Chapter One

Introduction to Criminological theories

Introduction

Criminology is rich in theories due to its nature as a Social Science different from
hard or natural sciences which are mostly founded by principles and some theories. In this
Chapter, we will be exploring the theoretical aspect of Criminological Studies which would
include theoretical analysis (what is a theory, criteria of a good scientific theory) and the
misperceived role of theories in the actual practice of Criminology.

Classification of criminological theories are also included in this chapter.

Criminological theories can be categorized in different manners such as; by discipline
(biological, psychological, sociological) or by focus (theories of crime, theories of criminal
justice).

Ultimately, this Chapter ends in the lecture about the oldest criminological theory and
the perception of the old world in the idea of crime and evil.

Objectives
At the end of this section, you should be able to:

1. Define what is a theory

2. Evaluate a theory based on the criteria of a good scientific theory
3. Describe the role of theories in criminology and establish the connection between
theoretical criminology and practical criminology
4. Write a theory paper based on your personal experiences

Topic Outline:

I. Concept of Criminological theory

a. What is a Theory?
b. Importance of the Study of Crime and the purpose of Criminological theories
c. Causality and Probabilistic Causality
d. Qualities of Good Scientific Theory
e. Classification of Criminological Theories
II. Demonology and the Logical Problem of evil
 Try this

Write an essay about your personal experience or something you saw on television
about crimes, describe what happen and what are the important details that you think
are the causes of that crime. Note similar crimes that you see on television or heard on
radio, describe what happen into these events and see if you can find a commonality
between these different events.

Think Ahead!

1. Why do you think it is necessary to understand crime and its causes?

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2. Do you think there are perfectly similar crimes? Why?
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3. What should be the qualities of a good explanation on the causes of crimes? Why?
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4. Why do you think some people violates the community quarantine policy?
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5. Examine your explanations above and analyze what solution does it propose.
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 Read and Ponder

Concepts of Criminological Theories

“To many citizens, politicians, and criminal justice practitioners, theory has a bad
name. In their minds, the word "theory" means an irrelevant antonym of "fact." Facts are real,
while theories seem to involve no more than impractical mental gymnastics. Theories are just
fanciful ideas that have little to do with what truly motivates real people. This is a mistaken
image of theory in social science in general and in criminology in particular. Theory, if
developed properly, is about real situations, feelings, experience, and human behavior. An
effective theory helps us to make sense of facts that we already know and can be tested
against new facts (Akers, 1999: 1)”.

What is a Theory?
Generally, scientific theories make statements about the relationship between two
classes of phenomena. (VoId and Bernard, 1986:4)
Theories are really generalizations of a sort; they explain how two or more events are
related to each other. (Williams and McShane, 1988:2)
A theory is a set of interconnected statements or propositions that explain how two or
more events or factors are related to one another. (Curran and Renzetti, 1994:2)

Theory explains how some aspect of human behavior or performance is organized. It thus

enables us to make predictions about that behavior.
The components of theory are concepts (ideally well defined) and principles.
A concept is a symbolic representation of an actual thing - gun, money, table, computer,
distance, etc.
Construct is the word for concepts with no physical referent - democracy, learning, justice,
etc. Language enables conceptualization.
A principle also called “assumption” expresses the relationship between two or more
concepts or constructs.
some reference includes generalization which refers to the prediction of theory or the overall
statement the theory makes.

In the process of theory development, one derives principles based on one

examining/questioning how things/concepts are related.
Concepts and principles serve two important functions:
1) They help us to understand or explain what is going on around us.
2) They help us predict future events (Can be causal or correlational)

That’s what theory is: the summary and synthesis of what is known about a field. It is
the reduction of our knowledge to the basic ideas, presented in a way that shows their
underlying patterns and relationships. (Moore, 1991:2)

to put it simply, a theory is a related set of concepts and principles

- about a phenomenon
- the purpose of which is to explain or predict the phenomenon
Why theory is important
1. Theory provides concepts to name what we observe and to explain relationships
between concepts. Theory allows us to explain what we see and to figure out how to
bring about change. Theory is a tool that enables us to identify a problem and to plan
a means for altering the situation.

