Criminological theory Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Criminological theory - Research Paper Example The best explanation to this particular thought can be derived by comparing and contrasting the three most applied dimensional theories in criminology, i.e. the biological theories of crime, the psychological theories of crime and the sociological theories of crime. The most apparent dissimilarities of the explanations rendered by these theories concerning crime are inherent in their diverse and often, countering assumptions. For instance, the biological theories assume that individuals commit criminal offences particularly due to physical characteristics, which are gifted by the parents to their children, or are inherited through ancestry. Therefore, the biological explanation to the causes of crime focuses largely on genetic, anatomical and psychological irregularities. On the other hand, psychological and sociological explanations advocate that social factors and economic difficulties cause significant psychological pressures on individuals. These pressures further result in stres s within individuals, persuading them to commit crime. Notably, the biological theories, with its given assumptions, indirectly tend to counter the notion or approach taken by the modern governments concerning correctional policies for criminals. However, rationalizing the same, psychological and sociological theories explain that by bringing certain changes in social and economic structure of a particular region, the government can control crime rates. Based on these predicaments, guided by the assumptions of the biological, sociological and psychological theories of crime, this study will aim at comparing and contrasting the central idea of these concepts, taking into account the historic developments in criminology since ages. Defining Criminology Edwin H. Sutherland had once affirmed that criminology is a form of knowledge which considers crime as a social trend. It principally included the cycle of creating laws to restrict crime, violating laws by criminals conducting offences and then reacting towards the contravention of the laws to further discourage any repeat occurrence of similar incidents. As can be inferred from the statement, criminology, in respect of criminal laws, is a cyclical process which aims to obtain a structured and definitive policy framework to restrict repeat occurrences of crime. Since ages, criminologists have adopted research methods from a variety of societal and behavioral sciences to postulate a particular guideline that can aid in further development of the laws by measuring the kind of offences, criminals’ behavioral traits as well as influences and victims’ characteristics, using different procedures (DeMelo, 1999). Brief Description of the Criminal Law Significance of the criminal law has been a priority to governmental bodies since centuries, to maintain a healthy and sustainable societal development process. In the medieval ages, though, criminal laws were designed to reward greater control of socio-cultura l and geo-political structure to the authoritative bodies. Reportedly, the initiation of criminology theories dates back to over 3500 years before in the history of human civilization, around 1792 BC with the establishment of the code of Hammurabi. The code was adopted from Babylonian and Hebrew laws that were in practice during the early 2000 BC (Vito & Maahs,