Criminology

Over the years criminology has become a very important discipline. Criminologists try to explain the existence of crime in the society. To that effect, different scholars have developed theories to explain why some individuals develop deviant behavior. The theories form the basis of formulating mitigation measures that can be used to reduce the increased cases of criminal activities in the society. The theories explain why some people are more likely to turn into criminals while others have a very slim likelihood of developing deviant behaviors. My personal criminological theory is more or less an intersection of various theories that have been developed in the past (Cullen  Angnem, 2002).

Criminal behaviors in the society are as a result of several factors within the individual and in the society. Any member of the society is exposed to numerous forces depending on the environment. Individuals therefore commit crimes as a result of social and biological forces acting together. Every member of the society is aware of the consequences of crimes. However, they do go ahead and commit the crimes. It has also been noted that people tend to commit crimes with punitive consequences less when compared to crimes with more lenient penalties. This means majority of the crimes are as a result of free will where the criminal expects to benefit from the crime more compared to the risk he is exposing himself into. This can explain the lawlessness and high crime rates in unstable societies where the cost of the crime is outweighed by the benefits. This is based on the assumption that the criminal commits the crime when he or she has a conscious mind (Deflem, 2006).

However, even in cases where crime pays well, there are individual who are not motivated to commit crimes. On the other hand, in societies where the cost of crimes is very high, there are individuals who commit crimes. This suggests that there are some inherent traits in individual that make them more susceptible to influence by others or be motivated by the gains of crime to commit crimes. Otherwise, any of us would take a risk in a crime in anticipation of a gain. There are some biological and psychological factors that make some individuals more likely to commit crimes. This is in line with several suggestions that propose the presence of biological and psychological differences between criminals and non criminals (Hall et al, 2008).

The view of an individual about crime which is dictated by the gain the person associate with crime is a major factor that has resulted into increased number of criminal syndicates in the cities. The trend is more serious when the poor neighborhoods are considered where youth gangs are involved in various criminal activities such as murder, violence and drug trafficking. These criminal gang starts as a small gang in the residential areas and develop into a criminal group that command a large territory and eventually enters the national and international scene. As the group becomes larger and gains more influence as well as cooperation with other gangs, the benefits of their criminal acts increases. This forces them to be involved in more risky criminal acts (Hallsworth, 2005).

Sociologists have used different theories to explain this growing trend. The social structural theories have been very relevant in explaining this trend. However, even in a disorganized society, there are individuals who are law abiding while others turn into criminals. Moreover, young people are influenced by their peers and the prevailing environments in poor neighborhood to commit crimes because it pays. The criminal groups in these neighborhoods exist because their activities pay. This is the basic reasons why more and more people are motivated to commit crimes or join criminal gangs. Otherwise the presence of a criminal gang in the neighborhood is not enough to make young people turn delinquent. There are material rewards and benefits that are associated with crime that attracts them to commit crimes (Vito, et al, 2007).

It is not easy to influence a conscious individual to commit a crime without him first considering the potential benefits associated with the act as well as the consequences. The increased cases of juvenile offenders in the society may be associated with the structures in the society (Hall, et al, 2008).

Consider two environments with same number of criminal gangs and crime rate. In the first society, criminals are not different from the other members of the society and live in poverty. The likelihood of being punished as a result of crime is also high. In other words, the potential gains of crime are inexistence while the consequences are almost certain. In the second society, crime is the only way out of poverty life. Young people grow in a society where the rest of the societies live in poverty while those who turn into crime rise in the social ladder. In this society, crime pays. No matter the intensity of the social forces, the likelihood of an individual in the first society engaging in crimes is very low while an individual in the second society is more likely to be involved in crime.