2. Theory is to justify reimbursement to get funding and support - need to explain

what is being done and demonstrate that it works - theory and research

3. Theory is to enhance the growth of the professional area to identify a body of

knowledge with theories from both within and without the area of distance learning.
That body of knowledge grows with theory and research. Theory guides research.

The theory also helps us understand what we don’t know and, therefore, is the only
guide to research. Relating to theory, it increases its ability to solve other problems in
different times and different places. (Moore, 1991: 2)

Development of theories
Theory is constantly revised as new knowledge is discovered through research. Three
stages of theory development in any new science
1) Speculative - attempts to explain what is happening.
2) Descriptive - gathers descriptive data to describe what is really happening.
3) Constructive - revises old theories and develops new ones based on
continuing research.

Theory development process

1) Theory-practice-theory take existing theory in education, apply to distance

learning, develop new theory
2) Practice-research-theory see what is happening in distance learning, submit to
research, develop theory from results
3) Theory-theory-research/practice build on an initial theory to develop a second
theory, then apply and test it

Importance of the study of Crime and the purpose of Criminological Theories

Crime is committed by some people and some people are victimized by it. The victimization
is too costly, it damages the victim’s social status, health, finances, and worst it may cost the
victim’s life. We study crime in order to;

1. Understand crime, criminals, victims and the process by which a person becomes
a criminal or a victim,
2. Prevent such phenomenon to repeat or minimize the damages that it could bring,
3. Propose or devise an effective policy that will produce the expected outcome with
minimal cost (efficient),
4. Ensure that the programs of correctional institution are effective and in line with
the criminal for reformation or rehabilitation
5. To devise a law enforcement strategy to effectively counter rampant crimes in the
society,
6. And lastly, we study crime as an object of interest or curiosity.
Crime is defined as an act or omission in violation of public law forbidding it but this
definition creates a problem called “logomacy”. Logomacy states that “there is no crime if
there is no law punishing it” from this statement, one could suggest a very strange solution to
criminality – abolish the criminal law in order to eradicate criminality.

This where criminological theories come in, to fill the gap between legality and actuality.
Although the legal definition of crime is sufficient for trial, it cannot satisfy the needs in the
society as to the actuality of the phenomenon.

The word Criminological refers to the idea of inquiry in the most fundamental manner about
crimes. It can be breakdown into three (3) basic questions; what is crime? why do crime
exist? And How do we deal with crimes?

the purpose of Criminological Theories are as follows;

1. Explain the phenomenon called “crime”

2. Predict the occurrence of crime
3. Propose a solution to criminality.

HOW TO DEAL WITH CRIMES?

WHY DO PEOPLE COMMIT

CRIMES?
WHAT IS CRIME?

Figure 1: understanding the fundamental questions

In order to come up with a solution to criminality, one should understand the
phenomenon thus should be able to answer the question “what” only then “why does
it exists” can be answered and ultimately, from understanding its causation – a
solution can be derived.

Causality and Probabilistic Causality

Criminological theories are social science theories because we deal with people behavior,
human behavior and the reaction of the entire society towards crime unlike natural sciences
principles remains disregarding time and culture. In social science, we deal with probability
because behavior depends on several variables which includes culture, time, weather
condition and even human emotions or mental state.
The relationship of variables can be causal or correlational. In theories of crime causation –
from the word causation, we seek causal relationship of variables to criminality. There are
two kinds of causal relationship;

Causality – a concept more applicable to the hard/natural sciences. Does the appearance of x
cause effect y? In a perfect relationship, the appearance of x would always cause the effect y
each and every time the relationship is seen.

