Routine Activities Theory Analysis

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The routine activities theory enforces the idea that crime happens after three things take place: the juveniles become motivated to commit crime, there is a scenario that makes the crime easier to commit than normally (i.e. it is easier to shoplift an article of clothing if there is no security tag on it), and a lack of supervision (Regoli, Hewitt, and Delsi, 2014). In order for this to be applied to juveniles, we would have to prove that minors are not acting impulsively, but instead are fully thinking through a criminal act before committing it and are aware of the consequences (Regoli, Hewitt, and Delsi, 2014). If so, then this supports the rational choice theory that suggests children’s crimes are premeditated (Regoli, Hewitt, and Delsi, …show more content…
One was the theory of behaviorism in which John B. Watson declared that since the mind is an immeasurable concept, the only way to study the science of behavior is through variables that can be observed and measured (Bartol and Bartol, 2014). He went on to say that since external environmental forces can be observed and measured, that was clearly what controlled behavior (Bartol and Bartol, 2014). B.F. Skinner then came along and sdeclared that there was no such thing as free will or independent thinking because we are all at the mercy of the environmental stimuli we come in contact with (Bartol and Bartol, 2014). While those may have sounded illogical, all behavioral theories were not so crazy. While Freud may be laughed at in an uneducated group in society, when he theorized about involuntary mental developments during childhood manipulating our personality, I do not think he was entirely wrong (Regoli, Hewitt, and Delsi, 2014). He may not have been talking about criminals exactly, however when we look at theories used even today, he was the one that influenced what is now known as the attachment theory which is crucial in explaining a lot of delinquent behavior (Regoli, Hewitt, and Delsi, 2014). However, on the complete opposite side of the spectrum, we have …show more content…
ADHD is becoming more common, and in my opinion, I think a lot of those being diagnosed may be wrongfully diagnosed. However, I know this disorder to be real due to my own diagnosis when I was almost twenty years-old. The disorder is commonly known as causing inattentiveness, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity (Garrett, 2011). This disease has been linked back to reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex and the striatum which controls decision-making, compulsion, working memory, motor function, learning, and the reward system (Garrett, 2011). This could be caused by many different things relating to both biological and environmental causes (Garrett, 2011). It is also shown that because of the behavior children with ADHD present with, it is also considered a psychological risk factor in predicting criminal behavior (Bartol and Bartol, 2014). This plays into the biological side of things, but what about behavioral? The psychosocial factors that could be huge at altering this disorder are sometimes the hardest to acquire because one of the main things those with ADHD suffer from is peer rejection and neglect because they are found to be “different” from their peers (Bartol and Bartol, 2014). While conduct disorder and ADHD are linked quite often in textbooks and research, I think it is important to remember that those that suffer with ADHD do not choose to be