The purpose of this assignment is to explain, understand, and analyze the factors and forces that move the offender to commit a crime. Criminologists over the centuries have struggled while trying to understand why people commit crimes in our society. To help us understand crime, researchers such as biologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, criminologists, and sociologists have come together to develop different theories to explain this complex field. In this assignment, I will explain the theories linked to criminology including the rational choice theories, biological theories, psychological theories, social structural theories, social process theories, and social conflict theories. Also, I will explain the major factors assumed to cause crime in our society.
Theories of Criminology.
We watch it on the news every day, we read about it in the newspaper, and many of us have been victims of it, but have we ever asked ourselves why do people commit crime? This question can have multiple answers. Indeed, people have many reasons to engage in criminal activity including vengeance, mental illness, environmental issues, poverty, and, well the list goes on. Whether it is an economic need or a mental urge, it is hard to understand the motivation behind the crime. For this reason, experts developed different theories linked to criminology. Researchers include the rational choice theories, biological theories, psychological theories, social structural theories, social process theories, and social conflict theories, and the major forces assumed to cause crime.
The rational choice theory sprang from the classical criminology that emphasizes on free will and individual choice as the root of crime. In other words, criminals make a conscious, rational choice to commit a crime, especially when the benefit outweighs the costs of disobeying the law. For better comprehension, the rational choice theory is divided into two varieties.