Traditional Criminological Theories Research Articles

Biological Underpinnings of Criminal Behavior: A Comprehensive Review

Background: Traditional criminological theories often emphasize social and environmental factors in criminal behavior. However, early biological research, which was initially reductionist and focused on physical traits, has evolved significantly with advancements in genetics and neuroimaging techniques. This evolution has led to a more nuanced understanding of the role of biological factors in criminal behavior. Objective: This review aims to critically examine how genetic, neurobiological, and psychophysiological factors contribute to criminal behavior, and to explore the interplay between these biological predispositions and environmental influences. Methods: We systematically analyzed empirical studies that investigate the impact of abnormalities in brain structures, neurotransmitter systems, and genetic predispositions on antisocial behaviors, integrating these findings with socio-environmental conditions. Results: Findings from recent studies indicate significant contributions of abnormalities in brain areas such as the prefrontal cortex and amygdala, and dysregulation in neurotransmitter systems to antisocial behaviors. These biological factors, when combined with environmental influences, enhance our understanding of criminal tendencies. Conclusion: The integration of biological perspectives into criminological theories marks a significant shift towards a more holistic approach in the study of criminal behavior. This review advocates for the development of targeted intervention strategies and ethical policy formulations, emphasizing the potential of biological research to improve the efficacy and humanity of the criminal justice system. Ongoing interdisciplinary research and collaboration are essential to continue advancing our understanding and management of criminal behavior.

Theoretical Explanations of the Development of Youth Hacking

Hacking, particularly among youth, is a relatively new form of deviance and its etiology is not well understood. Moreover, there is a lack of developmental approaches to understanding youth hacking, and the majority of studies on predictors of hacking have been cross-sectional. In light of this, we draw on prospective longitudinal data on a sample of Korean youth to explore theoretical predictors of youth hacking through a developmental lens. Cross-lagged dynamic panel models are employed to examine time-variant and time-invariant theoretical predictors of hacking. Results show that well-known criminological predictors are significantly associated with youth hacking, which implies the applicability of traditional criminological theories in online deviance. Limitations, suggestions for future research, and implications for practice are discussed.

Personal Control and Antisocial Coaching: A Test of Self-Control and Control Balance Theories

ABSTRACT Although the study of sports deviance has gained traction across a variety of academic disciplines, existing research often lacks theoretical guidance and ignores criminological insight. To fill this gap in the literature, the current study employs structural equation modeling to test the efficacy of self-control and control balance theory in explaining antisocial coaching behaviors among a sample of 196 Iranian soccer coaches. Results indicate that low self-control, sport control deficit, low informal sanction, and deviant motivation have direct effects on antisocial coaching. In addition, low self-control, sport control deficit, and situational provocation have indirect effects on antisocial coaching. These findings expand the scope of traditional criminological theories to the study of sports deviance and provide guidance for the development of proactive policy solutions aimed to reduce antisocial coaching behaviors.

Developmental and Life-Course Criminology Theory: A Literature Review

The paper reviews certain criminological life course theories. The theory of developmental pathways is based on specific trajectories that gradually, during development, lead to criminal behaviour. The age-graded theory of informal social control explains the influence of social institutions during the life course on the occurrence of criminal behaviour. The interactional theory finds that delinquency has its roots in weak social ties and delinquent networks; it is part of reciprocal continuous relationships during the life course. The dual taxonomy theory explains the continuity and changes in criminal careers and identifies two types of perpetrators. The integrative multi-layered control theory explains the development of criminal behaviour, events and crime rates through the integration of classical criminological theories. The situational action theory states that during development criminal behaviour is part of moral action. The developmental propensity theory considers the correlates of genetics and environment to delinquent behaviour. The integrated cognitive antisocial potential theory incorporates traditional criminological theories aiming to explain the unique potential for antisocial action that can lead to criminal behaviour during development.

The Spatiotemporal Pattern and Driving Factors of Cyber Fraud Crime in China

As a typical cybercrime, cyber fraud poses severe threats to civilians’ property safety and social stability. Traditional criminological theories such as routine activity theory focus mainly on the effects of individual characteristics on cybercrime victimization and ignore the impacts of macro-level environmental factors. This study aims at exploring the spatiotemporal pattern of cyber fraud crime in China and investigating the relationships between cyber fraud and environmental factors. The results showed that cyber fraud crimes were initially distributed in southeastern China and gradually spread towards the middle and northern regions; spatial autocorrelation analysis revealed that the spatial concentration trend of cyber fraud became more and more strong, and a strong distinction in cyber fraud clustering between the north and the south was identified. To further explain the formative causes of these spatial patterns, a generalized additive model (GAM) was constructed by incorporating natural and social environmental factors. The results suggested that the distribution of cyber fraud was notably affected by the regional economy and population structure. Also, the high incidence of cyber fraud crime was closely associated with a large nonagricultural population, a high proportion of tertiary industry in GDP, a large number of general college students, a longer cable length, and a large numbers of internet users.

