One element of critical criminology is the strength of the precedent, which is a factor that a court will have to decide before overruling an earlier case law. Precedent entails a court decision that is considered to be an authority for deciding a subsequent case that involves identity or the same facts or legal issues. This is a vital element for a criminologist, since he/she will be able to have a prior understanding of past ruling, and has an idea of how the case will be decided based on a past jurisdiction.
Another critical perspective is the field of the law involved, where a court seems to be more reluctant to override precedent governing property or trade, involving commercial enterprises, who had relied on the precedent. Different fields of law can be treated differently depending on the type of issue in front of the courts. For the criminologists, this element is vital sink there will be different types of judgments depending on whether a law case is criminal, or civil, where it is likely that some rulings may be made different, even throughout focusing on other recent cases.
The third element of critical criminology is the initial source of precedent, such as statutory interpretation. Each court is in most cases bound to previous decisions which are made by courts higher than them. A Statutory interpretation entails the interpretation and allocation of legislation of a court. A criminologist will therefore need to have comprehensive information on pats court cases similar to what he/ she is covering, and be conversant with the source of the ruling was as a way of determining the likely direction of the case he/she is handling.
One of the theories that accurately explains why crime occurs is the social learning theory. According to the theory, people engage in either criminal or non-criminal behaviors based on the social environments that surround them. It also states that people are easily influenced by how other people around them reward or act as models of their behaviors. The theory asserts that criminal behaviors are learned and can hence be counteracted. This can be through developing a better social environment in which criminal behaviors are not criminalized. The theory is mostly applied for the case of supportive and having less punitive programs for mostly the juvenile since it understands that they were brought up in suitable environments, which affected their ways of living. According to the theory, people may also tend to get involved in crime, because of getting associated with others who engage in crime. Their criminal behaviors are reinforced and learned beliefs from those who are involved in such acts. This is since, they have criminal models who they associated which, and gradually learn from. Such is done through association or exposure, which can hence be stopped if a person is taken to a more suitable environment before he/she acquires these behaviors.
According to the theory, there are three mechanisms by which persons learn about engaging in crime, which include beliefs, modeling, and differential reinforcement. A negative consequence of this theory is that some children may be brought up in great environments, which are crime-free but end up becoming criminals. This is hence in contrast with the theory and is require another model or perspective that will help understand their behaviors. Other children may grow up in an environmental setting with crime, may turn up to be great people in society, meaning that they were never negatively affected by their surroundings.
The strain theory of crime states that certain stressors and strains increase the likelihood of crime. According to the theory, the strains in one’s life lead to negative emotions, such as anger and frustration, leading an individual to commit a crime. The emotions from a human being create pressure for one to undertake a corrective action, where crime is one likely response. A crime may be committed to help an individual escape or reduce strain. It could also be used by a person to seeks revenge against a certain source of strain, or may alternatively be used by a person to alleviate negative emotions.
An example of how the theory is applicable is when person experiences chronic unemployment, and consequently may end up getting involved in theft or selling drugs, as a way of sustaining a living. A person may also seek revenge against a person who fired them. Alternatively, an individual may take illicit drugs with an aim of feeling better. According to the theory nevertheless, only a minority of strained persons turn to crime. A major flaw of the theory is that it only best applies to lower-class people who struggle with limited resources of obtaining their goals. It fails to explain why the collar crimes occur, yet the perpetrators had the opportunity of achieving their goals through using legal and legitimate means.
4.One early point of debate in criminology addresses the question of whether crime is normal.
I believe that crime is normal. From the social theory and the strain theory, it is apparent that there are multiple actors that because individuals to commit crimes. Criminal tendencies can be a result of one’s environment and peers, who can influence one to be involved in some illegal actions. On the other hand, situations such as joblessness and idleness can also influence a person to be invoked in crime.
