Basilan State College

COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE EDUCATION

Course Code CRIM 1 Week/Day 6-7

Course Description INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY Duration 2 weeks
Lesson/Topic CRIMINAL ETIOLOGY Lesson No. 4
Learning Once this unit has been successfully completed, the students can:
Outcome/s 1. Recognize the categories of crime theories by creating a mind map.
2. Determine motives and causes of crimes by enumerating and explaining it.
Reference/s Fundamental of Criminology (by: Eduardo and Panganoron)
Course Coach THRINITY LAIN G. FULLENTE
Email account - tifanylain@gmail.com
Fb account – Fullente Thrinity Lain
Contact # - 09757179756

I – Activation of Prior Knowledge.

Please answer the questions below before heading into this to see how much you know
about this course. Write your answer on the sheets provided.

Write the matching letter of your choice.

1. He was considered the Father of modern sociology.
a. Emile Durkheim c. Robert Agnew
b. Edwin Sutherland d. David Matza
2. Henry Goddard invented the pseudonym Kalikak by combining a Greek word meaning “beauty”
(kallos) with another meaning “___” (kakas).
a. Good b. Bad c. Dangerous d. Criminal
3. He introduced the term “moron” into the field of criminology.
a. William Shldon c. France Joseph Gall
b. Henry H. Godard d. Richard Dugdale
4. Kretschmer suggested that those people with skinny and slender body types usually commit theft and
_____.
a. Murder b. Reason c. Fraud d. Adultery
5. Anthropological criminology is a field of offender profiling base on perceived links between the nature
of a crime, the personality and ______ of the offender.
a. Bones measurement c. Behavior
b. Alphonse Bertillon d. Physical Appearance

II – Engagement in Relevant Content and Appropriate Learning Activity/Activities.

READ AND PONDER!

CRIMINAL ETIOLOGY
Criminal Etiology is a division of criminology which attempts to vide scientific analysis of the
causes of crime. Any attempt at scientific studies of the causes of crime refers to criminal etiology,

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In the study of criminal etiology, two things or objects should be considered namely: the man and his
criminal behavior in relation to criminal law or penal law.
Approaches in the Study of Criminal Behavior
The following are the approaches in the study of criminal behaviour:
1. Biological Approach - The biological approach refers to the study of criminal behavior through
biological perspective. Biological approach is any of the following:
a. criminal anthropology, c. physiognomy, and
b. phrenology, d. heredity.
Biological approach believes that criminal behavior is inherited or is identified through physical
characteristics of a criminal.
2. Psychiatric Approach - This is also known as Criminal Psychiatry. This approach emphasizes the link
of criminal behavior to mental state. Psychogenic approach repeatedly asserts that crime is an outcome of
criminal mind, especially mental diseases and mental disorders.
3. Psychological Approach - This approach in the study of criminal behavior is commonly known as
Criminal Psychology. Psychological approach considers that criminal behavior is caused by
psychological disorders as supported by the Psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud.
4. Sociological Approach - Sociological approach insists that criminal behavior is caused by social
factors as supported by the following theories:
a. Strain Theory d. Differential Association Theory
b. Anomie Theory e. Differential Identification Theory
c. Imitation Theory

5. Geographical Approach — This is also known as Criminal Geography. Geographical approach

considers that geographical location triggers criminal behavior.
6. Demographical Approach - This is also known as Criminal Demography; it tries to understand the
relationship between criminality and population.
7. Epidemiological Approach - This approach is otherwise known as Criminal Epidemiology. This field
tries to understand the cause and transmission of crime within a population.
8. Ecology Approach - This is also known as Criminal Ecology; this studies the criminality in relation to
competition, social discrimination, division Of labor, social conflicts, as well as the interactions of the
people with their natural or developed environment.
9. Economic Approach - This studies the relationship of criminality base on the distribution of wealth or
resources in the community.
10. Victimology - refers to the study on the role (s) of victim in the crime; it explains why and how
people are being victimized.

The Focal Point in the Explanation of Criminal Behaviour

1. Subjective Approach
The study of criminal behavior or crime is considered as subjective if it deals mainly on the
biological explanation, forms of abnormalities that exist in the individual criminal before, during and after
the commission of crime. In the explanation as to the causes of criminal behavior, the hub is the
person/man/criminal such as:
a. criminal anthropology, d. physiognomy,
b. criminal psychiatry, e. phrenology, and
c. criminal psychology, f. others.

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 The bases in the determination of criminal behavior or criminal tendencies are Internal Factors
as earlier discussed by Cesare Lomroso.
2. Objective Approach
The study of criminal behavior or crime is considered as objective if it does not focus on the
person/man/criminal but rather on the circumstances that contributed to crime commission such as:
a. criminal geography, c. sociological factor, and
b. criminal economy, d. criminal demography.

The bases in the determination of criminal behavior or criminal tendencies are External Factors
as earlier explained by Cesare Lombroso.

Criminal Behavior base on the Quantity of Crime Theory Involve

1. Single or Unitary Factor - Single or Unitary Factor believes that crime is produced only by one factor
or variable, they are any of the following:
a. sociological, e. geographical,
b. biological, d. anthropological, and
c. psychoanalytical,
2. Multiple Factor - Multiple Factor considers the underlying assumption that different crime is a result
of different combination of factors. It asserts that there is no single factor that causes crime; instead it is a
combination of different theories.
3. Eclectic Factor - Eclectic Factor states that crime is in one instance maybe caused by one or more
factors while in other instances it is caused by another set of

Category of Crime Theories

One of the earliest theories that explained causes of crime is the Demonological or
Supernatural Theory. The theory posited that an individual exhibits criminal behavior through the
influence of evil spirits.
The Divine Will Theory also shared its view by asserting that a person is allowed by God to
commit crime because it's His way of punishing a person who acted against His will. Then, as previously
discussed, the Classical and Positivist theories followed; also, some modern theories were developed.
The following are category of crime theories:
a. Geographic Factors
b. Biological Factors
c. Psychological and Psychiatric Factors
d. Sociological Factors

A. The Geographical Factors

Early criminologists correlated climate, humidity, wind velocity, atmosphere pressure, rainfall,
nature of soil and other geographical factors to the existence and development of crime and criminality.
The following are explanations and studies showing the influence of
1. North and south Pole - In his book, "Thermic Law of Delinquency" Quetelet concluded that
crime against person prevails in the south Pole while during warm season crime against property
predominates.
2. Approach to the Equator - According to the Montesquieu (spirits of Laws, 1748), criminality
increases in proportion as one approach the equator and drunkenness increases as one approach
the North and south

