid and the modern trend is to adopt an eclectic view about the
genesis of crime. However, some criminologists still tend to lay greater emphasis on physical traits in order
to justify exclusive resort to correctional methods for the treatment of offender

Various scholars have attempted to explain the causation of crime and criminal behavior. Each school
of criminology explains crime in its own manner and suggests punishment and measures to suit its ideology.
Each school represents the social attitude of people towards crime in a given time.
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 The following is the list of School of Thought in Criminology:

1. Pre-Classical School of Criminology

During the period of the seventeenth century Europe was characterized by a dominance of religion in
state activities. At this stage, scientific knowledge was yet unknown. The concept of crime was vague and
obscure. Society was at the time largely unable to explain criminal behavior. An explanation of criminal
conduct was therefore sought through spirits, demons, and other unknown powers. The principle behind this
concept was that a man commits a crime due to the influence of some external power and is not subject to
the control or understanding of man. Since the spirit world is not one that is easily understood or discernable,
it formed a perfect explanation for crime.

No further attempts were made to probe the real cause of crime. Worship, sacrifices, ordeals by fire
and water were usually prescribed to pacify the spirit and relieve the victims of its evil influence. Trial by battle
was also used as a method of deciding the fate of the criminal. The criminal was therefore treated as a person
who could only be cured through torture and pain. The pre-classical thinking has however withered away
with the lapse of time and advancement of knowledge.

2. Naturalistic School of Criminology

The proponents of this school argued that crime must be explained through the use of ideas and
interpretations of objects and events and their interrelation with the existing world. Thus, there is no place for
other worldly powers or spirits. No matter how unsatisfactory, the explanation must rest on what is known or
assumed to be true of the physical and material world. This approach is ancient as well as modern.

3. Classical School of Criminology

The Classical School of Criminology was founded by Cesare Beccaria, an Italian theorist. Beccaria
was born an Aristocrat in Milan, Italy on March 15th, 1738. (Florida State University, 2013) Being an
Aristocratic is simply, being born wealthy or of high social class, usually, having a title. (Merriam-Webster,
2013) He received a degree in 1758. (Florida State University, 2013) Against his parent’s wishes three years
later, in 1761, he married Teresa di Blasco. (Florida State University, 2013)

The legal systems around the 1700s did not work very well. The legal systems were subjective,
corrupt, and harsh up to the time of the development of the Classical School of Criminology. (Cullen & Agnew,
2003) These unacceptable conditions led to a revolt against the arbitrary, harsh, corrupt system, thus allowing
for new ideas and insight to be put forth. (Jeffery C. R., 1956) Enlightenment is a place where the Classical
School set it roots and alleged that humans are rational beings and that crime is the result of free will in a risk
versus reward position. (Schmalleger, 2014) There were many people who helped shape the Classical School
of Criminology. Two of the most important of these people to shape the Classical School of Criminology are
Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham. With the principles of Cesare Beccaria and the philosophies of Jeremy
Bentham, the Classical School of Criminology was erected and put into effect.

During the middle of the eighteenth century, Beccaria the pioneer of modern criminology expounded
his naturalistic theory of criminality by rejecting the theory propounded by the pre-classical school. He laid
greater emphasis on the free will of the individual, arguing that intelligence and rationality are the fundamental
characteristics of man and therefore the basis for the explanation of human behavior whether individual or
collective. Thus, intelligence makes man capable of self-direction and any conduct engaged in will be
assumed to have been thought of and rationalized by the individual. Within this frame of reference, crime
and criminals are usually viewed from a strictly legal point of view. I.e. crime is defined as the commission of
any action prohibited by criminal law or the omission of any act required by it. A criminal is defined as a
person who commits a crime. Crime is seen as the product of the free choice of the individual who assesses
the potential benefits of committing the crime against its potential cost. The rational response of society
should therefore be to increase the cost and decrease the benefits of crime to the point that individuals will
not choose to commit a crime.

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 The task for criminology is seen as designing and testing a system of punishment that would result in
the minimum occurrence of crime. Thus, this perspective is concerned with the question of deterrence.

The main tenets of the classical school of criminology are as follows:

1. Man applies his sense of reasoning as a responsible individual:

2. It is the act of an individual and not his intent which forms the basis for determining criminality in
him. Classical criminologists are therefore concerned with the “act” of the criminal rather than his
“intent”.

