Module #8
Lesson Title: Perspectives of Crime Causation
Lesson Objectives:
At the end of this module, you should be able to:
1. explain the perspective of crime causation; and
2. identify what perspective is asked on the scenario.
Perspectives of Crime
Causation
In the field of criminology, it is an undeniable fact that there are
multiple factors which lead the individual to commit crime. Understanding these
factors is also the same when we speak of the perspective of crime causation.
This lesson will only discuss the classical, biological, process, conflict,
biosocial, and psychological perspectives.
1. Classical Perspective
Classical perspective viewed
crime as a product of situational forces; that crime is function of freewill
and personal choice. It emphasized that the purpose of punishment is mainly to
deter the occurrence of crime. The three principles of punishment that became
the trademark of Beccaria's classical deterrence doctrine include: Swift - punishment must be swift to be
effective. According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary swift means occurring
suddenly or within a very short time. Certain
- people must know they will be punished for their illegal behavior –that
they cannot evade the strong arms of the law. That no one may take as
substitute for the punishment of the one who violated the law. Severe - must be severe enough to
outweigh the rewards of the illegal action - severity and proportionality are
sometimes at odds especially since each person is different in terms of what
constitutes a "severe" punishment. It also stressed out that crime
problem could be traced not to bad people but to bad laws (Adler et. al, 2012).
1. Biological Perspective
Biological
perspective regarded crime as the product of internal forces. For example:
A person who is suffering from
kleptomania. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary kleptomania is a
1. Process Perspective
This perspective claimed that crime is product of socialization or
interaction of one person to another. That crime is a function of upbringing,
learning and control. Parents, teachers, environment, mass media and peer
groups may influence behavior. This concerns on how a person becomes a
criminal.
2. Conflict Perspective
Conflict perspective stressed the causes of crime based on economic and
political forces. Crime is a function of competition for limited resources and
power. Law is a tool of the ruling class in order to control the lower class.
It is designed to protect the wealthy people. Crime is a politically defined
concept.
3. Biosocial Perspective
Biosocial
perspective seeks to explain the onset of antisocial behavior such as
aggression and violence by focusing on the physical qualities of the offenders.
It concentrated mainly on the three
areas of focus: biochemical (diet, genetic, hormones, and environmental
contaminants), neurological (brain damage), and genetic (inheritance) (Siegel, 2007).
4. Psychological Perspective
A psychological perspective expressed that criminal behavior was the
product of “unconscious” forces operating within a person’s mind. That
conflicts occur at various psychosexual stages of development might impact an
individual’s ability to operate normally as an adult. That if the aggressive
impulse is not controlled, or is repressed to an unusual degree, some
aggression can “leak out” of the unconscious and a person can engage in random
acts of violence (Bartol, 2002).
Q1. What is the meaning of
perspective?
Answer: It means viewpoint, outlook,
standpoint, dimension etc.
Q2.
What is the common perspective that explains the causes of crime?
Answer: There is no common perspective
that explains the causes of crime because the causes
of crime are complex. Poverty, parental neglect, low self-esteem, alcohol, and
drug abuse can be connected to why people break the law.
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