Criminology Course Theories
The main reason why people commit crimes cannot be established for sure. Crimes vary in weights and extent, Individuals who pickpockets in the streets are considered a criminal. Similarly, a person charged with murder or treason or fraud is also seen as a criminal. The reasons why these people commit crimes could vary from poverty, parental negligence, and low self-esteem to other serious factors such as drugs and alcohol abuse. I concur with the various biological and psychological perspectives of explaining crimes, and I believe that some people have higher chances of becoming criminals than others based on nature.
The Life Course Approach to defining crimes indulge principles like socio-historical and geographical location, the timing of lives, heterogeneity, and other factors like linked lives and social ties (Featherstone, 2007). The theory bases its foundation on the relationship between time and behavior as being influenced by potential factors such as age, relationships, and societal changes. The theory also associates biological, psychological and spiritual aspects of life with the surrounding environment in a given span of the life of an individual. It was a result of multiple studies on families and people and how historical events affected different areas of life.
Life course theory bases its arguments on nature-based factors that can influence behavior. They are grouped into cohorts, transitions, life events and turning points. Cohorts describe the people around an individual regarding family and generation. Transitions depict changes in roles in the surrounding and turning point depicts a significant shift in a person’s life at a specified time. The theory implies that an individual’s reaction to life can be seen in the choices they make. For instance, a person who is exposed to poverty and neglect is likely to become a criminal than a person who grows in a favorable environment.
I strongly agree with Life course theory with regards to causes of crime. Certain behaviors are influenced by natural factors such as environmental conditions including poverty, family and time factors. People who grow up in unfavorable conditions most probably will make choices leading to crime.
References
Featherstone, M. (2007). Consumer culture and postmodernism. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications.
Laub, J. H., & Sampson, R. J. (2003). Shared beginnings, divergent lives: Delinquent boys to age 70. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University …
