When people delve into criminology, they might initially be surprised by how extensive the field is. Everybody associated with the scientific study of crime, the relationship between the criminal and their environment, and society's reaction to crime has some kind of place within the broad scope of Criminology. Sometimes, criminologists are researchers that are attempting to find the mutual links between deviant behavior and the environment, so they can pinpoint what it is that causes or perpetuates crime.
There are currently several different theories that try to explain, through the process of science, what it is that causes a crime to take place. Many of the theories began to emerge in earnest in the middle of the eighteen hundreds. During the next 200 or so years, new theories began to be put forward and gradually they started to involve hormonal activity, genetics and biological composition. Previously, theories of criminology rested mostly on society and the environment's effect on the individual to either steer an individual into crime or away from crime.
There are 3 distinct schools of thought concerning criminology. One of the first groups, the Classical school, believes that utilitarian philosophy is the foundational notion of criminology. They contend that individuals have free will and can say for themselves what is wrong and what is right. The hedonistic, or self-indulgent, side of the struggle has to be offset against the individual's rational and logic. When the selfish side wins, crime may ensue. Rational behavior is that part of the individual that might think about the penalty for committing the crime and, if the punishment is harsh enough, is also the part of the individual that would keep them from committing the crime by weighing up the costs. Positivists are those who believe that the factors that strengthen the criminal's propensity to go against the law do not rest under their own control. Rather, factors such as society, or the person's chemical makeup do.
These are things that are considered to be beyond the control of any individual, but are still elements that might play what Positivists assert as the biggest part in the cause, when a criminal has carried out a crime. In the Chicago school of thinking, individuals believe that criminals are a product of the disorganized environments from which they come. Later, this definition was expanded to include the belief that older generations taught younger generations about criminal activity. It is then fair to say that these individuals believe that crime happens only where the social composition of the area is damaged and unbalanced.
Crime is often considered to be a blemish in our culture and society. It causes people to be anxious when they just want to live quietly. Criminologists are, in their own way, attempting to discover what causes criminal activity, or promotes that kind of behavior in a person in order to reduce the amount of crime.
There are currently several different theories that try to explain, through the process of science, what it is that causes a crime to take place. Many of the theories began to emerge in earnest in the middle of the eighteen hundreds. During the next 200 or so years, new theories began to be put forward and gradually they started to involve hormonal activity, genetics and biological composition. Previously, theories of criminology rested mostly on society and the environment's effect on the individual to either steer an individual into crime or away from crime.
There are 3 distinct schools of thought concerning criminology. One of the first groups, the Classical school, believes that utilitarian philosophy is the foundational notion of criminology. They contend that individuals have free will and can say for themselves what is wrong and what is right. The hedonistic, or self-indulgent, side of the struggle has to be offset against the individual's rational and logic. When the selfish side wins, crime may ensue. Rational behavior is that part of the individual that might think about the penalty for committing the crime and, if the punishment is harsh enough, is also the part of the individual that would keep them from committing the crime by weighing up the costs. Positivists are those who believe that the factors that strengthen the criminal's propensity to go against the law do not rest under their own control. Rather, factors such as society, or the person's chemical makeup do.
These are things that are considered to be beyond the control of any individual, but are still elements that might play what Positivists assert as the biggest part in the cause, when a criminal has carried out a crime. In the Chicago school of thinking, individuals believe that criminals are a product of the disorganized environments from which they come. Later, this definition was expanded to include the belief that older generations taught younger generations about criminal activity. It is then fair to say that these individuals believe that crime happens only where the social composition of the area is damaged and unbalanced.
Crime is often considered to be a blemish in our culture and society. It causes people to be anxious when they just want to live quietly. Criminologists are, in their own way, attempting to discover what causes criminal activity, or promotes that kind of behavior in a person in order to reduce the amount of crime.
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