Criminology and Public Policy - Essay Example

? Principle of Criminology Lecturer: Sources Barlow, H. D., & Decker, S. H. . Criminology and public policy: Putting theory to work. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. The book provides an analysis of the core elements of the various criminology theories and perspectives. In its analysis of these perspectives and theories, the book demonstrates the relevance of each of theory and perspective to criminology. This book is of paramount important in this essay because of its coverage on feminist core elements and its depiction of the feminist perspective approach to criminology. Generally, the book’s strength is its coverage on the significance or actually the relevance of feminist thoughts in criminology – gender consideration in the process of addressing crime. Einstadter, W. J., & Henry, S. (2006). Criminological theory: An analysis of its underlying assumptions. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield. This book provides descriptions of the various criminology theories and concepts. The book additionally, criticizes the perspective approach of each of the theory discussed basing on the assumptions employed in addressing each of the theory. Reviews of the positivism approach to criminology and its trends as well as its influence in addressing the issue of criminology are analyzed. This source is of paramount importance to my essay as it provides relevant information of addressing the positivism perspective of criminology. The strength of this source is the detailed analysis of each of criminological theory covered. Flavin, J. (2001). “Feminism for the mainstream criminology: An invitation”. Journal of Criminal Justice 29(4): 27–285. The journal deduces that criminal justice has for long sidelined the feminist perspective approach of addressing crime. According to the journal, this perception has resulted to the belief that criminology entails men alone and hence women are not part of it. The journal additionally, argues that criminology should accept the significant role played by feminism perspective in addressing crimes. This journal is of paramount importance in my essay as it provides information on feminist perspective to criminology. The strength of this source is its exemplified literature review McLaughlin, E. (2003). Criminological perspectives: Essential readings. London [u.a.: Sage. The book provides a detailed explanation of gender relations in respect to criminology. In its analysis of gender relations, it defines female oppression origin and effectively provides an explanation of the possible contributing factors to crime. The book additionally, provides crucial information on socialist feminism theories of criminology. This source is of paramount importance in my essay as it offers the basis of considering feminist perspective approach to criminology. Of paramount importance is the consideration of socialist feminism approach to criminology in terms of reproduction and production. The books strength is its coverage on socialist feminism theories. Tierney, J. J. (2009). Key perspectives in criminology. Maidenhead: Open University Press. This book defines the various criminology perspectives. The book draws from the historical background of each of the criminology perspective discussed. The book additionally, discusses the applicability as well as the suitability of each criminology perspective discussed in a detailed manner. The weaknesses and the strengths of each of the criminological perspective are detailed in this book as well. This source is of paramount importance to my essay as it provides deterministic information for supporting my claims while addressing the positivist perspective approach of criminology. The book’s detailed coverage of the various criminology perspectives renders it a reliable source. Principle of Criminology Criminology refers to the applied discipline that aids crime identification causes with the chief objective of eradicating the problem. It is worth noting that criminology scope of coverage as an area of study entails more than just identifying the possible causes of the crime and how such problems can be solved within the society or within the community. For instance, criminology also covers aspects of the way the systems of criminal justice operate, say, the coverage on the relationship that exist between criminal justice punishment system and the police and as well with the societies or communities. However, the major focus of criminology is on crime causes with focus on the crime offenders. A number of approaches or actually perspectives exist in the criminology field. Owing to differing perspectives of addressing criminology, a discrepancy exist as which perspective is most inclusive and valid in the process of crime identification with a focus on crime offenders. The essay analysis the validity of positivity perspective criminology and the feminist perspective criminology in the process of identifying crime causes with a focus on offenders. Positivism is the theoretical perspective that social life aspects can be scientifically and objectively studied through using research methods similar to those employed in natural science. Comte de Saint-Simon coined the word positivism in the beginning of the nineteenth century. Comte argued that argued that positivism criminology is a sociology science that is concerned with discovering the social parameter that governs the society. The assumption here is that social life can be understood through employing scientific methods. This is the origin and the idea behind the positivist perspective of criminology (Einstadter & Henry, 2006). Positivist criminology is divided into three distinct subgroups - biological, sociological, and psychological. Criminal behaviors according to a positivism perspective are as a result of factors beyond offenders' control. Sociological positivism is concerned with the social environment of the offenders. Biological positivism is concerned with the biological body of the offender while psychological positivism is concerned with the mind. Positivist perspective to criminology dominated European countries for the better part of nineteenth century. The psychological and the biological versions of positivism criminology were the most common. However, the three versions of positivist criminology can be used to complimentary (Tierney, 2009). Positivist perspective retained its applicability to criminology until the 1960s, after which it received several criticism concerning its validity in addressing crime causes. Its critics argued that “… chromosomal imbalance, hereditary factors, working –class membership, racial difference intelligence and so on cannot be used o explain crime…” (McLaughlin, 2003 p. 448). However, it should be noted that positivist criminology is equally important in reducing crime in the society and especially the psychological version of positivism. The mental condition of the crime offender is something worth consideration in addressing crime cause. Feminist perspective criminology emerged during the second wave of feminism. Its development was as a result of feminine gender discrimination and disregard in the conventional crime study. Feminist criminology study is divided into a number of sub-branches. Among the widely recognized versions are Marxist, radical, liberal, and socialist feminism. Feminist critiques ascertain how female offenders are ignored, stereotyped, and distorted within the conventional criminology. Most feminist criminologists address the issue of gender ratio and the generalization problem. The gender ratio problem tries to ascertain why men are more prone to commit crimes than women are. The generalization problem tries to ascertain whether the conventional male criminology theories can be customized to cover female offending. However, it is worth noting that gender in crime study is something worth consideration and hence should not be ignored in criminology (Barlow& Decker, 2010). Liberal feminism criminology is concerned with the social structure in addressing women crime related issues. It advocates for women’s issues such as the role of women in the society, women rights among others. Radical feminist criminology addresses the issues related to why women roles are subordinate to those of men and the way women can be empowered. The socialist feminist criminology addresses women equitable roles in the society such as sex providers, homemakers, nursemaids, and as well as child bearers and hence they deserve their right recognition in the society. The Marxist feminist criminology addresses issues related to male privilege within the economic sector and property dominance (Flavin, 2001). Feminism criminology is worth consideration as it addresses issues concerning women offending. Read More