SCHOOL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY

CRIMSO2 THEORIES OF
CRIME CAUSATION

A Self-regulated Learning Module

A Self-regulated Learning Module

Prepared by: Marie Joy M. Capdos 1
 PURPOSE OF THIS SELF-REGULATED LEARNING MODULE
In compliance with the CHED guidelines and the directives from the VPAA on flexible learning,

this material is prepared to continuously deliver quality education and provide students the

opportunity to continue learning despite the pandemic.

This material is composed of six modules. Module 1 contains discussions on Introduction to

Theories and Causes of Crime, Module 2 covers the topic on Biological Theories of Crime, Module 3

is on Sociological Theories, Module 4 is Psychological Theories of Crime, Module 5 covers Conflict

Theories and Module 6 is on Developmental Theories. This strategy will give the students the chance

to study the lessons specified in the course syllabus.

Each Module contains the Learning Objectives, Pre-Test Activities, Discussion of the Lessons

and Learning Evaluation Exercises to determine how well the students have learned and understood

the lessons.

The time frame for each module is two weeks, thus students have enough time to accomplish

all the task assigned on every module. Consultations can be done via Group Chat and text messages

with the course instructor so that no students are left behind.

A Self-regulated Learning Module 2

 TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENT PAGE NUMBER

Course Outline 5

MODULE 1: Introduction to Theories and Causes of Crime 6

Pre-Test No.1 6

Definition of Terms 7

Characteristics of a Good Theory 8

Foundations of Criminological Theories 8

Categories of Criminological Theories 8

Learning Assessment No.1 9

MODULE 2: Biological Theories 10

Pre-Test No.2 10

Early Biological Theories 11

Biochemical Explanations: Hormones, Neurotransmitters, Diet 17

Biosocial Perspectives 19

Learning Assessment No.2 20

MODULE 3: Sociological Theories 22

Pre-Test No.3 22

Development of Sociological Criminology 23

Socioeconomic Structure and Crime 24

Social Structure Theories 24

Social Process Theories 28

Learning Assessment No. 3 31

MODULE 4: Psychological Theories 34

Pre-Test No.4 34

Psychological Trait Theory 35

Personality and Crime 36

Learning Assessment No. 4 39

MODULE 5: Marxist/Conflict Theories 41

Pre-Test No.5 41

Conflict Criminology 43

Critical Criminology 44

Learning Assessment No. 5 46

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENT PAGE NUMBER

MODULE 6: Developmental Theories 47

Pre-Test No.6 47

Life Course Theories 48

Latent Trait Theories 49

Trajectory Theory 50

Learning Assessment No. 6 51

Evaluation of the Course 52

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 COURSE OUTLINE
COURSE NAME: CRIMIS2 (Theories of Crime Causation)

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course describes the role of theory in crime scholarship. It surveys the major schools of
thought related to crime causation (biological, psychological and sociological) and particular theories in crime and
delinquency, places these theories in its historical context and reviews the primary assumptions of the theories and
conclusions reached from criminology research.

NO. OF UNITS: 3 units

NO. OF HOURS PER WEEK: 3 hours

COURSE OBJECTIVES: At the end of the course the student should be able to:
1. Remember and recall major concepts of the theories of crime causation.
2. Demonstrate understanding of the biological, psychological, sociological and integrated influences on criminal
behavior by distinguishing them from a variety of theoretical elements.
3. Analyze offender case histories and correctly applies the theories thereto.
4. Articulate and defend a particular theory as best at explaining given offender case history.
5. Articulate the different applications of the theories of crime causation.
6. Discuss the practical applications of the theories of crime in shaping criminal justice policies and relate the
same to the social problems in the community.
7. Formulate solutions to the crimes experienced in the community based on the analysis made using concepts
on offender rehabilitation and based on the various theories of crime causation.

COURSE OUTLINE:
I. Introduction to Theories and Causes of Crime
II. Biological Theories
III. Sociological Theories
IV. Psychological Theories
V. Marxist/Conflict Theories
VI. Developmental Theories: Life Course, Latent Trait, And Trajectory

GRADING SYSTEM: Section 8. Computation of Undergraduate Grades

The cumulative computation of grades during the second and final grading periods still applies: 1/3 of the previous
grade plus 2/3 of the tentative grade. All failing grades in the final grading period are converted to seventy (70).
a. Highest Possible Score (HPS) - refers to the sum total points of all quizzes, unit test, assignments and/ or
projects, and periodical examinations given or administered within the grading period.
b. Student Actual Total Score (SATS) - refers to the total score obtained by the student in the given quizzes, unit
test, assignments and/or projects and examinations and other activities.
c. Lowest Possible Score (LPS)- refers to the cut-off score as indicated below:
d. Cut-off Score. The cut-off point which determines the lowest passing score shall be as follows:
General Education Subjects in Non-Board and Board Programs 70% equivalent to 75
Professional Subjects in Non-Board Examinations Programs 70% Equivalent to 75
Professional subjects in Board Programs 70% equivalent to 75
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1. Hard copy of module
2. Accomplished pre-test and learning assessment activities
3. Final Output (Portfolio)

REMINDERS!
▪ Always keep your module clean.
▪ Do not forget to write your name (Last Name, First Name and Middle Initial) on the cover page of this module and
on every activity accomplished.

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 MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: At the end of this module, the students should be able to:
1. define basic terminologies in the study of theories and causes of crime;
2. discuss the different characteristics of a good theory; and
3. identify the foundations and categories of theories of crime.
The goal of criminological theory is to help one gain an understating of crime and criminal justice. Theories cover
the making and the breaking of the law, criminal and deviant behavior, as well as patterns of criminal activity. Individual
theories may be either macro or micro. Theories can be used to guide policy making, and can be evaluated on a number
of criteria including: clarity, scope, parsimony, testability, practical usefulness, and empirical validity.
Further, there is no one cause’ of crime. Crime is a highly complex phenomenon that changes across cultures and
across time. Activities that are legal in one country (e.g., alcohol consumption in the UK) are sometimes illegal in others
(e.g., strict Muslim countries). As cultures change over time, behaviors that once were not criminalized may become
criminalized (and then decriminalized again – e.g., alcohol prohibition in the USA). As a result, there is no simple answer to
the question ‘what is crime?’ and therefore no single answer to ‘what causes crime?’ Different types of crime often have
their own distinct causes. (Theories and causes of crime [PDF]. (n.d.). SCCJR).

PRE-TEST NO. 1
NAME: DATE:

SECTION: SCORE: 15

INSTRUCTION: Please answer the following questions, these questions are intended to assess your pre-existing
knowledge regarding the topic.

1. Why is there a need to study the different theories and causes of crime? Discuss. 5points
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2. Aside from poverty, what are the common causes of crime that you know, enumerate at least three (3). 5points
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3. What are the characteristics of a good theory? Discuss. 5points

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 DEFINTION OF TERMS
CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES
- A set of interrelated propositions that attempt to explain why an individual commits criminal or delinquent acts.

THEORY
- In simple terms, theory is an explanation of something;
- Theory can be defined as a set of concepts linked together by series of statements to explain why an event or
phenomenon occurs;
- Two things should be clear: theories can be erroneous and theories can be accurate predictions. The solution to
this problem is to base knowledge and theories on scientific observation and testing.

CRIME
- an act or omission in violation of a criminal law in its legal point;
- an anti-social act; an act that is injurious, detrimental or harmful to the norms of society;
- psychologically, crime is an act, which is considered undesirable due to behavioral maladjustment of the offender,
acts that are caused by maladaptive or abnormal behaviors.
- it is an act committed or omitted in violation of a public law forbidding or commanding it.

OFFENSE
- is an act or omission that is punishable by special laws.

FELONY
- is an act or omission that is punishable by the Revised Penal Code
- Felony is committed not only by means of deceit (dolo) but also by means of fault (culpa).

DELINQUENCY/MISDEMEANOR
- acts that are in violation of simple rules and regulations usually referring to acts committed by minors.

CRIMINAL
- a person who committed a crime and has been convicted by a court for the violation of a criminal law.
- a person who violated a social norm or one who did an anti-social act.
- a person who violated rules of conduct due to behavioral maladjustment.
- any person who has been found to have committed a wrongful act in the course of the standard of judicial processes.

CRIME MALA INSE

- Literally means “evil in itself”, a term that signifies crime that is considered wrong in and of itself.

CRIME MALA PROHIBITA

- A Latin phrase which means “wrong because it is prohibited”. These actions are bad because the law says so.

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 CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD THEORY
1. Parsimony- is achieved by explaining a given phenomenon, the simplest way possible. In short, the simpler a theory,
the better. Example, low self-control theory- it states that a person has a low self-control is often involved in criminal activity.

2. Scope- is the characteristic that indicates how much of a given phenomenon the theory seeks to explain. In short, the
larger the scope the theory can explain, the better the theory. Example, of a good scope is, the theory explains criminal
behavior rather than a theory that explains why theft is committed by youth gangs

3. Logical Consistency- is the extent to which a theory makes sense in terms of its concepts and propositions. It is easier
to see what is meant by logical consistency by showing examples of what does not fit this criterion. Example, the theory of
Lombroso, born criminal, physical characteristics is the basis to tell if a person is criminal.

4. Testability- is the extent to which a theory can be put to empirical, scientific testing. Some theories simply cannot be
tested. *Test and Observe= Conclusion (you can use a control and random group sampling)

5. Empirical Validity- a theoretical model is supported by scientific research. There should a greater weight of statistical
evidence.

6. Policy Implication- is the extent to which a theory can create realistic and useful guidance for changing the way that
society deals with a given Phenomenon. Example, the broken window theory, which says that to reduce serious crimes,
authorities should focus on the minor incivilities (bad manners) that occur in a given area.

FOUNDATIONS OF CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES

A. Pre-Classical Theories/Demonological Theories: Spiritual explanations for crime were rooted in people’s religious
beliefs and superstitions. The guilt or innocence of a crime, like victory or defeat in battles or disputes, was believed to be
decided by divine intervention. Cures for criminal behavior ranged from religious conversion to torture and death.

B. Classical Theories: it assumes that individuals have free will and choose to commit based on rational, hedonistic
decisions; “they weigh out the potential costs and benefits of offending and then choose what will maximize their pleasure
and minimize the pain”.

C. Neo-Classical Theories: it affirms that the cause of crime is “people have free will to do the act, however when it comes
to punishment, it should be individualized for the reason that there are people who commit crime because they don’t
understand right from wrong and likewise, there should be a difference between a recidivist and a first-time offender.

D. Positivism Theories: it assumes that individual are passive subjects of determinism, which means that people do not
freely choose their behavior. Instead, their behavior is determined by factors outside their free will, such as genetics, IQ,
education, employment, peer influences, parenting and economics.

Note: The School of Thoughts are, Classical Theory, Neo-Classical and Positivism. These theories come up to bring
enlightenment to society and likewise, it laid the birth of different Criminological theories.

CATEGORIES OF CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES

I. BIOLOGICAL THEORIES. Biological explanations of crime assume that some people are ‘born criminals’, who are
physiologically distinct from non-criminals.
II. BIOSOCIAL THEORIES. Theories that examine the combined effects of biology, behavior, and the environment on
criminal behavior.
III. SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES. Sociological approaches suggest that crime is shaped by factors external to the individual:
their experiences within the neighborhood, the peer group, and the family.
IV. PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES. A general perspective that looks to the psychological functioning, development, and
adjustment of an individual in explaining criminal or deviant acts. Under this approach, the criminal act itself is important
only in that it highlights an underlying mental issue.
V. CONTEMPORARY THEORIES. Criminal motivation is a product of one or more of a complete set of factors.

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 LEARNING ASSESSMENT NO.1
NAME: DATE:

SECTION: SCORE: 92

INSTRUCTION: Please use your OWN words to answer the following questions! Please be realistic in answering the
questions.

1. Theories are important resources that allow us to grasp and describe the world around us, as a potential
criminologist, how can these theories help you in your career path? Limit your answer to 3-5 sentences only.
10points
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2. Applying the characteristics of a good theory, critic foundation theories based on the different characteristics of a
good theory. Please use the table below to answer this question. 3points each item=72points
CHARACTERISTICS OF PRE-CLASSICAL CLASSICAL NEO-CLASSICAL POSITIVISM
A GOOD THEORY THEORIES THEORIES THEORIES THEORIES

1. Parsimony

2. Scope

3. Logical Consistency

4. Testability

5. Empirical Validity

6. Policy Implication

3. From your critic in question no.2, which among the foundation theories is a good theory? Why? Limit your answer
to 3-5 sentences only. 10points
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 MODULE 2: BIOLOGICAL THEORIES
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: At the end of this module, the students should be able to:
1. describe the biological causes of crime;
2. learn the history of biological explanations of criminal behavior, this includes early biological theories and their policy
implications, including eugenics; and
3. understand the methodologies used by scientists in their attempt to separate nature (genetics) from nurture
(environment), this includes twin studies, adoption studies, and molecular genetics.
Biological explanations of crime assume that some people are ‘born criminals’, who are physiologically distinct from
non-criminals. Also referred to as biological positivism that claims that criminal behavior is the result of biological or inborn
defects or abnormalities.
Traditional biological theories state that individuals commit criminal acts due to biological or genetic defects. Crime is a
result of these abnormalities, and not a choice made by the offender. Crime can be prevented by isolating, treating,
separating, sterilizing, or killing the individual.
Most biological theories are grounded upon Darwinist views such as: evolution, heredity, the man ape-like behavior, and
social Darwinism in its very context. Darwin’s theory of evolution had laid the ground for the birth of such theories to
understand human condition and human behavior.

