THEORIES OF
CRIME CAUSATION
Sto. Niño College of
Ormoc, Inc.
First Semester, SY 2024-
2025
The field of criminology
systematically studies
the causes of crime.
Explanations for crime
are not simple.
The causes of crime is a
complex as the society.
According to Edwin
H. Sutherland :
Criminology is a body of
knowledge regarding crime as
a social phenomenon. It includes
within its scope the processes of
making laws, of breaking of laws,
and of reaction toward the
breaking of laws.
Theoretical explanations of the causes of
crime contribute to:
1. Understanding of criminal behavior,
2. Provide important framework for
examining current policies, and
3. Present treatment efforts to deal with
or alleviate the crime problem.
What is crime?
CRIME – an act or omission
punishable by law.
- it is also called “felonies”
Nullum Crimen, Nulla Poena
Sine Lege
“there is no crime if there is no
penal law punishing it”
Nullum Crimen, Nulla Poena
Sine Lege
Sources of Criminal Law
1. Revised Penal Code
Example: Physical Injuries,
Homicide, Murder, Alarms and
Scandal, Treason, Rape
2. Special Penal Laws (thru Republic Act,
Presidential Decree, Batas Pambansa)
Example: Violation of RA 7610,
Violation of RA 9262, Violation of RA
9165
Crime Against Persons
They are classified into three general
categories:
1. Destruction of Life
a. Murder
b. Homicide
2. Physical Injuries
a. Mutilation
b. Serious
c. Less Serious
d. Slight
3. Rape
Crime Against Property
1. Robbery:
a). With Violence or Intimidation Against
Persons ( Hold-up)
b). With Fore Upon Things ( Break-In)
2. Theft
a). Simple
b). Qualified
3.Estafa
4. Malicious Mischief
5. Arson
Theory means:
- Any system of ideas arranged in
rational order that produce general
principles which increase our
understanding and explanations.
- Derived from, and representative,
of particular facts, but are not
dependent upon the particular thing.
13
Theories of the causes of crimes are
the foundation of criminology and of
the criminal justice.
14
The CRIME TRIANGLE: a theory of
crime problems, a.k.a. Routine
Activity Theory
15
16
Routine Activity Theory provides that
in the absence of effective controls,
offenders will prey upon attractive
targets.
To have a crime, a motivated offender
must come in the same place with the
attractive target.
17
For property crime, what is the
target?
18
19
For crime against person, what is the
target?
20
21
There are controllers whose
presence can prevent crime.
If controllers are absent, or present
by weak, crime is possible.
22
Influential people in the lives of
offenders, known as handlers:
1.Parents
2.Siblings
3.Relatives
4.Peers
5.Teachers and coaches
6.Close friends
7.Masterminds
24
Influential people in the lives of target,
known as guardians:
1.Parents
2.Siblings
3.Relatives
4.Teachers and coaches
5.Formal guardian such as security
guards, police officer, property custodian,
etc.
25
Places:
1.Home
2.School
3.Office
4.Roads/Streets
5.Public Plaza
6.Mall
7.Church
8.Etc.
26
Tools:
1.Knife
2.Gun
3.IED
4.Screwdriver
5.Spray paints
6.Cars
7.Cellphone
8.Etc.
27
The presence of attractive targets, weak
handlers, ineffective guardianship, and
indifferent management are not
randomly distributed across places.
28
Offenders do not wander aimlessly
across the landscape. Like everyone
else, offenders have routine behaviors
that take them away from handlers and
lead them to discover places with
attractive targets.
29
Potential victims too follow routines that
separate them from effective guardians
to the place with weak management.
30
The Routine Activity Theory suggests
of the spatial ordering of crime
opportunities with the routines of the
offenders and the victims.
31
Criminal Behavior
32
Three Broad Theoretical Models of
Criminal Behavior:
1. Psychological
2. Sociological
3. Biological
But these cannot be separated because
all these three factors play a role in the
expression of behavior. Each of them
has some specific control policies.
33
Psychological Approaches
- different models were adopted as
early as the work of Sigmund Freud
- fundamental assumptions of
psychological theories of criminality and
human behavior in general
34
Six principles to establish psychological
explanations of criminal behavior:
1. The individual is the primary unit of
analysis in psychological theories.
2. Personality is the major motivational
element that drives behavior within
individuals.
3. Crimes then would result from
abnormal, dysfunctional, or
inappropriate mental processes
within the personality of an individual.
35
Six principles to establish psychological
explanations of criminal behavior:
4. Normality is defined by social
consensus.
5. Criminal behavior may be
purposeful for the individual
insofar as it addresses certain felt
needs.
6. Defective, or abnormal, mental
processes may have a variety of
causes. 36
With the six principles to establish
psychological explanations of criminal
behavior, we can suggest first that
traditional imprisonment, fines and other
court sanctions are based on operant
learning models of behavior for crime
control.
