The Search for Causes of Crime

There are a great number of theories that attempt to explain the reason for crime.  Some of these theories are concerned with the reasons for criminal behavior, some concern themselves with the reason for crime, and still others focus on the victims.  I would like to focus on the reasons for criminal behavior.  Within this category there are also a number of theories, some are very similar, yet others are very different.  In my opinion no one theory does the job of explaining all these reasons.  There have been numerous studies and experiments concerning criminal behavior.  I believe the better theory would be Social Learning Theory. 

            Social Learning Theory is a category within the Psychological Theory which mainly concentrates on internal phenomena with external reinforcement.  In other words, when an individual is absorbing information about what social norms should be, they may observe a criminal with a lot of assets.  While supposedly learning the proper manner to obtain these things they change what they believe to be a socially acceptable means of obtaining them and thereby resorting to deviant or illegal behavior. (Champion, 2008, p. 38)

            I believe a method that is related to the psychological theory is psychological profiling.  This method developed during World War II, was originally meant to predict future acts by Hitler.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) later adopted this method to attempt to prevent violent crimes such as rape and to help minimize casualties during hostage negotiations.  The main objectives of this method are to determine the likelihood of an individual to commit future crimes and to search for characteristics that are possessed predominantly by criminals. (Schmallenger, 2011, p. 92)

            Another example of the psychological theory resulted from experimentation with dogs by Ivan Pavlov who was a Russian Physiologist.  He received the Nobel Prize in 1904 for his work.  Every day when he fed the dogs; he would also ring a bell simultaneously, after a period of time the bell alone produced salivation in the canines.  This is an indication that various types of conditioning may result in deviant or criminal behavior, thus strengthening the psychological theory of crime causation. (Schmallenger, Criminology Today: An Integrative Introduction, Sixth Edition, 2012, p. 124)

            Another theory that attempts to explain criminal behavior is known as the XYY Syndrome.  In genetic language; X is passive and Y is aggressive.  Females have an XX genetic make-up while males have an XY genetic make-up.  Occasionally, an individual is born with an extra Y chromosome which is an XYY genetic make-up.  Translated, it means a double dose of the aggressive chromosomes.  Geneticists, believing that they may have found the key to certain types of criminal behavior, researched it further.  Although there are a larger number of individuals with the XYY Syndrome that are incarcerated; as opposed to non-incarcerated, the number is insignificant when compared to the total number of individuals who are incarcerated. (Champion, 2008, p. 35)

References

Champion, D. J. (2008). Probation, Parole, and Community Corrections in the United States, Sisth Edition

. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Schmallenger, F. (2011). Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text for the 21str Century, Eleventh

 Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Schmallenger, F. (2012). Criminology Today: An Integrative Introduction, Sixth Edition. Upper Saddle

 River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Author:  Dennis Bowman                                                                                          21 June 2012