[PDF] Why Do Criminals Offend eBook

Author : Robert Agnew
Publisher : Roxbury Publishing Company
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 16,12 MB
Release : 2005
Category : Criminology
ISBN : 9781931719346

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"This book focuses on what is probably the most frequently asked question about crime: Why do criminals offend? Renowned criminologist Robert Agnew draws on a broad range of crime theories and the latest research to present a general theory of crime and delinquency, rich with student-accessible examples. The general theory integrates the essential arguments from social learning, social control, self-control, strain, labeling, social support, bio-psychological, and other theories. And it draws on the latest research examining the relationship between crime, individual traits, and the social environment--including family, school, peer, and work environments.Agnew's general theory is concise and written at a level readily accessible to undergraduates. It provides a good sense of the major causes of crime and how they mutually influence and interact with one another to affect crime. Key points are illustrated with examples from qualitative and quantitative research, and each chapter ends with a set of thought-provoking discussion questions.While the book focuses on explaining why some individuals are more likely than others to offend, the general theory is also used to explain group differences in crime rates and patterns of offending over the life course. Further, the theory is used to evaluate current efforts to control crime and suggest new crime control initiatives."--Back cover.

Author : Marvin Scott
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 268 pages
File Size : 18,62 MB
Release : 2017-09-08
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1351475452

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The assumption that rewards and punishments influence our choices between different courses of action underlies economic, sociological, psychological, and legal thinking about human action. Hence, the notion of a reasoning criminal-one who employs the same sorts of cognitive strategies when contemplating offending as they and the rest of us use when making other decisions-might seem a small contribution to crime control. This conclusion would be mistaken. This volume develops an alternative approach, termed the "rational choice perspective," to explain criminal behaviour. Instead of emphasizing the differences between criminals and non-criminals, it stresses some of the similarities. In particular, while the contributors do not deny the existence of irrational and pathological components in crimes, they suggest that the rational aspects of offending should be explored. An international group of researchers in criminology, psychology, and economics provide a comprehensive review of original research on the criminal offender as a reasoning decision maker. While recognizing the crucial influence of situational factors, the rational choice perspective provides a framework within which to incorporate and locate existing theories about crime. In doing so it also provides both a new agenda for research and sheds a fresh light on deterrent and prevention policies.

Author : Michael Rocque
Publisher : Springer
Page : 279 pages
File Size : 38,15 MB
Release : 2017-04-25
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1137572345

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This book represents a brief treatise on the theory and research behind the concept of desistance from crime. This ever-growing field has become increasingly relevant as questions of serious issues regarding sentencing, probation and the penal system continue to go unanswered. Rocque covers the history of research on desistance from crime and provides a discussion of research and theories on the topic before looking towards the future of the application of desistance to policy. The focus of the volume is to provide an overview of the practical and theoretical developments to better understand desistance. In addition, a multidisciplinary, integrative theoretical perspective is presented, ensuring that it will be of particular interest for students and scholars of criminology and the criminal justice system.

Author : John Paul Wright
Publisher : SAGE Publications
Page : 329 pages
File Size : 23,99 MB
Release : 2014-02-10
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1483311236

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Why do individuals exposed to the same environment turn out so differently, with some engaging in crime and others abiding by societal rules and norms? Why are males involved in violent crime more often than females? And why do the precursors of serious pathological behavior typically emerge in childhood? Criminals in the Making: Criminality Across the Life Course, Second Edition, by John Paul Wright, Stephen G. Tibbetts, and Leah E. Daigle, addresses key questions surrounding criminal propensity by discussing studies of the life-course perspective—criminological research that links biological factors associated with criminality with the social and environmental agents thought to cause, facilitate, or otherwise influence a tendency towards criminal activity. The book provides comprehensive, interdisciplinary coverage of the current thinking in the field about criminal behavior over the course of a lifetime. Additionally, it highlights interventions proven effective and illustrates how the life-course perspective has contributed to a greater understanding of the causes of crime.

Author : Derek B. Cornish
Publisher : Transaction Publishers
Page : 271 pages
File Size : 10,57 MB
Release : 2014-02-10
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1412852757

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The assumption that rewards and punishments influence our choices between different courses of action underlies economic, sociological, psychological, and legal thinking about human action. Hence, the notion of a reasoning criminal--one who employs the same sorts of cognitive strategies when contemplating offending as they and the rest of us use when making other decisions--might seem a small contribution to crime control. This conclusion would be mistaken. This volume develops an alternative approach, termed the "rational choice perspective," to explain criminal behavior. Instead of emphasizing the differences between criminals and non-criminals, it stresses some of the similarities. In particular, while the contributors do not deny the existence of irrational and pathological components in crimes, they suggest that the rational aspects of offending should be explored. An international group of researchers in criminology, psychology, and economics provide a comprehensive review of original research on the criminal offender as a reasoning decision maker. While recognizing the crucial influence of situational factors, the rational choice perspective provides a framework within which to incorporate and locate existing theories about crime. In doing so it also provides both a new agenda for research and sheds a fresh light on deterrent and prevention policies.

