- Published: November 14, 2021
- Updated: November 14, 2021
- University / College: The University of Georgia
- Language: English
- Downloads: 8
Explaining Criminal BehaviorMany of us may be wondering why so many people devote their time and energies in coming up with ways to hurt and steal from one of their own. Psychologists, sociologists, and police men have come up with reasons to explain why crimes exist. I, myself, made four hypotheses that could possibly explain why people of various backgrounds commit crime. The first and second reasons establish that people’s affinity for crime is caused by their social background. People become criminals because of the kind of (1) family and (2) neighborhood they grew up in.
The first postulate of Sutherland’s Differential Association theory states that criminal behavior is learned. Delinquency is not innate to any person; it is not gained through genes. For people to perform crimes, they must have learned how to commit crimes through the people they come in contact with.
Criminals may not have been explicitly directed to commit crimes. However, they can be influenced by what they see from their family and close contacts. Differential Association theory’s second and third postulates support this as they state that criminal behavior is a learned behavior done through interactions and within intimate personal groups. The third and fourth reasons are more individual-based, as I consider one’s need for attention and fulfillment of addictions as reasons to commit crimes. People get attention when they are successful, and for many, success is measured by monetary gains. According to Merton’s Theory of Anomie, the means of landing success is ambiguous; no formal rules on achieving success have been drafted. Thus, people have latched on to innovative yet deviant means of making their fortune.
There are also some people who condone and even celebrate the fact that success was done the easy way. Some minority groups also relish outsmarting and getting back at the social majority. In fact, Hirschi argued that delinquency is caused by broken or absent social bonds. Living at the outskirts of society, drug users are shunned. In this case, illegal addictions and the need to fulfill these addictions through illegal acts are parts of a cycle of alienation from society.
