The Constitutional Theories of Crime
The constitutional theories of crime, which hold that criminal behavior is innately linked to biological or psychological faults that people are born with, are typically associated with criminology. Most people agree that racial, gender, and other innate characteristics of individuals are what lead to crimes. For instance, men are more prone than women to commit crimes (Morgan, Maguire and Reiner, 2012). The question of what else might be used to explain the crime patterns is raised by the fact that trends are shifting and there is a move away from constitutional theories of crime. One answer to the question is the radical criminology theories.
Unlike the constitutional criminal theories, these theories do not give any emphasis on the motivation of crime. Instead, they assume that crime is brought about by how the society is structured. In an unequal society, with some people having surplus and other lacking necessities social ills such as unemployment, poverty and family disruption occurs. Those who are affected by these ills become helpless and angry and these factors becomes catalysts to crime. Crime becomes instrumental to those who do not have, as it is their only way to survive, a concept then radical theorist terms as crime of accommodation. Radical theorists further argue the crime may be a form of protest against inequality where those who are oppressed commit crime to pass a message to the oppressors. This form of crime is termed as crime of resistance.
The Role of Power in Society
The less powerful in society are in these positions due to the control the powerful have in their position. The powerful people in society determine resource allocation and thus ensuring the status quo is protected (Burr, 2015). I believe that Capitalism and by extension egoism are the root of many social problems we face today. In a capitalist system, greed is encouraged and people only care about their interests. This is evident in legislation passed where instead of addressing the need of everyone equally, every group fights for their rights and therefore in the end, a victory for one section of the population is a loss to the other. In other words, satisfaction of a portion of the population comes at the expense of another.
The Impact of Capitalism on Crime
Despite capitalism not being ideal for justice to exist, Marxist Left idealists argue that crime can only be reduced by overthrowing capitalism and replacing it with socialism is extremely radical and not realistic. This would mean reorganizing all systems including economic and social. A better idea would be proposed by left realists who agree capitalism increases crime but proposes ways of dealing with these crimes rather than doing away with capitalism. For instance, they suggest police focus on middle and lower classes where crime is more prevalent. Of the neo-classical theories, the most promising addition to the tradition is the left realist as it comes with a feasible solution to staying with capitalism and minimizing crimes.
Gendern Inequality and Female Criminality
Most criminology theory appears to have been developed by male theorists to explain why male criminals behave the way they do. Feminist criminologists are of the view that the theories developed by male criminologists are not able to explain the criminality of women. According to them, gender inequality plays a chief role in crime in addition to the field of criminology. Male criminologists who have developed theories to explain the behavior of male criminals appear to have done this consciously and not in a discriminatory way. The reason for this is that men commit most crimes and therefore leaving women out is a practical necessity. It is however important to study the offending and victimization patterns of women since at most times they are the recipients of criminal actions. For instance, homicide has been cited as the leading cause of death among pregnant women. We also live in a patriarchy society where men are perceived to possess more power than women and thus leading to crimes being targeted on women.
The Influence of Gender Roles
In American society, gender role is still emphasized where boys and girls grow knowing which role they should take. For instance, in terms of games they play and the toys we buy for them, gender roles are reinforced. For instance boys while boys are given toys cars girls are given dolls. I believe this is not a good thing, as children will grow thinking there is a limit in the role they can play in life. In the dynamic world, gender roles should not be emphasized. Gender roles will eventually lead to stereotypes in the future and limit the careers people can take in the future. For instance, there are some jobs in society which are considered for males, such as engineers, while others like nurses are considered feminine. Stereotype particularly affects women whose sexual behaviors are more scrutinized than those of their male counterparts.
Radical Feminist Theory
Of the three feminist perspectives, I feel the most viable to explain crime is radical feminist theory. The theory provides a convincing argument of how women are abused and later on are likely to offend others. Growing with violence makes them violent.
References
Burr, V. (2015). Social constructionism. Routledge.
Morgan, R., Maguire, M., & Reiner, R. (2012). The Oxford handbook of criminology. Oxford University Press.