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 3. Season of the Year - Base on the season of the year, there are more crimes against person
during summer than in rainy season. It further explained that climatic condition directly affects
one's irritability and causes criminality. In addition, during dry season, people get out of their
houses creating more personal contacts; thus, there are more probabilities of personal violence.
4. Soil Formation - Base on the soil formation, there are more crime of violence recorded in
fertile level lands than in hilly rugged terrains since there are congregations of people in fertile
level lands than in hilly rugged terrains that causes more irritation; also, there are more rape
incidences in low level districts.
5. Month of the Year - Base on the month of the year, there are more incidence of violent crimes
during warm months from April up to May; these are due to festivals, excursions, picnics and
other activities that usually happens during the said months creating more personal contact with
other people.
6. Temperature - According to Dexter, the number of arrest increases as temperature becomes
warmer. The increase of temperature affects the emotional state of a person and may lead to
fighting. The influence of temperature upon female is greater than upon male.
7. Humidity and Atmosphere Pressure - According to survey, increase in the number of
assaults was correlated with low humidity areas and lesser number of assaults was observed to
areas with high humidity. The survey explained that low and high humidity areas caused
emotional depression to human being.
8. Wind Velocity - Accordingly, the number of arrest is lesser during high wind and it may be
due to the presence of more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that lessens the vitality of men to
commit violence.
B. Biological Factors
Biological theories view that man as a living organism is the object of several studies for the
purpose of determining factors the causes him/her to commit crime. The following are the theories
embraced in biological factor:
1. Anthropological Criminology
Anthropological Criminology is sometimes referred to as Criminal Anthropology. Literally, it is
a combination of the study of the human species and the study of criminals.
This is a field of offender profiling, base on perceived links between the nature of a crime and the
personality and physical appearance of the offender. Although similar to physiognomy and phrenology
(see below), criminal anthropology is credited from the works of Positivist School namely: Cesare
Lombroso, Enrico Ferri and Raffaele Garofalo.
Lombroso stated that criminals are born with inferior physiological differences that are detectable
and popularized the notion of "born criminal"; that criminality is an atavism or hereditary disposition.
Criminal Anthropology Theories
a. Physiognomy (1741-1801) - Physiognomy is a theory based upon the idea that the assessment of the
person's outer appearance, primarily the face, may give insights into one's character or personality.
The physiognomist Johann Kaspar Lavater suggested a link between facial figures and crime.
Victor Hugo referred to his work in Les Misérables, about what he would have said about Thénardier's
face. The philosopher Jacob Fries (1773-1843) also suggested a link between crime and physical
appearance when he published a criminal anthropology handbook in 1820.
Although this form of physiognomy who generally been disproven as well, the concept has been
revived as personology which stated that different physical makeup correlates with different behaviors
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physiognomy).
b. Phrenology - Phrenology is a theory that determines character, personality traits and criminality on the
basis of the shape of the head (i.e., by reading "bumps" and "fissures"). This theory was developed by
German physician Franz Joseph Gall around 1800.

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 In addition, he developed in 1810 his work on craniology in which he alleged that crime was one
of the behaviors organically controlled by a specific area of the brain which is different from
Craniometry - the study of human skull's size, weight and shape (http://enewikipediaeorg
/wiki/PhrenoIogy).
c. Body Type Theories
The Body Type theories are as follows:
c.1. Physique Theory by Ernest Kretschmer (1921)
The suggested body types of Kretschmer are:
a. Asthenic Type - This person is skinny, with ribs easily counted and slender body type.
This type usually commits crime known as petty theft and fraud.
b. Athletic Type – this person has broad shoulders, powerful legs and muscular body
type. This type usually commits with violent crimes.
c. Pyknic Type - This person is stout, has short stubby hands and with round body, This
type usually commits deception, fraud and violence.
d. Dysplastic Or Mixed Type - The person has a body type that is less clearly evident
having any predominant type (unclassifiable). Any person with this body type usually
commits an offense against decency and morality.
Kretschmer argued that the asthenic and athletic type is associated with
schizophrenic personality while the pyknic type is linked to manic-depressive.
c. 2. Somatotype Theory by William Sheldon (1949)
William Sheldon associated body type (physique) to human temperament. Using
anthropometric methods, Sheldon studied the photogråphed bodies of some 4,000 men from front
view, side view and back view. He divided the physique of men through the contribution of three
fundamental elements - the somatotypes (see figure 7).
The three body types according to Sheldon are:
i. Endomorphic - Endomorphic has the following characteristics:
a. fat, soft and round body types;
b. their personality was described as relaxed, fond of eating and sociable;
c. they have wide waists and large bone structures;
d. has a higher proportion of Digestive Tissue; and
e. has a Viscerotonic Temperament.

ii. Mesomorphic - Mesomorphic has the following characteristics:

a. body type is characterized by a high rate of muscle growth;
b. they have large bones, solid torso combined with low fat levels;
c. filled with energy, courage and assertive tendencies;
d. they have wide shoulders with a narrow waist;
e. has a higher proportion of Muscular Tissue; and
f. has a Dionysian Temperament.

iii. Ectomorphic - Ectomorphic has the following characteristicsn

a. long arms and legs;
b. short upper body;
c. narrow shoulders;
d. has a long and thin muscles;
e. has a very low fat storage;
f. they are usually referred to as slim;
g. has a higher proportion of Nervous Tissue; and
h. has a Cerebrotonic Temperament.

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 William Sheldon named his somatotypes after the three germ layers of embryonic development
namely:
i. The Endoderm- Endoderm develops into the digestive tract.
ii. The Mesoderm- Mesoderm becomes muscle, heart and blood vessels.
iii. The Ectoderm- Ectoderm forms the nervous system.
In his book, Atlas of Men, Sheldon categorized all possible body types according to a
scale ranging from 1 to 7 for each of the somatotypes where:
a. The pure Endomorph is 7—1—1,
b. The pure Mesomorph is 1—7—1, and
c. The pure Ectomorph scores 1—1—7.

Sheldon’s Research Outcome

A predisposition towards criminality might be influenced by somatotype high in
endomorphy and intermediate in mesomorphy, in contrast, a predisposition towards suicidality
might be influenced by somatotype high in ectomorphy and ectomorph is more common in
mental institutions (Burke, 2005).
2. Heredity Studies
The common expression like, "it is in the blood" and "like father like son", is usually heard
whenever several members in the family is criminal.
Accordingly, heredity transmits single trait and characteristic from parent to offspring.
Criminality of the offspring is used to determine the nature of the parent and nature of their crime.
However, modern criminologist seems not to accept the role of heredity in the formation of criminal
behavior. Yet, it plays a contributory factor in the genesis of criminal behavior. The following are some
heredity studies relative to criminal behavior:
a. Kalikkak Family Tree (1914)
This study was made possible by Henry H. Goddard, a prominent American psychologist and
eugenicist in the early 20th century and was known especially for his 1912 work, “The Kallikak
Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeble-Mindedness". Goddard developed the pseudonym
Kallikak by combining a Greek root meaning "beauty" (kallos) with one meaning "bad" (kakos). He
also introduced the term "moron".
Goddard's study traced back six generations of the family (480 members) of a young
institutionalized woman and found "an appalling amount of defectiveness." Yet there was also
informati0n about "a good family of the same name." It emerged that the forebear met "a feeble-
minded girl by whom he became the father of a feeble-minded son."
Subsequently, the father "married a respectable girl of good family", by whom he produced
children with "a marked tendency towards professional careers", who "married into the best families .
signers of the Declaration of Independence etc." The lesson was and clear and dramatic; the study
linked medical and moral deviance fused the new Mendelian Laws with the old biblical injunction that
"the sins of the fathers shall be visited on the sons".
b. Juke Family Tree (1877)
This study accomplished by Richard Dugdale. The 19thcentury view of "degeneracy" (roughly
synonymous with "bad heredity") led theorists to conceive social problems such as the following:
1. insanity, 4. criminality, and
2. poverty, 5. idiocy.
3. intemperance,

