NCJ Number
192643
Date Published
2001
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This chapter describes the sociological and psychological theories of crime.
Abstract
Anomie is a French term meaning “lacking in rules” or “normlessness.” The anomie/strain theory involves three major elements: social structure, social values, and social norms. This theory views crime not as a symptom of personal inadequacies but as a “normal” response to the various ways that sociocultural elements limit the responses of certain groups of individuals. The five modes of adaptation to a social structure that denies some persons legitimate access to means are conformity, ritualism, “retreatism,” rebellion, and innovation. The retreatist and innovator modes of adaptation are the modes that generate criminal behavior. The conformist and the ritualist modes produce individuals that are mostly law abiding. Only under certain circumstances does the rebellious mode generate illegal behavior. Differential association theory emphasizes that criminal behavior is learned within subcultures where criminal behavior is more or less “normal” behavior. Differing levels of criminal behavior depend on the frequency, duration, priority, and intensity of association with criminals and criminal values and attitudes. Theorists of both of these models tend to give the impression that everyone is guilty of crime except the criminal. These theories offer no policy recommendations to the criminal justice worker. The main value is that they lead to a deficiency interpretation rather than a pathological interpretation of criminal behavior. Control theory differs from these two theories in that rather than looking at conditions that may lead people to commit crimes; it looks at conditions that isolate people from it. These conditions are attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. Low self-control emerges in the absence of adequate parenting. Control theory recognizes an individual’s lack of either social or self control as not entirely his or her own fault. The utility of control theory for the corrections worker is that it provides a certain amount of meaningful guidance in working with offenders. Nothing can be done about the offenders’ levels of attachment to their families, but steps can be taken to involve offenders in a conventional lifestyle. 19 references, 3 figures