Criminal Justice Theories: An Overview

There are different types of criminal activities that take place around the society. Despite the nature of crime and the identities of offenders, they occur due to several causes, which are similar or dissimilar in one way or the other. Some of the most common causes of criminal activities include; poor parenting, parental negligence, poverty, deprived neighborhoods, poor judgment, and weakness. In one way or another, there is a reason behind an individual committing a crime, and these are collectively termed as the causes of criminal activity. The various causes of crime can be categorized into various criminal theories. This leads to criminology theories. Several criminology theories have been described by various criminology theorists. The theories serve substantial roles in society. The criminology theories enable an analysis of criminal activity to determine its cause and, consequently, develop the most reliable way the criminal activity can be explained ( White et al. 2017) . Without the theories, it would be much difficult to understand the possible causes of criminal activity and identify how it can be controlled.  

Although there are many criminology theories, they serve a particular purpose, which includes enabling understanding of the criminal activity, understanding why an individual would develop and exercising a deviant behavior, and understanding and predicting patterns of criminal activity ( White et al. 2017) . This paper comprehensively outlines criminological theories that can be used as a specific type of crime such as robbery. The paper focuses on how rational cause and sociological theories of criminology can be applicable in understanding why robbery occurs in society and how the two theories can be used to understand robbery patterns and develop a mitigation strategy for robbery in the society.  

Rational cause theory of crime 

The theory holds that criminals, just like the rest of the society, reason out before settling on a choice to commit criminal activity ( Burke, 2017) , and the possible end of their activities before committing the crime. Therefore, the theory holds that every offender comes to a self-agreement that the activity they plan to engage in is worthy of executing. They make rational choices by weighing the benefits and dangers of criminal activity. Rational cause theory of crime identifies with several components. The three key components of this theory include;  

Components: According to the theory, criminals consider the possible benefits of committing the crime, the possible resultant loss that they might encounter, the series of events they will take to commit the 

Personal gain 

This is a significant component of the theory of crime. People engage in criminal activities because they want to gain something that will benefit them. Criminal offenders engage in criminal activity because they believe that they would gain a lot, and thus, they must not get the opportunity to go unutilized ( Burke, 2017) . As described by the theory, people consider engaging in a deviant activity worthy if they believe that what they would gain is much more of value than the possible harm they could sustain should they be found guilty of engaging in such an activity.  

Money, power status 

Reflecting on the theory definition, power status, and money allows people to safely engage in deviant activities. People with more substantial power status can use the power they have to cover up criminal activities. Resultantly, the risk potential of the activities they engage in reduces substantially as the benefits increase. This renders going ahead to commit the crime a more rational more because the benefits far outweigh the dangers and associated losses.  

Lack of knowledge 

Many people engage in criminal activities and behaviors due to ignorance and lack of knowledge. According to the theory, the decision to make a criminal activity is arrived after evaluating the benefits and costs. Lack of knowledge hinders people from noting the underlying costs of engaging in criminal activity. Ignorance, on the other side makes people look at the outcomes of a criminal activity shallowly, yet they need to have a more in-depth view of the consequences surrounding the activity.  

Sociological positivism ; 

Social positivism theory is built upon the fact that there exist eternal pressures that have substantial impacts on an individual. The theory is facilitated by society's nature that people are not fortunate enough to obtain all that they believe they should have. Therefore, an individual's behavior is partially or wholly predetermined and under the influence of external forces ( Taylor et al. 2013) . According to this theory, criminals engage in deviant behaviors and activities because they are either wholly or partially pressured by the eternal forces from the society to which they belong.  

Components; 

Socioeconomic status 

People’s socioeconomic statuses limit them from accessing resources and getting items they believe they should have. For instance, poverty might make an individual go without food, yet he or she knows food is necessary ( Taylor et al. 2013) . The act of robbery in criminals might be a result of a lack of food or primary human want when an individual does not have the right method to access the item they need. 

Peer groups 

Some criminals engage in criminal activities because some of the people they know to be doing well are also engaging in similar activities. They believe that since their peers are engaged in the activity, then it is a right doing, and they too should be taking part. 

Family  

People give much value to their families as it is from where they obtain motivation. Due to the family's value, some criminals engage in offensive activities because they want to have their families pleased. In this case, the need to meet the family needs becomes the 

Crime Trend 

Reduction in crimes linked to robbery and violent crimes 

Between 1993 and 2018, the FBI reported a 51% decline in crimes involving robbery and violence ( Gramlich, 2019) . This is a significant drop, indicating that people’s interest in using force to commit crimes is much lower. While substantial criminal activities are going on around the country, the rates for those involving violence are sharply declining. 

Rise in cyber-crimes  

Cyber-crimes are becoming rampant in the country. This is evident with increasing data breaches in the country and the increasing need for cybersecurity by firms and individuals with assets on the internet ( Clement, 2019) . The increasing cybersecurity is due to lesser risks, and high potential gains cybercriminals can realize from the activities. 

