THEORIES ON CRIME AS A MOVING TARGET.
The definition of crime is not static neither is it absolute and the same applies to its nature. It
does not bear the same character it did a century ago but has evolved and adapted various
changes.
In the beginning, the
classical school of thoughts majorly focused on reason and individual responsibility where the
Deterrence theory by Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham establishes the view that individuals
make choices based on the benefits and consequences and that as the law evolve, people also
adapt. As the world evolved, the classical school of thought shifted to a positivists school
mainly developed by Cesare Lombroso which emphasized and focused on biological and
psychological influence. It was argued that individuals passed their crime traits to their
offsprings which were identifiable based on their physical traits. Lombroso’s theory was further
expounded by Enrico Ferri under the Social Defense theory which incorporated social,
psychological and environmental factors so as to explain the ever-evolving nature of crime as
such factors act as a mutation influence e.g. Shifting societal norms create new types of criminal
behavior. Raffaele Garofalo on the other hand under the Natural Crime Theory highlighted that
the deficiencies of such factors also influenced the nature of crime. i.e. he linked moral
deficiencies to crime. The Sociological school of thought emanated afterwards which mainly
focused on the societal structures. Robert Merton in his Strain Theory highlighted that when
individuals face challenges in achieving societal goals which is due to social and economic
pressure, they resort to illegitimate means such as crime so as to achieve them. i.e. economic
changes create a form of strain such as job loss which is intensified by social media pressure
thus leading to people committing crime so as to sustain a particular lifestyle and appear like
they have made it. Howard Becker in his Labeling Theory argued that crime is not inherent in an
act but is created by societal reactions where he introduced the idea of moral prefects who
create and enforce rules, influencing who is labelled as a criminal or not. He argues that actions
such as stigmatization may create new forms of crime. Albert Bandura in his Social Learning
theory holds the view that people learn criminal behavior through observation, imitation and
modelling. He emphasizes on the role of environmental influences in molding a person’s
behavior in that a person may engage in crime if they see another person being rewarded for
such or if they were brought up in areas where such behaviors are the norm.
In the modern time the routine activity theory argued that crime emanates from motivated
offenders , suitable targets targets and the failure to have proper mentors this theory has
argued that people without good mentors tend to commit crime and the presence of vulnerable
persons has made it not easy for persons to stop. Further the rational choice theory argues that
The definition of crime is not static neither is it absolute and the same applies to its nature. It
does not bear the same character it did a century ago but has evolved and adapted various
changes.
In the beginning, the
classical school of thoughts majorly focused on reason and individual responsibility where the
Deterrence theory by Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham establishes the view that individuals
make choices based on the benefits and consequences and that as the law evolve, people also
adapt. As the world evolved, the classical school of thought shifted to a positivists school
mainly developed by Cesare Lombroso which emphasized and focused on biological and
psychological influence. It was argued that individuals passed their crime traits to their
offsprings which were identifiable based on their physical traits. Lombroso’s theory was further
expounded by Enrico Ferri under the Social Defense theory which incorporated social,
psychological and environmental factors so as to explain the ever-evolving nature of crime as
such factors act as a mutation influence e.g. Shifting societal norms create new types of criminal
behavior. Raffaele Garofalo on the other hand under the Natural Crime Theory highlighted that
the deficiencies of such factors also influenced the nature of crime. i.e. he linked moral
deficiencies to crime. The Sociological school of thought emanated afterwards which mainly
focused on the societal structures. Robert Merton in his Strain Theory highlighted that when
individuals face challenges in achieving societal goals which is due to social and economic
pressure, they resort to illegitimate means such as crime so as to achieve them. i.e. economic
changes create a form of strain such as job loss which is intensified by social media pressure
thus leading to people committing crime so as to sustain a particular lifestyle and appear like
they have made it. Howard Becker in his Labeling Theory argued that crime is not inherent in an
act but is created by societal reactions where he introduced the idea of moral prefects who
create and enforce rules, influencing who is labelled as a criminal or not. He argues that actions
such as stigmatization may create new forms of crime. Albert Bandura in his Social Learning
theory holds the view that people learn criminal behavior through observation, imitation and
modelling. He emphasizes on the role of environmental influences in molding a person’s
behavior in that a person may engage in crime if they see another person being rewarded for
such or if they were brought up in areas where such behaviors are the norm.
In the modern time the routine activity theory argued that crime emanates from motivated
offenders , suitable targets targets and the failure to have proper mentors this theory has
argued that people without good mentors tend to commit crime and the presence of vulnerable
persons has made it not easy for persons to stop. Further the rational choice theory argues that