3. The classical criminologists are greatly influenced by hedonism – the pain (cost) and pleasure
(benefit) theory. Thus, they accepted punishment as a mode of inflicting pain, humiliation and
disgrace on the offender so as to create fear in him and thus control his behavior.

4. The proponents of this school of thought considered crime prevention more important than the
punishment for it. They therefore stressed the need for a well-established system of criminal
justice.

5. The classical criminologists supported the right of the state to punish offenders in the interest of
public security. Keeping in view the hedonistic principle of pain and pleasure they pointed out that
individualization was to be the basis of punishment. The punishment was to be meted out keeping
in view the pleasure derived by the criminal from the crime and the pain caused to the victim there
from. They however advanced the theory of equalization of justice i.e. Equal punishment for the
same offence.

6. They further believed that criminal law was primarily based on positive sanctions. They were
against arbitrary use of power by judges and abhorred torturous punishments.

The greatest achievement of the classical school is the fact that it shifted emphasis from myths and
concentrated on the personality of the offender in order to determine his guilt and punishment. In other words,
Beccaria was the first criminologist to shift the emphasis from crime to criminals.

Nonetheless, the classical school has the following shortcomings:

• Firstly, it proceeded on an abstract presumption of free will and relied solely on the criminal
act without devoting any attention to the state of mind of the criminal;
• It also erred in prescribing equal punishment for similar offences thus making no distinction
between first offenders and habitual offenders.

4. Neo-Classical School of Criminology

This theory modified the doctrine of free will by stating that free will of men may be affected by other
factors and crime is committed due to some compelling reasons that prevail. These causes are pathology,
incompetence, insanity or any condition that will make it impossible for the individual to exercise free will
entirely. In the study of legal provisions, this is termed as either mitigating or exempting circumstances.

5. Positivist School of Criminology

In the late 1800s, the Classical School of Criminology came under attack, thus leaving room for a new
wave of thought to come about. (Cullen & Agnew, 2003) There were three causations for the attack of the
Classical School. These causations were crimes appeared to be increasing even though changes in the legal
system had taken place, punished offenders were recidivating, and the theory of an offender being a rational,
self-interested person who chose to engage in crime was challenged by the biological sciences. (Cullen &
Agnew, 2003) Each of these events brought on a new school of criminology that came to be known as the
Positivist School of Criminology.

Cesare Lombroso was born in 1835 and died seventy-four years later in 1909. (Seiter, 2011)
Lombroso was an Italian physician who founded the Positivist School of Criminology in the nineteenth century.
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(Seiter, 2011) Lombroso researched the links between criminality and physical attributes. (Seiter, 2011)
Lombroso came up with the “Criminal Man,” which outlined what he studied and deemed to be the traits of a
criminal. (Vold, Bernard, & Snipes, 2002) These traits of the “Criminal Man” were: not being developed
sufficiently mentally, having long arms, large amounts of body hair, prominent cheekbones, and large
foreheads. (Seiter, 2011) In his book, The Criminal Man, Lombroso suggested that criminals were
biologically in a different stage in the evolution process than the counterpart non-criminals. (Vold, Bernard, &
Snipes, 2002)

This school presumes that man’s behavior is determined by factors outside his control. These factors
are either biological or cultural.

Those who argue that the factors are biological believe that man’s social organization has developed
as a result of his biological evolution and hence social evolution is subsequent and not primary. On the other
hand positivists who base their theory on cultural factors; argue that man’s behavior despite his identification
with the world of biology is always related to and somehow reflects the characteristics of the social world in
which he lives.

Positivists thinking thus relies heavily of philosophy, biology, sociology and history among other
disciplines. Criminology is therefore understood as an analysis of criminal behavior through scientific study
of the physical, social and cultural characteristics of the criminal.

6. The Anthropological School/The Italian School Of Criminology

This is one of the earliest positivist schools of thinking. With the advance of time and the development
of scientific research during the nineteenth century certain doctors in Europe were successful in establishing
that it was neither the “free-will”(Classical) of the offender nor his innate depravity nor evil spirits that actuated
the offender to commit crime. The real cause of crime lay in the anthropological features of the criminal.
Some proponents of this theory tried to demonstrate the organic functioning of the brain and established a
co-relationship between criminality and the structure and functioning of brain.