PRE-TEST NO. 2
NAME: DATE:

SECTION: SCORE: 10

INSTRUCTION: Please answer the following questions, these questions are intended to assess your pre-existing
knowledge regarding the topic.

1. From your own understanding, what are the causes of crime from the perspective of biological theories?
Identify and discuss two (2). 5points
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2. What biological theories of crime do you know? Discuss at least one (1). 5points
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 EARLY BIOLOGICAL THEORIES
A. PHYSIOGNOMY: it refers to the evaluation of a person’s personality or character (i.e., his/her nature) through an
examination of that person’s outward appearance.

1. ARISTOTLE (384 to 322 BCE)

▪ proponent of physiognomy

2. PYTHAGORAS (500 BCE)

▪ First of advocate the practice of physiognomy;
 the belief that one can determine a person’s character, moral disposition, or behavior by observing
his or her physical characteristics.
 Greek word: physis=nature; gnomon=to judge or interpret;
✓ Early physiognomy concentrated on characteristics of the face through which to judge the
person’s nature.

3. GIAMBATTISTA DELLA PORTA (1535-1615)

▪ Examined patients during his medical practice and concluded that appearance and character were related.
 He approached the study through magico-spiritualistic metaphysical perspective instead of a
scientific method one, classifying humans on the basis of their resemblance to animals.
Example: Men who look like donkeys are similar to donkeys in their laziness and stupidity; men
who resemble pigs behave like pigs.

4. JOHANN KASPAR LAVATER (1741-1801)

▪ A Swiss pastor who was extremely influence to the work of Della Porta;
▪ He published his painstakingly detailed study of facial fragments in 1783.
 He concluded that one could determine criminal behavior through an examination of a person’s
eyes, ears, nose, chin, and facial shape.

B. PHRENOLOGY: Greek words: phren=mind; logos=knowledge; is based on the belief that human behavior originated
in the brain. This was a major departure from earlier beliefs that focused on the four humors as the source of emotions
and behaviors:
i. sanguine (blood): seated in the liver and associated with courage and love;
ii. choleric (yellow bile): seated in the gall bladder and associated with anger and bad temper;
iii. melancholic (black bile): seated in the spleen and associated with depression, sadness and irritability; and
iv. phlegmatic (phlegm): seated in the brain and lungs and associated with calmness and lack of excitability
 Theoretically and practically relocating responsibility for behavior from various organs to the brain
represented a major step in the development of the scientific study of behavior and in the development of
biological explanations of crime and criminality.

1. FRANZ JOSEPH GALL (1758-1828)

▪ A German neuro-anatomist and physiologist who pioneered the study of human brain as the source of
mental faculties, developed the practice of cranioscopy.
 A technique by which to infer behaviors and characteristics from external examination of the skull
(cranium);
▪ According to him, a person’s strengths, weaknesses, morals, proclivities, character, and personality could
be determined by physical characteristics of his or her skull.
 A bump or depression in a particular area of the skull would indicate a strength or weakness in that
particular area.
Example: Several areas of Gall’s map of the skull were believe to correspond to that person’s
tendencies to engage in criminal or deviant acts. One area corresponded to the tendency to commit
murder; another area corresponded to the tendency to steal.
▪ Gall’s effort had significant impact on subsequent research that attempted to identify the brain as the origin
of behavior; He tried to make inferences about character and behavior from outward characteristics,
cranioscopy attempted to correlate those outward physical characteristics to internal physical
characteristics (i.e., brain shape), which was a significant advance.

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 2. JOHANN SPURZHEIM (1776-1832)
▪ A German physician and student of Gall;
▪ Coined the term phrenology to replace cranioscopy;
▪ He expanded the map of the brain organs, developed a hierarchical system of the organs, and created a
model “phrenology bust” that depicted the location of the brain organs;

C. THE IMPACT OF POSITIVISM. In the early 1800s, following the advancement of arguments, proposals, and theories
related to biological sciences, ground breaking ideas also were propagated about the place and function of man within
social groups. These developments were instrumental to the application of biological perspectives to human behavior
within social groups.

1. AUGUST COMTE (1798-1857)

▪ Father of Sociology;
▪ A French scholar who published Plan de Travaux Scientifiques Necessaries Pour Reorganizer la Societe
(Plan of Scientific Studies Necessary for the Reorganization of Society) in 1822. In this work, he argued for
a universal law of three phases:
a. Theological stage- the most primitive stage, characterized by supernatural, religious or animistic
explanations for events, situations, and behaviors and a lack of interest in the origins of causes;
b. Metaphysical stage- slightly more advanced and identifies abstract forces (fate, accident) as the
origin of causes; and
c. Scientific stage- the most advance stage; positive stage; there is little concern for the origin of
actions, but a focus on the outcomes, which man can control; characterized by observation,
experimentation, and logic and attempt to understand the relationships among components.
▪ Comte’s positivism attempted to apply scientific principles (i.e., the scientific method) to the behavior of
societies and emphasized the connectedness of all the elements involved in behavior.
▪ Positivism is one of the first theories of social evolution, attempting to explain how societies progress.
▪ He claimed that the only real knowledge is knowledge gained through actual sense experience (i.e.,
observation).

D. STATISTICS AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES. Application of statistical techniques to the investigation of social behavior.

1. ADOLPHE QUETELET (1796-1894) and ANDRE-MICHEL GUERRY (1802-1866)

▪ Interested in unravelling the statistical laws underlying social problems such as crime and suicide;
▪ Quetelet’s most influential publication was Treatise on Man in 1835, in which he described the “average”
man, developed from the calculation of mean values to form a normal distribution, he called this process
as social physics.
▪ Guerry developed the idea of moral statistics in an 1829 one-page document containing three maps of
France, shaded in terms of crimes against property, crimes against persons, and a proxy for education
(school education).
 A subsequent publication, Essay on Moral Statistics of France (1833), expanded on this technique
and developed shaded maps to evaluate crime and suicides by age, sex, regions, and season.
 He found that these rates varied by region but remained remarkably stable across the other factors.

 This preliminary work emphasized the possibility that social measurements could provide insight into the
regularity of human actions, forming a basis for the development of social laws. Quetelet and Guerry were
instrumental in the development of sociology and criminology, illustrating the possibility of measuring,
determining the nature of relationships, and identifying pattern and regularities in social situations.

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E. EVOLUTIONARY THEORIES. The major premise of this group of theories is that as human race evolved, traits and
characteristics have become ingrained. Some of these traits male people aggressive and predisposed to commit crime.

1. HERBERT SPENCER (1820-1903)

▪ An early English social theorist and philosopher;
▪ He articulated a theory of evolution in Progress: Its Law and Cause (1857);
▪ He proposed that everything in the universe developed from a single source and progressed in complexity
with the passing of time and generations, becoming differentiated yet being characterized by increasing
integration of the differentiated parts;
▪ Spencer coined the phrase survival of the fittest, in 1864, after reading Darwin’s On the Origin of Species,
and he applied the idea of natural selection to society.

2. CHARLES DARWIN (1809-1882)

▪ Darwin described his theories in two main publications:
a. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selections, or the Preservation of Favored Races
in the Struggle for Life (1859)
- organisms evolve over generations through a process of natural selections;
b. The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871)
- described the theory of sexual selection

3. CESARE LOMBROSO (1835–1909)

▪ The first person to apply Darwin’s findings to criminal behavior and criminals;
▪ He is an Italian criminologist and the founder of Italian School of Positivist Criminology; Father of Modern
Criminology;
▪ He rejected the established Classical School, which held that crime was a characteristic trait of human
nature, instead, using concepts drawn from earlier perspectives, such as physiognomy.
▪ Lombroso argued, in essence, that criminality was inherited and that someone “born criminal” (this phrase
was coined by Enrico Ferri) could be identified by physical defects, which confirmed a criminal as savage,
or atavistic.
 Atavistic or primitive man is a throwback to an earlier stage of human evolution, and will commit
crimes against society unless specifically restrained from doing so.
 Atavism describes the reappearance in an organism of characteristics of some remote ancestor
after several generations of absence.
▪ Lombroso published Criminal Man in 1876, helping to establish the newly forming Positive School of
Criminology; he believed that criminals were not as evolved as people who did not commit crime and that
crime is a result of biological differences between criminals and non-criminals.
▪ He believed that modern criminals shared physical characteristics (stigmata) with primitive humans.
▪ Lombroso reached his conclusions by studying the cadavers of executed criminals for physical indicators
of atavism, developing a typological system to categorize these individuals.
a. Born criminals- serious offenders; they had strong jaws, big teeth, bulging foreheads, and long arms;
these types of offenders constituted about one third of all criminals;
b. Criminaloids- minor offenders; who only commit crimes occasionally;
c. Criminal by Passion – are individuals who are easily influenced by great emotions like fit of anger.
d. Insane Criminals – are those who commit crime due to abnormalities or psychological disorders.
e. Pseudo-criminals – are those who kill in self-defense
▪ Although his methods were flawed, and most of the traits he listed failed to distinguish criminal from
matched sample of non-criminals, he was among the first to apply scientific principles to the collection of
data and to use statistical techniques in his data analysis.
▪ He was also among the first to study female criminality, speculating that females were more likely to be
criminals “by passion.”
▪ Lombroso’s work started other researchers on the path to determine hereditary source for criminal behavior.

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 4. ENRICO FERRI (1856-1929)
▪ Student of Lombroso; he disagreed with Lombroso’s focus on the physiological, professing instead to
examine the interactive effects of physical factors, individual factors, and social factors and to blame
criminality on a lack of moral sensibility.

5. RAFFAELE GAROFALO (1851-1934)

▪ Another Italian contemporary, he developed a theory of natural crime, focusing on those acts that could be
prevented or reduced by punishment;
▪ He also suggested the elimination of individuals who posed a threat to society, to improve the quality of the
society and ensure its survival.
▪ Like Ferri, he believed crime was more the results of a lack in moral sensibilities rather than a physiological
problem.
▪ Types of Criminal by Garofalo:
a. Murderers – those who are satisfied from vengeance or revenge.
b. Violent Criminals – those who commit very serious crimes.
c. Deficient Criminals – those who commit crime against property.
d. Lascivious Criminals – those who commit crime against chastity.

6. CHARLES GORING (1870-1919)

▪ He wrote “The English Convict in 1913”, in a carefully controlled statistical comparison of more than 3,000
criminals and non-criminals, Goring found no significant physical differences between the two populations
except height and weight (criminals were slightly smaller).
 His findings essentially discredited Lombroso’s idea of the born criminal, although research into the
search for criminal types continued.

F. THE CRIMINAL PHYSIQUE. Evaluations and categorizations of a person’s body build or physique also become popular
as researchers attempted to link crime with some outwardly observable difference.

1. ERNST KRETSCHMER (1888-1964)

▪ A German psychiatrist, published Physique and Character, in which he described three categories of body
type (asthenic, athletic, pyknik) associated with three categories of behaviors (cyclothemic, schizothemic,
and displastic).

Body Types
a. Asthenic- lean, slim, shallow-chested, and tall in proportion to their weight, highly emotional, commit
sexual offenses/crimes of passion;
b. Athletic- muscular individual with broad shoulders, well-developed chest, robust and strong,
aggressive, commit violent crimes; and
c. Pyknik- heavy, soft body, lacks spontaneity/sophistication, commit non-violent crimes

Categories of Behaviors
a. Cyclothemes were manic-depressive and typified by soft skin, a round shape, and little muscle
development and tended to commit crime the less serious offenses that were more intellectual in nature;
b. Schizothemes were anti-social and apathetic, committing the more serious violent offenses, and were
either asthenic (thin and tall) or athletic (wide and strong); and
c. Displastics could be any bod type but were characterized by highly charged emotional states and
unable to control their emotions; associated with sexual offenses.

2. ERNEST HOOTON (1887-1954)

▪ Harvard anthropologist, he was dissatisfied with Goring’s findings, Hooten spent 12 years conducting
research into the criminal nature of man to disprove Goring and support Lombroso,
▪ His first influential publication, Crime and the Man (1939), documented his study of 14,000 prisoners and
3,000 non-prisoner control in 10 states.
▪ Hooten was more rigorous than Goring in his methods, differentiating his subjects on the basis of types of
crime and by geographic, ethnic and racial backgrounds.

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 ▪ Hooten, agreed with Lombroso’s idea of born criminal and argued that most crime was committed by
individuals who were “biologically inferior,” “organically inadaptable,” “mentally and physically stunted and
warped,” and “sociologically debased.”
▪ He argued that the only way to solve crime was by eliminating people who were morally, mentally, or
physically “unfit,” or by segregating them in an environment apart from the rest of society.

3. WILLIAM SHELDON (1898-1977)

▪ Followed the footsteps of Lombroso, Kretschmer and Hooten
▪ He attempted to document a direct link between biology (specifically, physique) and personality
(specifically, crime) through the development of a classification system of personality patterns and
corresponding physical builds.
▪ Employed beliefs about Darwin’s survival of the fittest, Lombroso’s criminal man, and Galton’s eugenics.
▪ During the 1940’s, Sheldon developed and tested his classification system, known as somatotyping. He
created three classifications:
1. Ectomorphs, who were thin, delicate, flat, and linear; more likely to commit suicide;
2. Endomorphs, who were heavy or obese, with a round, soft shape; more likely to be mentally ill; and
3. Mesomorphs, who were rectangular, muscular, and sturdy; more likely to engage in crime.
 Although Sheldon, linked physical and psychological characteristics and concluded that both were the result
of heredity, he failed to support that conclusion with valid statistical methods.
 During the late 1940s and early 1950s, Sheldon Glueck and Eleanor Glueck conducted longitudinal research
into juvenile delinqueny using control groups and added to Sheldon’s list of somatotypes, they suggested
the addition of a fourth type they called balanced. In their research, they found support for Sheldon’s
proposition that mesomorphs are more likely to commit crime.