Can social bonds and social learning theories help explain radical violent extremism?

ABSTRACT Radical violent extremism is a growing concern for the Nordic countries. In this interest, we examine how traditional criminological theories can help to explain the difference between violent and non-violent radical extremist individuals. We analyse the Profiles of Individuals Radicalized in the United States (PIRUS) dataset, with information on 2148 radical criminals in the United States, using a logistic regression, wherein violence was the dependent variable. The independent variables corresponded to aspects of social bonds and social learning. Results indicate that social bond theory has little predictive value for violence among radical criminals. Social learning perspectives were somewhat more predictive, with radical peers having a significant positive effect on the likelihood of radical violence. Socio-economic status, ideology and criminal history had significant positive effects as well. We conclude by exploring theoretical explanations, further research implications and discuss a Nordic version of a database.

Institutional Anomie Theory and Cybercrime—Cybercrime and the American Dream, Now Available Online

As the world becomes increasingly connected and interdependent upon technology, crimes are moving online. Research on cybercrime is beginning to test the applicability of traditional criminological theories for understanding crime in this new medium. Using a national sample of 215 self-admitted cybercriminals, we examine Messner and Rosenfeld’s institutional anomie theory. Negative binomial regressions reveal that expressed levels of institutional anomie correlate with increased cybercrime activity. A curvilinear relationship was found, such that low and high levels of institutional anomie lead to higher levels of cybercrime. Our findings reveal how the dark side of the American Dream can lead to online criminality. Specifically, the penetration of, and accommodation to economic values dictated by American capitalism can lead individuals to adopt values such as the fetishism of money that, in turn, affects their online behavior and criminality.

Using criminological theory to explain police misconduct: a state-of-the-art review

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the extant published literature using traditional criminological theories in an effort to explain police misconduct.Design/methodology/approachThis paper reflects a narrative meta-review of through a search of several academic databases (e.g. Criminal Justice Abstracts, Criminology: A SAGE Full Text Collection, EBSCO Host and PsychInfo). Twenty-nine studies, across six theoretical perspectives, were identified and reviewed.FindingsThe extant research generally suggests that traditional criminological theory is useful in explaining misconduct.Practical implicationsThe findings call on agencies to continually strengthen their recruiting and hiring processes to select recruits with suitable characteristics, and to improve their early warning systems to detect officers with patterns of problematic behavior. Also, the findings call for multiple avenues of future scholarship, namely, in theory development/integration and in refining the measurement of police misconduct.Originality/valueThis paper will be useful for researchers who wish to further explore the etiology of misconduct, and for police administrators who wish to reduce the prevalence of such behavior.

The Effects of Self-control on the Cyber Victim-Offender Overlap

Increasingly, the overlap between victims and offenders has received empirical attention with regard to traditional forms of deviance. More recently, the growth of cyber offending has led to a need to examine whether traditional criminological theories can be used to explain these crimes in the same manner as traditional offenses. However, limited attention has been given to victim-offender overlap in cyber-offending. The current study uses a sample of American college students to examine the influence of self-control on cyber offending, cyber victimization, and the cyber victim-offender overlap. The results indicate that low self-control significantly predicts participation in cyber offending as well as cyber victim-offending, but has a weak relationship with cyber victimization. Interestingly, associating with deviant cyber peers was a significant predictor across all models. Results are discussed in the context of the existing literature.

Toward Mitigating, Minimizing, and Preventing Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Risks

Cybercrime and cybersecurity are emerging fields of research, shaped by technological developments. Scholars in these interconnected fields have studied different types of cybercrimes as well as victimization and offending. Increasingly, some of these scholars have focused on the ways in which cybercrimes can be mitigated, minimized, and even prevented. However, such strategies are often difficult to achieve in reality due to the human and technical factors surrounding cybercrimes. In this issue of the International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence and Cybercrime, three papers adequately address such challenges using college student samples and nationally representative samples, as well as a framework through which cybersecurity can be better managed. Theoretically speaking, these studies use traditional criminological theories to explore different types of cybercrimes and cybersecurity while enhancing our understandings of both. The issue is concluded with a book review of a work about computer crime that was published before the Internet age and offers useful insights for current and future cybercrime studies.