The main proponents of this theory are three Italian criminologists:

1. Cesare Lombroso
2. Raffaele Garofolo
3. Enrico Ferri

7. The Ecological School of Criminology/Chicago School of Criminology

The ecological school examines factors including the environment and other social factors that may
lead to criminal behavior.

In sociology and criminology, the Chicago school (sometimes known as the ecological school) refers
to an iconoclastic group of sociologists from the University of Chicago whose work would influence the
development of a new science to the discipline of sociology in the early 20th century.

Conceived in 1892, the Chicago school first rose to international prominence as the epicenter of
advanced sociological thought between 1915 and 1935, when their work would be the first major bodies of
research to specialize in urban sociology. Their research into the urban environment of Chicago would also
be influential in combining theory and ethnographic fieldwork.

Major figures within the first Chicago school included Nels Anderson, Ernest Burgess, Ruth Shonle
Cavan, Edward Franklin Frazier, Everett Hughes, Roderick D. McKenzie, George Herbert Mead, Robert E.
Park, Walter C. Reckless, Edwin Sutherland, W. I. Thomas, Frederic Thrasher, Louis Wirth, and Florian
Znaniecki. The activist, social scientist, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jane Addams also forged and
maintained close ties with some of the members of the school.

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 The Chicago school is best known for its urban sociology and for the development of the symbolic
interactionist approach, notably through the work of Herbert Blumer. It has focused on human behavior as
shaped by social structures and physical environmental factors, rather than genetic and personal
characteristics. Biologists and anthropologists had accepted the theory of evolution as demonstrating that
animals adapt to their environments. As applied to humans who are considered responsible for their own
destinies, members of the school believed that the natural environment, which the community inhabits, is a
major factor in shaping human behavior, and that the city functions as a microcosm: "In these great cities,
where all the passions, all the energies of mankind are released, we are in a position to investigate the process
of civilization, as it were, under a microscope."

Members of the school have concentrated on the city of Chicago as the object of their study, seeking
evidence whether urbanization and increasing social mobility have been the causes of the contemporary
social problems. Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837, established at the location of what had once
been a village of the Miami. The Miami were one of the Illinois tribes that had been displaced by
the Potawatomi tribe, who then ceded the land to the U.S. after a disastrous alliance with the Brits and a large
influx of settlers. Although in 1860, Chicago was a small settler town with a population of 10,000, by the time
of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the population had grown to 300,000, one third of whom were homeless
due to the fire.
The aftermath of the Great Fire led to the "Great Rebuilding," an effort to reconstruct Chicago as a
vibrant urban center. By 1910, the population exceeded two million, many of whom had moved to Chicago as
new immigrants to the U.S. With a shortage in housing and a lack of regulation in the burgeoning factories,
the city's residents experienced homelessness and poor housing, living, and working conditions with low
wages, long hours, and excessive pollution. In their analysis of the situation, Thomas and Znaniecki (1918)
argued that these immigrants, released from the controls of Europe to the unrestrained competition of the
new city, contributed to the city's dynamic growth. See also the broken windows thesis.

The work of the plant ecologist Frederic E. Clements (1916) was particularly influential. He proposed
that units of vegetation or plant communities developed in a manner similar to the growth of individual plants,
and observed that such units were inclined to reach a self-regulating state of equilibrium. By analogy, an
individual is born, grows, matures, and dies, but the community the individual inhabits continues to grow and
exhibits properties of all of the individuals who had lived in the community.

Ecological studies (among sociologists thus) consisted of making spot maps of Chicago for the place
of occurrence of specific behaviors, including alcoholism, homicides, suicides, psychoses, and poverty, and
then computing rates based on census data. A visual comparison of the maps could identify the concentration
of certain types of behavior in some areas. Correlations of rates by areas were not made until later.

8. The Cartographic School of Criminology

Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quételet (a Belgium mathematician) and Andre-Michel Guerre (a

French statistician) in Europe during the 1830s and 1840s were the first to do detailed statistical studies of
crime. Quételet found strong correlations between rates of crime and such factors as illiteracy, poverty, and
similar variables (population, age, gender, occupation, religious affiliations and social economic status). He
also noted that these same variables remained the same as the highest crime rates continued to occur in the
same parts of the city through several decades. Some called this school of thought the “Cartographic School”
since it used maps to plot crimes within a certain geographic area.