4. GREGOR MENDEL (1822-1884)

▪ An Austrian scientist, is known as the “father of genetics” (Henig, 2000).
▪ Application of his laws of inheritance to individual and social development resulted in significant advances
in biological theories of behavior.
▪ His work also led to focus on the study of traits at the cellular level (genotypes) instead of at the observable
level (phenotypes)

G. THE IMPLICATIONS OF HEREDITY AND EVOLUTION

1. FRANCIS GALTON (1822-1911) and EUGENICS

▪ A cousin of Charles Darwin;
▪ He was interested in whether human ability was hereditary, and he collected biographical information about
numerous prominent men of the time to chart the families’ abilities over several generations.
 He published his results in a book called Hereditary Genius (1869), in which he concluded that
human ability was inherited.
▪ He followed his work with a survey of English scientists (1883) in which he attempted to determine whether
their interest and abilities in science were the result of heredity (nature) or encouragement (nurture).
▪ Galton stimulated interest in the question of (coined the phrase) nature versus nurture.
▪ Although Galton’s work at the point was useful and had resulted in the development of numerous
measurement tools (e.g., the questionnaire; fingerprint analysis) and statistical concepts (standard
deviation, correlation, regression), it was his work with twins that provided the impetus for future inquiries
into the nature versus nurture debate.
▪ Galton surveyed sets of twins to determine whether twins who were identical exhibited differences if raised
in different environments and whether twins who were fraternal exhibited similarities if raised in similar
environments.
 This work was published as “The History of Twins as a Criterion of the Relative Powers of Nature
and Nurture” in 1875
▪ In 1883, Galton developed the concept of eugenics, his most controversial and abused philosophy.
 Eugenics advocated the encouragement, through the distribution of incentives, of “able” couples to
reproduce in an effort to improve human hereditary traits.

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  Galton’s proposals were to change social mores and values rather than forcibly manipulating
reproduction or eliminating those who were considered “less fit”.
 Eugenics was originally conceived as a concept of social responsibility to improve the lives of
everyone in society by encouraging individuals to selectively breed goo traits in and bad traits out.
 Positive eugenics aims to increase the reproduction of desirable qualities, and negative eugenics
aims to discourage the reproduction of undesirable qualities, to improve humanity and society.

 Sterilization laws were passed the target of these laws were criminals, the very poor, epileptics, alcoholics,
the blind, the deaf, the insane and those who had a physical deformity. More than 64,000 individuals in 33
states were forcibly sterilized under these laws.

2. RICHARD DUGDALE (1841-1883)

▪ He published The Jukes: A Study in Crime, Pauperism, Disease and Heredity, in which he traced the
descendants of matriarch Ada Jukes and found that most of the Jukes Family members (although they
were not all biologically related) were criminals, prostitutes, or welfare recipients.

3. HENRY GODDARD (1866-1957)

▪ He traced 1,000 descendants of a man named Martin Kallikak, comparing his descendants who were
conceived within wedlock to a woman of “noble birth” to his descendants who came from the bloodline he
conceived out of wedlock with another woman, one of ill repute.
 Goddard, concluded (although he later retracted his conclusions) that the legitimate bloodlines was
“wholesome,” whereas the illegitimate bloodline was characterized by “feeblemindedness”.

H. GENETICS IN MODERN BIOLOGICAL THEORIES. Efforts to find a genetics explanation for violence and aggression
have been met with strong resistance, primarily because of painful memories of how research linking biology and crime
were used in the past (eugenics).
In 1992, a conference related to the Human Genome Project at the University of Maryland had its federal funding
withdrawn for attempting to discuss any particular linkage between genes and violence (Murphy & Lappe, 1994).
Objections by groups who believed that any such research would be used to oppress poor and minority populations
overpowered the quest for knowledge.

1. CHROMOSOMES
▪ Human cells have normally 22 pairs of chromosomes, plus a pair of chromosomes that determines sex, for
a total of 46.
▪ Sex chromosomes are termed X and Y; females carry a combination of XX, and males carry a combination
of XY.
▪ XYY syndrome (supermale) are more aggressive and more violent; however, this supposition has not been
supported with scientifically valid research.

2. TWIN STUDIES
▪ Fraternal (dizygotic [DZ]) and identical (monozygotic [MZ]) twins have contributed to the sophistication of
this type of research.
 DZ twins develop from two eggs and share about half of their genetic material, whereas MZ twins
develop from a single egg and share all of their genetic material.

2.1 JOHANNES LANGE (1929)

▪ He studied 30 pairs of twins who were of the same sex.
 17 of these pairs were DZ twin, 13 were MZ twins; at least one of each twin pair was known to have
committed a crime. However, Lange found out that both twins in 10 of the 13 MZ twin pairs were
known criminals, compared with both twins in only 2 of the 17 DZ pairs.

2.2 KARL O. CHRISTIANSEN

▪ He evaluated the criminal behavior of 3,568 twin pairs born in Denmark between 1881 and 1810, he found
that the chance of one twin engaging in criminal behavior when the other twin was criminal was 50% among
the MZ twin pairs but only 20% among the DZ twin pairs.

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 ▪ The correlation between the genetic closeness of the biological relationship and crime was especially true
for serious violent crime and for more lengthy criminal careers.

2.3 DAVID C. ROWE

▪ Supported the findings of Christiansen; Rowe and his colleagues found that MZ twins were more likely than
DZ twins to both be involved in delinquent activity.
▪ Moreover, MZ twins reported more delinquent peers than did DZ twins (Rowe, 1983).
▪ The work of Rowe and his colleagues supported a genetic component to delinquency but also provided
evidence of a social component.

3. ADOPTION STUDIES
▪ The behavior of adoptees is compared with the outcomes of their adopted and biological parents.
▪ The aim is to separate out the impact of the environment from the influence of heredity; this search asks
whether a child will exhibit traits of the adopted parents or of the biological parents.
▪ Research indicates that an adoptee with a biological parent who is criminal is more likely to engage in
property crime than other adoptees and that this effect is stronger for boys.
 The findings, from a study of 14, 427 Danish children adopted between 1924 and 1947, provide
evidence that there may be a genetic factor in the predisposition to antisocial behavior (Mednick,
Gabrielli, & Hutchins, 1984). Studies in both Sweden and in the United States confirm these
conclusions.
▪ A meta-analysis of adoption studies, conducted by Walters and White (1989), reinforced the importance of
adoptions studies as the best way to determine the impact of both environment and genetics on criminal behavior
but also emphasized the theoretical and methodological difficulties inherent to this approach.

 Recent studies have consistently demonstrated that genetic variation substantially contributes to behavioral
variation across all types of behavior. Two primary conclusions are derived from these studies:
(1) Nearly all of the most frequently studied behaviors, characteristics, and conditions (e.g., cognitive
abilities, personality, aggressive behavior) are moderately to highly heritable, and
(2) Nonshared environments and tend to make people different from, instead of similar to, their relatives

BIOCHEMICAL EXPLANATIONS: HORMONES, NEUROTRANSMITTERS, DIET

Another biological explanation for criminal behavior involves the body’s hormones, released by some of the
body’s cell or organs. Androgens are hormones associated with masculine traits, and estrogens are associated with
feminine traits. Progesterone is another hormone associated primarily with female reproductive processes, such as
pregnancy and menstruation.

1. TESTOSTERONE
▪ Considered the male sex hormone.
▪ Researchers have found that higher levels of this hormone are associated with increased levels of violence
and aggression, both in males and females.
▪ Criminal samples have been found to have higher testosterone levels when compared with non-criminal
samples, although these levels were still within normal limits.
▪ Evolutionary Neuroandrogenic Theory (Ellis, 2003)
- Ellis argued that increased levels of testosterone reduce the brain’s sensitivity to environmental
stimuli, making a person act out, with reduced abilities to control emotions.
- He also speculated that the development of testosterone’s “competitive-victimizing” effects is the
result of natural selection, as described by Darwin.

2. PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME and PREMENSTRUAL DYSPHORIC DISORDER

▪ Researchers also have investigated the impact of female hormones on behavior in women, beginning with
two English cases in 1980 in which two women used premenstrual syndrome (PMS) as a mitigating factor in
violent offenses.
▪ Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) is a severe and debilitating form of PMS, distinguished by the
level of interference the menstrual process has on the ability of the woman to engage in the functions of
everyday life.

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  Interestingly, researchers have established a genetic link to the development of PMDD, women
with a certain genetic structure have increased (abnormal) sensitivity to their own normal
hormones, resulting in increased symptoms of emotional and physical stress.
▪ Postpartum Depression Syndrome is experienced by most new mothers, symptoms of depression in the
weeks or months following birth, which is primarily thought to be due to a decrease progesterone,
approximately 1% to 2% of these mothers exhibit sever symptoms, such as hallucinations, suicidal or
homicidal thoughts, mental confusion, and panic attacks; it is used as a mitigating factor in the legal defense
of women accused of crimes while suffering from its effects.

3. NEUROTRANSMITTERS
▪ These are chemicals that transmit messages between brain cells, called neurons, and have a direct impact on
the many functions of the brain, including those that affect emotion, learning, mood, and behavior.
▪ Research on the biological bases of crime has focused on three of these:
(a) Norepinephrine, which is associated with the body’s fight or flight responses;
(b) Dopamine, which play a role in thinking and learning, motivation, sleep, attention, and feelings of
pleasure and reward; and
(c) Serotonin, which impacts many functions, such as sleep, sex drive, anger, aggression, appetite, and
metabolism.
 High and low levels of these neurotransmitters have been associated with aggression.
 Results from research that has examined the impact of these neurotransmitters are mixed, with
all of these chemicals, fluctuations in their levels may result in certain behaviors, and certain
behaviors may contribute to fluctuations in their levels in a reciprocal interaction effect.

4. DIET, FOOD ALLERGIES, SENSITIVITIES, VITAMINS, AND MINERALS

▪ What one eats impacts one’s body chemistry, high protein foods, such as fish, eggs, meat, and many dairy
products, contain high levels of the amino acid tryptophan.
 Tryptophan produces serotonin, tyrosine is related to the production of both dopamine and
norepinephrine.
 These relationships have suggested that many aggressive behaviors may be controlled with a diet
higher in protein and lower in refined carbohydrates.
▪ Carbohydrates are not processed slowly and result in rapid release of insulin into the body bloodstream,
causing a sharp decrease in blood sugar, depriving the brain of the glucose necessary for proper functioning.
 This sharp decline in blood sugar also triggers the release of hormone such as adrenaline and
increases in dopamine, this combination has been association with increased aggression, irritability,
and anxiety.
 Hypoglycemia is the state of having chronically reduced blood sugar caused by the excessive
production of insulin.
- Individuals who are hypoglycemic experience increased levels of irritability, aggression, and
difficulty in controlling their emotion expressions.

5. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS
▪ The frontal lobe of the brain, an area that has become the focus of biological investigations into criminal
behavior, is particularly sensitive to environmental toxins, such as lead and manganese.
 Behavioral difficulties, such as hyperactivity, impulsivity, aggression, and lack of self-control, have
been associated with increased levels of these heavy metals.
▪ Environmental toxins increase the impairment of the brain and of the general central nervous system,
producing lower IQs; reductions in learning abilities, frustration tolerance, and self-control; and increases in
impulsivity, hyperactivity, antisocial behaviors, violence and crime.

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 BIOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVES
- Modern biosocial theories attempt to integrate beliefs about the sociological developments of behavior (i.e., social
learning, conditioning) with the biological development of the individual who engages in behavior.
- The idea that biological and environmental factors are related to criminal behavior is central to biosocial criminology.
Biosocial criminology is best understood as a general paradigm of research that analyzes all factors related to the
etiology of antisocial behavior, meaning that genetic influences, biological influences such as hormone levels, and
neurological factors are considered in combination with environmental influences like socialization, exposure to
poverty, and external sources of control.
- Biosocial criminology incorporates the effects of genetics, physiological and neurological factors, as well as influences
of society and family in the causes of antisocial behavior. In this way, biosocial criminology includes at least four major
domains: (Barnes, Boutwell & Beaver, 2015).
1. evolutionary criminology;
2. biological criminology;
3. neuro-criminology; and
4. behavior genetics

SUMMARY
Biological theories have evolved significantly within advances in our theoretical understanding of human behavior and
in our technological capabilities of measuring human biological characteristics and processes.

Whereas earliest attempts to understand the relationships between biology and behavior focused on the outwardly
observable, modern efforts are looking inward, to the chemical and structural foundations of our bodies.

Contemporary biological theories also recognize the interactive relationship between internal biological events and
external sociological events. Moreover, increasing awareness of the complex interrelationships among our environment,
our biology, and our behavior is contributing to the development of a rich and promising epistemology of criminal behavior.

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 LEARNING ASSESSMENT NO.2
NAME: DATE:

SECTION: SCORE: 55

GENERAL INSTRUCTION: Please read the instruction on each test before answering, NO CREDIT for not following
instructions.

