Osgood’s perception of integrative theories is vital in the modern society where crime has taken a paradigm shift from the traditional ways. Contemporary ways of dealing with a crime need to borrow from all other disciplines that would help open perspectives of dealing with crime. Criminology as discipline, according to Osgood, cannot stand on its own and bear many fruits in fighting and dealing with crime. Borrowing from other disciplines or even earlier studies is one sure to establish criminology that is formidable. It is what he calls “Academic Thievery.” It is essential to have a panoramic view of what other disciplines are saying about criminology and then come up with principles that are comprehensive for criminologists to enhance handling the matters relating to crime. Furthermore, it will give a blueprint that can be of enormous help for criminologists that are undertaking research and studies in the field.
On the other hand, Osgood’s integrative theories are still relevant in the contemporary society. It is because most of the criminology studies, research, and cases of crime have more or less the same origin (epistemology). However, having a good understanding of the theories will help know which ones are relevant and the ones that are not applicable in the contemporary context of studying criminology (Osgood,1998). With continuous research in the field of criminology, it will be pertinent to have a look at some of the variables that are still relevant and discard the ones that are no longer relevant in the modern context. There have been massive changes in the environment that have made crimes develop new insights. Therefore, it is only vital to replace the variables with the new ones and add new ones that are relevant in the contemporary context of criminology.
Question 2
The criminologists approach on the matter of youth delinquency based on the peer group’s norms was not critically looking at the factors that motivated the actions of misconduct. It is something develop mentalists are an in-depth look. Some of the factors that would lead to youth delinquency are the fear of rejection from the peer groups. Extrinsic or intrinsic factors motivate crime or any misconduct. At every step of development, peers and particularly the youths are in constant struggle with the question of identity, for this reason; they would always cling to any form of identification particularly. The develop-mentalists approach in interrogating the matter is a leeway to opening up on the ways such youths interact with their environment. Their interaction with the environment is one of the things that contributes massively to delinquency. According to developmental factors such as age, (early to late adolescents ), individual characteristics, and social factors are some of the elements that make the youths delinquent. From this perspective, one can learn a lot in studying the subject of youth delinquency.
While pro criminologists focus on peer groups norm, there is more to borrow from the developmentalists approach to the issue (Burfeind, 2011). Osgood terms the developmentalist approach as “interdisciplinary integration.” Criminologist can learn a lot from other disciplines and help in expanding their scope of handling and dealing with crimes if and only if they can surmount the problem of insularity that has been hindering opening up to other fields of knowledge and to explore more insights to the study and research in the criminology field.
References
James Burfeind, D. J. (2011). Juvenile Delinquency: An Integrated Approach: An Integrated Approach. Indiana: University Of Montana Press.
National Academic Press. (2011, September 10). The Development of Delinquency. Retrieved from Juvenile Crime: http://nap.edu.com
W, O. D. (1998). Building Criminology by Stealing from Our Friends. The Criminologist, 3-4.