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 This view was expounded in, The Jukes: A Study in Crime, Pauperism, Disease and Heredity
(Dugdale, 1875). This study was about a rural clan that "over seven generations produced 1,200
bastards, beggars, murderers, prostitutes, thieves and syphilitics."
Dugdale's Research Aftermath
The following are Dugdale's findings from the Juke family study:
1. 310 died as paupers,
2. 150 were criminals,
3. 7 were murderers,
4. 100 were drunkards, and
5. More than half of the women were prostitutes.

c. Sir Jonathan Edwards Family Tree

Base on the study, Sir Jonathan Edwards was a famous preacher during the colonial period when
his family tree was traced; none of the descendants was found to be criminal.
Edwards Family Tree Findings
After generations of research, the following were concluded:
1. Practically no lawbreakers;
2. more than 100 became lawyers and 30 became judges;
3. there were 13 college presidents and hundred and more professors;
4. 60 were physicians;
5. 100 were clergymen, missionaries and theological professors;
6. 80 were elected to public office, including 3 mayors, 3 governors, several members of
congress, 3 senators and 1 vice president;
7. 60 have attained prominence in authorship or editorial life with 135 books of merit; and
8. 75 became an army or navy officers.
e. Charles Goring (1913)
Goring reported a fairly sophisticated study of 3, 000 prisoners with a history of long and
frequent sentences and apparently non-criminals. The prisoners were found to be inferior to the control
group in terms of physical size and mental ability; moreover, strong associations between the
criminality of children and their parents and between brothers were found. Goring therefore claimed
that the primary source of criminal behavior is inherited characteristics rather than environmental
factors (Burke, 2005).
3. Genetic Structure
A further category of biological explanation of crime and criminal behavior considers
abnormalities in the genetic structure of the offender. Crucial abnormalities that have been identified are
those related to the sex chromosomes. People usually have 23 pairs of chromosomes, 46 in all. The sex of
a person is determined by one of these pairs. The normal complement in a female is XX and in a male
XY. In some men, however, an extra chromosome has been found to be present.
Klinefelter, Reifenstein and Albright (1942) found that sterile males often display a marked
degree of feminization together, sometimes, with low intelligence and increased stature. It was later found
that these men with Klineflter's syndrome had an extra X chromosome.
In 1962, Court Brown conducted a study of Klinefelter males in psychiatric institutions and
discovered an abnormally high incidence of criminal behavior. His study suggested that Klinefelter male
are over-represented among the population of homosexuals, transvestites and transsexuals.
Casey in 1965 and Neilson in 1968 also found that men with extra Y chromosome tend to be very
tall, generally of low intelligence and often EEG abnormalities (electroecephalogram/EEG- a record of
the rhythmical waves of electrical potential occurring in the vertebrate brain, mainly in the central cortex).

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 Stafford Clark and Taylor (1949) found that 73% of unprovoked •abnormal" serial killers had
abnormal EEG readings and among "'clearly insane" murderers, the incidence was 86%. Other studies
have also shown that EEG abnormalities are highest among aggressive psychopathic criminals lowest
among emotionally stable group (Burke, 2005).
4. Biochemistry
The following are the five identifiable categories of biochemical of criminal behavior.
a. Sexual Hormones
Glands like the pituitary, adrenals, gonads, pancreas and thyroid produces hormones.
Schlapp and Smith (1928) first suggested a causal relationship between hormones and criminal
behavior. They argued that either an excess or underproduction of hormones by the ductless
glands could lead to emotional disturbance followed by criminal behavior.
It has been recognized that male animals — of most species — are more aggressive than
females and this has been linked to the male sex hormone testosterone. Studies of violent male
prisoners suggest that testosterone levels have had an effect on aggressive behavior; however,
these results were not as strong as expected from the studies of animals.
Schalling (1987) discovered that high testosterone level in young males were associated
with verbal aggression but not actual physical aggression while low testosterone level boys would
tend not to protect their position, preferring to remain silent.
Ellis and Crontz (1990) stated that testosterone level increases during puberty and early
20s; this correlates with high crime rates (Burke, 2005).
5. Blood Sugar Levels - sometimes related to h;y'poglycaemia or low blood sugar levels diabetes
mellitus may result in irritability, assaults aggressive and motiveless reactions and murder.may culminate
in sexual offences. Experiments of Shoenthaler (1982) proved that by lowering the daily sucrose intake of
young offenders held in detention was possible to reduce the level of their antisocial behavior.
Virkkunen (1987) like hypoglycaemia with other activities often defined as antisocial such as
truancy, low verbal IQ, tattooing and stealing from home during childhood. If alcohol is drunk regularly
and in large quantities, the ethanol produced induces hypoglycaemia and increases aggression (Burke,
2005).
6. Adrenaline Sensitivity
The relationship between adrenaline and aggressive behavior is a similar area of study to that
involving testosterone. Each involves the relationship between a hormonal level and aggressive antisocial
behavior. Injections of adrenaline made no difference to the behavior of normal prisoners but a great
difference to psychopaths.
Mednick et al. (1982) discovered that not only do particular event violent criminals takes stronger
stimuli to arouse them but also once they are in a stressed state they recover more slowly to their normal
levels than non-criminals do (Burke, 2005).
7. Allergies and Diet
There have been suggested links between irritability and aggression that may lead individuals in
some circumstances to commit criminal assault and allergic reactions to such pollens, inhalants, drugs and
foods.
Prinz, Roberts and Hantman (1980) have proposed that some foods — and in particular certain
additives have effects that may lead to hyperactivity and even criminality, A low level of cholesterol has
often been linked with hypoglycaemia, particularly when alcohol use has been involved. Further, some
evidence showed that addiction to both drugs and alcohols may be related to unmet individual
biochemical needs (vitamins) (Burke, 2005).

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8. Substance Abuse
Substance abuse is usually brought about by the intake of drugs in the widest sense. Some of
these drugs are legally and freely available such as alcohol and lighter fluids that are inhaled, Alcohol has
long been associated with antisocial activity, crimes and criminality.
Drug taking do not have a long association with criminal behavior as alcohol consumption, It was
only at the beginning of the 20th century that drugs were labeled as major social problem and came to be
regulated. Drugs are chemicals and once taken it alters the chemical balance of the body and brain. This
can affect behavior, The way that behavior is altered varies according to the type and quantity of the drug
taken. For example, the biological effect of cannabis and heroin tends to reduce aggressive hostile
tendencies while cocaine and its derivatives are more associated with violence (Burke, 2005).

