Criminological Theory Essay

Criminological theories are logical facts, which help us in understanding and analyzing crime and their causes. Such theories are formed using statistics, case histories, official records and sociological field methods on criminals and their activities. Criminological theories are mainly focused on crime and its causes. Many psycho criminologists had attributed crimes to personality disorders, psychopaths, sociopaths, and antisocial personalities. Emotional disorders are generally considered as cause for crime, which are mostly rooted in childhood experiences where the criminal attempts a suppressed wish or desire. These theories basically correlate crimes to the psyche of the offender, explains the causes and situation that motivates the offender. All theories have to some extent, a set of assumptions like human behavior under economic and social setups, elements of causation, etc. , based on which facts are interpreted and explained A person takes to crime basically to satisfy his or her demands at that point of time. These demands may be vary from material requirements like money, expensive items or even sustenance and lust. The demands on a person normally depend on the environment they are brought up. It has been widely believed that poverty and slum are the breeding ground for criminals. Thus people from slums would take to criminal activities like robbery and murder to make a living and sustain themselves. This does not mean that they would refrain from crime once they get what they need. As needs are always on a recurring basis, they always have their needs to be met. Seeing the easy way of life, they hang on to it, even offering their criminal services for money. Though they may not be in slums anymore now, they graduate to being professional criminals. Similarly crimes like drunken driving, drug abuse and sexual assaults are more associated with youth because the compulsion to seek them is more among the youth. The urge to seek adventure, try new things and the need for sex are very prominent among the youth. Crimes involving businessmen is more associated with economic and property offenses, forgery etc. Although the methods adopted in execution of their crimes may differ, the intention of all criminals is to get what they seek. Though personal requirements and unavailability to get them legally drive people to commit crime, the hesitance or encouragement to commit crime varies widely. These are more dependent on one’s heredity and body dysfunction. A person’s decision to take to crime or refrain from it, the extent and nature of the crime to be committed depends on their heredity, hormone functioning and neuropsychological disorders. Thus we see mentally affected people turning out to be psychopath killers, killing people mercilessly for no reason. Also the reason why people take to crime is significantly different between men and women. Gender plays an important role in the need and nature of crime committed. Men and women have differing offence rates and offence patterns, both as offenders and as victims. The opportunities and capabilities of men and women for crime are different, which is reflected in their crime pattern. This crime committed for needs satisfaction may be analyzed by determining the needs of the criminal who had committed it. By correlating the crime committed, the risks taken and the gains sought; would reflect how badly the criminal required it. These factors in turn would throw up other details to profile the criminal. However it should be emphasized here that it is not possible for any single theory to fully and perfectly explain every crime or deviant act. A good explanation of the crime can only be got by incorporating various theories. It is unfortunate that criminological theories are never completely supported or refuted. While some empirical tests may support the theory; some might offer partial support while the others might refute the theory. Theories are therefore evaluated based on their ‘weight of evidence’, as to whether a majority of tests support or reject the theory. Crime theories are generally not directly specific to crime causation, but helps to understand crime in a bigger perspective, by being more specific on behavior.