Similarities and Differences in Sociological Theories of Crime Walden University Similarities and Differences in Sociological Theories of Crime Sociological theories of crime contain a great deal of useful information in the understanding of criminal behavior. Sociological theories are very useful in the study of criminal behavior because unlike psychological and biological theories they are mostly macro level theories which attempt to explain rates of crime for a group or an area rather than explaining…
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Social Disorganization: A Community-Level Solution to Disorganized Society Rae Schulman Dupuis 0758542 SOC4010: Violence and Society Professor Reza Barmaki Friday, April 3, 2015 Social Disorganization, founded in Chicago by Shaw and McKay is a relatively young theory, yet it has gained strength and foothold within the criminological community because of its lack of biological reliance. Developed in the early 1900s it was based on the fact that Shaw and McKay had been working in and…
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The theories of social disorganization and differential association are two common sociological perspective that seek to help explain differentials in crime rates across spatial locations. These two perspectives have many differences and similarities in their explanation of crime variance across neighborhoods with social disorganization focusing on structural characteristics and social controls, while differential association focuses on differences in cultural norms of the community. Despite these…
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study of the nature of crime has been going on for decades, within it has been the popular study of society’s criminogenic constitution. Robert Merton, Messner and Rosenfeld, and Sampson and Groves are only a few of the popular names within the criminology world, each making a great contribution to the study of crime in America. Messner and Rosenfeld bring the analysis of societies’ institutions in their Institutional-Anomie Theory, further expanding on Merton’s anomie theory at a macro-level. Sampson…
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delinquency and crime has been guided by theory. In criminology the study of why people commit crime is very important. Numerous theories have been developed over the years to explain criminal behavior, and they continue to be explored, individually and in combination, as criminologists seek the best solutions in ultimately reducing types and levels of crime. Some of the essential theories include: rational choice theory, social disorganization theory, social learning theory, and labeling theory. In this…
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contrary to each other when looking at certain social structure and social process theories. Throughout the film ‘Boyz in the Hood’, there are multiple social structure and social process theories present. The first social structure theory I will be discussing from the film is the general strain theory. The general strain theory states that strain have a variety of sources and causes crime in the absence of adequate coping mechanism’s. The general strain theory also identifies the complexities of strain…
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Crime is defined as “An action or omission that constitutes an offense that may be prosecuted by the state and is punishable by law” Before taking this course what came to mind? At first I would think of the usual crimes: Murder, robbery, assault, theft. I would associate the aforementioned crimes with typical scenarios, poor neighborhood, scorned lover, evil psychopath. Since taking this course I’ve learned of many crimes and many different scenarios and learned that they all have a part in the…
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The basic premise of deterrence theory is that strong penalties lead to an avoidance of crime – the foundation of our criminal justice system. Furthermore, there is a distinction to be made between general and specific deterrence. While general deterrence refers to effects of the law on the general public, specific deterrence refers to effects of the law on those who have directly experienced it (Stafford & Warr, 1993). Deterrence theory works best when punishment is swift, certain, and severe. However…
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his life because he was smarter. In this scene you can see how the deviant path he took was a result of not achieving his personal goals. People simply replace personal goals and achievements with deviant acts. Both the social disorganization theory and the strain theory do an excellent job in explaining the deviant behavior in the movie. The city's lack of community's based controls may be the reason that the city has such a harsh and deviant environment. With this being the case the residents…
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Durkheim and Merton applied the theory. Cloward and Ohlin’s Differential Opportunity Theory is applied to understanding gangs and gang behavior, as read in the text. According to the application of this theory to gang research, what must be considered in understanding criminal learning environments of gangs? According to Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory, strain leads to anger and frustration which leads to deviant behavior, but not all individuals respond to strain with crime and deviance. What types…
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