Question

New theories of crime were being studied by psychologists. These theories began to develop in the early 1900s. Your task is to search Biological, Sociological and Psychological Theories of Crime and then you need to write your findings with your own thoughts and words.
Your word limit is 750-1000.

Answer 1

In the late 19th century, Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) proposed “that crime is ‘normal’ behavior performed by normal individuals living in unexceptional social systems”.

He reasoned that a certain level of crime is both necessary and beneficial to society because (1) individual deviation from the social norm is a primary source of innovative social change; (2) increases in crime rates can warn or alert officials to damaging problems existing within social systems that give rise to such crimes; (3) crime enforcement helps to establish and to maintain behavioral boundaries within communities; and finally, (4) crime provokes punishment that in turn enhances solidarity within communities.

Biological theories of crime attempt to explain behaviors contrary to societal expectations through examination of individual characteristics. These theories are categorized within a paradigm called positivism (also known as determinism), which asserts that behaviors, including law-violating behaviors, are determined by factors largely beyond individual control.
Biological theories can be classified into three types: (1) those that attempt to differentiate among individuals on the basis of certain innate (i.e., those with which you are born) outward physical traits or characteristics; (2) those that attempt to trace the source of differences to genetic or hereditary characteristics; and (3) those that attempt to distinguish among individuals on the basis of structural, functional, or chemical differences in the brain or body.

psychological theories based on personality, emotional adjustment, mental retardation, psychic disturbance, or psychological traits; social psychological theories that account for crime by reference to behavior, self, and cognitive variables in a group context; and sociological theories that explain crime with cultural, structural, and socio-demographic variables.