As geography plays an important role within modern policing. Cartographic School can contribute
valuable information to criminal research and crime prevention. One of the most important tools in identifying
crime is Crime mapping, which is mapping of crime using a geographic information system to conduct spatial
analysis of crime problems and other police-related issues. To this Cartographic School plays an important
part. The cartographic school introduced the first spatial and ecological perspectives on crime.

The school stated the distribution of crimes across territorial divisions or departments of France. It
found that the greatest numbers of crime against people and property occurred in departments that were near
Rhone, Rhine or Seine Rivers and that the fewest numbers of crimes against people and property occurred
in departments in the center of France. The school found a stronger propensity to crime against property in
department near Mediterranean and a stronger propensity to crimes against in departments in the north. In
addition to analysing distributions of general crime rates and correlating them with distributions of other
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conditions, the proponents of this school made special studies of juvenile delinquency and professional crime
which are roughly comparable to studies in this century. Significantly it showed that the crime is a necessary
expression of social conditions. The basic idea was that crime is caused by the conflicts of values that arise
when legal norms do not take into consideration the behavioural norms that are specific to the lower
socioeconomic classes as well as to various age groups, religious groups, and interest groups living in certain
geographic areas.

In addition to this, the Cartographic school used objective mathematical techniques to investigate the
influence of social factors such as seasons, climate, sex and age on the propensity to commit crime. The
most important factor was these social forces correlated to significantly to crime rates. In addition to finding
age and sex had a stronger influence in crime, the Cartographic school uncovered evidence that season,
climate, population composition and poverty were also related to criminality, most specifically the crime rates
were greater in the summer in southern areas among heterogeneous population, and among the poor and
uneducated, they were highly influenced by drinking habits. This school identified many relationships between
crime and social phenomena that still servers as a basis for criminal studies.

Lesson 4.BIOLOGICAL, SOCIOLOGICAL & PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION

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.
❑ Biochemical
Crime, especially violent, is a function of diet, vitamin intake, hormonal imbalance, or food
allergies.

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

1. Giambiatista dela Porta

o founder of human physiognomy
o according to him criminal behavior may be predicted based on facial features of the person.
2. Johann Kaspar Lavater
o supported the belief of dela Porta
o 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.
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 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.

Genetic – a branch of biology that deals with heredity and variation of organisms.
Criminal traits and predispositions are inherited. The criminality of parents can predict the
delinquency of children.

SIR JONATHAN EDWARDS FAMILY TREE = a religious man and is believed to be a pastor
during his time. In the study conducted by early criminologist, they discovered that his
descendants became successful and law abiding citizens of the United States

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 terms of quality of lives of descendants. He coined the term “moron”.

Intelligence and Crime

➢ Intelligence refers to a person’s ability to reason, comprehend ideas, solve problems, think abstractly,
understand complex ideas, learn from experience, and discover solutions to complex problems. It was
long believed that people who maintain a below-average intelligence quotient (IQ) were at risk for
criminality.
➢ Nature Theory of Intelligence argues that intelligence is largely determined genetically, that ancestry
determines IQ, and that low intelligence, as demonstrated by low IQ, is linked to criminal behavior.
➢ Nurture Theory of Intelligence states that intelligence must be viewed as partly biological but
primarily sociological. Because intelligence is not inherited, low-IQ parents do not necessarily produce
low-IQ children.

2. PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES
❑ Refers to the theories that attribute criminal behavior of individuals to psychological factors, such
as emotion and mental problems.
❑ Neurological – Criminals and delinquents often suffer brain impairment. Attention
deficit/hyperactivity and minimal brain dysfunction are related to antisocial behavior.
- Causes of criminal behavior are brain structure, brain damage and brain chemicals. Also
called Neurological theory.
Ex: people with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is related to anti-social
behavior.

- Children who suffer from measurable neurological deficits at birth are believed to also
suffer from a number of antisocial traits throughout their life course, ranging from habitual
lying to antisocial violence
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 ❑ Cognitive – Individual reasoning processes influence behavior. Reasoning is influenced by the
way people perceive their environment and by their moral and intellectual development.

