Introduction to Criminology - Essay Example

Introduction to Criminology Introduction to criminology Anomie One of the profound contributions made by Emile Durkheim was to the theory and practice of anomie. He states that individuals have unlimited number of desires and these desires never come to an end (Hagan, 2011, p.146). He further states that individuals can never be satisfied even if all their needs that are biological in nature are satisfied. He further asserts that this form of instability amount individuals cannot be controlled until external factors such as control implemented by the society tries to control them. When rules that are social in nature fail, the society fails to continue its control over individuals and individuals then have to survive on their own. Durkheim has regarded such a state of the society as anomie, anomie is a term used to refer to a society whose norms have failed and is experiencing a state of normlessness (Williams, 2012, p.341). This state is either experienced by the overall society or certain sections of the society. Anomie cannot be referred to as a cognitive state, rather it is a term used to refer to a particular property found within the social structure. The term is used to describe a society’s situation where an individual’s wants are not under the regulations and norms of the society and it further describes a society where the individual does not have any form of moral code of conduct to follow while they pursue their own aims and objectives. A society that has zero norms can never exist, but societies where the level of norms is either high or less do exist (Siegel, 2013, p.204). Durkheim even asserted that desire for wealth can lead to conditions which might be anomic in nature as this desire makes an individual believe that in order to attain wealth, individuals have to depend on themselves, while state of poverty may restrict anomic conditions from taking place. Zone of Transition Shaw and McKay were of the view that higher rate of crime was experienced in certain regions and the rate of crime in these areas remained quite stable for longer period of time and this indicated environment that is socially disordered and they recognized these areas as zone II or zones of transition (Vito, 2012, p.143). They stated that areas that experience social disorder may lead to events of criminal activities and activities that are anti-social. Both the researchers further conducted studies to identify the factors resulted in the creation of socially disordered area. According to them there were three main characteristics of environment that is socially disordered, these characteristics includes: higher poverty rate, heterogeneity of races and increased rates of people settling in and leaving these areas. They stated that areas that were situated within the zone of transition (zone II) contained decaying condition of houses, industries that were under continuous threat of takeover; immigrants who were not only poor but even were illiterate (Regoli, 2010, p.148). They even figured out that these areas consisted of a diverse population who did not share common rules and regulations and due to this there was higher amount of conflict taking place between the people living in such areas. These areas even witness high turnover of people and as new immigrants migrate to these zones, the older ones fled to other zones (Burfeind, 2011, p.216). Due to the fact that these zones experience higher mobility rates, conformity and cohesion between members of the zone did not arise as people did not used to give preference to communicating and socializing with each other and thus social networks were hardly formed and even if they were formed, they used to come to an end in a very short period of time. They lastly asserted that due to lack of rules and regulations created by the society, individuals living within the society indulge in anti-social activities. Criminal Personality Theory According to Eysenck an individual does not inherit genes and traits that are associated with criminal behavior, he rather believed that certain traits and characteristics that are inherited by an individual increase the chances of an individual conducting criminal actions (Putwain, 2002, p.38). He was of the belief that behavior could be controlled with the process of conditioning and behavior was even an outcome of inherited traits. He further stated that an individual’s personality is shaped due to four factors, these factors include, an individual’s ability, his/her intelligence and three dispositions including neuroticism, psychoticism and extraversion. He even asserted that an individual’s intelligence is of great importance in the understanding of criminal behavior but more critical to the understanding of criminal behavior were the three dispositions. He stated that there was a link between the tenants of extraversion and neuroticism and they operated while being dependant on each other, while the trait of psychoticism operated in an independent manner. He further stated that extraversion was a reflection of the individual’s central nervous system (CNS) and neuroticism is completely dependent on those pathways of nerve that are situated outside the region of CNS and was linked to the ANS (Winfree, 2010, p.142). He asserted that an individual’s having the personality regarded as neurotic extraverts showed higher probability of committing criminal like activities as these are individuals who have a higher desire for excitement from the environment they live in. He even asserted that individuals who had a personality type of psychotic extraverts were automatically hostile towards others and lacked emotions and were quite aware of reality had a lower inclination towards criminal behavior (Cassel, 2007, p.78). The model or theoretical approach of Eysenck towards understanding crime is based on the idea that an individual commits a crime due to a connection between an individual’s biology and the environment he/she is living in. Modes of Adaption Merton asserts that there are different responses by different individuals towards strain induced by society. He proposed that there are five ways through which individuals adapt to aims of