TEST I. MATCHING TYPE. MATCH COLUMN A to COLUMN B. Use CAPITAL LETTERS write your answer before the
number. 2points each=30points

ANS. COLUMN A COLUMN B

1. Cesare Lombroso A. He introduced the evolutionary theory.
2. Ernest Hooton B. He coined the term “survival of the fittest”.
3. Raffaele Garofalo C. Father of positivism.
4. William Sheldon D. He described three categories of body type (asthenic, athletic, pyknic)
associated with three categories of behaviors (cyclothymic, schizothyme,
and dysplastic).
5. Herbert Spencer E. He developed the concept of eugenics.
6. Gregor Mendel F. He conducted a study on the descendants of Martin Kallikak.
7. Charles Goring G. Advocate of general inferiority theory.
8. Ernest Kretschmer H. He evaluated twin pairs born in Denmark and found out that the chance of
one twin engaging in criminal behavior is prevalent among MZ twins.
9. Charles Darwin I. He developed and tested his classification system, known as
somatotyping.
10. Enrico Ferri J. He coined the term phrenology.
11. Francis Galton K. His findings discredited Lombroso’s idea of born criminal.
12. Richard Dugdale L. He introduced the idea of born criminal.
13. Henry Goddard M. He developed the practice of cranioscopy.
14. Johannes Lange N. He blames criminality on individual’s lack of moral sensibility.
15. Karl O. Christiansen O. Father of genetics.
P. He studied 30 pairs of twins who were of the same sex and found out that
MZ twins were known criminals, compared with DZ twins.
Q. His typology of criminals are murderers, violent, deficient and lascivious.
R. He found that most of the Jukes Family members were criminals,
prostitutes, or welfare recipients.

TEST II. TRUE OR FALSE. Read, understand and analyze the statements carefully, if the statement is correct draw a 
on the space provided before the number, if incorrect do not write anything on the space provided. 1point each=10oints
_____1. Early biological theories view criminal behavior as the result of a defect in the individual.
_____2. Atavisms, body types, and phrenology represent current biological theories of crime.
_____3. Adoption studies have shown that there is genetic relationship to crime.
_____4. Fraternal twins were more likely to be involved in delinquent activity than identical twins.
_____5. Contemporary biological theories concentrate more on variations in genetic and other biological factors in
interaction with the environment, and are less likely to refer to biological defects or abnormalities.
_____6. Research indicates that an adoptee with a biological parent who is criminal is more likely to engage in property
crime rather than other adoptees and that this effect is stronger for boys.
_____7. Lombroso was correct about criminal offenders being throwbacks to an earlier form of human.
_____8. When nature and nurture are compared, biological rather than environmental factors tend to have the most
influence on criminality.
_____9. The most important adoption study was done by Mednick and his colleagues.
_____10. Although early biological theories lacked validity, they were among the first to use the scientific method.

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TEST III. ESSAY. Answer the following questions briefly but meaty. Limit your answer to 3-5 sentences only. 5points
each=15points

1. Should adoption and twin studies be replicated and improved today? Why?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Things like eye color, hair color, facial features, and personality are passed down from generation to generation. If
this is true, why would we not expect things like criminal behavior to be passed down as well? Justify your answer.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Should scientists continue looking for biological causes of criminality? Can such study be criticized on the basis
that it reinforces racial, gender-based or class-based stereotypes?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

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 MODULE 3: SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: At the end of this module, the students should be able to:
1. explain the sociological causes of crime;
2. identify and discuss the causes of crime from the sociological point of view; and
3. link the social structures and cultural values of society to crime.

Society creates conditions under which a person commits crime. Society influences people to commit crime.
Sociological theories of crime speak of the role of social environment to crimes. The family, school, peers, workplace,
community, and society are part of the social environment. What sociological theories have in common is the idea that
criminal behavior is not innate to humans and affect how people act: people are not born criminal; the environment they live
in is what influences how they will turn out. Also, they differ in several ways. They focus on various highlights of the social
environment; they differ in views on why the social environment causes crime; and some are focusing on explaining
individual differences in crime while others attempt to explain group differences. The sociological perspective acknowledges
that factors such as strain, group conflict, subculture ideas, economics, and language are essential aspects in giving
definitions and interpretations to delinquency and crime.
Sociological theories are defined in many ways. It may try to link questions on an individual’s criminality with the
social structures and cultural values of society, familial, or peer group; an attempt to know how these groups and their
contradictions can be a contribution to criminality; the historical development of these structures, cultures, and
contradictions; the processes of change these groups are currently facing; the perspective of social constructions of
criminality and its social causes of criminality.
Traditional sociological theories say that crime is a result of anomie. It is also known as normlessness or a feeling
of lack of social norms. Emile Durkheim termed it as a lack of being connected to society. It was then used to describe as
the criminality resulting from absence of opportunity to attain goals. In other term: by learning of criminal values and
behaviors. If individuals are not socialized and equal opportunities between groups are not met then it results to criminality.

PRE-TEST NO. 3

NAME: DATE:

SECTION: SCORE: 10

INSTRUCTION: Please answer the following questions, these questions are intended to assess your pre-existing
knowledge regarding the topic. Limit your answer to 3-5 sentences.

1. Discuss the quotation and relate to sociological theories of crime “associate yourself with people of good quality, for it
is better to be alone than in bad company.” 5points

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Is criminal behavior learned or inherited? Why? Discuss your answer.5points

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

A Self-regulated Learning Module 22

I. Development of Sociological Criminology

A. Adolphe Quetelet (1796-1874)

 He was a Belgian mathematician who began what is known as the cartographic school of
criminology. This approach made use of social statistics that were being developed in Europe in
the early nineteenth century. Statistical data provided important demographic information on the
population, including density, gender, religious affiliations, and wealth.

 He studied data gathered in France to investigate the influence of social factors on the propensity
to commit crime.

 He found out that age, sex, season, climate, population composition, and poverty were related to
criminality.

 More specifically, he found out that crime rates were greatest in the summer, in southern areas,
among heterogeneous populations, and among the poor and uneducated.

 He also found crime rates to be influenced by drinking habits.

B. Durkheim, Emile (1858-1917)

 He is considered as one of the founders of sociology, defined crime as a normal and necessary
social event.

 Crime is a part of human nature because it has existed during periods of both poverty and
prosperity.

 Crime is normal: it is virtually impossible to imagine society in which criminal behavior it totally
absent. Such society would almost demand that all people be and act exactly alike.

 Crime is functional/useful: Healthy for society; he held that the existence of crime paves the way
for social change and indicates that the social structure is not rigid or inflexible.

 A rising crime rate can signal the need for social change and promote a variety of programs
designed to relieve the human suffering that may have caused crime in the first place.

 Anomie is normlessness produced by rapidly shifting moral values. This occurs when personal
goals cannot be achieved using available means. He described anomie not simply as
normlessness but as the more or less complete collapse of social solidarity itself.

 Durkheim identifies two major causes of anomie: the division of labor, and rapid social change.

C. THE CHICAGO SCHOOL AND BEYOND

 The primacy of sociological positivism as the intellectual basis of criminology was secured by
research begun in the early 20th century by Albion W. Small (1854-1926), who organized the
famed sociology department at the University of Chicago.

 Referred to as the Chicago School, urban sociologists such as W.I Thomas (1863-1947), Robert
Ezra Park (1864-1944), Ernest W. Burgess (1886-1966), and Louis Wirth (1897-1952) pioneered
research on the social ecology of the city.

 Chicago School sociologists carried out an ambitious program of research and scholarship on
urban topics, including criminal behavior patterns.

 Park, with Ernest Burgess and Roderick McKenzie, studied the social ecology of the city and
found that some neighborhoods form so-called natural areas of wealth and affluence, while others
suffered poverty and disintegration. Regardless of their race, religion, or ethnicity, the everyday
behavior of people living in these areas was controlled by the social and ecological climate.

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  Social forces operating in urban areas create “natural areas” for crime. These urban
neighborhoods maintain such a high level of poverty that critical institutions of socialization and
control, such as the school and the family, begin to break down. While normally, these social
institutions can apply the social control necessary to restrain the neighborhood youth, their
weakness means that kids are now free to engage in exciting and enticing law-violating
behaviors.

 As crime rates soar and residents are afraid to leave their homes at night, the neighborhood
becomes socially disorganized-unable to apply social control on its residents.

 The Chicago School sociologist supported the view that neighborhood conditions, and not
individual pathology, were the key influence on behavior and in so doing shaped the direction of
crime rates. Their writings became the core of sociological criminology, and the social
environment and its influence on human behavior have remained the primary focus of
criminology.

II. SOCIOECONOMIC STRUCTURE AND CRIME: Clarify the association between social structure and crime.

Social Classes: segments of the population whose members have a relatively similar portion of desirable
things and who share attitudes, values, norms, and identifiable lifestyle.

A. The Underclass

 Oscar Lewis coined the term the underclass to describe the crushing lifestyle experienced by
those living in the American “culture of poverty,” which is passed from one generation to the next.

Culture of poverty: the view that people in the lower class of the society form a separate culture
with its own values and norms that are in conflict with conventional society; the culture is self-
maintaining and ongoing.

 Lewis’s work was the first of a group that describe the plight of at-risk children and adults.

At-risk: children and adults who lack the education and skills needed to be effectively in demand
in modern society.

B. Child Poverty

C. Minority Group Poverty

III. SOCIAL STRUCTURE THEORIES: These group of theories suggest that social and economic forces operating in
disorganized lower-class areas are the key determinant of criminal behavior patterns.

1. Social Disorganization Theory

 Focuses on the conditions within the urban environment that affect crime rates.

 It links crime rates to neighborhood ecological characteristics.

 A disorganized area is one in which institutions of social control-such as the family, commercial
establishments, and schools-have broken down and can no longer carry out their expected or
stated functions.

❖ Indications of social disorganization include high unemployment, school dropout rates, deteriorated housing,
low-income levels, and large numbers of single parent households. Residents in these areas experience
conflict and despair, and, as a result, antisocial behavior flourishes.

A. Concentric Zones Theory: Clifford R. Shaw & Henry D. McKay

 Crime is a product of transitional neighborhoods that manifest social disorganization and

value conflict.

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  Identifies why crime rates are highest in slum areas, points out the factors that produce
crime, suggests programs to help reduce crime.

Most important findings of Shaw & McKay

a. Crime rates are sensitive to the destructive social forces operating in lower class urban
neighborhoods.

b. Environmental factors, rather than individual differences, are the root cause of crime.

c. Crime is a constant fixture in distressed areas regardless of racial or ethnic makeup.

d. Neighborhood disorganization weakens formal and informal social control, the primary
cause of criminal behavior.

e. Community values, norms, and cohesiveness affect individual behavior choices.

B. Social Ecology Theory

 The conflicts and problems of urban social life and communities, including fear,
unemployment, deterioration, and siege of mentality, influence crime rates.

 Accounts for urban crime rates and trends. Identifies community-level factors that
produce crime rates.

2. STRAIN THEORIES: Most people share similar values and goals, failure to get what they want leads to
frustration and anger, a condition that is referred to as strain.

Strain is related to criminal motivation, people who feel economically and socially humiliated may perceive the
right to humiliate others in return.

❖ The Concept of Anomie

 The roots of strain theories can be traced to Emile Durkheim notion of anomie (from the Greek a
nomos, “without norms”).

 According to him, anomic society is one in which rules of behavior (i.e., values, customs, and norms)
have broken down or become inoperative during periods of rapid social change or social crisis such
as war or famine.

A. ROBERT MERTON’S THEORY OF ANOMIE

 A modified version of the concept of anomie developed by Merton to fit social, economic, and
cultural conditions found in modern U.S. society, he found that two elements of culture interact to
produce potentially anomic conditions: culturally defined goals and defined goals and socially
approved means for obtaining them.

 Merton argued that each person has his or her own concept of the goals of society and the
means at his or her disposal for their attainment.

Modes of Social Adaptations

1. Conformity. Occurs when individuals embrace conventional social goals and also have the
means of attainment at their disposal. The conformist desires wealth and success and can
obtain them through education and a high paying job. In a balanced, stable society, this is the
most common social adaptation.

2. Innovation. Occurs when an individual accepts the goals of society but rejects or is
incapable of attaining them through legitimate means. Many people desire material goods
and luxuries but lack the financial capability to attain them. The resulting conflict forces them
to adopt innovative solutions to their dilemma: they steal, sell drugs, or extort money.

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 3. Ritualism. Ritualists have gained the tools to accumulate wealth-for example, they are
educated and informed-but reject established cultural goals of contemporary society. These
are people who enjoy the routine of work without having the ambition to climb to the top of
their profession, they are not risk takers.

4. Retreatism. Retreatists rejects both the goals and the means of society. Merton suggests
that people who adjust in this fashion are “in the society but not of it.”

5. Rebellion. Involves substituting an alternative set of goals and means for conventional ones.

B. INSTITUTIONAL ANOMIE THEORY (IAT): Steve Messner & Richard Rosenfeld

 The desire to accumulate wealth and material goods pervades all aspect of American life.
 Explains why crime rates are so high in American culture.
 It views anti-social behavior as a function of cultural and institutional influences.

C. GENERAL STRAIN THEORY (Robert Agnew)

 He identified the social-psychological, individual-level influences that produce strain.
 Agnew sees strain as an individual phenomenon.

 Agnew therefore offers a more general explanation of criminal activity: it can occur among all
elements of society if they experience stress producing events. If members of the lower class
commit more crime, it’s because strain is a product of a lower-class lifestyle.

Causes of Strain according to Agnew

1. Failure to achieve positively valued goals. This category of strain, is a result of the
disjunction between aspirations and expectations.

2. Failure to achieve is relative. Some very successful people may consider themselves
failures. When people compare themselves to peers who seem to be doing a lot better
financially or socially, even those doing relatively well feel strain.