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:

a. 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
▪ The id is the primitive and instinctive component of personality. It consists of all the
inherited (i.e., biological) components of personality present at birth, including the
sex (life) instinct – Eros (which contains the libido), and the aggressive (death)
instinct - Thanatos.

b. 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
▪ The ego is 'that part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of the
external world. The ego develops to mediate between the unrealistic id and the
external real world. It is the decision-making component of personality. Ideally, the
ego works by reason, whereas the id is chaotic and unreasonable.

c. 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
▪ The superego incorporates the values and morals of society which are learned from
one's parents and others. It develops around the age of 3 – 5 years during the
phallic stage of psychosexual development. The superego's function is to control
the id's impulses, especially those which society forbids, such as sex and
aggression. It also has the function of persuading the ego to turn to moralistic goals
rather than simply realistic ones and to strive for perfection.

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COMPILED BY: RICHARD P. ALLAM, MSCJ
 1. Oral stage (Birth – 1 yr) – Erogenous zone: Mouth
2. Anal stage (1yr- 3yrs) - Erogenous zone: Bowel & Bladder control
3. Phallic stage (3 – 6 yrs) - Erogenous zone: Genitals
4. Latent stage (6yrs - Puberty) - Erogenous zone: Sexual feelings are inactive
1. Genital stage (puberty - death) - Erogenous zone: Maturing sexual interest

Various Studies of Human Behavior and Mind in Relation to the causes of crimes
Several noted criminologist have advanced the theories that criminal behavior is
developed among individuals consonant with the development of his human mind, traits and
behavior. Among them are:

b. AICHORN in his book entitled Wayward Youth, 1925 said the cause of crime and
delinquency is the faulty development of the child during the first few years of his life.
As child, the human being normally follow only his pleasure impulses instinctively.
Soon he grew up and finds some restrictions to this pleasure impulses which he must
control. Otherwise, he suffers from faulty ego development and become delinquent.

c. ABRAHAMSEN in his crime and the human mind, 1945 explained the causes of crime
by this formula.

Dr. David Abrahamsen’s Theory of the Etiology of Criminal Acts

Crime is a product of the individual’s tendencies and the situation of the moment interacting
with his mental resistance; letting C stand for crime, T stand for tendencies, S for situation and
R for resistance, we derive the following formula:

C (The Act) = T (Criminal Tendency) + S (Total Situation) / R (Resistance to

Temptation).

“Criminal behavior equals criminalistics tendencies plus

crime inducing situation divided by the persons mental or
emotional resistance to temptation.”

d. CYRIL BURT (Young Delinquent, 1925) gave the theory of general emotionally. According
to him many offenses can be traced to either in excess or in a deficiency of a particular
instinctive drive. An access of the submissive instinct account for the tendency of many
criminals to be weak willed or easily led. Fear and absconding may be due to the impulse of
fear. Callous type of offenders may be due to the deficiency in the primitive emotion of love
and an excuse of the instinct of hate.

e. HEALY (Individual Delinquency) claimed that crime is an expression of the mental content
of the individual. Frustration of the individual causes emotional discomfort; personality
demands removal of the pain and the pain is eliminated by substitute behavior, that is, crime
delinquency of the individual.

f. BROMBERG (Crime and the Mind, 1948) claimed that criminality is the result of the
emotional immaturity person is emotionally matured when he has learned to control his
emotion effectively and who lives at peace with himself and in harmony with the standards of
conduct which are acceptable to the society. An emotionally immature person rebel against
rules and regulations, tend to engage in unusual activities and experience a feeling of guilt due
to inferiority complex.

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

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COMPILED BY: RICHARD P. ALLAM, MSCJ
 lack of respect for authority and lack of appreciation for what is acceptable and not
acceptable in a society.

b. Gabriel Tarde
o introduced the theory of imitation which proposes the process by which people
become criminals.
o 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

❑ founder of cartographic school of criminology.
The Ecological School of Criminological Theory is also referred to as the
Statistical Geographic, or Cartographic. This school was called Statistical
because it was the first to attempt to apply official data and statistic to the issue of
explaining criminality. The labels geographical and cartographic have been
assigned due to the fact that writers in this group tended to rely upon maps and
aerial data in their investigations.
❑ 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.
❑ Andre-Michel Guerry and Adolphe Quetelet

Sometimes after 1825, A.M. Guerry published what may regard as the first book in “Scientific
Criminology”. Guerry was more cartographic in his approach, relying exclusively upon shaded
areas of maps in order to describe and analyze variations in French official crime statistic. Since
he employed these sections of maps and used these as his principal unit of analysis, he is often
viewed as the “Founder of the Ecological or Cartographic School of Criminology”.

