Theories of Criminology and Deviance
Kraska, P. (2006). Criminal justice theory: Toward legitimacy and an infrastructure. Justice Quarterly, 23 (2), 168-185.
The article offers great and valuable information regarding the criminal justice theories that play a leading role in promoting justice in several criminal systems around the world. The source deals with the criminal justice theory, which deals with crime rates and crime. The article points out the fact that pursuing criminal justice is in some cases implicitly, and tacitly, referred to the narrow responsibility of descriptive and evaluative scholarship.
Thus, this article explores the details for the field’s failure to identify the prominence of evolving an accessible and well-accepted theoretic infrastructure not concerning crime, nevertheless criminal justice and crime control occurrences. It scrutinizes the difficulty of the object of research when theorizing criminal justice and the effectiveness of organizing criminal justice theory applying manifold “theoretical orientations.” Therefore, conclusion emphasizes the fundamentality of criminal justice theory, with specific stress on academic reliability, quality study, informed practices, and sound pedagogics. Hence, the article covers the essential theories that promote the practice of criminal justice system.
Felson, R. B. (1997). Routine activities and involvement in violence as actor, witness, or target. Violence and Victims, 12(3), 209-221.
The source provides the needed information on theories that cover the routines practices and lead to involvement of individuals in criminal activities. The source explains three fundamentals that occur for a crime to materialize: a motivated criminal with unlawful intentions and the ability to act on these dispositions, a suitable target, and the lack of a skilled guardian who might stop the crime from occurring. The article offers macro perspective that is needed to deal with the crimes in the society, where it emphasizes the need to modify the social and economic settings that will reduce the victimization rate and general crime in the society. Thus, this source offers a better understanding on combating crime by offering the various criminal theories.
Ronel, N., & Elisha, E. (2011). A different perspective: introducing positive criminology. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 55 (2), 305- 325.
Ronel and Elisha introduce the concept of positive criminology to encompassing various models and theories. This article defines the positive perspective of criminology as a focus on people’s encounters with influences and forces which are experienced being positive, which are distinct from crime and deviance by either mechanism of informal or formal therapy initiatives and interventions. These initiatives include self-help groups, via emphasizing on positive social elements like social acceptance, re-integrative shaming and positive social element emphasis, or basing on positive individual characteristics such as coherence and resilience. This paper discusses that positive criminology perspective widens the aspect of traditional criminology which emphasizes majorly on the understanding of processes and factors which results in people or groups being involved in criminal or deviant behavior. Positive criminology is executed in the treatment and rehabilitation of persons and groups which have demonstrated criminal or deviant behavior by through emphasizing positive influences which may in the end discourage or prevent extended criminal conduct. Positive criminology is also presented in a preclusion based on a positive methodology.
As seen from the above summary, Ronel and Elisha emphasize that the aspect of positive criminology is not a theory but instead it is a perspective of models and theories. This article refers to the perspective of positive criminology as the existence of internal mechanism which assists people to withstand states of risk and stress and their insight for growth and positive change. Ronel and Elisha and argue that a concentration of traditional criminology on negative issues which influences the impelling forces behind criminal acts and their effects impede a wider view of the offender’s experience.
Nofziger, S. (2010). A Gendered Perspective on the Relationship between Self-Control and Deviance. Feminist Criminology, 5 (1), 29-50.
This article presents the findings of an extensive research which examines the large sex gap in offending within criminology. Nofziger proposes an approach in which the sex gap in offending is understood. The approach explores the relationship which exists between gender identity and self-control. Nofziger bases this approach on the self-control theory, which states that analogous and criminal behaviors are committed most by people who lack self-control. This research uses the data collected under the Tucson youth project, finding out that gender identity is a vital link between self-control, sex and deviant and involvement in criminal or deviant behavior. The article argues that femininity is associated with high levels of self-control, with the two variables; self-control and femininity, predicting deviance even when controlling sex. Contrary to that, masculinity is seen to have no impact on the deviant behavior was associated with greater self-control, and both these variables predicted deviance, even when controlling for sex. In contrast, masculinity had no effect on deviant behavior.
This article demonstrates that the sex gap in offending can be accounted for by examining the social practices which develop self-control and feminine gender identity. Thus as the U.S gender social practices train women to be feminine, and inhibiting feminine characteristics in men, gender socialization alters the development of self-control in young male individuals.
Simons, R. L., Miller, M. G., & Aigner, S. M. (1980). Contemporary Theories of Deviance and Female Delinquency: an Empirical Test. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 17(1), 42-57.
This article present the finding of a research study conducted on a state-wide sample of Iowa teenagers. The research was conducted to find out if there was variation in the strength of the relationship between the independent variables of self-reported delinquency and traditional or conventional theories of criminal deviance amongst male and female individuals. The research also aimed at establishing whether the variation in sexes in terms of self-reported delinquency could be attributed to the minimal adverse locations of female with respect to the independent variables. The researcher attempted to operationalize the primary variables from anomie, control, labeling and differential association or relation theories, this resulted in the finding that both hypotheses were supported by the results.