3. Removal of positively valued stimuli. Strain may occur because of the actual or anticipated
removal or loss of a positively valued stimulus from the individual. The loss of positive stimuli
may lead to criminality when a person tries to prevent the loss, retrieve what has been lost,
obtain substitutes, or seek revenge against those responsible for the loss.

4. The effect of removal of positive stimuli may be class bound. Middle-class people may
be less able to cope with the removal of positive stimuli. When you are expected to succeed
because of your class position, failure may be harder to swallow; those who have limited
opportunities and lower expectations may be able to take failure in stride.

5. Presentation of negative stimuli. Strain is also produced by the application of negative or

noxious stimuli.

3. CULTURAL DEVIANCE THEORY. It combines the effects of social disorganization and strain to explain how
people living in deteriorated neighborhoods react to social isolation and economic deprivation. Because their
lifestyle is draining, frustrating, and dispiriting, members of the lower class create an independent subculture
with its own set of rules and values.

Subcultures: groups that are loosely part of the dominant culture but maintain a unique set of values, beliefs,
and traditions.

A. Thorsten Sellin

 Sellin’s main premise is that criminal law is an expression of the rules of the dominant culture.
The content of the law, therefore, may create a clash between conventional, middle class rules
and splinter groups, such as ethnic and racial minorities who are excluded from the social
mainstream. These groups maintain their own set of conduct norms-rules governing day to day
living conditions within these subcultures.

A Self-regulated Learning Module 26

 Conduct norms: behaviors expected of social group members.

 In a complex society, the number of groups people belong to-family, peer, occupational, and
religious-is quite large.

 A conflict norm is said to exist when more or less divergent rules of conduct govern the specific
life situation in which person may find himself.

 According to Sellin, culture conflict occurs when the rules expressed in the criminal behavior law
clash with the demands of group conduct norms.

B. Walter Miller

 He identified the unique value system that defines lower-class culture. Conformance to these
focal concerns dominates life among the lower class.

 According to Miller, clinging to lower class focal concerns promotes illegal or violent behavior.

Miller’s Lower Class Focal Concerns

1. Trouble. In lower class communities, people are evaluated by their actual or potential
involvement in making trouble. Getting into trouble includes such behavior as fighting,
drinking, and sexual misconduct. Dealing with trouble can confer prestige-for example, when
a man establishes a reputation for being able to handle himself well in a fight. Not being able
to handle trouble, and having to pay consequences, can make a person look foolish and
incompetent.

2. Toughness. Lower-class males want local recognition of their physical and spiritual
toughness. They refuse to be sentimental or soft and instead value physical strength, fighting
ability, and athletic skill. Those who cannot meet these standards risk getting a reputation for
being weak, inept, and effeminate.

3. Smartness. Members of the lower-class culture want to maintain an image of being

streetwise and savvy, using their street smarts, and having the ability to outfox and out-on the
opponent. Though formal education is not admired, knowing essential survival techniques,
such as gambling, coning, and outsmarting the law, is a requirement.

4. Excitement. Members of the lower-class search for fun and excitement to enliven an
otherwise drab existence. The search for excitement may lead to gambling, fighting, getting
drunk, and sexual adventures. In between, the lower-class citizen may simply hang out and
be cool.

5. Fate. Lower class citizens believe their lives are in the hands of strong spiritual forces that
guide their destinies. Getting lucky, finding good fortune, and hitting the jackpot are all slum
dwellers’ daily dreams.

6. Autonomy. Being independent of authority figures, such as the police, teachers, and parts, is
required. Losing control is an unacceptable weakness, incompatible with toughness.

C. Albert Cohen (Theory of Delinquent Subcultures)

 Delinquent behavior of lower-class youth is actually a protest against the norms and values of
middle-class U.S. culture. Because social conditions make them incapable of achieving success
legitimately, lower class youths experience a form of culture conflict that Cohen labels status
frustration. As a result, many of them join together in gangs and engage in behavior that is “non-
utilitarian, malicious, and negativistic.”

Status frustration: a form of culture conflict experienced by lower class youths because social
conditions prevent them from achieving success as defined by the larger society.

A Self-regulated Learning Module 27

  Cohen viewed the delinquent gang as a separate subculture, possessing a value system directly
opposed to that of the larger society.

D. Richard Cloward & Llyod Ohlin (Differential Opportunity Theory)

 Blockage of conventional opportunities causes lower-class youths to join criminal, conflict, or

retreatist gangs.

 They combined strain and social disorganization principles into a portrayal of a gang-sustaining
criminal subculture.

 The centerpiece of Cloward and Ohlin theory is the concept of differential opportunity, which
states that people in all strata of society share the same success goals but that those in the lower
class have limited means of achieving them.

 Because of differential opportunity, kids are likely to join one of the three types of gangs:

1. Criminal gangs. Exist in stable lower-class areas in which close connections among,
adolescent, young adult, and adult offenders create an environment for successful criminal
enterprise.

2. Conflict gangs. Develop in communities unable to provide either legitimate or illegitimate

opportunities.

3. Retreatist Gangs. Retreatists are double failures, unable to gain success through legitimate
means and unwilling to do so through illegal ones.

IV. SOCIAL PROCESS THEORIES. The view that criminality is a function of people’s interactions with various
organizations, institutions, and processes in society.

A. SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY. The view that human behavior is modelled through observation of human
social interactions, either directly from observing those who are close and from intimate contact, or
indirectly through the media. Interactions that are rewarded are copied, while those that are punished are
avoided.

1. Differential Association Theory (Edwin H. Sutherland)

 People learn to commit crime from exposure to antisocial definitions.

Principles of Differential Association

1. Criminal Behavior is learned.
2. Learning is by a by-product of interaction.
3. Criminal techniques are learned.
4. Perceptions of the legal code influence motives and drives.
5. Differential associations may vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity.
6. The process of learning criminal behavior by association with criminal and anti-criminal
patterns involves all of the mechanisms involved in any other learning process.
7. Criminal behavior is an expression of general needs and values, but it is not excused by
those general needs and values because non-criminal behavior is also an expression of
those same needs and values.

2. Differential Reinforcement Theory (Ronald Akers)

 Criminal behavior depends on the person’s experiences with rewards for conventional behaviors
and punishment for deviant ones. Being rewarded for deviance leads to crime.

 Direct conditioning, also called differential reinforcement, occurs when behavior is reinforced by
being rewarded or punished while interacting with others. When behavior is punished, this is
referred to as negative reinforcement, this type of reinforcement can be distributed either by using
negative stimuli (punishment) or by loss of a positive reward.

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 3. Neutralization Theory (David Matza & Gresham Sykes)

 They view the process of becoming a criminal as a learning experience in which potential
delinquents and criminals master techniques that enable them to counterbalance or neutralize
conventional values and drift back and forth between illegitimate and conventional behavior.

 Sykes and Matza base their theoretical model on these observations:

1. Criminals sometimes voice a sense of guilt over their illegal acts.

2. Offenders frequently respect and admire honest, law-abiding people.

3. Criminals draw a line between those whom they can victimize and those whom they cannot.

4. Criminals are not immune to the demands of conformity.

Techniques of Neutralization. Sykes & Matza suggest that people develop a distinct set of
justifications for their law-violating behavior. These techniques of neutralization include the
following patterns:

1. Deny responsibility. Criminal acts resulted from forces beyond their control or
were accidents.

2. Deny injury. By denying the wrongfulness of an act, criminals are able to

neutralize illegal behavior.

3. Deny the victim. Criminals sometimes neutralize wrong doing by maintaining that
the victim of crime “had it coming.”

4. Condemn condemners. An offender views the world as a corrupt place with a

dog-eat-dog code.

5. Appeal to higher loyalties. Novice criminals often argue that they are caught in
the dilemma of being loyal to their own peer group while at the same time
attempting to abide by the rules of the larger society.

B. Social Control Theory. Maintain that all people have the potential to violate the law and that modern
society presents many opportunities for illegal activity.

1. Containment Theory (Walter Reckless)

 He argued that a strong self-image insulates a youth from the pressures and pulls of
criminogenic influences in the environment.

 Non-delinquent youths are able to maintain a positive self-image in the face of environmental
pressures toward delinquency.

2. Social Bond Theory (Travis Hirschi)

 A person’s bond to society prevents him or her from violating social rules, if the bond
weakens, the person is free to commit crime.

 Without social ties or bonds, and in the absence of sensitivity to and interest in others, a
person is free to commit criminal acts.

Social Bond: ties a person has to the institutions and processes of society.

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 ELEMENTS OF THE SOCIAL BOND

Hirschi argues that the social bon a person maintains within society is divided into four main
elements: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief.

1. Attachment. Refers to a person’s sensitivity to and interest in others. Hirschi views parents,
peers, and schools as the important social institutions with which a person should maintain
ties. Attachment to parents is the most important.

2. Commitment. Involves the time, energy, and effort expended in conventional lines of action,
such as getting an education and saving money for the future. Commitment represents a
person’s willingness to accept and observe social norms.

3. Involvement. Heavy involvement in conventional activities leaves little time for illegal
behaviour. When people become involved in school, recreation and family, Hirschi believes, it
insulates them from the potential lure of criminal behaviour, whereas idleness enhances it.

4. Belief. People who live in the same social setting often share common moral beliefs; they may
adhere to such values as sharing, sensitivity to the rights of others, and admiration for the
legal code. If these beliefs are absent or weakened, individuals are more likely to participate in
anti-social or illegal acts.

C. SOCIAL REACTION THEORY. Commonly called labelling theory, explains how the creation of criminal
careers rest on social interactions and encounters.

Roots: Symbolic Interaction Theory

➢ The sociological view that people communicate through symbols, people interpret symbolic
communication and incorporate it within their personality. A person’s view of reality, then,
depends on his or her interpretation of symbolic gestures.
➢ It holds that people communicate via symbols-gestures, signs, words, or images-that stand for
or represent something else.

Defining Crime and Deviance

➢ A crime exists only when an act is labelled a crime; a criminal is someone labelled.

Primary and Secondary Deviance (Edwin Lemert)

Primary Deviance: Involves normal violations or crimes that have very little influence on the actor and
can be quickly forgotten. According to Lemert, deviant acts that do not held redefine the self-image of the
offender.

For example: A college student takes “five-finger discount” at the campus bookstore. He successfully
steals a textbook, uses it to get an A in a course, goes on to graduate, is admitted into law school, and
later becomes a famous judge. Because his shoplifting goes, unnoticed, it is relatively unimportant event
that has little bearing on his future life.

Secondary Deviance: Occurs when a deviant event comes to the attention of significant others or social
control agents who apply a negative label. The newly labelled offender then reorganizes his or her
behavior and personality around the consequences of the deviant act. Accepting deviant labels as a
personal identity, acts become secondary when they form a basis for self-concept.

For example: The shoplifting student is caught by a security guard and expelled from college. With this
law school dreams dashed and his future cloudy, his options are limited; people who know him say he
“lacks character,” and he begins to share their opinion. He eventually becomes a drug dealer and winds
up in prison.

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 LEARNING ASSESSMENT NO. 3

NAME: DATE:

SECTION: SCORE: 100

GENERAL INSTRUCTION: Please read the instruction on each test before answering, NO CREDIT for not following
instructions.

TEST I. In a tabular form, summarize the sociological theories of crime. 40points

Proponent/s Propositions Policy
Theories Weakness (3pts)
(1pt) (3pts) Implications (3pts)
I. DEVELOPMENT OF
SOCIOLOGICAL
CRIMINOLOGY
II. SOCIOECONOMIC
STRUCTURE AND
CRIME
III. SOCIAL
STRUCTURE
THEORIES
IV. SOCIAL PROCESS
THEORIES

TEST II. TERMS AND CONCEPTS. Write your answer on the space provided before the number. 2points each

_______________________________1. A social condition that occurs when a society’s previously common norms
values disappear or disintegrate.

_______________________________2. An attitude or state of mind in which one feels surrounded or under attack by
enemies, opposition, etc. such as residents who become suspicious of authority that they consider the outside world to be
the enemy out to destroy the neighborhood.

_______________________________3. The goal of accumulating material goods and wealth through individual
competition; the process of being socialized to pursue material success and to believe it is achievable.

_______________________________4. A condition brought about when the rules and norms of an individual’s
subcultural affiliation conflict with the role demands of conventional society.

_______________________________5. Groups that are loosely part of the dominant culture but maintain a unique set of
values, beliefs, and traditions.

_______________________________6. Segments of the population whose members have a relatively similar portion of
desirable things and who share attitudes, values, norms, and identifiable lifestyle.

_______________________________7. A group that is smaller part of a larger group. MINORITY

_______________________________8. Areas undergoing a shift in population and structure, usually from middle-class
residential to lower-class.

_______________________________9. The view that people in the lower class of the society form a separate culture
with its own values and norms that are in conflict with conventional society; the culture is self-maintaining and ongoing.

_______________________________10. The emotion turmoil and conflict caused when people believe they cannot
achieve their desires and goals through legitimate means.

_______________________________11. Behaviors expected of social group members.

A Self-regulated Learning Module 31

_______________________________12. According to Miller, the value orientations of lower-class cultures; features
include the needs for excitement, trouble, smartness, and personal autonomy.

_______________________________13. Communities where social institutions are incapable of functioning as expected

and as a result their ability to create social control is nullified.

_______________________________14. A form of culture conflict experienced by lower-class youths because social

conditions prevent them from achieving success as defined by larger society.

_______________________________15. Children and adults who lack the education and skills needed to be effectively
in demand in modern society.