C. Psychological Positivism and Psychiatric Factors

1. Psychological Positivism
Psychologists have considered a variety of possibilities to account for individual differences —
defective conscience, emotional immaturity, inadequate childhood socialization, maternal deprivation and
poor moral development. They study how aggression is learned which situations promote violent or
delinquent reactions, how crime is related to personality factors and how various mental disorders are
associated with criminality.
1.1. Psychodynamic or Psychoanalytic Theory
Psychodynamic explanations of criminal behavior have their origins in the extremely
influential work of Sigmund Freud. Criminal behavior is developed among individual consonant
with the development on his/her human mind, trait and behavior. Below is the Tripartite
Personality of Freud:
a. Id - Id refers to the impulse or instinct of social drive. It is inherited, that is present at birth. A
new born infant enters the world in an energy reservoir of instinctive biological drives which is
uncontaminated by external reality.
At this point, the human being is prepared to behave only in terms of pleasure principle
towards the discharge of his instinctual energies. Part of the original instinct of man includes the
following:
1. Selfishness,
2. Violence, and
3. anti-social wishes.
b. Ego - Ego form part of man's physical organization between his sensory stinnuli on one hand
and his motor activity on the other. The ego operates on the basis of expediency,
The question of right and wrong, safe or dangerous, permitted or prohibited do not play
an important role. The child begins to acquire an awareness of one's self-instinct from the
environment. Decision is reached in terms of reality principle.
c. Super Ego - Super Ego refers to the conscience of man. Super-ego tries to correct or control
the ego and may be represented by the Voice of God.
Thus, according to Freud, to be normal there must be proper balance of the above
components (id, ego and super ego). Imbalance or disharmony could make a person neurotic. If
the super ego is deficient or improperly developed, the ego will dominate, hence the person may
become hilputsive or aggressive which makes him/her more prone to commit violent acts.
To this, psychoanalytic theory of criminality attributes delinquency and criminal behavior
to at least three possible causes:
a. a conscience so overbearing that it arouses feelings of guilt,
b. a conscience so weak that it cannot control the individual's impulses, and
c. the need for immediate gratification (Adler, et al., 2007).

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Related Psychological Studies
Psychoanalytical studies in the explanation of criminal behavior are:
a. Aichorn - In his book entitled Wayward Youth (1925), he said that the cause of crime and
delinquency was the faulty ego development of a child during the first few years of his life.
According to him, a child normally follows only his pleasure impulse instinctive• Soon he grows
up and finds some restriction to these pleasure impulses which he must control. Otherwise, he
will suffer from faulty ego development and would become delinquent. He then concluded that
many of the offenders with whom he had worked had underdeveloped consciences.
Aichorn identified two further categories of criminal: (a) those with fully developed
consciences but identified with their criminal parents, and (b) those who had been allowed to do
whatever they like by over-indulgent parents.
b. Cyrill Burt - Burt through his book Young Delinquent (1925) gives the theory of General
Emotionality. According to him many offenses can be traced to either in excess or a deficiency of
a particular instinct which accounts for the tendency of many criminals to be weak willed or
easily led,
Fear and absconding may be due to the impulse of fear. Callous type of offenders may be
due to the deficiency in the primitive emotion of love and an excuse of the instinct of hate.
c. Healy - In his Individual Delinquency, he claimed that crime is an expression of the mental
content of the individual.
Frustration of the individual causes emotional discomfort; personality demands removal
of pain and pain is eliminated by substitute behavior, that is, crime delinquency of the individual.
Healy and Bonner (1936) conducted a study of 105 pairs of brothers where one was a
persistent offender and the other a nonoffender. It was found that only 19 of the offenders and 30
of the non-offenders had experienced good quality family conditions. These findings suggested
that circumstances within a household may be favorable for one child but not the sibling. It then
proposed that the latter had not made an emotional attachment to a "good parent", hence
impeding the development of superego.
d. Bromberg - He noted that criminality is the result of emotional immaturity. A person is
emotionally matured if he has learned to control his emotion effectively and who lives at peace
with himself and harmony with the standards of conduct which are acceptable to the society. An
emotionally immature person rebel against rule and regulations, engage in usual activities and
experience a feeling of guilt due to inferiority complex (Burke, 2005).
1.2. Low Self Control Theory
In a General Theory of Crime, Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirshi argued that
crime is caused by lack of self-control, Self-control accounts for "the differential tendency of
people to avoid criminal acts whatever the circumstances in which they find themselves.
Low-self Control or Lack of Self-control is said to predispose individuals of all ages to
commit crimes. The inability to control oneself successfully is linked to childhood experiences
that portend of lifelong propensity for committing illegal acts (Maguire, & Radosh, 1999).
1.3. Behavioral Learning Theory
Behavioural Learning Theory has its origin from the work of Ivan Petrovich Pavlov and
B.F. Skinner. Skinner extended the principle to active learning, where a person has to do
something in order to obtain a reward or avoid punishment (operant conditioning). Much same
principle apply: the occurrence of the desired behavior is increased by positive reinforcement
and eventually extinguished by non-reinforcement. For example:
a. if you put money in a ticket machine and no ticket comes out, you stop using the
machine (non-reinforcement), on the other hand

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 b. many people put money in gaming machines if they pay out prizes regularly or even
infrequently (positive reinforcement).
Hans Eysenck's theory, however, argued from the biological predestined actor
perspective that individuals are genetically endowed with certain learning abilities that are
conditioned by stimuli in the environment. He then accepted the rational actor model premise that
crime can be a natural and rational choice activity where persons maximized pleasure and
minimized pain. Thus, he favored the concept of Classical theory.
However, in 1963, Eysenck found that those diagnosed with antisocial personality
disorder are mostly extroverted. This suggests the possible relevance of personality
characteristics of psychopaths in explaining their antisocial behavior. Extroverts are said to be
more difficult to socialize because of difficulties in learning.
In conclusion, behavioral theorists have emphasized the role of environmental stimuli and
overt behavioral response.
1.4. Cognitive Learning Theory
Assumptions on Cognitivism have their origins in the work of Gestalt psychologist of
Germany, Edward Tolman of USA and Jean Piaget of Switzerland. Cognitive psychologist
proposed that by observing the responses made by individuals to different stimuli it is possible to
draw inferences about the nature of the internal cognitive processes that produce those responses.
Gestalt psychologist emphasized the importance of organizational processes in perception,
learning and problem-solving and proposed that individuals were predisposed to organize
information in particular ways.
B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning (that the person must respond if they are to learn)
shares the view with Cognitivists. However, cognitivists place emphasis on the mental rather
than physical activity. This social learning theory emphasizes that behavior may be reinforced
not only through actual rewards and punishments but also through expectations that are learned
by watching what happens to other people. Ultimately the person will make a choice as to what
they will learn and how.
Gabriel Trade (1843-1904) argued that criminals are primarily normal people or crime is
simply a normal learned behavior. However, he later proposed his Law of Imitation or Imitation
Theory which is considered as cognitive theory because individual was said to learn ideas
through association with other ideas, and behavior was said to follow from those ideas. His theory
of imitation proposed that the inferior usually imitates the superior. For example:
a. drunkenness and murder had originated from crimes committed by royalty but had
been subsequently imitated by other social class, and
b. those in rural areas imitated crimes originated in the city.
Further, he suggested that newer fashions replaced older ones, for example murder by
shooting was replaced by murder through the use of knife (Burke, R. H., 2005).
2. Psychiatric Factor
The brain is one of the most important organs studied by psychiatrists. Ancient psychiatry
originated in the 5th century BC with the ideology that psychotic disorders were supernatural in origins
At that time, clergies were responsible of "curing" mental disorders. By the middle ages, psychiatric
hospitals were first created as custodial institutions to house those with mental disorders. However, is
there really relationship between human minds to criminality? Let's find out!
What is Mental Deficiency?
Mental Deficiency is a condition of incomplete development of the mind existing before the age
of 18, whether arose from the inherent causes or induced by disease or injury. Mentally deficient persons
are prone to commit malicious damage to property and unnatural sex offense. They may commit violent
crimes but not crimes involving the use of mentality.