❑ Quetelet (Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet) was the first to take advantage of the criminal
statistic that was beginning to become available in the 1820’s. He was the “First Scientific
Criminologist”, employing an approach to his subject matter, which was very similar to that of
modern criminologists, and is the “Father of Modern Sociological and Psychological Statistic”.
Challenging the classical school’s view that the individuals exercise free will in deciding upon their
actions, Quetelet insisted upon the impact of group factors and characteristics. In his “Treatise
on Man and the Developlment of his Faculties” (1835-1869 which was a “remarkable
consistency” with which crimes appeared annually and varied with respect to age, sex, economic
conditions, and other sociological variables.

Modern Sociological Theories of Crime Causation

Sociology has been the primary focus of criminology since the early twentieth century, when
sociologists Robert Ezra Park (1864-1944), Ernest w. Burges (1886-1966), Louis Wirth (1897-1952),
and their colleagues were teaching and conducting criminological research in the sociology department
at the University of Chicago. Their work on the social ecology of the city inspired a generation of scholars
to conclude that social forces operating in urban areas create criminal interactions. This perspective came
to be known as the Chicago School.

❑ 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.

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 ❑ It focuses on the conditions within the urban environment that affects crime rates. A
disorganized area is one in which institutions of social control, such as the family, commercial
establishments, and schools, have orders down and can no longer carry out their expected or
stated functions. Indicators of social disorganization include high unemployment, school
dropout rates, deteriorated housing, low-income levels, and large members of single-parent
households. Residents in these areas experience conflict and despair and as results, anti-
social behavior flourishes.
❑ 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.

Concentric Zone theory (by Ernest Burgess)

- predicted that cities will take the form of 5 concentric rings with areas of social and physical
deterioration concentrated near the city center and more prosperous areas located near
the city’s edge.
- Argued that, neighborhood conditions, be the wealth and poverty, had a much greater
determinant effect on criminal behavior than ethnicity, race or religion.

b. Strain Theory
❑ strain refers the individual’s frustration, anger and resentment
❑ by Robert Merton. This theory 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

❑ Combination of Social disorganization and strain theory by Albert Cohen
❑ according to this theory, because of strain and social isolation, a unique lower-class culture
develops in disorganized neighborhoods. Those independent subcultures maintain a
unique set of values and beliefs that are in conflict with conventional social norms. Criminal
behavior is rebellion from conventional society. Sub-cultural values are handed down from
one generation to the next in the process called Cultural Transmission.
❑ 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.
❑ gives emphasis on the concept of culture and sub-culture.

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
❑ The principle that criminal acts are related to a person’s exposure to an excess amount of
antisocial attitudes and values.
❑ this theory states that criminal behavior is learned through socialization.
❑ criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a process of
communication.
Principles of Differential Association Theory

1) Criminal behavior is learned

2) Learning is a by-product of interaction
3) Learning occurs within intimate groups
4) Criminal techniques are learned
5) Perceptions of legal code influence motives and drives

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COMPILED BY: RICHARD P. ALLAM, MSCJ
 b. Differential Reinforcement Theory
❑ (Ronald Akers and Robert Burgess) Behavior is reinforced by being rewarded or punished
while interacting with others, also called DIRECT CONDITIONING. Differential
Reinforcement Theory is another attempt to explain crime as a type of learned behavior.
❑ 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”.
o Matza argues that even the most committed criminals and delinquents are not involved in
criminality all the time; they also attend schools, family functions, and religious services.
Their behavior can be conceived as falling along a continuum between total freedom and
total restraint. This process, which he calls drift, refers to the movement from one extreme
of behavior to another, resulting in behavior that is sometimes unconventional, free, or
deviant and at other times constrained and sober

Techniques of Neutralization Sykes and Matza suggest that people develop a distinct
set of justifications for their law-violating behavior.

