Crime and Social Identity Essay

Submitted By feeley2945
Words: 1339
Pages: 6
Open Document
Application of Psychology Paper

As I am coming closer to the end of my first psychology course I am beginning to realize the ways that taking this course will prove useful in my major. Being a criminal justice major, it isn’t to difficult to imagine how such a course will prove useful. The area of criminal justice has been one that has brought me much interest throughout my life, more specifically the criminal minds. With that being said, taking a course who’s bases is on that area specifically will most likely give me some new skills or acquire some new knowledge to aid me in my major and even more so a future career in that major. This course, being based around the human brain, may help me dive a little deeper into the criminal minds. This course could help me learn to think how they think, helping me figure out where or even why certain crimes may take place. Having knowledge in the area of psychology should most definitely give me an edge on the criminals by being familiar with the way that the human brain works and functions. Not only will this course do that, but also it will do it to the point of explaining how the brain will react in specific situations with specific variables. All of this can prove beneficial to any individual dealing with criminal activity, when trying to find, deal with, and apprehend these individuals. It is the information and theories that I have picked up in this course and will hopefully develop further that will definitely serve a beneficial purpose to my major and future career. The first theory that I wanted to address towards the field of criminal justice would be the” Social Identity Theory”. The Social Identity Theory is the portion of an individual’s self-concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant social group. Self-concept is all our thoughts and feelings we have about ourselves in order to answer the question “who am I”(Bodusek)? Social identity theory is best explained as a theory that predicts certain behavior between interacting groups on the basis of perceived group status differences, how legitimate those differences are seen, and the mentally seen ability to move fro on group to a different one. Basically someone achieves there social identity by in one way or another taking themselves and comparing it to those around them, and then deciding whether that is who they are, or figuring out how hard it would be to fit into another social group. By learning about this theory I am able to further understand how certain individuals may end up in certain criminal groups. By having an understanding of this theory and its operational value on the criminal world, I may prove more helpful in getting innocent people away from the grasp of these environment’s and pulling those who have fallen victim to it, out of it. I will be more able to do things like this by knowing how big of an influence your peers and surroundings are not only to yourself and your identity, but also directly on the functionality and chemistry of your brain. A very similar theory to Social Identity Theory can also be applied to my major and leads off of it, “Social Learning Theory”. I chose to put this in junction with my previous theory because of its relevance to not only the previous theory itself, but to my major in general. Social Learning theory is the theory that we learn social behavior by observing, imitating and by being rewarded or punished. In other words this theory is saying that we learn from the people around us. As humans we first learn and develop our minds naturally by watching what our parents to considering there are really the only thing around us in the early stages of our life. It’s the early stages of our life that our brains are the most absorbent so it is this stage that is the most important to protect and ensure that the behaviors the individual picks up aren’t of criminal or mischievous character. If a kid grows up around people that shoplift and get away with
Show More

Related Documents: Crime and Social Identity Essay

Why Women Engage In Crime

Violent offenders are readily one of the most interesting topics of criminal justice. In 2015, there were 1,197,704 estimated violent crimes reported in the United States (cite). Research on violent offenders typically focuses on male offenders, however, emerging research has focused more on violent female offenders. A small amount of studies that have examined violent offenders using an intersectional approach have found that offenders often differ in their acts based on gender, race, class, and…

Words 1751 - Pages 8

Gastric Bypass Essay

Identity Theft is it a problem Identify makes us who we are. Have u ever thought about this; a criminal is writing your name, address, and Social Security number on credit card applications and charge hundreds to thousands worth of merchandise on those credit cards? How do you know that this is not happening right now? Millions of people are victims of identity theft and they find out after thousands have been stolen using their names. Identify theft is a serious problem that claims millions…

Words 877 - Pages 4

Classics: Sociology and Criminality Sociological Positivism Essay

Criminology and Ancient Crime Approaches to Criminology Legal - Crime is law-breaking behavior; punishment is what law does in response to crime Moral * Who is criminal? think they are immoral * Consequences in what is a definition of crime (some actions law breaking but not really immoral i.e. Speeding j-walking, things can be immoral but not law breaking behavior) * More universal than legal approach Social * Social customs, violating social customs could be more…

Words 545 - Pages 3

Identity Theft Research Paper

Identity theft has become the new era of crime, as we know it. Identity not only ruins the lives of their victims but their crimes also leave a lasting effect. Identity theft can happy to anyone and the fact that these crimes can be committed in numerous ways makes the general public greatly susceptible to these crimes. In this paper we I will present a general overview of identity theft; discuss the most common ways to commit identity theft, present examples and then discuss the rights of victims…

Words 2014 - Pages 9

Sandoval Argument Essay

Legitimate Identification for Social Networks Many people do not take the internet serious these days. Not everyone is apprehensive about his or her own safety. A lot of people-mainly teenagers and children think of it as just another way to fill everyone in on his or her life not knowing who is viewing the information. People want to be safe and catch delinquents committing crimes, social networks should require every person to provide their real identification number proving whom a person on…

Words 878 - Pages 4

Identity Theft Research Paper

Identity Theft Approximately, fifteen million United States citizens are victims of identity fraud each year, losing about fifty billion dollars in total (IdentityTheft). In mid-December, there have been over fourteen and a half million identity theft victims this year with the number still climbing (IdentityTheft). Identity theft has proven itself to wreck havoc on many innocent lives. In one story, the felon stole more than $100,000 of credit card debt, got a federal home loan, bought homes…

Words 1075 - Pages 5

Identity Theft Research Paper

Identity theft is a crime. A thief can get your name and social security number, damage your credit and cause other financial consequences. You may not know immediately that you are a victim. Identity theft can cost you time and money and damage your reputation. . Take these precautions to guard against identity theft: 1. Guard against Phishing Websites A Phishing website purports to be a legitimate online enterprise, but is actually a fake business that is trying to find out information about…

Words 328 - Pages 2

Computer Crimes term paper

Computer Crimes. Comp 129. Stephan D’Amato 11/28/2012 Today, we live in a modern world filled with technology. We as a society have so many different machines and gadgets to help make our lives and our daily tasks simpler. For the most part these machines and modern technology is used for the good. Whether it is to help find new cures for new diseases and cancers, designing the latest and greatest automobiles, meeting new people on social media, or social networking websites. However…

Words 926 - Pages 4

Essay about Identity Theft: A White Collar Crime

Identity Theft In today's society, there is a white-collar crime that has greatly risen in popularity among criminals. This crime is identity theft. Hundreds of thousands of people have their identities stolen each year. Identity theft is when these criminals obtain and use consumers personal information such as credit card numbers, bank account numbers, insurance information, and social security numbers to purchase goods or services fraudulently. According to the Federal Trade Commission…

Words 2188 - Pages 9

IDENTITY THEFT Essay

IDENTITY THEFT AMERICAN INTERCONTINENTAL UNIVERSITY CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE BY MICHELLE SUMMERS SEPTEMBER 28, 2014 Identity theft is when a person steals another person’s identity for whatever purpose. It is considered theft and fraud. The damages don’t have to be monetary. Even if they don’t go after your money they can steal your identity to commit a crime, get a fake identification, or to retain credit. Even if they don’t get to your money, just by stealing…

Words 695 - Pages 3