Crimonology Theories Coursework Example

Criminology Theories
Name:
Institutional Affiliations:
Positivist and Classical Criminology Theory
Jane Anderson was born on 24th January 1989, Envigado, Colombia. Jane was raised in a low-income family of three. For her, starting off in crime was relatively easy. Her father was a notorious drug trafficker who helped to find a crime organization where he served as the head. It seemed that Jane was attracted by what her father represented for his life and was fascinated by his father criminal past. Therefore, for Jane living in a high crime setting exposed her to opportunities for a deviant career. Consequently, having no exams and entry requirements other than the will to risk with one’s liberty made Jane venture in crime. Her hometown was consistently among the top in the country for poverty, murder and general violence. Evidently, there was only a small number of opportunities for jobs which could not accommodate the densely populated town. Opportunities for the minority only served to exacerbate the plight of the majority, who could not find meaningful and permanent employment. People became hopeless and felt that things would never be the same again. For Jane, crime activities was an effective avenue for financial success as well as the only source of any dignity or sense of worth. She embarked on a life of crime, holding up whatever establishments, for fun and making money. Jane was able to wield incredible power and wealth which supported a lavish lifestyle. By the age of 26, she was indelibly immersed in criminal activities.

She saw criminal activities as a component of her own identity.
The classical and positivist theories share some notable similarities. Also, the two theories have notable opposing principles. The classical theory depicts nature as a free element, one that is ruled sorely by self-interests (Lilly, Cullen, & Ball, 2010). Typically, people have their choice regarding criminal or lawful solutions to attain their goals or solve their difficulties. Other elements defined by classical theory include the argument that crime is eye-catching when it assures great profits with fewer sweats. The classical theory argues that people who commit a crime do so on their own judgment. On the contrary, the positivism theory argues that humans are predisposed to act in a certain way depending on their environment, which also creates differences between persons (Lilly, Cullen, & Ball, 2010). Positivism opposes the classical theory’s dependence on free will and seeks to recognize affirmative grounds that acknowledge the tendency for criminal actions.
In the case of Jane, classical theory is portrayed when Jane decides to venture into crime because it had no entry requirements other than the will to risk with one’s liberty. Consequently, she embarked on a life of crime for financial success as well as a sense of worth. On the other hand, the positivist theory can be applied in the situation whereby it seems that Jane inherited her criminal behavior from her father. It is evident from her biography that she was attracted by what her father represented for his life. Also, early theories of women and crime described criminal women as abnormal (Garfinkel, 2017). The attention of women’s criminality was founded on sexuality. Moreover, women were the aim of alleged defilements of morality.
Over the past years, crime prevention has been an issue of concern. Policies meant to prevent crime can involve death penalty sentence, arrest or a court sanction. These measures are recognized as repression or crime control. In the case of Jane, the best policy to apply is the public policy. For the public policy, self-control theory states that minimizing crime can be attained by preventing crime during early childhood and on secondarily situational prevention for certain criminal behavior (Marion, & Oliver, 2012).
References
Garfinkel, P. (2017). Michele Pifferi, Reinventing Punishment: A Comparative History of Criminology and Penology in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016, 305 pp, hb£ 70.00. The Modern Law Review, 80(5), 974-978.
Lilly, J. R., Cullen, F. T., & Ball, R. A. (2010). Criminological theory: Context and consequences. Sage.
Marion, N. E., & Oliver, W. M. (2012). The public policy of crime and criminal justice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.