anomie. According to him, three out of the five ways of adaption are believed to be deviant in nature and the remaining two are not deviant (Einstadter, 2006, p.166). He even stated that an individual might alter or shift towards another method of adaption after using one way of adaption. The most commonly method used by individuals to adapt is conformity and conformity results in the stabilization of the overall society. When an individual adopts the conformity approach to adaption he accepts his/her society’s structure and the individual’s behavior is controlled as he/she accepts aims and objectives set by his society and he follows the methods set by society to attain these aims and objectives. Merton asserts that the act of conformity is accepted and exercised in all the classes of society. People exercise conformity as they are accepting the goals that are created by the society and even accept the methods used to attain these aims and objectives even he has or do not have access to the methods required to attain these aims and objectives (Lilly, 2011, p.64). When individual uses innovation as a means of adaption he/she is utilizing an illegal manner to attain aims and objectives of his/her culture. An individual does so because the methods available are underestimated and in certain situation, not available to the individual to achieve goals. This adaption mode clearly explains different kinds of crimes committed by different individuals in varying social classes. Merton states that criminal behavior is mostly conducted by the lower social class because they do not have the means to attain cultural goals in a legitimate manner (Franzese, 2006, p.173). The third mode of adaption proposed by Merton is ritualism and is not associated with deviant activities and a person who selects this mode strictly follows the aims and objectives set by society and they even abide by the manners set by society to achieve these aims and objectives. The fourth and the least commonly used mode of adaption according to Merton is reatreatism, in this method individuals first accept both the goals and pathways but later alienate from these goals and pathways as they believe that the goals and methods are not achievable. The last mode of adaption proposed by Merton is rebellion, individuals who use this method replace the current societal goals and means with new ones and thus change occurs. Subterranean values Both Matza and Sykes are of the view that an individual adopts criminal like activities as an experience of learning and those who are to be criminals obtain knowledge, skills and abilities that assists them in neutralizing values of their society and they experience a shift from illegal activities to legal activities and from legal activities to illegal activities (Cicourel, 1995, p.54). The researchers asserted that this process takes place due to the existence of the structure of subterranean values within the society of America. The researchers state that these values are embedded within a society’s culture but the society itself condemns these values in front of the public. These values are existent in a particular society but they do not exist independently, they coexist with the traditional values but the society which has such values stand against and talk against these values while they deal publicly (Cullen, 2010, p.590). Even if these values are stood against by a society in public, the society may admire exercising these values privately. Examples of such values include: viewing of porn movies and gambling in sports world, these activities are carried out by the member of the society in private but when members talk about these values in public, they talk negatively about these values even if they admire them. The existence of both traditional as well as subterranean values is even experienced in the American society, but not all members switch between these values, certain only accept the subterranean ones and others are only inclined towards conventional ones. Maqtza further asserts that criminals do not only practice subterranean values at all times, they keep shifting between traditional and subterranean values (Bussmann, 2000, p.29). For example: they attend schools, socialize in family events and participate in services that are religious in nature and Matza has regarded this shift in values as drift. References Burfeind, J. W., & Bartusch, D. J. 2011. Juvenile delinquency: an integrated approach. Sudbury, Mass, Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Bussmann, K.-D., & Karstedt, S. 2000. Social dynamics of crime and control: new theories for a world in transition. Oxford, Hart Pub. Cassel, E., & Bernstein, D. A. 2007. Criminal behavior. Mahwah, N.J., L. Erlbaum Associates. Cicourel, A. V. 1995. The social organization of juvenile justice. New Brunswick, N.J., U.S.A., Transaction Publishers. Cullen, F. T., & Wilcox, P. 2010. Encyclopedia of criminological theory. Thousand Oaks, Calif, SAGE Publications. Einstadter, W. J., & Henry, S. 2006. Criminological theory: an analysis of its underlying assumptions. Lanham, Md, Rowman & Littlefield. Franzese, R. J., Covey, H. C., Menard, S. W., & Covey, H. C. 2006. Youth gangs. Springfield, Ill, Charles C Thomas Publisher. Hagan, F. E. 2011. Introduction to criminology: theories, methods, and criminal behavior. Los Angeles, Sage Publications. Lilly, J. R., Cullen, F. T., & Ball, R. A. 2011. Criminological theory: context and consequences. Thousand Oaks, Calif, SAGE Publications. Putwain, D., & Sammons, A. 2002. Psychology and crime. East Sussex, Routledge. Regoli, R. M., Hewitt, J. D., & Delisi, M. 2010. Delinquency in society. Sudbury, Mass, Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Siegel, L. J. 2013. Criminology: theories, patterns, and typologies. Belmont, CA, Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Vito, G. F., & Maahs, J. R. 2012. Criminology: theory, research, and policy. Sudbury, Mass, Jones & Bartlett Learning. Williams, K. 2012. Textbook on criminology. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Winfree, L. T., & Abadinsky, H. 2010. Understanding crime: essentials of criminological theory. Belmont, CA, Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Read More