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Kinds of Mental Disorder
The following are the kinds of mental disorder:
a. Idiot - A person with this mental defect is unable to guard himself/herself against common
physical dangers. Idiot's mentality is similar to that of 1 to 3 years old child (see tables 2 and 3).

Table 2: The Intellectual Quotient

I. Q. Category Equivalent Capacity

1 to 25 Idiot - A child from 1 to 3 yrs. old
26 to 50 Imbecile - A child from 3 to 6 yrs. old
51 to 75 Moron - A child from 6 to 8 yrs. old
76 to 90 Dull-minded - A child from 9 to 11 yrs. old
91 t0 120 Normal (Average) - A child from 11 to 14 yrs. old
121 to 130 Superior - Above average capacity
131 to 140 Talented - High development
140 above Genius - Very high development
b. Imbecile - A person with this mental defect, though not amounting to idiocy is yet pronounced
that he/she is incapable of managing himself/herself on his/her affair. His/her mentality is similar
to that of 3 to 6 years old child.
c. Feeble-minded - A person with this mental disorder though not amounting to imbecility, yet so
pronounced that it requires care, supervision and control for his/her own protection or for the
protection of others. In the case of children, they appear to be permanently incapable and ave
defective in receiving proper instruction or education.
d. Delusional Disorder - Delusional Disorder is sometimes referred to as paranoia, this disorder is
portrayed in the media more heavily than it occur. A person with delusion exhibits actions of
false beliefs
Table 3: Levels of Mental Deficiency

I.Q. 50 to 70: Mild

- Able to care themselves; could finish elementary and high
Retardation schools, holds semi-skilled jobs, can marry and serve as
adequate parents.
I.Q. 35 to 49: Moderate - Maybe trained to care themselves; reach primary level of
Retardation education, holds menial jobs often sheltered workshops,
difficulty in maintaining social relationships and rarely
marry.
I.Q. 20 to 34: Severe - May learn sedimentary language and work skills, unable
Retardation to care themselves.
I.Q. 20 Below: Profound - Spend their lives in institution that provides custodial
Retardation care, not capable of true interaction.

Both tables above presented that individuals with intellectual deficiency marked I. Q.
below 70 have difficulties in doing everyday life (Landsman and Rasmey, 1989). These difficulties are in:
a) self-care (eating and dressing),
b) school work (reading dressing), and
c) social relationship (developing friendship) ( Dizon, et. Al., 1999)
e. Schizophrenia – is a mental disorder characterized by loss of contact with reality, marked
disturbances of thought and perception, bizarre behaviour and was formerly called dementia
praecox. At some phase, delusions (false belief) or hallucinations (false perception) almost
always occur.
f. Compulsive Neurosis - This refers to the uncontrollable or irresistible impulse to do something.
It may be an active desire to resist the irrational behavior but prevented by unconscious motives
to act out his/her difficulty or to suffer miserable to his/her fear. The following are examples of
compulsive neurosis:
1. Pyromania - It refers to the compulsive desire to set fire.
2. Homicidal Compulsion - It denotes to the irresistible urge to kill.
3. Kleptomania - It refers to the compulsive desire to steal.
4. Dipsomania - It is the compulsive desire to drink alcohol.

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D. Sociological Factors
Sociological causes of crime refers to things, place and people with whom the person comes in
contact and which play a part in determining actions and conducts. These causes may contribute to the
development of criminal behavior. The following are the sociological theories of crime:

1. Differential Association Theory (DAT, 1883—1950) - Differential Association Theory is also known
as Peer Group Theory developed by Edwin Sutherland and proposed that through interaction with
other people an individual may learn the following:
a. values, c. techniques, and
b. motives for criminal behaviour, d. attitudes.

Sutherland is a sociologist of the Symbolic Interactionist School of Thought; he is the

author of the leading text Criminology, published in 1924. The book first stated the principles of
differential association in the third edition and renamed the book into Principles of Criminology.
The theory also had a structural element which posited that conflict and social
disorganization are the underlying causes of crime because they determine the patterns of people
associated with it.
He remained convinced that social class was a relevant factor, coined the phrase white-collar
criminal in his speech to the American Sociological Association on December 27, 1939.
Note: Edwin Sutherland is the Father of American Criminology
Key Points of Differential Association Theory
DAT has the following nine key points:
a. Criminal behaviour is learned.
b. Criminal behaviour is learned by interaction with other persons through the process of
communication.
c. The principal part of learning criminal behaviour occurs within intimate groups.
d. When criminal behaviour is learned, the learning includes techniques of committing the crime
which are sometimes very complicated, sometimes simple and the specific direction of motives,
drives, rationalizations and attitude.
e. The specific direction of motives and drives are learned from definitions of the legal codes as
favourable or unfavourable.
f. A person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favourable to violation of law
over definitions unfavourable to violation of law.
g. Differential association may vary in frequency, duration, priority and intensity.
h. The process of learning criminal behaviour by association with criminal and anti-criminal
patterns involves all of the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning.
i. While criminal behaviour is an expression of general needs and values, it is not explained by
those needs and values, since non-criminal behaviour is an expression of the same needs and
values (Burke, 2005).

2. Differential Identification Theory- This theory was conceptualized by Daniel Classer and suggested
that a person pursues criminal behaviour to the extent that he/she identifies himself with real or imaginary
person from whose perspective his/her criminal behaviour seems acceptable.
Example: A his/her person self committed to his/her thieve theft idol.through identifying

The identification need not be an intimate personal association but it may be done by
identifying themselves with a character in any of the following:
a. movie, c, television,
b. radio, d. comic, and the like.

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3. Imitation-suggestion Theory - This theory was suggested by Gabriel Tarde; he asserted that
delinquency and crime are learned and adopted. The learning process could either be:
a. conscious type of copying (imitation), and
b. unconscious copying (suggestion) of confronting patterns of behavior.
4. Differential Social Organization Theory - This theory is also called Social Disorganization Theory.
There is social disorganization if the following are present:
a. Social change.
b. Conflict of values between the new and the old.
c. There is reducing influence of the social institutions over behavior.
d. There is lack of well-defined limit to behavior.
e. There is breakdown of rules.
f.. There is absence of definite role for the adolescence to play.
g. There is a declining influence of a solid moral and ethical front.