COVID-19 and Cyber Fraud: Emerging Threats During the Pandemic

The emergence of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has threatened physical and mental health, and changed the behaviour and decision-making processes of individuals, organisations, and institutions worldwide. As many services move online due to the pandemic, COVID-19-themed cyber fraud is also growing. This article explores cyber fraud victimization and cyber security threats during COVID-19 using psychological and traditional criminological theories. It also provides a COVID-19-themed cyber fraud taxonomy using empirical evidence from institutional and agency reports. Through organizing COVID-19-themed cyber fraud into four different categorizations, we aim to offer classification insights to researchers and industry professionals so that stakeholders can effectively manage emerging cyber fraud risks in our current pandemic.

Theoretical and Applied Fundamentals of Crime Reduction Strategy: Current Experience and Prospects

The paper considers theoretical and applied fundamentals of the modern crime prevention strategy, evaluation of experience and prospects of implementation of it in Ukraine. Namely, the obsolete traditional post-Soviet criminological theory of combating crime is under discussion. In light of this, it is proposed to examine the latest theoretical developments of foreign criminologists, in particular, from the United Kingdom and the United States. The author points out that the modern theory of crime reduction encapsulates methodological pluralism, relativism, eclecticism of many conceptual approaches to explain causes and conditions, as well as methods of influencing crime. Rational choice theory and social (economic) determinism, the most significant as follows from their content, have been considered. Rational choice theory is based on the assumption that an individual who freely chooses a criminal conduct tries to produce the maximum advantage of his/her actions. With reference to the problems of crime, the theory of social (economic) determinism focuses on finding correlations between criminal manifestations, negative dynamics of crime and economic structure of society, and market relations of modern capitalism. The author concludes that the strategy under examination is a crime prevention course, which provides for minimization of the presence at the local level of external conditions for common (but not all) types of crimes; increasing the level of risks for criminals; enhancing the watchfulness of citizens; preventive partnership between the police and public; diminishing the state monopoly on crime control. The paper suggests a structure of preventive ways of strategy aimed at reducing the opportunities of crimes, namely: preventive local patrolling; applied measures of the broken windows theory; neighborhood watch programs; labeling of goods and things; use of modern security technologies; crime mapping; use of artificial intelligence, and other achievements in various areas of expertise.

Unpacking the Racial Disparity in Crime from a Racialized General Strain Theory Perspective

ABSTRACT Criminologists have long theorized the relationship between race and crime using traditional criminological theories, suggesting that Blacks simply experience more factors conducive to crime than Whites. Race scholars have criticized this “add and stir” approach and, instead, argue for race-based explanations. Racialized General Strain Theory (RGST) is the first traditional approach to address this call to action. To date, however, little research has fully assessed RGST’s propositions. Using the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, we find mixed support for RGST. Findings also suggest racial differences in experiences and responses to strain are much more complicated than originally theorized.

A Criminological Perspective on Recruitment of Men and Women to Daesh

AbstractCriminological research usually directs its focus at traditional forms of offending. The purpose of this article is to discuss the extent to which traditional criminological theories can be used to understand a modern form of terrorism. The main issue to explain is why young men and women from a Western European country, such as Sweden, are joining Daesh in Iraq and Syria. The conclusion is that many criminology theories are useful to analyse the factors behind the affiliation to Daesh. The majority of those recruited into this organization have in many respects a similar background to individuals recruited to other forms of serious organized violent crimes. It should be noted that many of the theories discussed in the paper are more relevant for the understanding of why men join Daesh. When it comes to the recruitment of women these theories’ explanatory value is more limited. However, this applies also to these theories’ ability to explain female crime in general.

Bridging Neuropsychology and Forensic Psychology: Executive Function Overlaps With the Central Eight Risk and Need Factors.

Recent research expanded theoretical frameworks of criminality to include biosocial perspectives. This article advances the biosocial integration into traditional criminological theories by focusing on the potential contribution of executive function (EF) to Andrews and Bonta's risk-need-responsivity (RNR) model. EF encompasses a collection of abilities critical to adaptive human functioning, many of which seem to underlie criminogenic risk and need factors. Although the assessment of EF can be elusive, research suggests that offenders with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) experience EF deficits. Theoretical analysis on neuropsychological and forensic concepts suggests that unitary and discrete EF domains underlie the "Central Eight" criminogenic factors that are related to criminal behavior and, by extension, the RNR model of forensic assessment and treatment. Research and conceptual limitations of the current neuropsychological and forensic literature are discussed along with the limits of our theoretical analysis. A call for more theoretical and applied forensic neuropsychological research is presented.

