Similarities and Differences in Sociological Theories of Crime

Sociological theories of abhorrence contain a great mussiness of useful information in the understanding of vicious conduct. Sociological theories be very useful in the study of reprehensible behavior because foreign psychological and biological theories they are almostly macro train theories which cause to explain rates of umbrage for a group or an stadium rather than explaining why an separate committed a crime. (Kubrin, 2012). There is thus far some micro level sociological theories of crime that attempts to explain the individuals motivation for criminal behavior (Kubrin, 2012).Of the present-day(a) sociological theories in that location are three which come to the forefront and which we will examine, kindly mesh possible action, neighborly dis administration conjecture, and rational choice system. Social Conflict possibility As the name suggests, social meshing speculation is a remainder based perspective. Conflict based perspectives assert that laws that govern what behaviors are criminal and what are not come from a impinge between those in power and those who arent (Kubrin, 2012).Social divergence theory basically says that crime is born out of this conflict between those that have power inside a confederation and those that dont. Those that have the power in a society are the ones that make the laws and therefore make laws which will gather them and forward their goals and ideals often at the expense of those without power. It is this conflict and the resulting laws regulating what is criminal and what is not that is ultimately the cause of crime. Social Disorganization Theory inappropriate social conflict theory, social disorganisation theory is based on the consensus perspective.The consensus perspective believes that laws are born out of a consensus of members of a society seeking order within that society (Kubrin, 2012). Social disorganization theory views crime as a result of a breakdown of organization and glossines s within a society (Warner, 2003). This breakdown of organization and culture within a community leads to a lack of informal social control which in turn leads to higher crime rates oddly in the juvenile population (Simons, Simons, Burt, Brody, & Cutrona, 2005).Social disorganization theory asserts that fast levels of connection within a community along with a guts of civic pride motivate individuals to take a more agile role in the community therefore acting as a deterrent to crime. Rational Choice Theory The third of the contemporary sociological theories is rational choice theory. In stark contrast to social conflict theory and social disorganization theory which are macro level theories, rational choice theory is a micro level theory (Kubrin, 2012). Rational choice theory focuses on the individual motivation butt end criminal behavior.Specifically the idea that the choice to commit criminal behavior is a choice based on a type of bump reward scenario. The person contempla ting a criminal act consciously weighs the run a risk associated with the crime against the reward they stand to gain from the crime. Similarities and Differences Each of these three contemporary sociological theories of crime are similar in that they focus in the first place on crime in poor or disfavour areas. This focus is obvious with social conflict theory and social disorganization theory but not as much with rational choice theory although it is there.With rational choice theory the concept of what is to be gained from the criminal legal action in itself implies that the person is most likely poor or disadvantaged in some way necessitating crime to obtain the things they need or desire. Where these theories differ is their basic concepts of what the actual cause of crime is. Where social conflict theory and social disorganization theory view the causes of crime on a group level, rational choice theory says that crime is caused on an individual level.Likewise, on an even m ore fundamental level, social conflict theory and social disorganization theory differ in that social conflict theory believes laws regulating criminal behavior are create out of conflict within a society where social disorganization theory believes laws are formed from a consensus within society. Conclusions Sociological theories of crime are very useful, especially in the prediction and prevention of crime. matchless of their great strengths is their ability to explain crime within a true group or community.However, the fact that the group or area they most often focus on is poor or disadvantages is one of their greatest weaknesses. Sociological theories fail to account for so called white collar crimes and otherwise types of crimes that occur mainly among more wealthy individuals and in more intumesce off neighborhoods. As with psychological and biological theories, sociological theories have their strengths and weaknesses. To truly understand the nature and causes of crim e and to be able to prevent it will take an understanding and blending of many different theories.