Criminal Law
Introduction
Exploring the underlying principles of criminality encompasses a close examination of the theoretical models in three main areas of study such as sociological, bioloigcal, and psychological. Criminal behavior and the factors that contributes to its development can be attributed to the tenets of causation where some of the initiated crime prevention programmes were based. The discussion will highlight the principles of the various theories that defines the cause of criminal behavior beginning from the broad classifications down to the more specific predominant theories. Selecting the theory to discuss takes consideration of its place in the academic field of criminal science and one that criminology students should be familiar with. The following areas of discussion will also highlight the evolution of the theory including the social and historical influences. Lastly, the discussion of the theories will also examine the impact of its development towards criminology as a science. Based on what is widely known about the theories of criminal behavior, it is apparent that rational choice theory have made a bigger impact in understanding criminal behavior and the principles behind the causation of crime. Furthermore, the theory have also made significant contributions to the development of criminology as a science that reinforces the criminal justice system.
Theories of Criminal Behavior
The growing body of literatures on the science of criminology broadly defines the different factors that leads to individuals at risk of being a criminal. There are several theoretical models that explains the occurance of criminality and attempts to give reasoning about the relationship criminal behavior and risk factors. It was mentioned earlier that the theories of criminal behavior emerges from the main categories such as biological, sociological, and psychological. Apart from the three caterogorical groups of theories on criminal behavior, developmental life-course, geographic, and economic theories were also considered as part of theoretical models of criminal behavior (Marsh and Melville, 2006).
Biological theories focuses on the physical aspects of the individual such as evolutionary factors, inherited genes, and the role of hormones in the process of behavioral development. In this theory, the challenge is to adequately represent the role of the external environment and inherited characteristics. In terms of developmental life-course, the context of criminal behavior rely on developmental conjunctures that has a direct implication or intervention initiative in promoting positive or negative development. While the concept of biological theory corresponds to the early stages of development, the relative effects acquired through externalities and social interactions that individuals experienced throghout the development stage (Akers and Sellers, 2008).
The psychological theories is explicitely one of the most widely used models that explains the development of criminal behavior. In such theory, human cognition and its development was found to have a direct influence over the development of criminal attitude. This encompasses the relationship between social factors, developmental factors, individual personality, and cognition. It was found in several research in the field of psychology that the key variables in the development of criminality among individuals includes the role of the peers and parents. In this regard, the factors attributed to the psychological aspects of criminal behavior can be lack of supervision, child-rearing practices, abuse, neglect, attachment, and or prevalence of criminal behavior or anti-social behavior (Marsh and Melville, 2006).
In terms of sociological model, the underlying theories on this area focuses on the influence of social conditions, organization, and society. Crime is generally viewed in the sociological tenets as a phenomenon that encompasses the social and cultural elements of criminal behavior. In this theoretical model, factors such as social class, language, social structure, ethnicity, and cultural practices are all attributed as influencing factors towards the development of criminal behavior. The aforementoned social aspects are focusing on the relationship between the negative social conditions where influence of inequality, social disorganization, social failure, and involvement in criminal subcultures such a gangs contributes to the development of criminal behavior (Akers and Sellers, 2008).
Given the social conditions that are considered to have the elements that are conducive to the development of criminal behavior, geographical theoretical models suggests that the focus of location and the physical environment also enable the prevalence of criminal behavior. For instance, a city with high rate of crime distribution, inadequate urban planning, and misuse and failed design of public spaces also contributes to the encouragement of criminal activities. This theoretical model is relative to economic theories where the offender was influenced by economic factors such as poverty, unemployment, and lack of livelihood opportunities. Crime can be influenced by economic conditions wherein an individual was forced to commit crime for reasons including the lack of decent opportunities (Marsh and Melville, 2006).
The Predominant Theory
Among the several theories pertaining to the development of criminal behavior, the most widely used in the field of criminology science is the Rational Choice theory. The term was coined by Dr. William Glasser, MD and according to other theorists in the field of criminology, the theoretical model clearly explains the common reason why individuals commit crime (Scott, 2000). In addition, the theory also suggests that criminal offenders are in the state of rational thinking when making the decision to commit a crime (Akers, 1991). The reasons attributed to the commitment of the crime vary according to offender’s purpose, it could because of need, anger, revenge, greed, vanity, jealousy, lust, and thrills. The theory itself have drawn its principles from the classical criminology concept and considered as part of the sociological theoretical models. Furthermore, the rational choice theory encompasses a characteristic in which the prevention of the crime itself depends upon how the offender fears relative punishment to the committed crime (Akers, 1991).
Further analysis of the theoretical model addresses the three important component of criminal behavior such as predestined actor, rational actor, and victimized actor. The predestined actor model suggests that offenders do not have the ability to control their impulses and urges within the environment resulting to offenders to commit the crime. Under the rational actor model, individuals do possess the will to choose whether to commit the crime or not. On the other hand, the victimized actor model suggests that the reason for the offender in committing the crime is because of past experiences of being a victim of inequality (Scott, 2000). These models of criminal behavior can be controlled according to the principles of the rational choice theory by reforming legislation for the victimized actor moder, change the external environment in the predistined actor model, and increasing the penalty for the rational actor model.
Evolution of the Rational Choice Theory
Although the rational choice theory has widely influenced the developments in criminology science, it was also applied in several other disciplines. The theory was first attributed to social and economic studies where the theory was often used for understanding and modeling individual behavior. The concepts of the theory was also widely used in the modern political science and philosophy and later was popularized by Gary Becker. Becker was the first to apply the context of rational choice theory focusing rational actor model in explaining the individuals’ course of action (Becker, 1962). When the theory has first emerged as a relative model for sociological and economic understanding, its essence was to explain the rational choice that people take in respect to the courses of action that they believe should have the best possible outcome (Ogu, 2013).