TEST III. PROPOPENTS & THEORIES. Match Column A to columns B & C. Use capital letter only. 20points
ANSWER COLUMN A COLUMN B COLUMN C
1. Strain causes crime in the absence A. Chicago School and
A. Robert Merton
of adequate coping mechanisms. Beyond
2. Identifies the core values of lower-
class culture and shows their B. Culture Conflict Theory B. Robert Agnew
association to crime.
3. The view that anomie pervades
U.S. culture because the drive for
material wealth dominates and C. Concentric Zone Theory C. Walter Miller
undermines social and community
values.
4. Two elements of culture interact to
produce the potentially anomic
conditions; culturally defined goals D. Functionalism D. Thorsten Sellin
and socially approved means for
obtaining them.
5. Studied the social ecology of the
city and found that some
neighborhoods form so-called
E. Focal Concern Theory E. Messner & Rosenfeld
natural areas of wealth and
affluence, while others suffered
poverty and disintegration.
6. The root cause of crime is based
upon various values and beliefs for
F. Social Disorganization
what is acceptable behavior thus F. Emile Durkheim
Theory
the clash of these values and
beliefs result in crime.
7. Crime is a product of transitional
G. Park, Burgess &
neighborhoods that manifest social G. General Strain Theory
McKenzie
disorganization and value conflict.
8. Emphasizes a societal equilibrium;
if something happens to disrupt the
order and the flow of the system, H. Anomie Theory H. Chicago School
society must adjust to achieve a
stable state.
9. Branch of social structure theory
that focuses on the breakdown of
I. Institutional Anomie
institutions such as the family, I. Shaw & McKay
Theory
school, and employment in inner
city neighborhoods.
10. Social conditions make the lower-
class youth incapable of achieving
J. Theory of Delinquent
success legitimately, thus J. Albert Cohen
Subcultures
experiences a form of culture
conflict known as status frustration.

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TEST IV. MODES OF ADAPTATION. Identify what modes of adaptation is reflected on the following situations, write your
answer on the space provided. 10points

___________________________1. Lee aspires for: a wife and family, fine cars, and a well-furnished home in an attractive
neighborhood. But he obtains these things through means deemed socially unacceptable: theft and robbery.

___________________________2. Preacher Ben is one of the well-known homeless guys who hangs around campus, he
usually talks about conspiracy theory to the crowd, a lot of people think he is annoying, however what they didn’t know was
he wanted to be a lawyer at one point, before he realized he didn’t want to be part of the system. He dropped out of school
and dissociated himself from his family soon after that, he now lives on the streets, actively denouncing the American Dream
and lecturing on the dangers of chasing it to anyone who will listen.

___________________________3. James grew up in a poor, crime ridden neighborhood, he strived to do well in

elementary school, motivated by his dream to live in a wealthy neighborhood with a big house and a fancy car. After
academic struggles and personal hardship throughout elementary school, Chris slowly gave up the idea that he would be
wealthy. When he met gang members in middle school, his new goal became earning status and respect in the gang, the
means to doing this was by committing crimes.

___________________________4. Brian knows that in order for him to become successful he needs to work harder thus
every day he always makes sure that he excels in his work, sooner, he was promoted to a higher position and was able to
save money to buy his house and car and later marry his fiancée.

___________________________5. PO1 Alakdan was in need of money for her daughter who was diagnosed of a stage 2
cancer, in order to pay the bills, he extorted from illegal vendors.

___________________________6. In this mode of adaptation, individuals do not agree with either the society’s goal or the
means in which they try to attain them, they do not conform to society’s norms at all.

___________________________7. This mode of adaptation accepts a lifestyle of hard work, but rejects the cultural goal
of monetary rewards. This individual goes through the motions of getting an education and working hard, yet is not
committed to the goal of accumulating wealth or power.

___________________________8. This occurs when people desire material goods and luxuries but lack the financial ability
to attain them.

___________________________9. Included in this category are psychotics, psychoneurotic, outcasts, vagrants and drug
addicts.

___________________________10. Dalisay wants to become a successful police officer someday, in order to achieve his
goal, he studied very hard and passed the board examination with flying colors, he then applied to the organization and
passed all the test.

A Self-regulated Learning Module 33

 MODULE 4: PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: At the end of this module, the students should be able to:
1. understand the difference between psychiatric and psychological criminology;
2. know the gist of psychoanalytic theory, including Freudian elements of personality and defense mechanisms; and
3. know how psychoanalytic theory and psychoanalysis has been applied to delinquents and criminals.
Psychologists approach the task of explaining delinquent and criminal behavior by focusing on an individual factors,
such as inadequate socialization and negative early childhood experiences, that can result in criminal thinking patterns. In
particular, they examine the processes by which behavior and restraints on behavior are learned. These processes often
are conceived as being the result of the interaction of biological predispositions and social experiences (Britannica, 2019).
In addition, the issue of human violence is also a major topic within the academic discipline of psychology. As biosocial
theorists do, psychologists focus on how individual characteristics may interact with the social environment to produce a
violent event. However, rather than focus on the biological basis of crime, psychologists focus on how mental processes
impact individual propensities for violence. Psychologists are often interested in the association between learning,
intelligence, and personality and aggressive behavior. In this topic, we will briefly review some of the major psychological
perspectives that have attempted to explain violent behavior. These perspectives include the psychodynamic perspective,
behavioral theory, cognitive theory and personality theory. We will also explore the possible relationship between mental
illness and violence.
Thus, psychological theory is defined as the general perspective that looks to the psychological functioning,
development, and adjustment of an individual in explaining criminal or deviant acts. Under this approach, the criminal act
itself is important only in that it highlights an underlying mental issue.

PRE-TEST NO. 4

NAME: DATE:

SECTION: SCORE: 10

INSTRUCTION: Please answer the following questions, these questions are intended to assess your pre-existing
knowledge regarding the topic. Limit your answer to 3-5 sentences.

1. Explain the following quotations of Sigmund Freud and relate to our topic.

a. “Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways”
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
b. “The mind is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water.”
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

A Self-regulated Learning Module 34

I. PYSCHOLOGICAL TRAIT THEORY. An approach to the study of human personality. Trait theorists are primarily
interested in the measurement of traits, which can be defined as habitual patterns of behavior, thought, and
emotion. Trait theorists believe personality can be understood by positing that all people have certain traits, or
characteristic ways of behaving.

A. PSYCHODYNAMIC/PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY: Sigmund Freud

➢ Branch of psychology holding that the human personality is controlled by unconscious mental processes developed
in the early childhood.

➢ Freud believed that we all carry with us residue of the most significant emotional attachments of our childhood,
which then guide future interpersonal relationships.

➢ Today, psychodynamic refers to a broad branch of theories that focus on the influence of instinctive drives and
forces and the importance of developmental processes in shaping personality.

➢ Contemporary psychodynamic theory places greater emphasis on conscious experience and its interaction with the
unconscious, in addition to the role that social factors plays in development. Nonetheless, it still focuses on the
influences of early childhood experiences on the development of personality, motivation, and drives.

Elements of Psychodynamic Theory

1. ID (Pleasure Principle). Is the primitive part of individual’s mental makeup present at birth. It represents
unconscious biological drives for sex, food, and other life-sustaining necessities.

2. EGO (Reality Principle). Develops early in life, when a child begins to learn that his or her wishes cannot be
instantly gratified. The ego is the part of personality that compensates for the demands of the id by helping the
individual guide his or her actions to remain within the boundaries of social convention. It takes into account what
is practical and conventional by societal standards.

3. SUPEREGO (The Conscience). Develops as a result of incorporating within the personality the moral standards
and values of parents, community, and significant others. It is the moral aspect if an individual’s personality. It
passes judgements on behavior.

Psychosexual Stages of Human Development

Eros- the instinct to preserve and create life; Thanatos- death instinct

1. Oral Stage. First year of life; child attains pleasure by sucking and biting;

2. Anal Stage. Second to third years; the focus of sexual attention is on the elimination of bodily wastes.

3. Phallic Stage. Occurs during the third year; focus their attention on their genitals.

▪ Oedipus- sexual feelings for their mothers by males; Electra complex- sexual feelings for their fathers
by girls.

4. Latency. Begins at age of 6. During this period, feelings of sexuality are repressed until the genital stage begins
at puberty; this marks the beginning of adult sexuality.

Note: If conflicts are encountered during any of the psychosexual stages of development, a person can be fixated at
that point. This means, as an adult, the fixated person will exhibit behavior traits characteristics of those encountered
during infantile sexual development.

Example: An infant who does not receive enough oral gratification during the first year of life is likely as an adult to
engage in such oral behavior as smoking, drinking, or drug abuse or to be clinging and dependent in personal
relationships.

Thus, according to Freud, the roots of adult behavioral problems can be traced to problems developed in the earliest
years of life.

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The Psychodynamics of Antisocial Behavior

Psychologists have long linked criminality to abnormal mental states produced by early childhood trauma.

1. Alfred Adler (1870-1937)

▪ Founder of individual psychology;
▪ Coined the term inferiority complex to describe people who have feelings of inferiority and compensate
for them with a drive for superiority, controlling others may help them reduce personal inadequacies.
2. Erik Erikson (1902-1984)
▪ Identity Crisis- a period of serious personal questioning people to undertake in an effort to determine
their own values and sense of direction.
▪ Adolescents undergoing an identity crisis might exhibit out of control behavior and experiment with drugs
and other forms of deviance.
3. August Aichorn
▪ After examining many delinquent youths, he concluded that societal stress, though damaging, could not
alone result in a life of crime unless a predisposition existed that psychologically prepared youths for
antisocial acts. This mental state, which he labelled latent delinquency.
▪ Latent delinquency is found in youngsters whose personality requires them to act in these ways:
a. Seek immediate gratification (to act impulsively)
b. Consider satisfying their personal needs more important than relating to others
c. Satisfy instinctive urges without considering right and wrong (that is, they lack guilt)

The psychodynamic model of the criminal offender depicts an aggressive, frustrated person dominated by events that
occurred early in childhood.

B. Attachment Theory

➢ a view most closely associated with psychologist John Bowlby, is also connected to that psychodynamic tradition.
Bowlby believed that the ability to form attachments- that is, emotionally bond to another person-has important
lasting psychological implications that follow people across the life span.

➢ Attachments are formed soon after birth, when infants bond with their mothers. They will become frantic, crying
and clinging, to prevent separation or to re-establish contact with a missing parent.

❖ Bowlby noted that this behavior is not restricted to humans and occurs in all mammals, indicating
that separation anxiety may be instinctual or evolutionary.

➢ Bowlby’s most important finding was that to grow up mentally healthy “the infant and young child should
experience warm, intimate and continuous relationship with his mother (or permanent mother substitute) in which
both find satisfaction and enjoyment.”

➢ According to this view, failing to develop proper attachment may cause people to fall prey to a number of
psychological disorders. Psychologists believe that children with attachment problems lack trust and respect for
others. They often display many psychological symptoms, some of which resemble attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD).

➢ Criminologists have linked people having detachment problem with variety of antisocial behaviors, including
sexual assault and child abuse.

C. Mental Disorders and Crime

➢ According to psychodynamic tradition, traumatic life events can bring about severe mental disorders that have
been linked to the onset of crime and deviance.

➢ Mental disorders typically involve a psychological condition that disrupts thinking, feeling, and other important
psychological processes.

A Self-regulated Learning Module 36

 1. Mood Disorders and Crime

▪ Adolescents who are frequently uncooperative and hostile and who seem to be much more difficult
than other children the same age may be suffering from a psychological condition known as
disruptive behavior disorder (DBD), which can two distinct forms: oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)
and conduct disorder (CD)

▪ Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). Children suffering from ODD experience an ongoing pattern of
uncooperative, defiant, and hostile behavior toward authority figures that seriously interferes with the
youngster’s day to day functioning. The following are the symptoms:

1. Frequent loss of temper and constant arguing with the adults;

2. Defying adults or refusing adult requests or rules;
3. Deliberately annoying others;
4. Blaming others for mistakes or misbehavior;
5. Being angry and resentful;
6. Being spiteful or vindictive;
7. Swearing or using obscene language; or
8. Having low self-esteem.

▪ Conduct disorder (CD). Children suffering from CD engage in repetitive and persistent patterns of
behavior in which the rights of others or basic social rules are disrupted. These involve aggressive
behavior, such as bullying or intimidating others, fighting, sexual assaults and animal cruelty.

Cause: Interconnections between the frontal lobes and other brain regions may influence CD.
There is also research showing that levels of serotonin can influence the onset of CD and that CD
has been shown to aggregate in families, suggesting a genetic basis of the disorder.

2. Psychosis and Crime

▪ David Berkowitz (also known as “Son of Sam” or the “44 caliber killer”), a noted serial killer who went
on a rampage from 1976 to 1977, claimed that his killing spree began when he received messages
from a neighbor’s dog. His symptoms made him appear to suffer from a severe form of mental illness
referred to as psychosis.

 Psychosis is a mental state in which the perception of reality is distorted. People

experiencing psychosis hallucinate, have paranoid or delusional beliefs, change personality,
exhibits disorganized thinking, and engage in unusual or bizarre behavior.

▪ Psychosis is brought about by a variety of mental disorders, including depression, manic depression,
bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

D. BEHAVIORAL THEORY

➢ Psychological behavior theory maintains that human actions are developed through learning experiences, rather
than focusing on unconscious personality traits or cognitive development patterns produced early in childhood,
behavior theorists are concerned with the actual behaviors people engage in during the course of their daily lives.

➢ The major premise of behavior theory is that people alter their behavior according to the reactions it receives from
others.

➢ Behavior is supported by rewards and extinguished by negative reactions or punishments. With respect to criminal
activity, the behaviorist views crimes, especially violent acts, as learned responses to life situations that do not
necessarily represent psychologically abnormal responses

Social Learning Theory. Social learning is the branch of behavior learning theory most relevant to criminology.
Albert Bandura argue that people are not actually born with the ability to act violently, but they learn to be
aggressive through their life experiences.

