REVIEW OF THE
CRIMINAL THEORIES:
Joe Bad Guy: is 18 years old and has lived in an inner city slum all of his
life. His parents were divorced when he was 13 after his father went
to prison for drug dealing. Joe is not close with his mother though
he lives in the family apartment with six brothers and sisters all of whom
have criminal arrest records. The family primarily lives on government assistance.
Joe has never had a job and he dropped out of school before completing
the 9th grade. Joe belongs to a gang involved in drug dealing.
He likes it because he can make some money and he likes being accepted by
his friends. He has a long history of arrests and adjudication's and
has been through the juvenile justice system including spending a short time
in a juvenile institution. How can we explain his behavior?
SOCIAL STRUCTURE THEORIES
Social Disorganization: Joe lives in a poverty stricken environment
where the social institutions that ordinarily could maintain social control
are weak or non-existent such as the family, commercial establishments, schools,
etc. Joe has little hope of ever making it successfully unless he leaves
that environment.
Strain (Theory of Anomie): Joe wants what everybody else wants
in America including money and power but because he is a member of
the lower socio-economic class he does not have the means or the opportunity
to reach those goals and must use illegal methods instead.
Cultural Deviance: Joe is only conforming to the norms and values
of the subculture in which he lives which often conflicts with conventional
society.
SOCIAL PROCESS THEORIES
Social Learning:
Differential Association: Joe is basically was a good person but he
has learned his criminal values and behaviors from his associations with
criminal significant others including his father and his peer group.
Joe has been exposed to far less non-criminal definitions which could have
lead into a law abiding life.
Differential Reinforcement: The rewards Joe receives for criminal
behavior are greater than the rewards for non-criminal behavior.
Neutralization: Joe holds attitudes and values similar to law
abiding citizens but he is able to neutralize those values and beliefs temporarily
to allow him to commit crimes through various techniques of neutralization.
For example, he has probably rationalized his criminal behavior believing
that everyone else is as corrupt as he is. His loyalities to his gang
probably outweigh any inclination to be law abiding as well.
Social Control
Containment Theory: Joe has been pressured into criminal behavior
by his adverse living conditions and the pull of his deviant companions.
Internally he may be experiencing depression, hostility and/or anxiety.
He lacks both internal containments such as a positive self concept and outer
containments such as experiencing quality socialization by his parents which
could have offset those criminal pressures.
Social Control Theory: Like everyone else, Joe was born
with a propensity to commit crime. Joe' s criminal behavior is the result
of a lack of attachment and commitment to those who hold law-abiding values including family
members, school and peer associations. Consequently, there are no social
controls in place to curb his behavior.
Social Reaction Theory
Labeling Theory: Joe would not be involved in criminal activity if
it were not for the negative labels placed on him by the agents of the criminal
justice system that turned him into a criminal after he was first arrested.
CONFLICT THEORY:
Social Conflict (Instrumental Marxism) : Joe' s behavior is normal
in a capitalistic system where he is really the victim of the power elite
who are trying to control him for their benefit. Joe is only reacting the the oppressive policies and he would not be a
criminal if there were no social, political and economic class divisions.
INTEGRATED THEORIES
General Theory of Crime
Joe exhibits a low level of self control over his behavior which can be traced
to either the inability and/or the unwillingness of his parents to have properly
socialized him in his childhood. Joe will always have poor self-control and
will probably be a chronic offender unless the opportunities for his criminal
behavior are somehow lessened.
Social Development:
Because Joe lives in an economically deprived and socially disorganized area
he had the propensity to lead a life of crime from the time he was born.
Because he lacked attachment to a family, school or other institution
that could have taught him law abiding behavior he sought out associations
with delinquent peers where he learned his criminal behavior.
Sampson and Laubs Age Graded Theory:
Joe's criminal career is a lifelong process that will change as he goes through
life. When he was younger his deviant peer group was the most influential
in his life but as he gets older, there may be positive turning points such
as a successful job or marriage that could diminish his criminal behavior.
CHOICE THEORY
Classical School Choice Theory:
Joe has made a choice to disobey the law. He knows the risk of getting
caught and punished but he is willing to accept the risk because the lure
of the potential benefits are greater. It does not matter why he has
led a life of crime. If he violates the law he should be punished.