Author : Tim Newburn
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 1863 pages
File Size : 30,56 MB
Release : 2017-02-22
Category : Law
ISBN : 1317244257

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Comprehensive and accessible, Tim Newburn’s bestselling Criminology provides an introduction to the fundamental themes, concepts, theories, methods and events that underpin the subject and form the basis for all undergraduate degree courses and modules in Criminology and Criminal Justice. This third edition includes: A new chapter on politics, reflecting the ever increasing coverage of political influence and decision making on criminology courses New and updated crime data and analysis of trends, plus new content on recent events such as the Volkswagen scandal, the latest developments on historic child abuse, as well as extended coverage throughout of the English riots A fully revised and updated companion website, including exam, review and multiple choice questions, a live Twitter feed from the author providing links to media and academic coverage of events related to the concepts covered in the book, together with links to a dedicated textbook Facebook page Fully updated to reflect recent developments in the field and extensively illustrated, this authoritative text, written by a leading criminologist and experienced lecturer, is essential reading for all students of Criminology and related fields.

Author : David P. Farrington
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 281 pages
File Size : 46,26 MB
Release : 2017-07-05
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1351512234

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Developmental and life-course criminology aims to provide information about how offending and antisocial behavior develops, about risk and protective factors at different ages, and about the effects of life events on the course of development. This volume advances knowledge about these theories of offender behavior, many of which have been formulated only in the last twenty years. It also integrates knowledge about individual, family, peer, school, neighborhood, community, and situational influences on offender behavior, and combines key elements of earlier theories such as strain, social learning, differential association, and control theory.Contributors Benjamin B. Lahey and Irwin D. Waldman focus on antisocial propensity and the importance of biological and individual factors. Alex R. Piquero and Terrie E. Moffitt distinguish between life-course-persistent and adolescent-limited offenders. David P. Farrington presents the Integrated Cognitive Antisocial Potential (ICAP) theory, which distinguishes between long-term and short-term influences on antisocial potential. Richard F. Catalano, J. David Hawkins, and their colleagues test the Social Development Model (SDM).Marc Le Blanc proposes an integrated multi-layered control theory, in which criminal behavior depends on bonding to society, psychological development, modeling, and constraints. Robert J. Sampson and John H. Laub hypothesize that offending is inhibited by the strength of bonding to family, peers, schools, and later adult social institutions such as marriage and jobs. Terence P. Thornberry and Marvin D. Krohn propose an interactional theory, of antisocial behavior. Per-Olof H. Witkstrom's developmental ecological action theory emphasizes the importance of situational factors: opportunities cause temptation, friction produces provocation, and monitoring and the risk of sanctions have deterrent effects.

Author : Mark Pogrebin
Publisher : SAGE
Page : 361 pages
File Size : 11,44 MB
Release : 2011-12-09
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1412999448

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This book presents students with recent and important research on criminal behavior. The articles in this anthology, all based on actual field studies, provide the reader with a realistic portrayal of what actual offenders say about crime and their participation in it. The offenders' voices, along with the researchers' analyses, offer students a real-life view of what, how, and why various criminals behave the way they do.

Author : Robert Agnew
Publisher : NYU Press
Page : 265 pages
File Size : 16,68 MB
Release : 2011
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0814707904

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Why do people commit crimes? How do we control crime? The theories that criminologists use to answer these questions are built on a number of underlying assumptions, including those about the nature of crime, free will, human nature, and society. These assumptions have a fundamental impact on criminology: they largely determine what criminologists study, the causes they examine, the control strategies they recommend, and how they test their theories and evaluate crime-control strategies. In Toward a Unified Criminology, noted criminologist Robert Agnew provides a critical examination of these assumptions, drawing on a range of research and perspectives to argue that these assumptions are too restrictive, unduly limiting the types of crime that are explored, the causes that are considered, and the methods of data collection and analysis that are employed. As such, they undermine our ability to explain and control crime. Agnew then proposes an alternative set of assumptions, drawing heavily on both mainstream and critical theories of criminology, with the goal of laying the foundation for a unified criminology that is better able to explain a broader range of crimes.

Author : Wim Bernasco
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 346 pages
File Size : 10,72 MB
Release : 2013-01-11
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 113403010X

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Our knowledge of crime is based on three types of sources: the criminal justice system, victims, and offenders. For technological and other reasons the criminal justice system produces an increasing stream of information on crime. The rise of the victimization survey has given the victims a much larger role in our study of crime. There is, however, no concomitant development regarding offenders. This is unfortunate because offenders are the experts when it comes to offending.In order to understand criminal behavior, we need their perspective. This is not always a straightforward process, however, and information from offenders is often unreliable. This book is about what we can do to maximise the validity of what offenders tell us about their offending. Renowned experts from various countries present their experiences and insights, with a clear focus on methodological issues of fieldwork among various types of offender populations. Each contribution deals with with a few central issues: How can offenders be motivated to participate in research? How can offenders be motivated to tell the truth on their offending? How can the information that offenders provide be checked and validated? What can we learn from offenders that cannot be accessed from other sources? With the aim of obtaining valid and reliable information, how, where and under which conditions should we observe offenders and talk to them?