Fanning the Flames: Understanding Gang Involvement Among Philippine Prisoners.

Utilizing intensive interview and observational data from inmates in one of the most overcrowded and underresourced jail in Metro Manila, Philippines, this study presents the first in-depth analysis of the factors associated with pangkat (prison gangs) and querna (nongang affiliation) membership. The results suggest that inmates join pangkats to ensure their safety and survival. In contrast, those who remain unaffiliated do so given their negative perceptions of the pangkat, sufficient access to social support, and desire to maintain their preprison identity. Furthermore, these major themes are situated within a modified general strain framework, which integrates traditional models of inmate adjustment, namely, deprivation, importation, and coping perspectives. In light of these findings, several implications for future research and policy are advanced, including the continued application of traditional criminological theories for understanding incarcerated populations and the formal integration of pangkats to jail administration given the lack of current reform strategies for addressing structural and institutional deficiencies.

A Theoretical Integration of Social Learning Theory with Terror Management Theory: Towards an Explanation of Police Shootings of Unarmed Suspects

Each year in the United States, an unknown number of individuals are shot by law enforcement officers. Many of the suspects shot by officers are suspects who pose a lethal threat to officers or others, and thus the officers were legally justified in using deadly force. However, some estimates indicate that as many as 40 % of those shot by law enforcement each year are unarmed at the time of the encounter (Roy, 2004). Here, we present a theoretical model that integrates a traditional criminological theory (social learning theory) and a social psychological theory (terror management theory) in an effort to explain police shootings of unarmed suspects. Independently, neither theory can effectively or consistently explain the phenomena. However, when the two theories are integrated, a strong conceptual base is developed for explaining law enforcement shootings of unarmed suspects.

Crime-Event Criminology

Traditional criminology is overwhelmingly offender-focused, with the primary question driving the field being, “What explains variation in criminal behavior—why do some individuals offend while others do not?” This criminology, which seeks to unearth the underlying causes of offending, provides us with many theories. Each theory identifies a unique variable or set of variables thought to explain an individual’s inclination to offend, or “criminality.” For example, theories suggest that low selfcontrol, school failure, peer pressure, unemployment, and community poverty—to name just a few—predispose one toward offending. Thus, individuals exposed to higher levels of such variables are presumed to be “at risk” of initiating or continuing criminal behavior. Approaches to crime prevention often follow suit by attempting to reduce or prevent criminality. In particular, (social) developmental crime prevention focuses on tackling the underlying risk factors for becoming an offender (e.g., Welsh & Farrington, 2012). Indeed, a whole host of programs or policies exist in an attempt to reverse the criminogenic risk factors identified by traditional criminological theories. Programs teaching social competency to youth, providing pre-school education to disadvantaged children, and (re)training potential employees for workforce demands are just but a few examples. A number of such programs have been shown to be at least modestly successful in reducing crime (see, for example, Losel & Bender, 2012; Schindler & Yoshikawa, 2012; Sherman et al., 1997). Still, the potential risk factors for offending are incredibly numerous, as indicated by the dauntingly long list of criminological theories. In fact, the recently published Encyclopedia of Criminological Theory documented nearly 300 such theories (Cullen & Wilcox, 2010). With so many potential causes of offending—and, thus, so many risk factors to address if criminality is to be prevented—it is no wonder that a significant number of individuals fall through the

Low Self-Control and Police Deviance: Applying Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory to Officer Misconduct

Prior research assessing police misconduct has generally focused on prevalence and demographic correlates while neglecting traditional criminological theories. Some recent research has begun to fill the void in this area, but the link between self-control and police misconduct has yet to be explored. The current study utilizes a behavioral measure of self-control to evaluate the extent to which low self-control predicts police misconduct. Data from a sample of 1,935 police officers from the Philadelphia Police Department are analyzed, and the results generally indicate that low self-control is related to police misconduct. Specific findings, policy implications, and directions for future research are discussed.

University students’ propensity towards white-collar versus street crime

While several traditional criminological theories have been used to explain the causes of white-collar crime, few research studies have examined the role that personality plays in explaining the causes of these types of crimes. University students were measured on two personality scales, self-control and desire for control, to determine the extent to which these factors affect the propensity to commit either street crime or white-collar crime. The findings indicate that self-control has the most significant effect on offending, but only when students indicated that they were willing to commit both street crime and white-collar crime. On the other hand, desire for control did not predict a propensity towards committing either type of crime.