Popular Criminological Theories

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Criminology, the “academic discipline that uses the scientific methods to study the nature, extent, cause and control of criminal justice (Siegel, 2013)” is a field that has been in existence since crime could be studied and tested. For years, researchers have been examining crime and coming up with theories in regard to criminal activities. These theories set to explain the possible reasons behind a person’s participation in criminal activities. There have been many theories that have been developed over the years regarding criminology and the purpose of this paper is to discuss certain popular criminological theories and to apply them to real-life scenarios. The theories that will be discussed in this paper are Robert Merton’s theory of Social …show more content…
What this theory doesn’t take into consideration is the fact that a lot of people who commit petty crimes, such as theft, and who sell drugs to bring in income are doing so because they want to fit in with the people that they see as being “cool.” A lot of teenagers, and young adults, are in the process of forming their identity and while some are ok with having a personality that is opposite of what everyone else’s personality is, some want to fit in with the popular kids and this scenario plays out in urban communities over and over again. The kid in class who gets good grades is different from everyone else in that he wants to obtain the American Dream and is not interested in the activities that his peers participate in. He is ostracized because he is not his choosing a life of crime, however, the person who gets involved in criminal activities does so because, often, they see that everyone else is doing it, so they should to. In addition to that, a person may choose to get involved in theft and drug dealing because they come from a family of criminals. Many times, people come from families where they’re taught that making money through legitimate means is normal and that’s what they grow up …show more content…
These subcultures deviate from the social norms of society and because of this crime is a way of conforming to the subcultures of the lower-class. Cultural deviance theory is a part of the social structure theory that ties the concept of strain and social disorganization together to offer an explanation on how those who are considered to be lower-class respond to being isolated from all other social classes and not having enough money (Siegel,

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