Brief Introduction and

Preliminary Concepts in
Theories on Crime
Causation

Vinz Reginald O. Pangilinan, R. Crim
4th Placer, December 2017 C.L.E
 Introduction

There is no one ‘cause’ of crime. Crime is a highly complex
phenomenon that changes across cultures and across time.
Activities that are legal in one country (e.g. alcohol consumption
in the UK) are sometimes illegal in others (e.g. strict Muslim
countries). As cultures change over time, behaviours that once
were not criminalised may become criminalised (and then
decriminalised again – e.g. alcohol prohibition in the USA). As a
result, there is no simple answer to the question ‘what is crime?’
and therefore no single answer to ‘what causes crime?’ Different
types of crime often have their own distinct causes
 Crime

In as much as the definition of crime is
concerned, many fields of study like law,
sociology and psychology have their emphasis on
what crime is.
An act or omission in violation of a criminal law
forbidding or commanding it.
An anti-social act, an act that is injurious,
detrimental or harmful to the norms of the
society; they are unacceptable acts.
 Crime is also a generic name
that refers to:

Felony – an act or omission punishable by law
which is committed by means of dolo (deceit)
or culpa (fault)and punishable under the
Revised Penal Code
Offense – an act or omission in violation of a
special penal law
Infraction/Misdemeanor – an act or omission
in violation of a city or municipal ordinance
Triangle of Crime

 Crime in General

An Act omitted or committed in violation
of public law, forbidding or commanding
it.
 a social problem,
 a political problem,
 a spiritual problem, and
 an economic problem
 
MOTIVE - refers to the reason or cause (inner
force or drive) for a person or group of persons
to perpetuate a crime, i.e., dispute, economic
gain, jealousy, etc.
INSTRUMENTALITY - the means used in the
commission of the crime, i.e. firearm, bolo, ice-
pick, poison or obnoxious substance, etc.. Both
the motive and the instrumentality belong to
and are harbored and wielded respectively by
the criminal.
 
OPPORTUNITY - it refers to the chance or
favorable occasion for a person or group of
person to commit a crime. i.e., leaving one’s
home or car unattended for a long time, walking
all alone in a crime prone area, readily admitting
a stranger into one’s residence, etc. Further,
opportunity is synonymous with carelessness,
acts of indiscretion, and lack of crime
prevention-consciousness on the part of the
victim.
 BREEDING GROUNDS OF
CRIME

Influencing and interacting with these three
ingredients of crime is the
ENVIRONMENT. It encompasses the entire
society and its milieu. For purposes of crime
prevention and control, the relevant factors
or elements in the environment that impinge
on crime could be classified into exogenous
and indigenous variables.
 
 POVERTY - characterized by: widespread unemployment,
underemployment, low income and productivity,
malnutrition, big families and rapid population growth
rates, low standard of living, etc.
 IGNORANCE - widespread among people who lack
knowledge and understanding about things that should be
known by each citizen. For criminals, particularly first time
offenders readily perpetrated crimes based on mistaken
notion and false belief. While many become victims
because they are not aware of the modus operandi of crime
syndicates and are not crime prevention-conscious.
 
 INJUSTICES/ABUSES - These serve to spawn and
breed more crime to happen as aftermath thereof.
These constitute the powerful motives for most of the
crime against persons perpetrated either by the victims
or their loved ones as cases of revenge or vendetta.
 SOFT STATE - This pertains to the system of
governance characterized by: non-enforcement of
several laws and ordinances; massive graft and
corruption; absenteeism on the part of government
officers and officials; lack of basic services and other
ugly symptoms.
 
 FEAR - various surveys show that 50% of the people are afraid,
not only while they are on the streets, but also right inside their
homes. Illustrative examples include victims of kidnap-for-
ransom easily give in to the demands of the abductors, including
that of not reporting to the police; victims of crime and their
witnesses are easily threatened to keep silent; even when not
actually threatened many refuse to cooperate with the police.
 LOST FAMILY VALUES - effects of the Western culture are deep-
seated in-roads into the Philippine society through modern
communications, such as respect for and being obedient to parents
are being replaced with disrespect and disobedience. Lost of
family values also resulted into many broken families and
weakened the moral fiber of many Filipinos.
General Approaches in
Crime Causation

 Subjective Approach

 It deals mainly on the biological
explanation of crimes, focused on the
forms of abnormalities that exist in
the individual criminal before, during
and after the commission of the crime
(Tradio, 1999)
Different Typologies in
Subjective Approaches