Some persons consequently break the lines of social control and society has difficulty in
maintaining effective social order.
5. Conflict of Culture Theory - This theory was introduced by Thorsten Sellin. He emphasized that the
multiplicity of conflicting culture is the principal source of social disorganization. The high crime and
delinquency rates of certain ethnic or racial group is explained by exposure to diverse and incongruent
standards and codes of larger society.
The high rate of population mobility aggravates the cultural diversity and exposure of children to
varied cultures the more complex the culture the greater is the chance that norms of various groups would
conflict.
6. Containment Theory - Containment theory was formed by Reckless. According to him, criminality is
brought by the inability of the group to contain its behavior. Thus, effective containment of every person
into the value of system and structure of society will minimize the crime. Containment is better attained
when the group is homogeneous, isolated, undisturbed by migration and cultural clash.
A group of people coming from a common ancestry isolated from outside influence, living in
harmony and in cohesion, having a common religion, exercise maximum containment over the behavior
of the members.
7. Symbolic Interactionism - Symbolic interactionism was drawn from the phenomenology of Edmund
Husserl and George Herbert Mead, as well as sub-cultural theorist and conflict theorist.
This is focused on the relationship between the powerful state, media and conservative ruling
elite against the less powerful group. The powerful group has the ability to become 'significant other' in
the less powerful group of generating meaning. The former could to some extent impose their meanings
on the latter and therefore they were able to “label” minor delinquent youngsters as criminals. These
youngsters would often take on board the label, indulge in crime more readily and become actors in the
'self-fulfilling prophecy' of the powerful group.
Later developments in this set of theories were introduced by Howard Becker and Edwin Lemert
in the mid-20th century.
8. Anomie Theory - Anomie theory was introduced by Emile Durkheim. Anonie came from Greek
words: a - "without" and nomos "law"
Anomie, in contemporary English, means a condition or malaise in individuals, characterized by
an absence or diminution of standards or values. When applied to a government or society, anomie
implies social unrest or chaos.
Durkheim defined the term Anomie as a condition where social and/or moral norms are confused,
unclear or simply not Present. Durkheim felt that this lack of norms or pre-accepted limits on behavior in
a society led to deviant behavior.
Anomie = Lack of Regulation / Breakdown of Norms

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9. Strain - Strain was developed by the father of modern Sociology Emile Durkheim (1858-1917).
This theory sees crime as the normal result of an "American dream" in which people set their
aspirations (for wealth, education, occupation or any status symbol) too high and inevitably discover
strain or goal blockages, along the way. Reducing aspirations or increasing opportunities are remedies to
strain. Following on the work of Émile Durkheim on strain theories had been advanced by Merton (1938),
Cohen (1955), Cloward and Ohlin (1960), Agnew (1992), and Messner and Rosenfeld (1994).
9. 1. Robert Merton's Strain Theory - American sociologist Robert Merton suggested that
mainstream culture, especially in the United States, is saturated with dreams of opportunity,
freedom and prosperity; as Merton puts it, the American Dream. Most people buy into this dream
and it becomes a powerful cultural and psychological motivation.
Merton also used the term anomie, but it meant something slightly different for him than
it did for Durkheim. If the social structure of opportunities is unequal and prevents the majority
from realizing the dream, some of them will turn to illegitimate means (crime) in order to realize
it. Others will retreat or drop out into deviant subcultures (gang members, "hobos": urban
homeless drunks and drug abusers).
Strain theory holds that crime is caused by the difficulty of those in the poverty strata
with regard to achieving socially valued goals by legitimate means. As those with, for instance,
poor educational attainment they have difficulty achieving wealth and status by securing well
paid employment, they are more likely to use criminal means to obtain these goals. Merton
suggests five adaptations to this dilemma:
a. Innovation: individuals who accept socially approved goals but not necessarily the socially
approved means.
b, Retreatism: those who reject socially approved goals and the means for acquiring them.
c. Ritualism: those who buy into a system of socially approved means but lose sight of the goals.
Merton believed that drug users are in this category.
d. Conformity: those who conform to the system's means and goals.
e. Rebellion: those who negate socially approved goals and means by creating a new system of
acceptable goals and means (Adler, et al., 2007).
9. 2. Albert Cohen's Strain Theory - He tied anomie theory with Freud's reaction formation
idea, suggested that delinquency among lower class youths is a reaction against the social norms
of the middle class. Some youths, especially from poorer areas where opportunities are scarce
might adopt social norms specific to those places which may include "toughness" and disrespect
for authority. Criminal acts may result when youths conform to norms of the deviant subculture.
9. 3. Robert Agnew Strain Theory - He argued that person's actual or anticipated failure to
achieve positively valued goals, actual or anticipated removal¯of positively valued stimuli and
actual or anticipated act of negative stimuli were all caused by strain.
9.4. Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin Strain Theory - They suggested that delinquency could
result from differential opportunity to lower class youth. Such youths may be tempted to do
criminal activities, choosing an illegitimate path that provides them more lucrative economic
benefits than conventional, over legal options such as minimum wage-paying jobs available to
Steven F. Messner and Richard Rosenfeld.
9.5. Messner and Rosenfeld Strain Theory - They proposed a theory of Institutional Anomie
(sometimes called "American Dream" Theory) representing a radicalization of Merton's key ideas
by linking Strain Theory to Social Control Theory and focusing on contradictions in both the
cultural system and the opportunity structures to be pursued by everyone in a mass society
dominated by huge multinational corporations. Specifically, they built on the Section of Merton's
theory dealing with emphasized goals on them.

15
10. Labeling - Frank Tannenbaum saw criminals as underdogs who initially did something out of the
ordinary and then got sweep up in a huge, government-sponsored labeling or shunning reaction. He
argued that anyone facing such an overwhelming, negative labeling social reaction will eventually
become more like the label because that is the only way out for a person's identity formation.
11. Conflict Theory - This theory holds that crime is base on the conflict between competing interest
groups; for example, rich against poor, management against labor, whites against minorities, men against
women, adults against children, etc. This kind of dog-eat-dog theory also has their origins in the 1960s
and 1970s and is characterized by the study of power and powerlessness.
12. Radical Theory - Also from the 1960s and 1970s, typically involve Marxist (referring to Karl Marx
1818-1883) critiques of capitalist society which allows things to exist like millions of billionaires and
millionaires while the vast majority of people live in poverty or just get by. Such fundamental economic
disparities reflect basic contradictions in the way work is organized into demoralizing, brutalizing and
oppressing conditions,
Crime is seen as a reflection of class struggle, a kind of primitive rebellion with criminals
behaving as rebels without a clue. Only through praxis (informed action based on theoretical
understanding) will the new socialist society be formed and crime will go away.
13. Control Theory - Control theory in criminology is all about social control and this theory has pretty
much dominated the criminological landscape since 1969. Control theory which is also known as Social
Control Theory fits into the Positivist School, Neo-Classical School, and later, Right Realism.
It was later called as Social Bonding Theory which proposed that people's relationships,
Commitments, values, norms and beliefs encourages them not to break the law.
Control theory focused upon a person's relationships to his/her agents of socialization such as
parents, teachers, preachers, coaches, scout leaders, or police officers. It studied how effective bonding
with such authority figures translates into bonding with society, hence keeping people out of trouble with
the law.
Control Theory by Travis Hirschi
Almost all criminology theories look into the factors that makes people becomes criminals; in
contrast control theory tries to explain why people do not become a criminal.
Hirschi's Four Main Characteristics of Crime Control
a. Attachment to others
b. Belief in moral validity of rules
c. Commitment to achievement
d. Involvement in conventional activities

