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Criminological Theories UNIT III Essay

Criminological theories play a crucial role in criminology with its attempt to explain the inexplicable as well as examining the cruelty, oppression or the evil some visit on others. Criminology is the study of the process of law-making, law-breaking, and law enforcing. Criminology forms the starting point of the classification of criminological theories. The theory is responsible for addressing the first and the third part of the law process that includes the making and the enforcement of the law (Akers, 2013). Criminological theories are important because it helps in accounting for the reasons of the existence of the laws and reasons why the criminal justice system operates the way it does. There is also the explaining of law-breaking where it accounts for the criminal and the delinquent behaviors as well as extending to the explanation of the deviant behaviors violating social norms.

An example is the rational choice theory that has central points including human beings as the rational actor, the rationality that involves an end, people choosing all behavior that can either be conforming or deviant, and the central element of calculations involving a cost-benefit analysis (Wortley & Sidebottom, 2017). In the rational choice theory, the perception of behaviors that violate the law can be as an event occurring when an individual takes risk to violate the law after the consideration of the situation and the situational factors. There is also the deterrence theory that has its central hypotheses as that of crime can be prevented upon the certainty of the punishment as certain, severe, and quick. The applicability of the theory is in practice and policy (Eassey & Boman IV, 2015). Both theories are useful in explaining delinquency and deterrence of a crime. The deterrence theory, for example, can help juveniles in avoiding or preventing a crime upon learning of the punishment.

References

Akers, R. L. (2013). Criminological theories: Introduction and evaluation. Routledge.

Eassey, J. M., & Boman IV, J. H. (2015). Deterrence Theory. The Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment, 1-6.

Wortley, R., & Sidebottom, A. (2017). Deterrence and Rational Choice Theory. The Encyclopedia of Juvenile Delinquency and Justice, 1-6.