Unit 2 topic 4 evaluation the effectiveness of individualistic theories to explain crime Flashcards
a strength of individualistic theories?
Focuses primarily on individuals than categorising people in groups
Allows us to compare the way we act with others
Helps understand the social construction of crime
a weakness within individualistic theories
can be reductionist
i.e ignore factors such as biology and sociology
A strength of individualistic theories in its relation to the real world?
can be used to create real world behavioural techniques
i.e operant conditioning introduced positive reinforcement which created token economy
a weakness of individualistic theories in terms of the crime it can explain?
individualistic theories can only explain why offenders commit specific types of crimes
i.e differential association can only explain why people commit crimes they witness not the ones they don’t