People who possess those characteristics are less likely to become deviant (or criminal); in
contrast, it is more likely that people might become criminal.
Hirschi expanded on this theory with the idea that a person with low self-control is more likely to
become criminal; social bonding through peers, parents and others could have a countering effect to one t
s low self-control. For families of low socio-economic status, a factor that distinguishes families with
delinquent children from those who are not delinquent is the control exerted by parents or chaperonage.
Four Types of Control
The following are the four types of control:
a. Direct - Direct control refers to the application of punishment. Punishment is threatened or
applied for wrongful behavior and compliance is rewarded by parents, family and authority
figures.
b. Indirect- Indirect control refers to the youth's voluntary non-delinquent act by reason of his/her
conscience or superego.
c. Internal- This is done by identification of those who influenced behaviour because his or her
delinquent act might cause pain and disappointment to parents and others with whom who or she
has close relationships.

16
 d. Control through needs satisfaction - This is achieved by satisfying one's desire. ror example, if all
needs of every person are met, there is no point in criminal activity.

Theory Motive
Demonology (5,000 BC – 1692AD) Demonic Influence
Theology (1215 BC – present) God’s Will
Medicine (3000 BC- present) Natural Illness
Psychiatry (1795 – present) Mental Illness
Psychoanalysis (1895 – present) Subconscious guilt/defense mechanism
Classical School (1960 -- ) Free will/reason/hedonism
Positive School (1840 -- ) Determinism/beyond control of man
Phrenology (1770-1875) Bumps on head
Cartography (1800 – present) Geographic location/climate
Mental Testing (1895 – pres.) Feeble-mindedness/retardation /low IQ
Imitation (1843-1905) Mind on mind crowd influences
Economics (18-pres.) Poverty/economic need/consumerism
Sociology (1908-pres.) Social/environmental factors
Castration (1907-1947) Secretion of androgen from testes
Ecology (1927-present) Relation of person with environment
Transexualism (1937-1969) Trapped in body of wrong sex
Psychosurgery (1935-1959) Frontal lobe dysfunction/need lobotomy
Culture Conflict (1938-1980) Conflict of customs from “old” country
Differential Association (1939-pres.) Learning from bad companions
Anomie (1938-present) State of normlessness/goal-means gap
Differential Opportunity (1961-pres.) Absence of legitimate opportunities
Identity (1942-1980) Hostile attitude/crisis/sense of sameness
Identification (1950-1955) Making heroes out of legendary criminals
Containment (1961-1971) Outer temptation/inner resistance balance
Prisonization (1940-1970) Customs and folkways of prison culture
Social Defense (1947-1971) Soft tragets/absence of crime prevention
Dysfunctional Families (1958-pres.) Members “feed off” other’s neurosis
White Collar Crime (1945-pres) Cutting Corners, bordering on illegal
Control Theory (1961-pres) Weak social bonds/natural predispositions
Strain Thoery (1954-pres.) Anger, relative deprivation, inequality
Subcultures (1955-pres) Criminal values as normal within group
Labeling theory (1963-1976) Self-fulfilling prophecies/name calling
Neutralization (1957-1990) Self-talk, excuses before behaviour
Drift (1964-1984) Sense of limbo/living in two worlds
Operant Conditioning (1953-1980) Stimuli-to-stimuli contingencies
Transactional Analysis (1961-1974) No communication between inner parent-adult-
child
Learning Disabilities (1952-1984) School failure/relying on “crutch”
Biodynamics (1955-1962) Lack of harmony with environment
Nutrition and Diet (1979-present) Imbalances in mineral/vitamin content
Biofeedback (1974-1981) Involuntary reactions to stress
Biosocial Criminology (1977-1989) Environmental triggers inherited “markers”
“New Criminology” (1973-1983) Ruling class oppression
Conflict Criminology (1969-pres) Structural barriers to class interests
Critical Criminology (1973-pres) Segmented group formations
Left Realism (1984-pres.) Working class prey on one another
Criminal Personality (1976-1980) 53 errors in thinking
Feminism (1980-present) Patriarchal power structures
Low Self Control Theory (1993-pres.) Impulsiveness, Sensation-seeking

Crime in the Philippines

Criminologist has accepted that criminal tendencies and behavior could be influenced by social
conditions. This one factor seems to account largely to the crime rate situation in the Philippines although
crimes committed are invariabiy associated with some of the following contributing factors:

17
 1. economic, 4. cultural influences, and
2. environment, 5. social conditions.
3. individual personal temperament,

Geographically speaking, the Philippines is in the tropic zone and theoretically, Filipinos are hot-
blooded with very volatile temperament. The cold season do not seem to affect the Filipino temperament
but sometimes climate conditions have little to do with the criminal propensity of the Filipino people.
Summer and rainy seasons showed no difference in crime rates as they are almost of the same
level irrespective of the locality. Further, criminal behavior of the people is greatly affected by poor
economic and social conditions.
Principal Causes of Crime
Authorities in the field of law enforcement and public safety have proven that the following are
the principal causes of juvenile and adult's anti-social behavior:
1. hatred, 4. passion,
2. personal gain, 5. Insanity, and
3. revenge, 6. unpopular laws.

Sociological Causes of Crime

The following are common sociological causes of crime in the country:
1. Lack of Parental Guidance - Experience proved that many parents lack control over their children
through ignorance, severity, carelessness and indifference. Through this factor, children generally get
involve into trouble. A phrase stating that, "today's delinquent is tomorrow's criminal", will probably exist
if parents fails to discipline and teach their children good ways as well as rear them uprightly.
2. Broken Home and Family - A family is a homogenous, unified and intimate social group wherein
children may receive the following:
a. have their initial experience with others,
b. receive protection,
c. attain normal instruction, and
d. achieve basic physical and emotional satisfaction.
Family Home is the agency through which the child becomes familiar with his/her culture which
includes:
a. respect to the rights of others,
b. respect to property neighbourliness,
c. courtesy,
d. good manners, and the like.

Glueck and Glueck (1950) found that the fathers of offenders provided discipline that was
generally lax and inconsistent. The use of Physical punishment by both parents was found to be common
and the giving of praise is rare. Parents of non-offenders were, however, found to use physical
punishment more sparingly and were more consistent in their use of discipline.
They also measured the frequency of broken homes among their samples (respondents) and found
that 60% of the offenders came from broken home, compared with only 34 % of the other samples
(Burke, 2005).
3. Lack of Recreational Facilities – Recreational facilities are important especially to youths for them to
use their youthful energy in a legitimate way in those areas when they are most needed such as: parks,
sports club and the like. Consequently, many of our young people tend to use their energies in
mischievous instances. On the other hand, we may not have hobbies to occupy our leisure time; as a
result, we may not have hobbies to occupy our leisure time is sometimes spent in doing illegal ways.
Sometimes, it is true to say that “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop”.