The evolution of the theory was argued to have resulted from the envy of the ecconomic from which the principles of choice by individuals was thought to have originated from weighing the cost and benefits of every action (Becker, 1962). When Dr. William Glasser coined the term in his study of criminal behavior, the underlying principles of the theory was then adopted in the field of criminology and soon later Cornish and Clarke (1978) assisted in the thinking process to interpret situational crime prevention. The developments in the theoretical model of rational choice theory have enabled the criminology science to get a further understanding of the criminal behavior by integrated the principles of other theories such as deterence theory, which was later classified under the rational choice theory as a subtype.
Social and Historical Influences of Rational Choice Theory
The historical and social influence of rational choice theory was rooted from the basis of decision-making, which encompasses the standards of rational choice derived from economic model of decision-making. In the context of criminology, the underlying principles have adopted the concept of utalitarian belief. The eariliest form of the theory when applied in the field of criminology and before it adopted the concept of rational choice theory from the socio-economic sciences is the drift theory. In this early form of the theory, neutralization was conveyed to express the drifting in and out of the delinquent behavior. After the developments of other theories in the field criminilogy, the rational choice theory was then able to demonstrate its objective where the increase of the punishment will likely to prevent individuals in committing crime as the gain is superseded by the pain (Ahmad and Emeka, 2013). Primarily, the rational choice theory has its long history of development from its early introduction in the sociological and economic disciplines. The afinity created between the deterence doctrine in criminology and the principles of rational choice theory, the theoretical model has expanded its reach in almost all disciplines and currently holds a prominent place in the criminology science.
Impact of Rational Choice Theory in the Development of Criminology as a Science
Determining the impact of rational choice theory in the development of criminology as a science can be traced back to the early assumptions made on the context of deterence. Because of the apparent relationship between rational choice and deterrence theory, it made a significant implication towards the development of other principles in public policy. After several researches and theoretical modeling, the theory was then made to focus on the subject of deterence. Before, the integration of rational choice in the development of criminology as a science, the concept of deterence was first used as a model to determine the causation and prevention ofcriminal behavior. However, the introduction of the rational choice as a model in understanding criminal behavior. With the constant exploration of the subject of criminal behavior and the role of rational choice theory in explaining the prevalence of such behavior, criminologists who are in the early stage of their research has made substantial findings of its relevance to the field of criminology. Since the context of rational choice theory has its roots drawn from sociological tenets, most of the research about the theoretical model in criminology was found to have indication of sociological perspectives (Akers, 1990).
Furthermore, the contributions of the rational choice theory to the development of criminology as a science was perceived based on the concepts and propositions of reward/cost balance in consideration to the principles of deterence theory on fear of legal punishment. This assumption was made on the assumption that the rational choice and deterence theory alone does constitute the definite model that describes criminal behavior. Traditionally, the classical theories in criminology suggests that offenders are driven by external influences in their environment. However, the integration of rational choice theory as a predominant model of understanding criminal behavior in the science of criminology changed the prior assumption and concludes that offenders are like businessmen, they think and make decisions, and sees it as rational in consideration to the expected outcome in exchange for risk they took in venturing or doing criminal acts in this respect (Akers, 1990).
Conclusion
The overview about the theoretical models employed in understanding criminal behavior encompasses the methodological foundations of criminology as a science. Given the broad spectrum of theoretical models explaining the causality of crime or the prevalence of criminal behavior among individuals, there are few theories that constitutes a greater relevance to the subject of individual behavior, and one of the most predominant is the rational choice theory. Although some theorists would argue that rational choice can be expressively perceived as wrong on behavioral context, it is still considerably useful in the field of criminology. This is because rational choice theory constitutes a framework that enables the criminal justice in understanding every sort of crime. In addition, the discussed theoretical model encompasses the useful framework that would enable the effective form of prevention.
References
Ahmad, J., & Emeka, T. (2013). Rational Choice Theory. The Encyclopedia Of Criminology And Criminal Justice, 1-5. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118517383.wbeccj457
Akers, R. (1990). Rational Choice, Deterrence, and Social Learning Theory in Criminology: The Path Not Taken. Journal Of Criminal Law And Criminology, 81(5), 653-676. Retrieved from http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6670&context=jclc
Akers, R., & Sellers, C. (2008). Criminological theories (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Becker, G. (1962). Irrational behavior and economic theory. The Journal Of Political Economy, 70(1), 1-13. http://dx.doi.org/http://harbaugh.uoregon.edu/Readings/Rational%20choice/Becker%20irrational.pdf
Cornish, D., & Clarke, R. (1978). Rational choice approaches to crime. popcenter.org. Retrieved 18 February 2016, from http://www.popcenter.org/library/reading/pdfs/reasoningcriminal/01_introduction.pdf
Marsh, I., & Melville, G. (2006). Theories of crime. London: Routledge.
Ogu, M. (2013). Rational choice theory: Assumptions, strengths, and greatest weaknesses in application outside the Western milieu context. Arabian Journal Of Business And Management Review, 1(3), 90-99.
Scott, J. (2000). Rational Choice Theory. In G. Browning, A. Halcli & F. Webster, Understanding Contemporary Society: Theories of The Present (1st ed.). New York: Sage Publications.