FACTOR EFFECT
CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP
X Y

FLOWCHART 1: causal relationship

Probabilistic causality – a concept more applicable to the social sciences. Factor x is more
or less likely to cause effect y. Restated, x tends to cause y.

FACTOR EFFECT
CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP PROBABILITY CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP
` Y
X

SOME OTHER
FACTORS

FLOWCHART 2: probabilistic causality

Logical conditions of causal relationship

Necessity and sufficiency – these are the terms used to describe a condition in causal
relationship;

Necessary condition – this means that factor x must be present to produce the effect y. If x is
not present, y will not occur.

FACTOR X X MUST BE PRESENT FOR Y TO OCCUR EFFECT Y

Flowchart 4: Necessary condition

If there is effect y, it can be concluded that there is factor x which caused effect y.
Sufficient condition – each time x is present effect y will always occur but it does not mean
only x can produce effect y.

FACTOR X FACTOR X IS SUFFICIENT TO CAUSE EFFECT Y EFFECT Y

OTHER FACTORS

FLOWCHART 5: Sufficient condition

If there is factor x, it will cause effect y (as x is sufficient to cause effect y) but if there is
effect y it cannot be concluded that there is factor x because other factor may cause effect y.

The quality of a good and effective theory

for a theory to have the maximum effectiveness, it should;

1. Make sense (internal logical consistency)

Internal logical consistency – a theory needs to be presented in a logical manner and to have
clearly stated propositions that agree with or do not contradict one another. Does the theory
make logical or consistent sense?

2. Explain as much crime as possible (scope)

Scope – refers to how much or to how many types of crime or deviance the theory covers.

3. Be concise as possible (parsimony)

Parsimony – (occam’s razor also known as ockham’s razor or ocham’s razor. Latin:
novacula occami or law of parsimony latin: lex parsimoniae) this refers to how many
propositions, steps, or statements are involved. How simple is the theory?

“the simplest hypothesis proposed as an explanation of phenomena is more likely to be true

one than is any other available hypothesis,
That its predictions are more likely to be true than those of any other available hypothesis,
And that it is an ultimate a priori epistemic principle that simplicity is evidence for truth.”
-Richard Swinburne 1997 (british philosopher, emiritus professor of philosophy at the
university of oxford)
 4. True and correct (validity)

Empirical validity – this is the most important factor in evaluating a theory, and means that
the theory has been supported by research evidence. Validity refers to the degree to which the
theory accurately represents the true state of the world.

Some researchers require that theories be falsifiable; that is, theories that present predictions
that – if they prove to be incorrect – invalidate the theory. If the theory cannot be proven
false, it cannot be shown accurate either.

“when you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however
improbable, must be the truth.”

- Sherlock Holmes (the blanched soldier)

5. Real world applications and policy implications (practicality)

Practicality – refers to it’s;

Usefulness – a real-world application that the theory proposes or suggests, and the
ability to implement those applications.

Policy implication – “if the theory is empirically valid then what solutions are
suggested?”

Heuristic value – by presenting an explanatory model, the theory generates questions

or hypotheses that can be operationalized relatively easily. In practical terms, the success of a
theory may rest on how readily other researchers may continue to do fruitful work in reaction
or support.

Openness – a theory should not exist to the absolute exclusion of other theories.
Theory should not be a dogma: it should encourage and provide both for skepticism and
should – to whatever degree possible – be compatible with other accepted theory.

A theory is not true or false but rather better or worse at explaining the causes of a
particular event.

Two categories falling under criminological theories;

a. According to its purpose or explanation offered:

Theories of criminal and deviant behavior
-theories in this category attempt to explain why an individual commits criminal
or delinquent acts.

Theories of law and criminal justice

-theories in this category attempt to explain how laws are made, and how the
criminal justice system operates as a whole.
b. According to coverage:

A theory may explain crime for a large social unit or area – macro

Or it can attempt to explain crime at an individual or a smaller social unit level

– micro

c. According to Discipline:

Biological theories – emphasizes that criminal or deviant behavior can be traced

on the deformities or dysfunction of some parts of the physical body of the criminals.