18
 4. Lack of Employment – Lack of employment gives us too much leisure time and may lead us to crime
commission. Although however, poverty itself is not a direct cause of crime, it is true that it may set up
demands and situations that can be satisfied only by larceny, illegal occupation and drunkenness.
5. School Failure – The duty of the school in the character development of children is complementary to
the home. Second to the home, the school has close contact with children for a long period of time; thus,
it has powerful influence in developing the character of the children and has much to do with their future
life and career.
The following are the possible contributions of school’s failure to delinquency and crime:
a. Among the delinquents, there is a high percentage of juvenile with poor school adjustments.
b. A high percentage of delinquents express dislikes to the school in general.
c. Truancy from school is closely related to juvenile delinquency.
d. There appears to be a higher rate of delinquency during school days than on vacation and
weekends.
e. There is a comparatively high rate of delinquency during right-after-the-school hours.

6. Misdirected Religious Teachings - The relevance of religion to criminality has always been
considered on how much it helps in combating crime and delinquency. These are due to the fact that
religions have always supported morality, decency, love of mankind and above all, love of God.
Delinquency and crime, therefore, has not only been seen as a wrong in the eyes of the law but likewise in
the eyes of God, However, religion may also serve as the vehicle way to crime commission under any of
the following circumstances:
a. when a certain religious group actively participates in partisan political activities;
b. when religion tries to inculcate doctrine inconsonance with accepted norms of society; and
c. when religion preaches the use of violence in the attainment of its objectives.
7. Mass Communication Media - There is no doubt that modern technology in mass communication
media is a contributory factor in the development of criminal behavior. Media refers to any of the
following:
a. newspaper,
b. television,
c. radio, and
d. world wide web.
Youths including children may imitate the actions and attitudes of movie characters they usually
idolize which performs either positive or negative roles. Thus, youths and children should be given close
parental guidance.
8. Political Causes - The following are possible political reasons why a person commits crime:
a. There are too many laws and ordinances passed and violated.
b. The police and other law enforcement agencies are enforcing the laws carelessly; thus, people
are impressed with the idea that they can break the law with impunity from punishment and
arrest.
c. Leniency of the court to impose stiffer penalties which encourages commission of crime.
d. There are certain laws that are too unpopular that even the most decent citizens are violating it.
e. Poor prison systet)) which fails to reform and rehabilitate prisoners.
f. Insufficient nun)ber of law enforcers to deter the people in committing crimes.
g. Indifferent attitude of the public in helping their police agency in combating criminality.
h. Finally, political interference of those occupying higher positions in the government.

III – REFLECTION AND RESPONSE/ACTION

After you read and internalize the content on this unit you may start doing the activities prepared
for you. ANSWER ALL THE ACTIVITIES ON THE SHEETS PROVIDED.

19
Activity 1. Elaborate and Explain the question below.
One theory suggested that crime exist because of poverty. Thus, assuming that poverty is eliminated,
would crime still exist? Yes or No. Defend your answer.

Refer to answer sheet for your answer.

Activity 2. Make a summary on what you have learned from the Category of Crime Theories by completing the
mind map. Connect the boxes by drawing lines linking each concept. You may add boxes if necessary.
First Level: Category of Crime Theories Second Level: Kinds Third Level: Definition

Refer to answer sheet for your answer.

Activity 3. Matching Type. Match Column A (Thoery) to Column B (motive). Write the letter of your
answer on the sheets provided.

Column A (Theory) Column B (Motive)

1. Demonology a. Stimuli-to-stimuli contingencies
2. Psychiatry b. Poverty/economic need/consumerism
3. Psychoanalisis c. Self-fulfilling prophecies/name calling
4. Classical Criminology d. Relation of person with environment
5. Positive Criminology e. Determinism/beyond control of man
6. Phrenology f. Making heroes out of legendary criminals
7. Cartography g. State of normlessness/goal-means gap
8. Mental testing h. Mind on mind crowd influences
9. Imitation i. Feeble-mindedness/retardation/low IQ
10. Economics j. Sense of limbo/living in two worlds
11. Sociology k. Social/environmental factors
12. Ecology l. Working class prey on one another
13. Culture Conflict m. Conflict of customs from “old” country
14. Differential Association n. Learning from bad companions
15. Anomie o. Geographic location/climate
16. Differential Opportunity p. Subconscious guilt/defense mechanism
17. Identification q. Free will/reason/hedonism
18. Left Realism r. Absence of legitimate opportunities
19. Strain Theory s. Bumps on head
20. Subcultures t. Criminal values as normal within group
21. Labelling Theory u. Demonic influence
22. Drift v. Rulling class oppression

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 23. Operant Conditioning w. Mental illness
24. Learning Disabilities x. School failure/relying on “crutch”
25. The “New Criminology” y. Anger, relative deprivation, inequality

IV – SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT

Answer the multiple choice questions below to see how much you have learned on this unit.
WRITE YOUR ANSWERS ON THE SHEETS PROVIDED.

Select the answer from the four choices lettered A, B, C and D. If none of the options is
correct, write E.

1. According to Sigmund Freud, this is an impulse or instinct of social drive that the human being is
prepared to behave only in terms of pleasure principle towards the discharge of his instinctual energies.
This is referred to as:
a. Id c. Psychoanalytical Theory
b. Ego d. Super Ego
2. In his book entitled Wayward Youth (1925), he said that cause of crime and delinquency was the faulty
ego development of children during the first few years of their life. The proponent was:
a. Aichorn c. Cyrill Burt
b. Bromberg d. Healy
3. According to him, many offenses could be traced to either in excess or deficiency of a particular
instinct for the tendency of many criminals to be weak willed or easily led. This theory of General
Emotionality was given by:
a. Aichorn c. Cyrill Burt
b. Bromberg d. Healy
4. Mr. Arnold was diagnosed by a psychiatrist as idiot. Accordingly, idiots have mental defectiveness of
such a degree that they are unable to guard themselves against physical dangers. Thus, Mr. Arnold has a
mental thinking similar:
a. 2 years old person c.8 years old person
b. 4 years old person d. 2 to 7 years old person
5. This theory was the child of the 1960’s and 1970s which saw criminals as underdogs who initially do
something out of the ordinary and then got sweep in a huge government-sponsored shunning reaction.
a. Labeling Theory c. Drift Theory
b. 4 years old person d. Social Bonding Theory
6. A ______ is a homogenous, unified and intimate social group where in children may receive
protection.
a. Home c. Family
b. Parent d. School
7. Which among the following has the powerful influence in developing the character of the children and
has much to do with their future life and career.
a. Home c. Family
b. Parent d. School
8. Which among the following is not considered as principal causes of crime?

21
 a. Political Causes c. Hatred
b. Personal Gain d. Revenge
9. Media refers to any of the following, except:
a. newspaper c. television
b. radio d. world wide web
10. It is a division of criminology which attempts to provide scientific analysis of the causes of crime.
a. Criminal Behaviour c. Sociology
b. Criminal Etiology d. All of these

V – FEEDBACK TO IMPROVE LEARNING AND TEACHING.

Please let us know your difficulties or whatever problem you encountered in doing all
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