37
Operant Conditioning is a type of
learning where behavior is controlled by
consequence, either by:
1. Punishment
2. Reinforcement
Popularized by B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) –
the operant conditioning chamber or Skinner
Box
38
However, Skinner himself recognized
that punishment was generally
ineffective in behavior modification and
that reinforcement worked better.
39
But it is important to understand that
punishment is effective if it is applied
properly, but unfortunately it is rarely
applied properly. Punishment must be
applied immediately, inescapable and
sufficiently unpleasant.
40
But harsh forms of punishment has not
significantly reduced recidivism rate, so
other psychological principles were
applied such as rehabilitation, relearning,
retraining or educational programs.
41
Other psychological methods used such
as maintaining a visible presence of law
enforcement and other methods to
maintain self-awareness in tempting
situation.
42
Criminal profiling are based heavily on
psychological principles and represent
an effort to either apprehend criminals or
to identify persons at risk for certain
behavior.
43
According to psychologists, the best
predictor of future behavior is the
individual’s past behavior. So policies
that are specifically designed to deal with
repeat offenders are also based on
psychological principles of criminality.
44
Thus, methods of crime control policies
based on psychological principles target
the individual and attempt to reform or
prevent criminal behavior from that
perspective.
45
Any policies requiring therapeutic
intervention, retraining, or education
are psychological in nature. Any policy
designed at preventing crime by
targeting individuals such as raising
consciousness, promoting self-
awareness, or identifying individuals
at risk are also psychological.
46
Again:
Psychologist have long recognized that
the best predictor of future behavior is
the individual’s past behavior.
47
Sociological approaches
Sociological and psychological
principles of criminality are intertwined
and technically not independent. As
with psychological theories, there are
numerous sociological formulations
of the cause and control of criminality.
48
Sociological notions of criminality are
viewed as attempting to connect the
issues of the individual’s criminality with
broader social structures and cultural
values of society, familial, or peer group.
They are viewed from social
interactions in the cultural and
historical developments, including the
view of social construction of criminality
and its social causes. 49
Traditional sociological theories
proposed that crimes was a result of
“anomie” which means social
instability from a breakdown of
standards and values.
According to Emile Durkheim, the
term means “normlessness” or a
feeling of lack of social norms, lack of
being connected to society.
50
Emile Durkheim, French sociologist
1858-1917, said that criminality results
from the failure to properly socialize
individuals and by unequal opportunities
between groups. He believed that
crime was inescapable fact of society
and advocated maintaining crime within
reasonable boundaries.
51
A feature of sociological theories is
that society “constructs” criminality.
Crimes are harmful but there are
crimes which do not result in harm,
called “victimless” crimes.
Recommendation:
1. Decriminalization
2. Reduction of penalties according
to the severity of the effect to the
society. 52
An important sociological control :
Increase legitimate opportunities
for advancement and obtainment of
goods and wealth.
This means equal opportunities
to all individuals.
53
Other related sociological controls
for crime:
- organizing and empowering
neighborhood residents with projects
like crime watches,
- providing law-abiding
models, - support to parents
- stronger and harsher
penalties for serious crimes
- appropriate law enforcement
and functional justice system. 54
Biological Approaches
Biological theories of criminality
basically purport that criminal
behavior is the result of some flaw in
the biological makeup of the
individual . This flaw could be due to:
1. Heredity
2. Neurotransmitter dysfunction
3. Brain abnormalities (caused either
by above), improper development
or trauma 55
Brain surgery was used to control
criminal behavior.
It is used to treat wide range of brain
problems from depression to
schizophrenia.
Depression – serious medical illness
that negatively affects how a person
feels, think and act. It causes feelings
of sadness and loss of interest in
activities once enjoyed. 56
Schizophrenia – a mental disorder
characterized by abnormal behavior,
strange speech, and a decreased
ability to understand reality. Other
symptoms may include false beliefs,
unclear or confused thinking, hearing
voices that do not exist, reduced
social engagement and emotional
expression, and lack of motivation.
57
58
Psychosurgery – brain surgery
Lobotomy- a neurosurgical treatment
of mental disorder that involves
severing connections in the brains
prefrontal cortex. It is an invasive
physical therapy.
Other therapies are insulin shock
therapy, deep sleep therapy,
electroconvulsive therapy,
59
Other biological methods
Deep brain stimulation – for some
disorders such as Parkinson’s
disease
Administration of proper diet
Modification of genetic combination
60
Some biological techniques in
controlling crimes are proven
effective but it comes with a price.
More likely, biological criminal
behavior only manifests or being
discovered after the commission of
the crime, which damage has already
been done.
Biological theorists also endorse
stricter penalties and better law
enforcement techniques for crime 61
control.
