Criminological Theory Essay

Instructions
In week 4, you learned about the importance of theory, the various theoretical perspectives and the ways in which theory help guide research in regards to crime and criminal behavior.
To put this assignment into context, I want you to think about how Lombroso thought one could identify a criminal. He said that criminals had similar facial features. If that was the case you would be able to look at someone and know if they were a criminal! Social theories infer that perhaps it is the social structures around us that encourage criminality. Look around your city- what structures do you think may match up to something you have learned about this week in terms of theory? These are just two small examples to put this assignment into context for you. The idea is to learn about the theories, then critically think about how can one “show” the theory without providing written explanation for their chosen image.
Directions: With the readings week 4 in mind, please do the following:
1. Choose a theoretical perspective (I.e., biological, psychological sociological)
2. Look through media images (this can be cartoons, magazines, newspapers, internet stories, etc…) and select 10 images that you think depict your chosen theory without written explanation.
3. Provide a one paragraph statement of your theory, what kinds of behavior it explains and how it is depicted through images. Be sure to use resources to support your answer.
4. You will copy and paste your images into a word document, along with your paragraph. You do not need to cite where you got your images, but you do need to cite any information you have in number 3.

Format Directions:
• Paper must be double spaced, 11 or 12 pt font and 1”margins all around.
• All APA 7th edition format requirements must be followed (cover page, in text citations, reference page). Refer to APA/UMGC – learning resources found in the content page of this course.
• You must have resources to support your thoughts/opinions/information. These must be cited both in text as well as at the end of the document. Your paper should not contain direct quotes, sourced material must be paraphrased.

For week 4, you are to read the following sections in this book IN THIS ORDER:
• 5.1-5.12
Here is a bit of information about each of the readings:
Topic: What is a theory and how do I know if it is a good theory?
Readings: 5.1, 5.2
These readings will introduce you to theory. Theory is used in Criminology to describe, explain, predict and hopefully control criminal behavior. These readings introduce you to the science component of criminal justice- criminology. While criminal justice is the study of police, courts and corrections, criminology is the study of crime and criminal behavior. While different, they interact! It is important to understand why “people do what they do” in an effort to inform the criminal justice components to help gain a better understanding of crime and criminality, in addition to biological, psychological and social factors that influence criminality.
Topic: Pre-Classical, Classical and Neoclassical schools of thought
Readings 5.3, 5.4, 5.5
These readings will introduce you to the early thoughts on criminal behavior. They will provide you with the historical, cultural and society happenings that were influencing the study of criminals. You will also learn about the different ideas surrounding punishment historically.
Topic: Positivism & biological and psychological explanations of criminal behavior
Readings 5.6, 5.7
These readings will introduce you to the idea of positivism- that empirical evidence through scientific inquiry could be used to improve society. You will learn various ways in which scientists tried to identify causes of criminal behavior beyond one’s individual choice.
Topic: Social Process and Social Structure Theories: Chicago School, Strain, Learning and Control Theories
Readings 5.8, 5.9, 5.10, 5.11
Some criminologists believe that the cause of criminal behavior lies within society, either in the social structures that are in place, or as a result of social processes. These readings will introduce the impact that things like race, class, sex, education, peer groups, etc.. may have on criminal behavior.
Topic: Social Reaction Theories and Critical Theory
Reading 5.12
Unlike other theories, social reaction theories focus on those who label react and attempt to control criminal offenders and how this influences further criminal behavior. Critical theories are rooted in the thoughts of Karl Marx and look at the fusion between power and inequality. Critical theories attempt to explain criminality as a result of inequality and attempt to influence policies directed and creating equality to curb crime. This reading will introduce you to both of these schools of thought.

Week 4 – Criminological Theory
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This week we will begin learning about Criminological theories. By the end of the week you will be able to:
• Distinguish between classical, biological, psychological, and sociological explanations of criminal behavior.
• Understand the links between crime control policy and theories of criminal behavior.
• Demonstrate effective application of criminological theories to behavior.
Introduction to Week 4:
People often wonder why criminals “do what they do”, and further, they wonder how to stop criminals from engaging in crime. Criminal Justice is the study of police, courts and corrections and Criminology is the study of crime and criminal behavior. While these two may appear as separate, they overlap. In other words, those in police, courts and corrections, need information about crime and criminal behavior to know how and what to do about crime and criminals. Criminologists use theory to understand crime and criminal behavior. A theory is a set of interrelated propositions used to describe, explain, predict and hopefully control behavior. Criminological theories are either Macro level theories (they look at social structures and other large processes in influencing behavior) or Micro level theories (they look at individual level factors in influencing behavior). It is often difficult to determine why someone is engaging in criminal behavior and having various theories help Criminologists to understand better the force (or many forces) that may be in play in order to stop the behavior. Why is this important? It is important because we must understand crime and criminal behaviors and have a theory as to why it occurs, or why someone engages in criminality in order to come up with policies (i.e. laws) to be able to stop the behavior or influence the punishment for the behavior. Findings from research are what influence policy and you will learn more about this aspect in week 8. This week, read carefully and ask yourself consistently what you think best explains crime and/or criminal behavior and if you think that one theoretical explanation is better than another and why.