Alternative/Merger Theory 

The experimental theory of crime shows how individuals make decisions to engage in crime to experiment with or want to have a feeling of what will happen to them. Just like it has been explained in the sociological positivism and rational cause theory of crime, criminals think before engaging in any type of crime. They hope that they can achieve something from what they can do. The experimental theory is a merger theory of the rational cause theory and sociological paradigm. They both acknowledge the logic behind why criminals engage in what they engage in. Rational cause theory shows that criminals weigh the benefits, demerits, and consequences of crime before engaging in it (de Carvalho, S, 2020). On the other hand, sociological positivism shows that crime is caused by social factors such as poverty, education, and negative subcultural influences within the environment that cause people to engage in crime. The experimental theory contains two main elements that are common to the two main theories discussed above. These two main components found in this merger theory are personal gain and socioeconomic status. 

Personal gain is one of the main causes of why people engage in crime. In the experimental theory of crime, it is true to say that people decide to engage in crime to experiment and have a feeling of what will happen to them. In doing this, they hope that their life will change for the better after the crime. People engage in robbery intending to have personal benefits. However, they are not certain of the result as they are aware that they might get caused and get arrested for it or have the robbed item and benefit from it through the process. Therefore, the experiment theory coincides with the rational cause theory in that they both show that criminals think logically before committing the crime and settling on a decision to engage in the crime to have personal gains (Taylor, Walton, & Young, 2013). Sociological positivism, as a criminological theory, shows that robbery can be caused by a factor such as poverty. Robbers, therefore, can engage in crime to help end the poverty they are going through. This is in line with the experimental theory in which they engage in crime as an experiment to determine if their future will be well after the robbery. 

Socioeconomic status is a component that can be seen in both the sociological positivism and rational cause theory of crime. Experiment al theory of crime acknowledges that social issues are a reason of why people engage in crime. Most robbers engage in crime because of trying to elevate their social position. People from low social status always strive to gain some financial stability. However, they face a number of obstacles that prompt them to try and find ways that they can use to elevate their position (Nicholson, 2017). Therefore, low socioeconomic status triggers people to engage in robbery, hoping to help their situation out. Therefore, the experimental theory is a merger theory to the two new theories explaining how socioeconomic status can be a trigger to crime causation. Fulfilling desire is also another component of the experimental theory that reflects on the two theories discussed above. 

Conclusion 

In creating a merger theory, I learned a number of things about the crime. One of the new things I learned while creating merged theory is that people engage in robbery for personal gain and boost their socioeconomic status. People from low social status evaluate their positions then get to think of the possible benefits, risks, and consequences of engaging in crime. They feel that with robbery, they can help improve their situation. Robbery is, therefore, a risk that they take to experiment methods that they can use to get financial freedom. From the theory creation, therefore, I learned that the government should strive towards the creation of employment to elevate people’s socioeconomic status to boost their situation. Another thing that I learned during the creation of this theory is that people engage in robbery to fulfill their desire and experiment with their personal feelings. Robbery, therefore, is not necessarily caused by people wanting to punish others but to fulfill the internal feelings of the robbers. The two things learned while coming up with the merger theory are a reflection of the rational cause theory of crime and the sociological positivism of crime. They share a lot of components. Using multiple theories to explain crime trends is beneficial because it gives a clear picture of why people engaged in the criminal act. However, one of the demerits of using multiple theories to explain crime is the possibility of conflicting ideologies in different theories. 

References 

Burke, R. H. (2017).  An introduction to criminological theory . Routledge. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ysNiAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=criminal+theories+criminology&ots=KJplUntzpJ&sig=Tw-AOTDJo2dp-rfo2Fc-Mj4aczc&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=criminal%20theories%20criminology&f=false 

Clement, J. (2019, August 14).  Topic: U.S. consumers and cyber crime . Statista.  https://www.statista.com/topics/2588/us-consumers-and-cyber-crime/ 

De Carvalho, S. (2020). The Substantive Rationality in Criminal Law Theory: An Analysis through the Lensis of the Critical Theory of Crime.  Rev. Faculdade Direito Universidade Federal Minas Gerais ,  76 , 411. 

Gramlich, J. (2019, October 17).  5 facts about crime in the U.S . Pew Research Center.  https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/10/17/facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/ 

Nicholson, J., & Higgins, G. E. (2017). Social structure social learning theory: Preventing crime and violence. In  Preventing crime and violence  (pp. 11-20). Springer, Cham. 

Taylor, I., Walton, P., & Young, J. (2013).  The new criminology: For a social theory of deviance . Routledge. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=adkdAAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=criminal+theories+criminology&ots=22vdjfZncu&sig=nzYHekv_ql7DEd7ERYb7ji4YIKA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=criminal%20theories%20criminology&f=false 

White, R., Haines, F., & Asquith, N. L. (2017). Crime & criminology. http://ecite.utas.edu.au/130268