Understanding Modern Theories Of Crime

8 Pages 1886 Words

Understanding Modern Theories of Crime
Natural theories of crime generally rely upon phenomena in the physical world (e.g., poverty, genetic abnormality, cognitive impairment) to explain criminal conduct.
Modern theories are linked to one of three frames of reference by and through which crimes, criminals, and the behavior of the criminal law are defined. These three
modernist approaches include choice criminology3, causal criminology4, and constructivist criminology.5

Choice criminology asserts that people make rational decisions and that these decisions are freely chosen. Thus, criminals are recognized as intelligent enough to understand
the consequences for their wrongful behavior (i.e., punishment and imprisonment) as much as they are clever enough to appreciate both the pecuniary and personal benefits
for breaking the law (e.g., Stigler, 1970: 526-528; Vold and Bernard, 1986: 31; Reynolds, 1985).

Causal criminology maintains that individual accountability must be examined in the context of independent variables which are said to cause criminal conduct. In this
model, explanations of crime can be based on either a single factor or a variety of factors. These factors are said to determine the behavior of an individual and, therefore, are
beyond his/her control.

Early constructivist criminology considered the manner in which people helped fashion the world in which they found themselves. The processes which gave rise to the
definitions of certain behaviors (and individuals) as criminal became the cornerstone of the early constructivist movement (for applications to law and the criminal sanction
see Black, 1976). These criminological and sociological processes were subject to empirical verification through standard tests of reliability and validity (Lynch, 1987).
Indeed, constructivist criminology has shown us, for example, how affluent and indigent people are both capable of breaking the law but how poor ...