Criminology is the scientific study of effects of crime both at the society and personal level. This subject involves the analysis of the occurrences of crimes, finding their cause, and identifying measures to lower the crime rates in the society (Hall, September 25, 2012). Criminology involves analysis of illegal human actions and behavior and designing crime control methods. The field of crime brings together psychology and social science to help identify crimes and their causes. Through analysis of crimes, criminologists can bring out the similarity between the occurrence of crimes and other factors such as race, ethnicity, socioeconomic background and education. The analysis ensures that the right legal decisions are made based on the crime to ensure justice and equality. To understand the area of criminology in a better way, various criminological perspectives have been developed which bring out a better understanding of causes of crimes and the right method to apply in preventing crime occurrence.
Psychological criminological perspective believes that criminal behaviors are determined by a person’s thinking processes. There exist various psychological perceptions connected to criminology, but they all converge on one idea; thoughts and feelings of an individual determine their actions. With such perspective, it means that mental problems that result in poor thinking can result in criminal behaviors. The psychological perspective of crime believes in four general assumptions which explain the result of the occurrence of crimes (Hall, September 25, 2012). The first assumption states that crime is a result of a failure in psychological development; a good number of people end up in crime as they didn’t experience growth and development that normal people go through and in most cases, they think what they are doing is right and legal, yet it isn’t. The second assumption says that a person surrounded by the violent and aggressive environment is likely to be violent and can easily engage in crimes (Muncie, February 25, 2013). The third assumption is connected to inherent personality traits. This assumption says that there exist some traits that predispose someone towards criminal behavior. The last assumption brings out the connection between crime and mental disorder.
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Social criminological perspective believes that the occurrence of crime is not determined by an individual but by the structure of the society. The theories connected to this criminological perspective argue that it is the “socioeconomic structure” in the society that results to lawbreaking. Social and economic structures work together to cause lower class individuals who have the likelihood of engaging in crime (Deflem, 2006). This perspective believes that crime is important in the society as it brings people together in trying to fight it. When certain society people have no means of attaining conventional success, they are likely to get involved in criminal behaviors to relieve themselves of the strain. This perspective also brings a close connection between family, peers and institutional relationships with a crime. Anyone involved in a positive relationship with the family has a likelihood of succeeding within the boundaries of society law and vice versa. This perspective believes that crimes are as a result of the structure and the processes within the society that define who we are and thus explain the actions that we engage ourselves in. This perspective expects the society to play a part in making sure its members do not engage in crime.
Contrary, classical criminological perspective argue that people have free will, make their own choices and simply pursue what they are interested in. This perspective regards humans as rational beings. The proponents of this perspective explained that people freely choose to offend. The final answer on whether to take part in crime or not is based on calculations which are weighed to determine the pleasure which one gets from the crime and the amount of pain or suffering connected to the crime if the person is caught (Hall, September 25, 2012). The calculation done in this case depends on the person’s understanding of the law while the punishment is calculated based on the experience or knowledge of the experiences of others. This perspective proposes that crime can most excellently be discouraged by punishments that are definite, swift and are proportionate to the damage resulted.
A determinate sentencing model is a prison system that involves a fixed span of time that a lawbreaker has to stay in jail or prison and it cannot be changed even by parole. When an offender is sentenced to ten years, that decision cannot be changed even if the offenders change his or her behavior in the course of his or her jail term. The prisoner is not allowed time off for good behavior or be allowed to serve out of custody sentence. Indeterminate sentencing model, on the other hand, involves a minimum sentence but the releases date can be changed according to a situation such as good behavior (Miller, 2008). With the indeterminate sentencing model, the parole board can review the sentence term according to change of behavior of the offenders. I feel the determinate sentencing model is the best in addressing crime that emanates from classical criminological perspectives. According to classical criminological perspective, people view the benefit and cost of their action and decide whether to proceed with crime or not. When a person realizes that the cost of crime is higher than benefit, he or she will not be involved in crime. Therefore, coming up with a fixed sentencing term that cannot be changed by parole board nor any other agency will make the cost of crime to be higher than the benefits which will deter many people from engaging in crime (Lipsey, 2007). The prison department should utilize strict sanction such as total loss of freedom and rights to make the consequences of illegal behavior to be severe. According to trait criminological perspective, crime occurs due to exposure of a person to the environment that encourages criminal activity because crime is learned and reinforced. The use of determinate sentencing modeling will make sure that as children grow, they will learn that the cost of crime is severe. Since crime is learned and reinforced, the good behavior can also be reinforced through a severe sentence and prohibiting offenders from interaction with outside world.
In respect to social criminological perspective, crime is viewed from broader social context. Crime is seen as emanating from the problems experienced in society such as poverty and social disorganization. Therefore, putting the strict maximum term in jail will not reduce crime as long as the social problems are dealt with (Bhati, 2008). Therefore, the indeterminate sentencing model seems to be appropriate in this case because the probation and parole can act as an advocate for community change. Indeterminate sentencing allows the use of the strategies that lower the formal criminal justice system, thus, allowing remedial measures to be taken with the aim of restoring offender back to the society. Generally, I feel determinate sentencing model has high potential to deal with crime because it makes the consequences of crime more severe and benefit from crime is overshadowed by the cost the offender has to bear. Many people will fear to indulge in criminal activities due to high cost they will have to bear if they got arrested
References
Bhati, A. S. (2008). Estimating the impact of incarceration on subsequent offending trajectories: Deterrent, criminogenic, or null effect? . Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 98, , 207-253.
Deflem, M. (2006). Sociological Theory and Criminological Research: Views from Europe and the United States . Elsevier , p. 279.
Hall, E. (September 25, 2012). Theoretical perspectives to Understand and Explain Criminal Behavior . Criminology & Justice .
Lipsey, M. C. (2007). The effectiveness of correctional rehabilitation: A review of systematic reviews. Annual Review of Law & Social Science, 3, , 297-320.
Miller, J. (2008). Getting played: African American girls, urban inequality, and gendered violence. New York: New York University Press.
Muncie, J. (February 25, 2013). Criminological Perspectives: Essential Readings . SAGE Publications Ltd .