Psychological theories – emphasizes that criminal or deviant behavior are

abnormalities in mental processes.

Sociological theories – emphasizes the role of the social environment to the

person’s criminal or deviant behavior.

“Whatever the classification of theory that may be used, there will be some kind of overlap,
shortcomings, and loose ends. No special case will be made here for the order in which the
various theories are presented. The focus here is not on how best to classify each theory but
rather on introducing what each theory proposes and on evaluating its validity – Akers,
1999”.

Demonology and the logical problem of evil

The history of society can be divided into three timelines namely; the theological era, the
enlightenment period and the scientific era. The demonology begins in the theological era
when the most powerful institutions are the churches and no one dares to speak against the
teachings of the church. Most people during that time are strong believers of supernatural
causes of phenomena may it be a natural or social phenomena.

Even in the causes of crime, people believes that crime was created by some evil beings
called demons and the criminals were actually possessed by these demons. Although there are
several versions of demonology, this is the summary of its concepts;

Demonology – this is the oldest theory in criminology

- Uses supernatural explanation in trying to understand social phenomenon (crime)

- Evil forces (demons) possesses the human thus forces him/her to do evil acts (crime)
- There are many ways to kill the demon and free the soul of the human (burn the
person alive, torture, and more other brutalities; which justifies the barbaric and
inhumane forms of punishment beyond human comprehension; believing in the
afterlife)
- Because of the belief in the existence of evil forces, it became unreasonable to
question the causes of crime
- This theory lacks the qualities of good theory for maximum effectiveness;
It cannot be tested in other word – tautological.
 This theory is unfalsifiable, it is purely ideological.
It lacks empirical validity/ it cannot be validated
(no research evidence neither measurable).

Logical problem of evil

The demonology suggests the existence of evil forces and the world as we know it, is full of
evil.

Many theist believes in a god that is omniscient (all-knowing/knows everything), omnipotent

(all-powerful/he can do everything) and omnibenevolent (all-good/he only seeks the well-
being of everybody) but this creates a contradiction (a set of beliefs that cannot be true at the
same time) because evil is bad regardless if it is a genocide, a simple killing or just stealing a
small amount of money.

If there is god that is all-knowing he should have known the evils before it can even exist, if
he is all-powerful then he can stop evil and if he is all-good then he would want to stop it but
he doesn’t, the evil continues.

Logical people should not hold any inconsistent belief so atheist argues that you should give
up something and that is god but some theist takes a different route, they chose to give up one
or more attributes of god.

Maybe god is not all-knowing – he doesn’t know that evil exist, maybe he is not all-powerful
– he couldn’t stop evil or maybe god is not all-good – he doesn’t care at all.

If this sounds weird to you then you may have heard about the old testament stories of god
that is jealous, having some anger issues and wiping out the entire population using water to
flood just because of some bad behaviors.

Despite all of the scriptural evidence there are still many theists who are committed to god’s
omni attributes and they are thus stucked with a problem.

They have to resolve the logical problem of evil, they should explain why god allowed evil
to exist into this world

If you try to do that, you are presenting of what is known as “theodicy”

Theodicy is an attempt to show that the existence of evil doesn’t mean there is no god.

And the most popular theodicy is called the “free will” as defense

This defense holds that; god maximized the goodness in the world by creating free beings.

And being free means that we have the choice to do evil things – a choice that some of us
exercise.
This theodicy says that god doesn’t create evil but evil can’t be avoided without depriving us
with our freedom and the world without freedom would be a worst place to live after all.

This view preserves god’s goodness because he created the best possible world it also
preserves his omnipotence and omniscience because even he does know about evil and could
stop it, he has a good reason not to – to ensure our freedom.

