PSY 226
THE SOCIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVES OF CRIME
EKWOABA, D
A)WHY PEOPLE COMMIT CRIME
The crime rate globally is quite amazing and keeps growing by the day. Despite efforts
by the security forces to curb crime, it keeps increasing at alarming rate.
Throughout history people have tried to explain why a person would commit
crimes.
• Some of the factors attributed to being reasons for crime include:
• Poverty
• Criminal tendencies of some individuals.
• Lawlessness/environmental instability.
• Poor administration of justice
• Greed
• Weak law enforcement agencies.
• Unemployment
• Poor socialization
• Substance Abuse
B) SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF CRIME
• Sociologists view crime as deviant behavior that
violates prevailing norms or cultural standards.
The sociological study of crime and delinquency
has focused either on the social structural factors
(e.g., poverty and social disorganization)
believed to generate such behavior or on the
arenas (e.g., family, school, and peer groups) in
which socialization to conventional or criminal
values and behavior are affected.
SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF CRIME
Theory Summary
Functionalists believe that crime is best analyzed by looking at
Functionalist society as a whole and that we should not look at the individual
Perspective person, and that the way society is structured explains the cause of
crime. They believe that crime has a function in society and that
we need it. They think that the existence of crime brings other
parts of society together because, we come together to stop crime.
This therefore helps to promote shared values and social order.
Theorists who follow this perspective are Durkheim and Albert
Cohen.
Explains crime in terms of the subculture of certain social groups.
Subcultural Deviance is the result of individuals suffering ‘status frustration’
Theory and conforming to the values and norms of a subculture which
rewards them for being deviant. Focuses on crimes of the working
class
SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF CRIME
Theory Summary
Crime and deviance occur in times of anomie when there is a ‘strain’
Merton’s between society’s socially approved ‘success goals’ and the
Strain opportunities available to achieve these goals. Crime occurs when
Theory individuals still want to achieve the success goals of society but
abandon the socially approved means of obtaining those goals.
Explain crime in terms of Capitalism and the class structure – The
Traditional Ruling classes make the law to benefit them, the law protects private
Marxism property. Ruling and Middle class crime is more harmful than working
class crime but ruling classes are less likely to get caught and punished
for crime. Even when caught they have the means to hire high profile
lawyers to escape punishment.
c) Psychological perspective
• Rather than focus on the biological basis of
crime, psychologists focus on how mental
processes impact individual propensities for
violence. Psychologists are often interested in
the association between learning, intelligence,
and personality and aggressive behaviour.
Psychological perspective
Theory Summary
The psychoanalyst who is perhaps most closely associated with the study of
The criminality is August Aichorn. He felt that exposure to stressful social
Psychodynamic environments did not automatically produce crime or violence. However,
Perspective stress only produce crime in those who had a particular mental state known
as latent delinquency. Latent delinquency results from inadequate
childhood socialization and manifests itself in the need for immediate
gratification (impulsivity), a lack of empathy for others, and the inability to
feel guilt.
Behaviour theory maintains that all human behaviour – including violent
Behavioural behaviour – is learned through interaction with the social environment.
Theories Behavioural theory holds that actions are determined largely by life
experiences. These experiences might include observing friends or family
being rewarded for violent behaviour, or even observing the glorification of
violence in the media. Studies have also found that people who live in
violent communities learn to model the aggressive behaviour of their
neighbours.
Psychological perspective
Theory Summary
Kohlberg (1969) applied the concept of moral development to the study of criminal
Cognitive behaviour. He argued that all people travel through six different stages of moral
Development development. At the first stage, people only obey the law because they are afraid of
punishment. By the sixth stage, however, people obey the law because it is an assumed
obligation and because they believe in the universal principles of justice, equity, and
respect for others. Violent youths were significantly lower in their moral development
than non-violent youths. People who obey the law simply to avoid punishment (i.e., out
of self-interest) are more likely to commit acts of violence than are people who recognize
and sympathize with the fundamental rights of others. Higher levels of moral reasoning,
on the other hand, are associated with acts of altruism, generosity and non-violence
The psychological concept of “personality” has been defined as stable patterns of
Personality behaviour, thoughts or actions that distinguish one person from another. Researchers
identified a number of personality traits associated with violence, including self-
assertiveness, defiance, extroversion, narcissism and suspicion. More recently,
researchers have linked violent behaviours to traits such as hostility, egoism, self-
centredness, spitefulness, jealousy, and indifference to or lack of empathy for others.
Criminals have also been found to lack ambition and perseverance, to have difficulty
controlling their tempers and other impulses, and to be more likely than conventional
people are to hold unconventional beliefs.
d) Social context of crime
• Criminologists have a long-standing interest in the relationship between
community characteristics and crime. Much of this research has focused
on how the social processes at work within neighborhoods influence
aggregate rates of crime and delinquency. It investigates how exposure
to different environments influences human development and action.
Social context includes any social aspects of the location in which a crime
occurs. Therefore, a complete explanation for crime must examine both
the decision to engage in crime by an offender and the everyday actions
of ordinary citizens that increase vulnerability to criminals.
• The integration of these approaches yields testable models that have
greater predictive power than could be obtained by looking only at
models of offenders or models of victim behavior. A more general
perspective that accounts for both the decision to engage in crime and
the selection of particular crime targets is developed and tested.
Types of Murder
Homicide: When someone takes the life of another, regardless of intent or other
details surrounding the incident, it is called a homicide. Homicide is not always a
crime, such as in cases of self-defense or the state-sanctioned execution of
certain convicted criminals.
First Degree Murder: The highest level of criminal homicide typically reserved for
willful and premeditated killings.
Second Degree Murder: Most often voluntary but without premeditation. Intentional
murder, but impulsive and not planned. Reacts to serious provocation.
Manslaughter: Manslaughter is typically treated as a much less severe crime than
murder. It is illegal killing that falls short of murder. The lowest form of
manslaughter is involuntary manslaughter. This means that the perpetrator did
not intend to kill anyone, but still killed the victim through behavior that was
either criminally negligent or reckless.
Legal Homicides: Some homicides are not illegal. Criminal laws carve out exceptions
for some killings which would otherwise fall under criminal laws against
manslaughter or murder. These are referred to as "justified homicide". One
primary example is a killing in justified self-defense or defense of someone else.