A Self-regulated Learning Module 37

 ❖ Social Learning and Violence. Social learning theorists view violence as something learned through a
process called behavior modelling. In modern society, aggressive acts are usually modelled after three
principal sources:

1. Family interaction. Studies of family show that aggressive children have parents who use similar
tactics when dealing with others.

2. Environmental experiences. People who reside in areas in which violence is a daily occurrence are
more likely to act violently than those who dwell in low crime areas whose norms stress
conventional behavior.

3. Mass Media. Films and television show commonly depict violence graphically. Moreover, violence
is often portrayed as an acceptable behavior, especially for heroes who never have to face legal
consequences for their actions.

In summary, social learning theorists have said that the following four factors may contribute to violent and/or
aggressive behavior:

1. An event that heightens arousal. Such as a person frustration or provoking another through physical assault or
verbal abuse.

2. Aggressive skills. Learned aggressive responses picked up from observing others, either personally or through
the media.

3. Expected outcomes. The belief that aggression will somehow be rewarded. Rewards can come in the form of
reducing tension or anger, gaining some financial reward, building self-esteem, or gaining the praise of others.

4. Consistency of behavior with values. The belief, gained from observing others, that aggression is justified and
appropriate, given the circumstances of the current situation.

E. COGNITIVE THEORY

➢ It focusses on mental processes and how people perceive and mentally represent the world around them and
solve problems.

➢ The pioneers of this school are Wilhelm Wundt, Edward Titchener, William James

➢ Several disciplines in the cognitive area;

1. Moral Development branch which is concerned with the way people morally represent and reason about the
world.

2. Humanistic Psychology stresses self-awareness and getting in touch with feelings.

3. Information processing branch focuses on the way people process, stored, encode, retrieve, and manipulate
information to make decisions and solve problems.

1. Moral and Intellectual Development Theory

▪ Jean Piaget: the founder of this approach, hypothesized that people’s reasoning process develop in
an orderly fashion, beginning at birth and continuing into their maturity. At first, children respond to
the environment in a simple manner, seeking interesting objects and developing their reflexes. By the
fourth and final stage, the formal operations stage, they have developed into mature adults who can
use logic and abstract thought.

▪ Lawrence Kohlberg: he applied first the concept of moral development to issues in criminology. He
found that people travel through stages of moral development during their decisions and judgements
on issues of right and wrong are made for different reasons. It is possible that serious offender has
moral orientation that differs from that of law-abiding citizens.

A Self-regulated Learning Module 38

 2. Social Information Processing. When cognitive theorists who study information, processing try to explain
antisocial behavior, they do so in terms of mental perception and how people use information to understand their
environment. When people make decisions, they engage in a sequence of cognitive thought processes:

1. Encoding information so that it can be interpreted.

2. Search for a proper response.

3. Decide on the most appropriate action.

4. Act on the decision.

3. Shaping Perceptions. To violence-prone kids, people seem more aggressive than they actually are and seem
to intend them ill when there is no reason for alarm. According to information processing theory, as these
children mature, they use fewer cues than most people to process information. Some use violence in calculating
fashion as a means of getting what they want; others react in an overly volatile fashion to the slightest
provocation. Aggressors are more likely to be vigilant, on edge, or suspicious. When they attack victims, they
may believe that they are defending themselves, even though they are misreading the situation.

II. PERSONALITY AND CRIME

Personality can be defined as the reasonably stable patterns of behavior, including thoughts and emotions, that
distinguish one person from another.

One’s personality reflects a characteristics way of adapting to life’s demands and problems. The way they we behave is a
function of how our personality enables us to interpret life events and make appropriate behavioral choices.

❖ Hans Eysenck- he linked personality to crime when he identified two traits that he associated with
antisocial behavior, extraversion-introversion and stability-instability.

Note: Extreme introverts are over aroused and avoid sources of stimulation; in contrast, extreme extroverts are
unaroused and seek sensation. Introverts are slow to learn and be conditioned extroverts are impulsive individuals
who lack the ability to examine their own motives and behaviors.

A. The Antisocial Personality

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) defines the antisocial
personality as pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation, of the rights of others that begins in childhood or
early adolescence and continues into adulthood.

In addition, those suffering from these diseases usually exhibit at least three of the following behaviors:

1. Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts
that are grounds for arrest.

2. Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeatedly lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or
pleasure.

3. Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead.

4. Irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults.

5. Reckless disregard for safety of self or others.

6. Consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor
financial obligations.

7. Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from
another.

The terms psychopath and sociopath are still commonly used to describe people who have an antisocial personality.
From an early age, people suffering from antisocial behavior disorder experience home lives failed with frustration,

A Self-regulated Learning Module 39

bitterness and quarrelling. Antisocial youths exhibit low levels of guilt and anxiety and persistently violate the rights of
others.

Cause of Antisocial Personality Disorder

1. Family experiences such as influence of an unstable parent, parental rejection, lack of love during childhood, and
inconsistent discipline.

2. Passed down genetically and inherited.

3. Abnormal brain functions.

Researches on Personality: Psychological Test

1. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

2. California Personality Inventory

3. Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire

B. Intelligence and Crime

Intelligence-refers to a person’s ability to reason, think abstractly, understand complex ideas, learn from experience,
and discover solutions to complex problems.

Nature Theory: intelligence is largely determined genetically, ancestry determines by low IQ, and low intelligence, as
demonstrated by low IQ, it is linked to criminal behavior.

A Self-regulated Learning Module 40

 LEARNING ASSESSMENT NO. 4

NAME: DATE:

SECTION: SCORE: 88

GENERAL INSTRUCTION: Please read the instruction on each test before answering, NO CREDIT for not following
instructions.

TEST I. In a tabular form, summarize the psychological theories of crime. 63points

Propositions Policy
Proponents Theory (1pt) Weakness (2pts)
(2pts) Implications (2pts)
1. Sigmund Freud
2. Albert Bandura
3. Hans Eysenck
4. Alfred Adler
5. Erik Erikson
6. August Aichorn
7. John Bowlby
8. Jean Piaget
9. Lawrence Kohlberg

TEST II. Essay. Answer the following questions briefly but meaty. Limit your answer to 2-3 sentences only! 5points
each=25points

1. Discuss how early childhood experiences can lead to adult behavioral problems. Cite an example. 5points
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Traumatic life events can lead to severe mental disorders, discuss how mental disorder is linked to the onset of crime
and deviance. 5points

______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Discuss modelling behaviors of criminals based on the three (3) principal sources of violence. 5points

______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Why interaction with one’s physical and social environment is essential for cognitive development? 5points

______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Discuss how personality is linked to crime. 5points

______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________

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 MODULE 5: MARXIST/CONFLICT THEORIES
LEARNING ASSESSMENT: At the end of this module, the students should be able to:
1. discuss the proposition of conflict theories; and
2. explain the policy implications of conflict theories;
Although all sociological theories of crime contain elements of social conflict, consensus theories tend to
judge alternative normative systems from the point of view of mainstream values, and they do not call for major
restructuring of society. Theories presented in this chapter do just that, and concentrate on power relationships
as explanatory variables to the exclusion of almost everything else. They view criminal behavior, the law, and
the penalties imposed for breaking it, as originating in the deep inequalities of power and resources existing in
society. For conflict theorists, the law is not a neutral system of dispute settlement designed to protect everyone,
but rather the tool of the privileged who criminalize acts that are contrary to their interests.
You don’t have to be a radical or even a liberal to acknowledge that great inequalities of wealth and power
exist in every society and that the wealthy classes have the upper hand in all things. History is full of examples:
Plutarch wrote of the conflicts generated by disparity in wealth in Athens in 594 B.C. (Durant & Durant, 1968, p.
55), and U.S. President John Adams (1778/1971) wrote that American society in the late 18th century was
divided into “a small group of rich men and a great mass of poor engaged in a constant class struggle” (p. 221)

PRE-TEST NO. 5

NAME: DATE:

SECTION: SCORE: 10

INSTRUCTION: Please answer the following questions, these questions are intended to assess your pre-existing
knowledge regarding the topic.

1. Do you think that the law and the criminal justice system primarily embody the interests and norms of the most
powerful groups in society, rather than those of society as a whole? Limit your answer to 3-5 sentences.5points
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Do you agree that one of the root causes of crime is the inequality of wealth and power and the existence of classes
in all things? Why? Limit your answer to 3-5 sentences.5points
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________

A Self-regulated Learning Module 42

Conflict Theory. The view that society is divided into two or more groups with competing ideas and values. The group(s)
with the most power makes the laws and controls society. Groups lacking the formal power to make the rules still maintain
their own group norms, and continue in their behavior, which is now viewed as criminal by the larger society. This
perspective explains both law and criminal justice (why some acts are legally defined as criminal), as well as criminal and
deviant behavior (why some individuals commit acts defined as criminal).

1. Karl Marx (Marxist Theory). This theory explains both law and criminal justice, and focuses upon the division
between the ruling-class elite and the laborers. In a capitalist society, the ruling-class elite (bourgeoisie) control the
means of production, which allows them to control the political state as well. They use this control to manipulate the
laborers (proletariat) and keep them in a position of powerlessness. The masses are thus controlled both
economically and legally.

▪ Instrumental Marxism. The political state (including the law and the criminal justice system) is always and only a
tool of the capitalist class to oppress the working class.
▪ Structuralist Marxism. While close to the view of Instrumental Marxism, this perspective states that the
political state is not under the total control of the ruling elite; that from time to time, laws may be passed that harm
the ruling elite; and that their members, on occasion, may be subject to state control.

Marx identified the economic structures in society that control human relations. Production has two
components:

a. Productive forces-which include such things as technology, energy sources, and material resources; and

b. Productive relations- which are the relationships that exist among the people producing goods and services.

The most important relationship in industrial culture is between the owners of the means of production, the
capitalist bourgeoisie, and the people who do the actual labor, the proletariat.

According to Marx, capitalist society is subject to the development of rigid class structure with the capitalist bourgeoisie
at the top, followed by the working proletariat, who actually produce goods and services, and at the bottom, the fringe,
non-productive members who produce nothing and live parasitically, off the work of others-the lumpen proletariat.

In Marxist theory, the term class does not refer to an attribute or characteristic of a person or a group; rather it denotes
position in relation to others. Thus, it is not necessary to have a particular amount of wealth or prestige to be a member of
the capitalist class; it is more important to have the power to exploit others economically, legally and socially.

2. Willem Bonger. He believed that society is divided into have and have not groups, not on the basis of people’s innate
ability, but because of the system of production that is in force. In every society that is divided into a ruling class and
an inferior class, penal law serves the will of the ruling class. Crimes, are considered to be antisocial acts because
they are harmful to those who have the power at their command to control society.

3. Ralf Dahrendorf. He argued that modern society is organized into what he called imperatively coordinated
associations. These associations comprise two groups: those who possess authority and use it for social domination
and those who lack authority and are denominated. Society is a plurality of competing interest groups. He proposed a
unified conflict theory of human behavior, which can be summarized as follows:

a. Every society is at every point subject to processes of change; social change is everywhere.

b. Every society display at every point dissent and conflict; social conflict is everywhere.

c. Every element in a society renders a contribution to its disintegration and change.

d. Every society is based on the coercion of some of its members by others.

4. George Vold. He argued that laws are created by politically oriented groups, who seek the government’s assistance
to help them defend their rights and protect their interests. If a group can marshal enough support, a law will be
created to hamper and curb the interests of some opposition group. Every stage of the process- from passing the law
to prosecuting the case to developing relationships between inmate and guard, parole agent and parolee-is marked
by conflict. Criminals’ acts are a consequence of direct contact between forces struggling to control society.

A Self-regulated Learning Module 43

Critical Criminology. A generic term encompassing many different theoretical positions united by the common view that
society is best characterized by conflict and power relations rather than by value consensus.

Forms of Critical Theory

1. Left Realism

- An approach that views crime as a function of relative deprivation under capitalism and that favors
pragmatic, community-based crime prevention and control.
- Was developed by Jock Young, John Lea and Roger Matthews. Left Realism is related to Marxism and the
New Criminology, but tries to focus on finding practical ways of solving crime, as it claims that these two
theories are too idealistic and have unrealistic ideas about how to solve crime.
- As a criticism of Marxism, Left Realists point out that the victims working class street crime are most likely
to be the working class, and it is these types of ‘ordinary crime’ that worry working class people. Criminology
should thus focus on dealing with these types of ‘ordinary crime’ rather than focusing on elite crime.
- Young (1997) argues that you have to be tough on crime, but this does not just mean being tough on
criminals, it means being tough on trying to change the social factors which have a long-term impact on
crime rates and ensuring that the criminal justice system promotes social justice.
▪ He argues that since the Second World War, rising living standards and the development of welfare
provisions have gone hand in hand with a higher crime rate. Lea and young conclude that they can
explain this using the following key concepts; relative deprivation, marginalization and
subculture.
❖ Left realist solutions to crime emphasis Social and Community Crime Prevention strategies which focus
on individual offenders and the social context which encourages them to commit crime.
❖ There are two broad approaches – Intervention, identifying groups at risk of committing crime and taking
action to limit their offending, and Community based approaches– involving the local community in
combating crime.