 Anthropological
Approach

The study on the physical
characteristics of an individual
offender with non-offenders in the
attempt to discover differences
covering criminal behavior
 Related Criminological
Theories to
Anthropological Approach

 Physiognomy

The study of facial
features and their relation
to human behavior.
Proponents of
Physiognomy

 Giambiattista dela Porta

 Founder of human physiognomy
 According to him criminal
behavior may be predicted based
on facial features of the person.
 Johann Kaspar Lavater

Supported the belief of dela
Porta
He believed that a person’s
character is revealed through
his facial characteristics.
 Phrenology, Craniology
or Cranioscopy

 The study of the external
formation of the skull in relation to
the person’s personality and
tendencies toward criminal
behavior.
 Proponents of
Phrenology, Craniology
or Cranioscopy

 Franz Joseph Gall

He developed Cranioscopy
 Johann Kaspar
Spurzheim

Assistant of Gall in the study of
phrenology.
He was the man most responsible for
popularizing and spreading
phrenology to a wide audience
 Medical Approach

The application of medical
examinations on the individual
criminal, explain the mental and
physical condition of the individual
prior and after the commission of the
crime
 Biological Approach

 The evaluation of genetic
influences to criminal behavior. It
is noted that heredity is one force
pushing the criminal to commit a
crime
Related Theories in
Biological Approach

 Heredity

The transmission of traits
from parents to offspring.
 Richard Louis Dugdale

Conducted a study of the Jukes
family by researching their
family tree as far back 200 years.
He discovered that most of the
ascendants of the Jukes were
criminals.
 Henry Goddard

He traced the descendants of the
Martin Kallikak from each of his
two wives and found a distinct
difference in terms of quality of
lives of descendants. He coined the
term “moron”.
Physiological Approach

The study on the nature of human
being concerning his physical needs in
order to satisfy his wants. It explains
that the deprivation of the physical
body on the basic needs is an important
determinant in the commission of the
crime.
 Biological Needs

Food
Water
Air
Rest
Sex
Avoidance of Pain
Stimulus Seeking Curiosity
Psychological Approach

It is concerned about the
deprivation of the psychological
needs of man which constitute the
development of deviations of
normal behavior resulting to
unpleasant emotions
 Psychiatric Approach

The explanation of crime
through diagnosis of mental
diseases as a cause of
criminal behavior
 Psycho-analytical
approach

The explanation of crimes
based on Freudan Theory,
which traces behavior as the
deviation of the repression of
the basic drives.
Objective Approaches

 Objective Approaches

 The objective approaches deal on
the study of groups, social
processes and institutions as
influences to behavior. They are
primarily derived from social
sciences.
 Geographic Approach

This approach considers
topography, natural resources,
geographical location and
climate lead to commit crime.
 Cartographic School of
Criminology

 This advanced premise in criminology relies on statistics
which provides important demographic information on
population including density, gender, religious affiliation
and economic standing. Developed in Europe in the early
19th Century, this view the relationship between crime and
social phenomena as a focal point and basis in probing
criminology
 This theory also postulates that crimes against persons is
on the high time during summer while crimes against
property increase during cold or winter season.
 Ecological Approach

It is concerned with the biotic
group of men resulting to
migration, competition, social
discrimination, division of labor
and social conflict as factors of
crime.
 Economic Approach

It deals with the explanation of
crime concerning financial
security of inadequacy and
other necessities to support life
to criminality.
 Socio-Cultural
Approach

Those that focus on
institutions, economic,
financial, education and
religious influences to crime.
 Contemporary
Approaches

Modern days put emphasis on scientific
modes of explaining crime and criminal
behavior. This approach is focused on the
psychoanalytical, psychiatric and
sociological explanations of crime in an
integrated theory- an explanatory
perspective that merges concepts drawn
from different sources.
 Alien Conspiracy Theory

 The alien conspiracy theory states that ethnicity and
'outsider' status (immigrants, or those not within the
dominant ethnocentric groups) and their influences are
thought to dictate the prevalence of organized crime in
society.
 The alien theory posits that the contemporary structures
of organized crime gained prominence during the 1860s in
Sicily and that elements of the Sicilian population are
responsible for the foundation of most European and
North American organized crime, made up of Italian-
dominated crime families
Deterrence Theory

Enterprise Theory
