3.1: Learning Objectives
- Page ID
- 47901
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Learning Objectives:
- Understand the predominant theory our American criminal justice system is built upon.
- Understand the theoretical reasoning about why at least some crime seems rational.
- Recognize the differences between general deterrence and specific deterrence.
- Understand from biological factors possibly linked to crime.
- Recognize various psychological factors possibly related to crime.
- Be able to discuss why social and economic factors may influence the crime rate.
- Recognize socio-cultural factors associated with crime.
- Be able to identify behavior patterns that may increase the chances of becoming a crime victim.
- Describe the six dominant perspectives within the contemporary criminal justice field.
Theories
The idea of studying theory often frightens people. However, we all use theory every day. For instance, you probably have theories about the weather which influenced how you dress today. Or you might have theories about friendships which influences how you interact with others.
For the purposes of our studies here, theory is simply an abstract way of studying criminal justice. This abstract study is necessary so that we can think through the issues and have a plan or develop a model before we actually implement strategies meant to reduce or control the crime phenomenon. We need to try to understand that which we wish to change. And we need more than one theory to understand the crime phenomenon since crime covers a wide variety of human behavior ranging all the way from the disobedient child which might be classified as a juvenile delinquent merely for staying out a little late to the mind of a serial killer. Some theories will better explain certain phenomena or types of people than others but they each have something they can offer us. Since this is an introductory level class we will only look at some of the main theories in the criminal justice field. If you wish to study these and other theories further perhaps in the future you could take a criminology, victimology, or criminological theory course.
The graphic shown below provides an overview of the main families of theories we will be covering. As you can see there are a wide variety of possible explanations for crime. The possible explanations range from logical approaches, to inborn traits, to internal biological functions, to understanding the human mind, and/or to examining the society around us.
Figure 3.1
We will also take a look at a couple of feminist ideas as most of the theories in the past have been written by men to explain masculine behavior but with an increasing number of girls and women in our criminal justice system we need theories to explain their behaviors as well. We will also take a look at a couple of victimization ideas, as for every crime there is at least one victim. Let us start with the oldest theory, and perhaps the most logic oriented theory, known as classical theory.