Law Enforcement and Theories of Crime and Criminals Research Paper

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Schools of Criminology

Schools of Thought

Classical School introduction: This approach to criminology holds that basically, people will do things based on whether it is helpful to them and they will look after their own self-interest first. In other words, if a person is penniless and hungry, he will steal food because it is in his own self-interest to eat and stay alive, notwithstanding his crime

Classical School summary: In the 18th century philosophers like John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau argued that existing theories of crime (God or the devil determine what humans will do) were not relevant. They put forth the alternative idea that because humans have free will, they choose which behavior they will follow. Most humans respond to pleasure and pain, and if crime brings a person pleasure, that's what he will do; but being hungry can bring pain so a person will commit a crime to avoid hunger. The purpose of punishment is not to give society a chance to gain revenge, but rather punishment is a way to prevent people from committing crimes. Laws aren't written to take away freedoms, but rather they are written and published so punishments are known in advance of crimes being committed (Vito, et al., 2011).

Positivist School introduction: this school of thought leans more towards science and away from theory. Beyond free will, there are other considerations to take into account when studying crime and those who break the law, according to the positivist approach.

Positivist School summary: An important part of the Positivist School is that a person's environment (the way a person was brought up, the social situation in which he lives) has a lot to do with his decision to become involved in criminal activity. If a person has low intelligence, or lives in a poor home, or has little education, those conditions may well help explain why he got into law-breaking, according to Positivist thinking on crime.

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This approach to crime was introduced in part because embracing the Classical School was not helping to slow down criminal behavior (Tibbetts, et al., 2009).

Neoclassical School introduction: When rehabilitation of criminals did not seem to be an effective strategy, authorities turned to other systems, including punishment rather than a softer approach -- trying to understand why criminals do what they do.

Neoclassical School summary: This school believed that different people should not necessarily be punished the same for the same crime. Would the courts punish a 12-year-old for stealing an apple the same way it would punish a 25-year-old for shoplifting who has been arrested three times previously? The bottom line in neoclassical school of thought is that punishment works better than rehabilitation, or is supposed to work better.

Rational Choice Theory introduction: this is a theory that posits, before committing a crime an individual has a conscious and rational choice about that potential act. Will he get caught? And if so, what is the punishment?

Rational Choice summary: Rational choice assumes the individual is capable of making a rational decision, which of course isn't always the case because some criminals are psychologically inept and intellectually disabled. Still, the theory posits that a person measures the difference between the goals he seeks and the means he uses to achieve goals.

Routine Activities Theory introduction: to deter crime society must make it more difficult for an individual to carry out a criminal act.

Routine Activities Theory summary: basically if the risks are made more severe, and the potential rewards are….....

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