2. Critical Feminism

- An area of scholarship whose focus is on the effects of gender inequality and the unequal power of men
and women in a capitalist society.
- The core concept of most feminist theorizing is patriarchy. Patriarchy literally means “rule of the father,” and
is a term used to describe any social system that is male dominated at all levels, from the family to the
highest reaches of government, and supported by the belief of male superiority. A patriarchal society is one
in which “masculine” traits such as competitiveness, aggressiveness, autonomy, and individualism are
valued, and “feminine” traits such as intimacy, connection, cooperation, nurturance, while appreciated, are
downplayed (Grana, 2002). S

3. Power-Control Theory.

- The view that gender differences in crime are a function of economic power (class position, one-earner
versus two earner families) and parental control (paternalistic versus egalitarian families).
- Despite doubts that a general feminist theory of criminal behavior is possible, there have been some
attempts to formulate one, including John Hagan’s (1989) power-control theory. Power-control theory views
gender differences in antisocial behavior as a function of power differentials in the family, and states that
these arise from the positions the spouses occupy in the workforce. Where fathers are the sole breadwinner
and mothers are housewives and/or have menial jobs, a patriarchal family structure results, especially if
the father is in a position of authority at work. The patriarchal family is one in which the workplace
experiences are reproduced, and it is said to be “unbalanced” in favor of the father. Patriarchal families are
viewed as granting greater freedom to boys to prepare them for traditional male roles, while daughters are
socialized to be feminine, conforming, and domesticated.
- The egalitarian family develops in the absence of large differences between the work roles of parents and
is one in which the responsibility for child rearing is shared. Power relations in such families are said to be
“balanced,” and parents socialize male and female children similarly. Similarity of treatment will tend to lead
to sons and daughters developing similar traits, attitudes, and behaviors, which implies that girls from such

A Self-regulated Learning Module 44

 families will have increased rates of delinquent involvement, similar to the rates for their male counterparts.
Hagan (1989) claims that while there will be large gender differences in delinquency among children from
patriarchal families, egalitarian families will show smaller gender differences. According to Siegel (1992), it
is not only middle-class girls who will increase their offending: “Power-control theory, then, implies that
middle-class youth of both sexes will have higher crime rates than their lower-class peers” (p. 270).

4. Peacemaking Criminology

- An approach that considers punitive crime control strategies to be counterproductive and favors the use
of humanistic conflict resolution to prevent and control crime.
- based on religious principles more than empirical science. It wants to make peace on crime, counsels us
that we should appreciate the criminals’ point of view, and wants us to be less punitive.

5. Restorative Justice. Using humanistic, non-punitive strategies to right wrongs and restore social harmony.

A Self-regulated Learning Module 45

 LEARNING ASSESSMENT NO. 5

NAME: DATE:

SECTION: SCORE: 30

GENERAL INSTRUCTION: Answer the following questions briefly but meaty, use your own words from your understanding.
Limit your answer to 3-5 sentences only! 5points each
1. Can inequality ever be eliminated? If we can do this, what price would we pay, if any? 5points each
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Identify and discuss two laws that you think have been passed to keep the rich and powerful in control of society.
10points
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Assuming conflict theory is true, what kind of policy changes could be implemented to reduce class inequality?
Discuss your answer. 5points
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What examples of changes in the criminal justice system can you think of that have been made to address the needs
and concerns of women? Identify two (2) and briefly discuss each. 10points
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

A Self-regulated Learning Module 46

 MODULE 6: DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES: LIFE COURSE, LATENT TRAIT, AND
TRAJECTORY
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: At the end of this module, the students should be able to:
1. discuss the view of developmental criminology; and
2. identify the different theories under this view.
Developmental Criminology views criminal behavior that places emphasis on the changes people go through over the
life course. It presents a criminal career as a dynamic process involving onset, continuity, persistence, acceleration, and
eventual desistance from criminal behavior, controlled by individual level traits and conditions.
Developmental criminology attempt to provide a more global vision of a criminal career encompassing its onset,
continuation, and termination.
It is Sheldon (1896-1980) and Eleanor (1898-1972) Glueck who are today considered founders of the developmental
branch of criminological theory. They conducted research in Harvard University in the 1930s on the careers of known
criminals to determine the factors that predicted persistent offending, making extensive use of interviews and records in
their elaborate comparisons of criminals and non-criminals. The Glueck’s research focused on early onset of delinquency
as a harbinger of a criminal career.
PRE-TEST NO. 6

NAME: DATE:

SECTION: SCORE: 10

INSTRUCTION: Please answer the following questions, these questions are intended to assess your pre-existing
knowledge regarding the topic. Limit your answer to 3-5 sentences. 5points each

1. What are the common reasons that you can think of on why some offenders desist/stop being an offender?
Enumerate and discuss at least two (2) reasons.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Why do other criminals do not learn their lesson despite of being convicted and imprisoned once or twice they still
choose to commit crime/s?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

A Self-regulated Learning Module 47

 Definition
The defining feature of developmental criminology is its focus on offending in relation to changes over time in individuals
and their life circumstances, with most research being focused in practice on childhood and youth. Developmental
criminologists are concerned with questions of continuity and change in behavior, including the onset of and desistance
from offending, and patterns of offending over time (France & Homel. 2008).

Overview of Developmental Theory

Developmentally inclined criminologists take as their null hypothesis that antisocial behavior has to develop and is not
simply the manifestation of some underlying or primordial condition. Rather than attribute career criminality to the
pathologies of the individual, the developmental perspective points to life experiences that mold individuals and send them
along trajectories or pathways.
As Daniel Nagin and Raymond Paternoster have suggested, the “observed correlation between past and future behavior
is not based on the predictive power of the initial distribution of criminal propensity or conventional opportunities and
characteristics of the population. It is instead based upon the fact that some actions have dynamically increased the
subsequent probability of crime by weakening previous inhibitions or strengthening previous incentives for criminal activity.
As conventional wisdom and common sense would indicate, early family life is essential to the social and antisocial
development of an individual. In their influential general theory of crime, Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi
acknowledged that there is a “belief of the general public (and those who deal with offenders in the criminal justice system)
that ‘defective upbringing’ or ‘neglect’ in the home is the primary cause of crime.”2 Overwhelmingly, decades of research
have shown that the dysfunctional family is the environment that cultivates chronic criminality. A variety of factors including
family size, degree of parental affection toward the child, level of supervision and monitoring of the child, parental
involvement in deviance, parental aggressiveness and temper, and parental mental health have been found to be
antecedent predictors of serious criminal behavior. Indeed, in comparing the offending careers of respondents from the
Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development and the Pittsburgh Youth Study, David Farrington and Rolf Loeber found that
the family related risk factors for chronic offenders were nearly identical across two continents.

I. Life Course Theories. As people go through the life course, social and personal traits undergo change and influence
behavior.

a. Interactional Theory. Criminals go through lifestyle changes during their offending career. Crime influences
lifestyle, and changing lifestyle influences crime.

▪ Interactional theory is another integrated life course theory of criminality, and was developed by
Thornberry (1987) and Thornberry and Krohn (2005). There are three fundamental aspects of
interactional theory.
1. The first is that the theory takes a life course perspective. They view delinquency involvement
as something that unfolds over time; for most people, it has an onset, a duration and, for most
offenders, a termination. Explaining this behavior at various ages requires linking anti-social
behavior patterns to other trajectories in life, such as family, school and work experiences.
Interactional theory predicts a mixture of causes that differ depending on one’s age and reflect
successes or failures in previous developmental stages. Interactional theory asserts that at
differing ages, different influences become more important for the person concerned. During
childhood and early adolescence, attachment to the family is the single most important
determinant of whether a youth will adjust to conventional society and be shielded from
delinquency. By mid-adolescence, the family is replaced by the world of friends, school and
youth culture. In adulthood, a person’s behavioral choices are shaped by his or her place in
conventional society and his or her own family.
2. The second premise of the theory is that delinquency and “many of its causes often become
involved in mutually reinforcing causal loops as delinquent careers unfold” (Thornberry
and Krohn, 2005: 188). In other words, delinquency and its causes interact with each other,
often resulting in greater or lesser levels of offending. For instance, ineffective parenting may
lead to delinquency involvement, which, in turn, may result in parental responses that further
increase the occurrence of delinquent behaviors.
3. The third key premise of the theory is that the multiple causes of delinquency vary in their
magnitude across persons due to the presence of “offsetting assets” or protective

A Self-regulated Learning Module 48

 factors. This concept asserts that as the magnitude of the causal force increases, the person’s
involvement in crime becomes more likely and increases in severity.

b. General Strain Theory of Crime and Delinquency. Five critical life domains shape criminal behavior and are
shaped by criminal behavior. Agnew’s general theory posits that crime is caused by five clusters or life domains
of variables, self, family, peers, school, and work. General strain theory (GST) argues that strains or stressors
increase the likelihood of negative emotions like anger and frustration. These emotions create pressure for
corrective action, and crime is one possible response (Agnew 1992).

c. Age-Graded Theory. As people mature, the factors that influence their propensity to commit crime change. In
childhood, family factors are critical; in adulthood, marital and job factors are key.
▪ Sampson and Laub assume that crime and other forms of deviance result, in part, from weak or broken
bonds to society. In this way, attention is given to the influence of informal social controls on
involvement in delinquent behavior, much as it is in traditional social control theory. Rooted in the life
course developmental perspective, Sampson and Laub’s theory reminds us that the relevant institutions
of informal social control vary by age. For example, during adolescence, social bonds to family, peers
and the school are important.

II. Latent Trait Theories. A master trail controls human development.

a. Integrated Cognitive Antisocial Potential (ICAP) Theory. People with antisocial potential (AP) are at risk to
commit antisocial acts. AP can be viewed as both long- and short-term phenomenon.

▪ Using the findings from the Cambridge study, Farrington alone (1995; 2003; 2005) and in
collaboration with colleagues (2006) was able to develop a theoretical model looking at the risk
factors for crime called the Integrated Cognitive Antisocial Potential (ICAP) theory. The ICAP theory
was designed to try and explain the offending behavior of males from working-class families. The
main concept is a person’s antisocial potential (AP), which is their potential to commit antisocial acts
and their decisions to turn that potential into the reality of committing crime. Whether the AP is turned
into antisocial behavior depends on the person’s cognitive processes that consider opportunities and
victims.
▪ According to the ICAP theory, individuals can be placed on a continuum, from ‘low’ to ‘high’ AP, and
although few people have a high AP, those who do are more likely to commit crimes. The primary
factors that influence high AP are:
o desires for material gain
o status among peers
o excitement and sexual satisfaction

b. General Theory of Crime. Crime and criminality are separate concepts. People choose to commit crime when
they lack self-control will seize criminal opportunities.

▪ In their important work A General Theory of Crime, Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi link the
propensity to commit crime to two latent traits: an impulsive personality and a lack of self-control.
▪ The tendency to commit crime is attributed to self-control, people with limited self-control tend to be
impulsive, they are insensitive to other’s feelings, physical, risk takers, shortsighted, and nonverbal.

c. Differential Coercion Theory. Individuals exposed to coercive environments develop social-psychological

deficits that enhance their probability of engaging in criminal behavior.

▪ Differential coercion theory outlines the relationship between coercion and crime. In this perspective,
coercion is identified as a “force that compels or intimidates an individual to act because of the fear
and anxiety it creates.”
▪ A theory in criminology that explains the relationship between coercion and the likelihood of committing
a crime. Developed by sociology professor Mark Colvin in the year 2000, the theory is based on the
idea that juveniles who are exposed to negative experiences in their homes and social lives are more
likely to lack in certain social and psychological areas. This increases their chances of committing a
crime in the future.

A Self-regulated Learning Module 49

 d. Control Balance Theory. A person’s control ratio influences his or her behavior.

▪ Control balance is an original theory of deviant behavior developed by Charles R. Tittle, according to
the Control Balance Theory, both the probability of deviant behavior occurring and the characteristic
form of deviation are determined by the relationship between the control that a person is exposed to
and the control that he exercises himself.

III. Trajectory Theory. The third developmental approach that combines elements of latent trait and life course theory.
The basic premise is that there is more than one path to crime and more than one class of offender; there are different
trajectories to crime.

a. Life Course Persistent/Adolescent Limited. People begin their criminal activities at different points in their
lives.

▪ Terrie E. Moffit attempts to explain the onset and persistence of antisocial behavior.
o Adolescence-limited offenders- kids who get into minor scrapes as youth but whose
misbehavior ends when they enter adulthood.
o Life Course Persistent offenders (Chronic Offenders)- delinquents who begin their
offending career at a very early age and continue to offend well into adulthood.

A Self-regulated Learning Module 50

 LEARNING ASSESSMENT NO. 6

NAME: DATE:

SECTION: SCORE: 33

GENERAL INSTRUCTION: Answer the following questions briefly but meaty, use your own words from your
understanding. Limit your answer to 3-5 sentences only!
1. Discuss the contributions of Sheldon & Glueck in the developmental branch of criminology. 5points
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
What factors can influence people to change from being an offender to a law-abiding citizen? Identify five (5) and
briefly discuss each. 10points
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Explain how the following concepts or factors in life-course/developmental perspectives play key roles in offending:
3points each=18points
a. Onset
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
b. frequency of offenses
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
c. duration of offending
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
d. seriousness of the offenses
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
e. desistence of offending
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________

A Self-regulated Learning Module 51

 EVALUATION OF THE COURSE
Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________
Subject/Schedule: _____________________
Instruction: Please answer the following questions truthfully. This will be used to enhance the module for improvement.

1. What lesson or activity did I enjoy most? Why?

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2. What is the most important lesson which I can apply in my daily life?
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3. What are the new insights/discoveries that I learned?
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4. What topic/s do I find least important?
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5. What possible topics should have been included?
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END OF MODULE

A Self-regulated Learning Module 52