Foundational Concepts in Criminology and Theory

Posted on Feb 6, 2026 in Psychology and Sociology

Determining the Value of a Theory

  • Logic
  • Utility
  • Testability
  • Empirical Validity
  • Parsimony

Assumptions of Deterrence Theory

Severity, Certainty, and Swiftness (Celerity) lead to greater control over criminal behavior.

Three Principles of Deterrence Theory

  • Severity: Degree of punishment.
  • Certainty: Assurance and consistency of punishment.
  • Celerity (Swiftness): Speed of punishment.

Alternative Explanations for Assessing Deterrent Effects

  • Backlash: Committing more crime.
  • Crime Displacement: Shifts in the time, place, or form of crime.

Factors Explaining Variation in Deterrent Effects

Varies by character, including personality, demographics, and stakes (what one has to lose).

Contingent Motivation

Behavior driven by not wanting to get in trouble.

Interactive Motivation

Behavior driven by not wanting to disappoint others.

Crime Triangle (Routine Activities Theory)

  • Likely Offender
  • Suitable Target
  • Absence of Capable Guardian

Elements of Positivist Theories

  1. Empiricism: Knowledge can only be gained by observation and experience.
  2. Determinism: Individual differences are rooted in factors beyond the control of the individual.

Positivism vs. Rational Choice Theory

  • Positivism: Calls for treatment; focuses on the criminal.
  • Rational Choice: Calls for punishment; focuses on the crime.

Positivistic Criminal Justice Policies

  • Corrections
  • Indeterminate Sentencing
  • Community Correction

Lombroso’s Findings from The Female Offender

Female offenders possess more degenerative characteristics. The comparison was often made between criminal women and non-criminal women.

Buck v. Bell (1927)

This Supreme Court case upheld the constitutionality of forced sterilization laws.

Four Biosocial Theoretical Models

  1. Additive: Biological and sociological risk factors combine to increase the likelihood of engaging in crime.
  2. Correlated: Biological risk factors are indirectly related to criminal behavior (CB) through their interactions with the social environment.
  3. Sequential: The environment influences biological functioning.
  4. Multiplicative: Individuals are exponentially likely to engage in crime when they possess both biological and sociological risk factors.

Concordance

Durkheim’s Four Types of Suicide

  1. Egoistic: Lack of integration; no strong group values or goals.
  2. Altruistic: Excessive integration (e.g., cult members, self-sacrifice).
  3. Fatalistic: Excessive regulation (e.g., oppressive living conditions, prisoners).
  4. Anomic: Lack of regulation (normlessness), often caused by rapid social change, natural disaster, or job loss.

Durkheim and Merton on Anomie

Merton argued that social conditions affect individuals differently, focusing on the strain between cultural goals and legitimate means, whereas Durkheim focused on the breakdown of social regulation.

Merton’s Five Modes of Adaptation

  1. Conformity: Accepts both the cultural goals and the legitimate means to achieve them.
  2. Innovation: Accepts the cultural goals but rejects the legitimate means to achieve them.
  3. Ritualism: Abandons or scales back the pursuit of societal success and focuses on strictly adhering to the means.
  4. Retreatism: Rejects both the cultural goals and the approved means to achieve them.
  5. Rebellion: Seeks to replace the existing social order with alternative values and goals.

Differential Opportunity Theory

When individuals lack legitimate ways to be successful, they may turn to crime, provided that illegitimate opportunity structures are available.

General Strain Theory (GST)

GST posits that people respond to strain in different ways. Strain arises from three main sources:

  • Failure to achieve positively valued goals.
  • Removal of positively valued stimuli (factors).
  • Presence of negative stimuli (factors).

Objective vs. Subjective Strain

  • Objective Strain: Events or conditions that are disliked by most members of a group.
  • Subjective Strain: Events or conditions disliked specifically by the people experiencing them.

Concentric Zone Theory

The area most associated with crime and social disorganization is the Transitional Zone (Zone II).

Characteristics of Social Disorganization

  • Poverty
  • Residential Mobility/Instability
  • Racial and Ethnic Heterogeneity

Factors Constituting a Socially Organized Community

  • Solidarity
  • Cohesion
  • Integration

Steidley, Ramey, and Shrider (2017) Main Finding

This research focused on the intersection of Routine Activities Theory and Social Disorganization Theory.

Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory

Criminal behavior is learned through interactions with others by adopting values, motives, and techniques favorable to criminal behavior.

Related Concepts

  • Laws of Imitation
  • Symbolic Interactionism
  • Social Ecology
  • White-Collar Crime

Key Principles of Differential Association Theory

Two highlighted principles:

  1. People learn the techniques of committing crime and the mindset favorable to criminal behavior.
  2. Differential associations can vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity.

Dimensions of Association

  • Frequency: How often someone is exposed.
  • Duration: Length of each exposure.
  • Priority: The time in life when associations are initiated (earlier is stronger).
  • Intensity: Level of identification with associations.

Differential Association and Social Learning Theory

Differential Reinforcement

The actual or anticipated consequences of engaging in certain behavior. This can involve rewards or punishments. Behaviors are often mimicked based on these reinforcements.

Types of Culture Conflict

  • Primary Conflict: A clash between fundamental cultural beliefs (e.g., two different societies meeting).
  • Secondary Conflict: A clash between the dominant culture and its subcultures (e.g., within a single society).

Code of the Street

A set of informal social norms and rules created in disadvantaged urban areas, often governing public behavior and respect.

Components of Focal Concerns Theory

  1. Trouble
  2. Toughness
  3. Smartness
  4. Excitement
  5. Fate
  6. Autonomy

Techniques of Neutralization

  1. Denial of Responsibility: Claiming the act was an accident or due to forces beyond control.
  2. Denial of Injury: Claiming no one was harmed.
  3. Denial of the Victim: Claiming the victim deserved the harm.
  4. Condemnation of the Condemners: Denouncing those who enforce the law or pass judgment.
  5. Appeal to Higher Loyalties: Committing the act for the benefit of a loved one or a smaller group.

Hirschi’s Four Components of Social Bond Theory

  1. Attachment
  2. Commitment
  3. Involvement
  4. Belief

Low Self-Control (General Theory of Crime)

Low self-control is considered the primary cause of all crime and analogous behaviors. Self-control is generally established (or fixed) early in childhood, often by age eight.

Characteristics of Low Self-Control

  • Impulsiveness
  • Preference for Simple Tasks
  • Risk Seeking
  • Physicality (rather than verbal skills)
  • Self-Centeredness
  • Volatile Temper