THEORIES OF CRIME AND DELINQUENCY

Theories of Crime and Delinquency

Theories of Crime and Delinquency

Introduction

The systematic research and study of the characteristics, reasons, limitations of the behavior of a criminal nature existing in the individuals as well as a society on the whole is known by the term Criminology. The scope of the study of criminology extends from the different forms, reasons and their effects to the law and social bindings in a society.

The financially motivated, non-violent, economic crime, which is committed for ill-legal monetary gain is defined as “White-collar crime”. In 1939, clerical crime was initially explained by Edwin Sutherland as “the crime a person commits despite being of an upper class and having great respect in the duration of his profession”. He believes that people learned the criminal behavior from interpersonal interaction with others. Therefore, White-collar crime overlaps with business crime as the chance for bribery, computer crime, fraud, insider trading; embezzlement, copyright infringement, forgery, money laundering, and identity theft are more accessible to salaried workers.

Discussion

Theories on White-Collar Crime

To know and understand how to manage and avoid the crime being committed it is crucial to know and understand why people commit a crime in the first place. The job of a criminologist is to find out the best workable solution to prevent crime from happening as well as understanding the level and type of the crime that has been committed. The different theories of the crime are: Rational choice theory, which says that often enough the crime is committed by the individual for his personal gains, after reviewing the potential threats that, may participate in the matter (Bursik .et.al, 1988). Another theory of crime is the theory of Social disorganization. The theory explains that the choices an individual makes our largely depended on the social and physical environment in which an individual is living. Strain theory is another criminology theory that suggests; in general everyone in society has the same ideals, however, when people are unable to achieve them despite sincere efforts. They might attempt to gain success through un-lawful means. One of the fascinating theories is the social learning theory that says that people get their motivation and skills for the crimes through the individuals they come into contact with. A very popular theory is the Labeling theory, where once a person is labeled as a criminal; he lost all the opportunities and freedom to survive which ...