1. Deny responsibility. Young offenders sometimes claim their unlawful acts were simply not their
fault. Criminals’ acts resulted from forces beyond their control or were accidents.
2. Deny injury. By denying the wrongfulness of an act, criminals are able to neutralize illegal
behavior. For example, stealing is viewed as borrowing; vandalism is considered mischief that
has gotten out of hand. Delinquents may find that their parents and friends support their denial of
injury.
3. Deny the victim. Criminals sometimes neutralize wrongdoing by maintaining that the victim of
crime “had it coming.” Vandalism may be directed against a disliked teacher or neighbor; or
homosexuals may be beaten up by a gang because their behavior is considered offensive.
4. Condemn condemners. An offender views the world as a corrupt place with a dog-eat-dog code.
Because police and judges are on the take, teachers show favoritism, and parents take out their
frustrations on their kids, it is ironic and unfair for these authorities to condemn his or her
misconduct. By shifting the blame to others, criminals are able to repress the feeling that their
own acts are wrong.
5. Appeal to higher loyalties. Novice criminals often argue that they are caught in the dilemma of
being loyal to their own peer group while at the same time attempting to abide by the rules of the
larger society. The needs of the group take precedence over the rules of society because the
demands of the former are immediate and localized

3. SOCIAL REACTION THEORY

❑ more commonly called labeling theory (Edwin Lemert and Frank Tannembaum)
❑ it states that people become criminals when significant members of society label them as
such and they accept those labels as a personal identity.
❑ . It further explains how criminal careers form based on destructive social interactions and
encounters
Labeling Process
1. Initial criminal act
2. Detection by the justice system
3. Decision by the label
4. Creation of a new identity
5. Acceptance of labels
6. Deviance amplification

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COMPILED BY: RICHARD P. ALLAM, MSCJ
 Primary and Secondary Deviance

CONCEPTS

Created by Edwin M. Lemert, Primary Deviance involves norm violations or crimes that have
very little influence on the actor and can be quickly forgotten. In contrast, Secondary Deviance
occurs when a deviant event comes to the attention of significant others or social control agents
who apply a negative label.

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
In this theory, pioneering control theorist Walter Reckless claimed that a strong self
image insulates a youth from the pressures and pulls of criminogenic influences in the
environment. In a series of studies Reckless found that non-delinquent youths are able
to maintain a positive self-image in the face of environmental pressures towards
delinquency. Likewise, Sociologist Howard Kaplan found that youth with poor self-
concepts are the ones most likely to engage in delinquent behavior for their successful
participation in criminality actually helps raise their self esteem.
❑ 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
articulated by Travis Hirschi in his 1969 book, Causes of Delinquency, which is
the dominant version of control theory. Hirschi links the onset of criminality to the
weakening of the ties that bind people to society. It claimed that all individuals are
potential law violators; but they are kept under control because they fear that illegal
behavior will damage their relationship with the members of society whom he has
a strong bonds or ties. Without these social ties or bonds, and in the absence of
sensitivity to and interest in others, a person is free to commit criminal acts.
❑ this theory views crime as a result of individuals with weakened bonds to social
institutions.
❑ four (4) elements of social bonds:

1. attachment – refers to the degree to which an individual care about the

opinions of others. (Family, friends and community)
2. commitment – refers to an individual’s investment of energy and emotion in
conventional pursuits, such as getting good grades.
(Family, career, success and future goals)
3. involvement – refers to the amount of time an individual spends on a
conventional pursuit.
(School activities, sports teams, community organizations, religious groups,
social clubs)
4. belief – refers to acceptance of the norms of conventional society.
(Honesty, morality, fairness, patriotism and responsibility)

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Other Theories:

1. Human ecology theory (by Robert Park)

▪ Study of interrelationship of people and their environment
▪ Maintains that crime is a function of social change that occurs along with
environmental change. It also maintains that isolation, segregation, competition,
conflict, social contract, interaction and social hierarchy of people are the major
influences of criminal behavior and crimes.

2. Social class conflict & Capitalism theory (by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels)
▪ They claimed that the ruling class in a Capitalist society is responsible for the
creation of criminal law and their ideological basis in the interpretation and
enforcement of laws. All are reflected in the ruling class, thus crime and delinquency
are reflected on the demoralized surplus population, which is made up of the
underprivileged usually the unemployed and underemployed.

3. Differential opportunity theory (by Llyod Ohlin)

▪ This theory explained that society leads the lower class to want things and society
does things to people.
▪ They claimed that there is differential opportunity / access to success goals by both
legitimate and illegitimate means depending on the specific location of individual
within the social structure. Thus, lower class groups are provided with greater
opportunities for the acquisition of deviant acts.

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COMPILED BY: RICHARD P. ALLAM, MSCJ