Conflict Theory
Philosophers and scholars have come up with various theories to explain the cause and motives of crimes committed in the society. An instance of the theories developed to expound on crime is the conflict theory, developed by a German philosopher called Carl Marx. Carl Marx used the society that individuals live in to advocate his theory. In the conflict theory, Carl Marx stipulated that the state of social inequality is what causes crime. Crime is anything that is intended to cause harm or deprive individuals of their state of being, and is punishable by the society or even by the government (Coser, 2006). In this accord, the conflict theory puts across interesting points that make the theory acceptable by other philosophers. For instance, the conflict theory shows that people can’t be contended with a society that treats them poorly. The theory further explains that the society is made up of different classes of people, and the difference between the social classes is what causes inequality, and hence conflicts.
In this accord, the wealthy formulate laws to protect themselves against liabilities caused by the poor in the society (Siegel, 2000). Another interesting point about Carl Marx’s theory is that every individual in the society strives for the best, and in doing so, they compete for limited resources. The affluent in the society will always take control of most of the resources, leaving the poor impoverished. The poor thus commit crimes due to the anger they get from the endeavors of the rich, and in the process end up in the prosecution bench. On the other hand, the rich commit formidable crimes to maintain their wealth, and also their positions in the societies. Economic theories argue that the consumption levels of individuals can only go up, but not down. It is called the life cycle of consumption. The conflict theory is an explanation of what makes the rich richer and the poor, poorer
The conflict theory drives the occurrence of many crimes in the society. Take for example the crime of arson. Arson involves the torching of property for malicious gain. An individual may get angry at a wealthy individual, and to get back what is rightfully theirs, burn down property in the pursuit of justice. The poor like getting justice on their own, because the rich are protected by their laws and their justice systems that they create. Most arsons in the United States occur in bids for revenge or seek for justice. However, some cases have been associated to fraud cover-up committed by the rich.
Offender Taxonomies
In Moffit’s theory, two types of criminal delinquency are defined. First, the life course persistent offenders. The life persistent offenders start their mischief at childhood and persists throughout their lives. The root of the life persistent offenders is attributed to neurodevelopmental traits, present in their genetic markers (Moffit 2003). The persons with the life persistent offending trait become serious offenders in their crime life and are mostly irritable when provoked. On the other hand, the adolescent-limited offenders develop their crime traits during their developmental stages, especially adolescence. The individuals develop a general antisocial behavior, and usually prone to mischief. The adolescent-limited offenders may, however, develop serious crime offenses, but the endeavor only lasts a short while and does not persist through their adulthood (Moffit, 2003).
Moreover, Moffit found out that some remedies could be applied to the adolescence-limited offenders. If the adolescent-limited offenders were subjected to some form of the reform program, the adolescents would reform in no time, and desist their destructive acts. However, the reformation cannot apply to life persistent offenders, whose offensive traits are genetic, and cannot be altered. Little can be done to remedy the fate of life persistent offenders.
In this perspective, other theories were developed to support Moffitt's theory. For instance, the Farringtons theory of delinquent development. The theory was similar to Moffit’s theory in its argument about the causes of proximal crime behaviors among human beings.in his theory, Farrington used psychological testing to ascertain the cause of crime. Farrington found out that chronic offenders were born into poor backgrounds, who also possessed a crime tendency. On the other hand, non-chronic offenders desist their crimes after a while, and their backgrounds did not depict any crime traits in adulthood (Siegel, 2000).
Likewise, another theory was developed to support Moffit’s and Farrington theory. The theory was called the interactional theory. The theory stipulates that interaction with other people shapes the behavior of another. Interactions with criminals result into a developed trait of offenders. The interactions of behavior occur from as deep as the family lines. Children born into crime families become persistent offenders throughout their lives. On the contrary, children who learn of crimes in their adolescence desist after time.
Moffit’s theory and other similar theories are important in understanding crime patterns and traits in individuals(Coser, 2006). In the criminal career development field, the knowledge of offender traits is necessary for predicting crime. A criminal investigator is advantaged to gauge what an individual might or might not do. The Moffit’s theory also provides criminal investigators with important tools for determining whether an individual’s behavior is rectifiable and thus take necessary measure.
References
Coser, L. A. (2006). The functions of social conflict. Glencoe, Ill: Free Press.
Moffitt, T. E. (2003). Adolescence-Limited and Life-Course-Persistent Antisocial Behavior: A Developmental Taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 4, 674-701.
Siegel, L. J. (2000). Criminology. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
