Free Essay About Crime And Deviance

Birkbeck, C., & LaFree, G. (1993). The Situational Analysis of Crime and Deviance. Annual Review Of Sociology, 113-137.
In “The Situational Analysis of Crime and Deviance” Birkbeck and LaFree argue that there are two explanations of crime and deviance and they are situational and dispositional, but situational explanations are of greater importance. Even though during last decades a lot of scientists were likely to focus on dispositional theories, nowadays there is the awareness that dispositional theories are limited and scientists are encouraged to consider situational theories (main point). In particular, Birkbeck and LaFree state that the majority of studies, which are aimed at examining situational dynamics, originate in different fields, such as experimental psychology or opportunity theories (subpoint #1). For example, experimental research has made a great contribution to identification the situational correlates of deviance and crime. However, it still lacks a theoretical structure, which is supposed to organize its distinctive experiential findings (example #2). Then, the author state that symbolic interaction research has played a great role in defining the actor’s role in interpreting situations, but it still has not provided a theoretical connection between motivation and crime (subpoint #2). For instance, theorists who study victimization have made a great contribution to developing a situational theory of crime, but their findings are still theoretically and methodologically limited (example #2).
Breaking Bad (TV Series 2008–2013). (2016). IMDb. Retrieved 6 April 2016, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903747/plotsummary?ref_=tt_stry_pl
“Breaking Bad” tells a story of a teacher who is diagnosed with cancer and now he has nothing to lose (main point). The main hero decides to earn some money for his family and starts a career of drugs and crime (subpoint #1). For example, he begins to manufacture methamphetamine (example #1). Then, being involved in criminal activity, he has troubles with his family (subpoint #2). For instance, his wife considers him to be the dangerous person and understand that her husband is no more the person whom she used to marry (example #2).
Daspin, E. (2014). Criminal Cults and Killers. In Inside the Criminal Mind (pp. 77-79). New York: Time Home Entertainment Inc.
The main point of “Criminal Cults and Killers” is that even though violent episodes that involve cults may be very rare, the image of charismatic leader whom followers believe to be able to read their mind is very strong in the American imagination (main point). In particular, this book reveals that successful cult leaders are prone to be charismatic. Moreover, a lot of them can be perceived as superhuman by their followers. Leaders promise their followers that the latter will get the opportunity to find the purpose of life by joining the group (subpoint #1). For instance, Charles Manson created his group in 1967 and called it “The Family”. He promised them they would live in peace and find the purpose of their life if they joined him. However, in 1969, he forced his followers to commit killings of seven people (example #1). After discussing the charisma of leaders, the book tells readers about cases when following the leader can be tragic (subpoint #2). For example, the book describes Jim Jones, another leader of cults. He created the group called “The Peoples Temple” and in 1977, he located it in Jonestown. When some members tried to escape to San Francisco, which was the initial location of the cult, Jones caught and killed them (example #2).
Davis, J., & Holland-Davis, L. (2015). Beyond Neighborhoods and Crime: Expanding the Scope of Social Disorganization to Explain Occupational Deviance. Sociological Inquiry, 85(2), 262-284.
In this article, authors argue that firstly social disorganization theory has been dismissed, but nowadays it is widely used for explanations of crime (main point). In particular, authors state that social disorganization theory is based on the issue of how neighborhood conditions can restrain and ease criminal activity (subpoint #1). For example, Shaw and McKay found out that neighborhoods, which are marked by poverty or residential mobility, are likely to experience high crime rates (example #1). Then, authors state that people who live in socially disorganized communities do not follow group norms (subpoint #2). For instance, that is why these people cannot resist the impact of criminal group (example #2)
Osgood, D., McMorris, B., & Potenza, M. (2002). Analyzing Multiple-Item Measures of Crime and Deviance I: Item Response Theory Scaling. Journal Of Quantitative Criminology, 18(3), 267-296.
In this article, Osgood, McMorris, and Potenza argue that criminologists provided a lot of studies concerning a phenomenon, which is very difficult to measure. Moreover, Measurement issues are very central in the field of criminology and even introductory texts provide a great space to the issue of measuring crime and delinquency (main point). In particular, the authors state that Short and Nye made the theory of multiple item scales be very important in 1957, and this approach became one of the most important strategies concerning measurement (subpoint #1). For example, this approach is extremely important with regard to individual level research on the causes of crime because they have a great opportunity to capture offenses, which are not detected by the justice system (example #1). Then, authors argue that literature does not provide a lot of information about how to use the data collected with the help of measurements (subpoint #2). For instance, authors believe that their article will provide the information about conducting analysis process, which helps to turn self-report accounts into scores (example #2).