Theories of Crime Flashcards
What is a theory?
- Part of an explanation
- A sensible way of understanding something, of relating it to the whole world of information, beliefs, and attitudes that make up the intellectual atmosphere of a people at a particular time or place
What is the aim of criminological theory?
- Help us understand crime and the criminal justice system
- Can explain crime at a large (macro) and small (micro) level
- Theories can help develop policies
What are spiritual theories?
- Other world explanations
- Events are believed to result from the influence of other worldly powers
What are three examples of spiritual theories?
- Primitive people (regarded natural disasters as punishments for wrong doings, appeasing powers)
- Blood feuds (inflicting pain on a victim or victims’ family until eventually wiped out)
- Trial by ordeal (subjected to painful tests - witch’s)
Provide an example of a modern spiritual theory and how it has shaped our criminal justice system
- Quakers in Philadelphia
- Conceived idea of isolating criminals in cells with only the bible to read and some manual labour so criminals would reflect their wrongdoings and ‘repent’
- Named the place a penitentiary to describe their invention - a place for penitents who were sorry for their sins
What are natural theories?
- Seek explanations about relationships between observable phenomena found in the physical world
- Scientific theories are a kind of natural explanation which can be falsified or become more credible
What is causation?
A type of relationship among observable variables
Causation in scientific theories requires what four elements?
- Correlation
- Theoretical rationale
- Time sequence
- Absence of spuriousness
What is a causal argument?
Asserts there is a relationship between two events/variables such that one is the effect of the other (all scientific theories make causal arguments)
What is correlation?
- Relationship between two variables
- Means that things tend to vary systematically in relation to each other
- Necessary for causation
- Can be positive or negative
What does theoretical rationale refer to in causation?
There must be a coherent (logical and consistent) explanation for why the relationship exists
What does time sequence refer to in causation?
There should be a time sequence that makes sense - cause must come before the effect
What does an absence of spuriousness mean in causation?
- Absence of spuriousness = valid relationship
- No external factors effecting the relationship between two variables
What are the three frames of reference?
- Crime is freely chosen (costs and benefit analysis, deterrence)
- Crime is caused by forces beyond the individuals control (biological, psychological and social factors)
- Crime is similar to that of legal behaviour (how criminal law is written and enforced, who is defined as criminal and who is not and why)
What is social conflict theory?
- Based on the social controls of society
- If it was not for the controls that society places on people, then most people would commit crimes
- Social controls - school, families, workplace
- If we do not have ties with them we are more likely to commit a crime