Maier-Katkin, D., Mears, D., & Bernard, T. (2009). Towards a criminology of crimes against humanity. Theoretical Criminology, 13(2), 227-255.
This article argues that the study of humanity crimes have ignored to a greater extent; though acts of humanity crimes are criminal under several jurisdictions. A research to examine why criminology has neglected humanity crimes is presented, with the argument that criminological theorizing approach will be advantageous. This approach will also put forward a theory of humanity crimes which are derived from and expand on the prevailing criminological theories in order to offer a basis for new empirical and theoretical studies. This approach also illustrates how criminological theories may be modified to offer more powerful accounts of crime.
This study emphasizes on the non-deviant facets of criminality which arises from the common practices of socialization which shape human plasticity in all the numerous forms of destructive and constructive behavior the human species is capable of having. The study postulates that humanity crimes cannot be explained by the distinct differences related with the individuals who commit them, in a similar way as by the normal societal and group level processes and structures combined with common affiliate self- interests and impulses. Theories provide explanations, founded in intuitions from criminology, for the dynamics of humanity crimes.
Ronel, N., Frid, N., & Timor, U. (2013). The Practice of Positive Criminology: A Vipassana Course in Prison. International Journal of Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology, 57 (2), 133-153.
According to Ronel et.al, positive criminology is a new concept for a perspective related to models and theories which relate to socially inclusive, positive experienced influences which assist people in refraining or desisting from a deviant or criminal behavior. This article discusses a qualitative phenomenological research undertaken on prisoners who were recovering from drug addiction and dependency and who took part in a Vipassana course in rehabilitation centers; prisons, as to be introducing the characteristics of positive criminology. In the ten days Vipassana course conducted by volunteers in prison, an aggregate of 22 male prisoners took place. Extensive interviews were administered to the prisoners before the course, immediately after it and 3to 4 months after they took the course. The results depict the constituents of positive criminology which had a significant effect on the prisoners being rehabilitated including positive relations with prison wardens, perceived goodness, and positive social environment. In summary of the results, having measured the effects of Vipassana on distinct psychological characters of the prisoners involved, claims that Vipassana is an effective way to rehabilitate prisoners.
Matsueda, R. L. (1997). "Cultural Deviance Theory": The Remarkable Persistence of a Flawed Term. Theoretical Criminology, 1(4), 429-52.
Matsueda points out at the continuation of Kornhauser’s misinterpretation of differential association theory by Costello. She further argues that the logical flaws as Costello finds, apply to the caricature of cultural deviance theory, as Sutherland calls. However, these logical flaws have little to do with the differential association theory. Matsueda further continues to argue that the fundamental difference between the differential association theory and control theories is whether inspiration to commit crime is constant across individuals, whether criminal subcultures and organization are not relevant to criminality and whether crime cannot be transmitted or passed across amongst individuals.
This article guides in the development of a framework which aids in the comparison of causal theories of delinquency and control theories. A clear distinction of the differential association theory from the cultural differential theory is presented. The differential theory opens puzzles which are vital for criminological theory and research.
References
Felson, R. B. (1997). Routine activities and involvement in violence as actor, witness, or target. Violence and Victims, 12(3), 209-221.
Kraska, P. (2006). Criminal justice theory: Toward legitimacy and an infrastructure. Justice Quarterly, 23 (2), 168-185.
Maier-Katkin, D., Mears, D., & Bernard, T. (2009). Towards a criminology of crimes against humanity. Theoretical Criminology, 13(2), 227-255.
Matsueda, R. L. (1997). "Cultural Deviance Theory": The Remarkable Persistence of a Flawed Term. Theoretical Criminology, 1(4), 429-52.
Nofziger, S. (2010). A Gendered Perspective on the Relationship between Self-Control and Deviance. Feminist Criminology, 5 (1), 29-50.
Ronel, N., Frid, N., & Timor, U. (2013). The Practice of Positive Criminology: A Vipassana Course in Prison. International Journal of Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology, 57 (2), 133-153.
Simons, R. L., Miller, M. G., & Aigner, S. M. (1980). Contemporary Theories of Deviance and Female Delinquency: an Empirical Test. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 17(1), 42-57.
References
Akers, R. L. & Sellers, C. S. (2012).Criminological theories: Introduction, evaluation, and application (6th Ed.) USA: Oxford University Press.
Briggs S., (2013). Important Theories in Criminology: Why People Commit Crime, Retrieved from http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/important-theories-in-criminology-why- people-commi.html.
Covington,S. (2007).The Relational Theory of Women’s Psychological Development: Implications for the Criminal Justice System. Female Offenders: Critical Perspectives and Effective Interventions, 2nd Edition Ruth Zaplin, Editor (2007),p. 1-25.
Felson, R. B. (1997). Routine activities and involvement in violence as actor, witness, or target. Violence and Victims, 12(3), 209−221.
Kraska,P. (2006). Criminal Justice Theory: Toward Legitimacy and an Infrastructure. Justice Quarterly 23 (2),168-185.
United Nations (2011). Criminal justice reform in post-conflict States: A guide for practitioners, Retrieved from http://www.unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prison- reform/11-83015_Ebook.pdf.