Additional information

Criminology
A multi-disciplinary independent branch or subset of social science which regards
crime as a social phenomenon. Criminology studies crime and criminal justice and
describes the societal response to crime, this scientific field involves the creation of
laws, the breaking of laws and the reaction of the society towards the breaking of
laws.

Criminal justice
it is essentially the application of criminology. An individual is said to be a criminal
justice practitioner if he or she is doing any job in any of the pillars of criminal justice
system such as working as a police officer or being a sheriff of court among others.

Criminological
an adjective used to describe something that is within the interest of the study of
criminology.
“criminological theory” a theory that offers an explanation within the core aims of
criminology – what is crime, why crime occurs and how to deal with crimes.

Ideology
A belief system and a set of core values or philosophy. In a pure sense, an ideology
states or explains how things should be, and a theory explains how things really are.
Theory
it is a set of assumptions, propositions, or accepted facts that attempts to provide a
plausible or rational explanation of cause-and-effect (causal) relationships among a
group of observed phenomenon. The word’s origin (from greek thorȯs, a spectator)
stresses the fact that all theories are mental models of perceived reality.

Testability

for a theory to be valid and ultimately useful, it must be able to be subjected to

scientific research. Theories may be untestable if they are tautological, propose cases
that are not measurable, or are so open-ended that empirical findings can always be
re-interpreted to support the theory.

“it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist
facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”

-sherlock holmes (a scandal in bohemia)

Tautology

circular reasoning. If a theory states that greed causes people to commit crime, and
then says we know jon is greedy because he committed a crime, it becomes
impossible to subject the theory to the scientific process. In this case, you would find
that greed has been defined as someone who commits criminal acts. The circle of
reasoning never stops.
 See if you can do this

Write a theory paper based on the essay you have written in your activity, in writing a theory
paper you should consider the following;
1. Factors/variables or concepts that you think are necessary or sufficient in producing the crime
with the corresponding operational definitions (definition based on how you think the
concepts are or how you used it in your paper).
2. Flowchart of the relationship of your variables.
3. Examples and references that supports your ideas.
4. Ask a friend or somebody you know that could help you with checking your grammar.
5. The cover page of your theory paper should include the title of your theory, your complete
name and the instructor or professor’s complete name.
6. after completing your theory paper, send it to your classmate whenever possible, and they
will rate your theory paper in this rubric:

1 2 3 4 5
(excellent) (very good) (good) (fair) (need improvements)
1 Excellent grammar, Very good grammar, good grammar, fair grammar, not bad grammar, not clear
Grammar, clear and concise clear sentence concise sentence concise sentence and not concise
sentence sentence structure structure and correct structure and structure and sentence structure and
structure and and correct punctuations some errors in some errors in several errors in
punctuation punctuations punctuations punctuations punctuations
2 Well-organized Well-organized Still A little confusing, Cannot be understood,
(thought thought with thought without understandable the thought The thought should be
organization flowchart and flowchart and but The thought should be reorganized and no
and arguments are arguments are backed should be reorganized and arguments presented
arguments backed up with up with news articles reorganized and arguments are not
presentation) research-based or personal arguments are having any
evidences experiences backed few backed up or
examples support or
reference.
3 Flowchart The flowchart There is a well-made There is There is a No flowchart
of concepts presented a clear flowchart with good flowchart but flowchart but
view of the entire representation of failed to include irrelevant or
explanation of the concept relationship some concepts confusing
phenomenon trying but does not give the mentioned in the
to explain entire explanation of article
the phenomenon
trying to explain
4 format The format is The format has a The format has a The format has a The format has no
professionally simple design, with a simple design, simple design, design
designed, with a uniform and reader- with a uniform with a uniform And font style and
uniform and reader- friendly font style but a difficult to but a unreadable sizes varies which
friendly font style and size in read font style font style and size makes the article
and size in paragraphs and topic and size in in paragraphs and unreadable.
paragraphs and title paragraphs and topic title
topic title topic title