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Criminology Crash Course

Rational choice theory is a perspective in sociology involving psychology and criminology

Rational Choice Theory in Sociology and Criminology Explained

November 13, 2022 By Margit

The basis of rational choice theory is that people make rational decisions. They weigh the costs and benefits of a situation and then decide whether it’s worth it to go ahead and commit a crime or not. Rational choice theory is not interested in examining how certain psychological factors like for example psychopathy cause some people to commit crime. It is also not interested in sociological causes for crime, like how people’s criminal friends draw them into crime. Instead, ...

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Filed Under: Criminology Crash Course

The symbolic interactionism perspective and concept in sociology and education includes examples

The Symbolic Interactionism Perspective in Sociology and Criminology

February 19, 2022 By Margit

Symbolic interactionism is about how people see the world around them and how they make sense of it. As people go about their daily lives, they constantly observe other people as well as objects and events around them. For example, they see a crowd of people protesting, they speak with someone face to face, they hear about a new event, or they are working with a coworker on a project. The point of symbolic interactionism is that people do not observe these situations ...

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Filed Under: Criminology Crash Course

Edwin Sutherland published a book on components and meaning of differential association

Differential Association Theory: Sutherland’s Sociology and Criminology of Deviance Explained

January 17, 2022 By Margit

Differential association theory was formulated by Edwin Sutherland. In 1939, he published an important book named “Principles of Criminology” in which he described the theory. In a nutshell, the theory of differential association says that offenders commit crime because they have learned it from other people in intimate, personal groups. Criminal Behavior is Learned According to Sutherland, all important forms of human behavior, including criminal behavior, are ...

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Filed Under: Criminology Crash Course

Summary of key concepts, questions, definitions, examples, strengths and weakness of labelling

Labeling theory: How Labelling Explains Deviance and Crime in Criminology and Sociology

July 15, 2021 By Margit

Labeling theory focuses on how other people’s opinions can influence the way we think about ourselves. More specifically, labeling theory says that when other people see and define us as criminal, that’s exactly what we become. We change our self-concept to fit what other people think of us, and if they give us the label of a criminal, we will ultimately behave according to that label. In other words, we will become offenders because other people say that we are ...

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Filed Under: Criminology Crash Course

In 1979 Cohen and Felson discuss the meaning of routine activity theory

Routine Activities Theory: Definition of the Routine Activity Approach to Crime

February 22, 2021 By Margit

Routine activities theory is a theory that tries to explain why crime happens. It is very well-known in the fields of criminology and sociology and was originally developed by Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson. In 1979, they published a now famous article where they proposed the central idea of the theory. Routine Activities Theory: Definition and Meaning So what does routine activities theory say? Routine activities theory is based on the idea that offenders make ...

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Filed Under: Criminology Crash Course

Article about understanding the psychopathy definition, characteristics, criteria, personality traits and meaning

Psychopathy: What is it, how to test for it, and the case of Aileen Wuornos

February 2, 2021 By Margit

This post and accompanying video discuss psychopathy, what it is, and how it relates to the case of convicted serial killer Aileen Wuornos. I also go through the psychopathy test PCL-R (Psychopathy Checklist Revised), which is a checklist developed by psychologist Robert Hare. What is Psychopathy? The term “psychopath” is fairly widespread and used often in the popular media. Think, for example of the movie “American Psycho”, where Christian Bale plays an investment ...

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Filed Under: Criminology Crash Course

The Big Five factor theory of personality is important in personality psychology

The Big Five Personality Traits Model Explained

January 9, 2020 By Margit

This post and accompanying video give a concise overview of the Big Five personality traits model. The Big Five factor theory of personality is important in personality psychology, but the model is also used in e.g., the psychology of organizational behavior and in criminology to explain crime and criminal behavior. Personality Traits In everyday life, and when we look at other people, we often characterize them in certain ways: Some people are extroverted and ...

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Filed Under: Criminology Crash Course

Cesare Lombroso studied his atavism theory and the atavistic form in criminology

Cesare Lombroso: Theory of Crime, Criminal Man, and Atavism

December 10, 2019 By Margit

Cesare Lombroso was born in 1835 in Verona in Italy. He was an Italian doctor who did research and wrote on a variety of topics, for example mental diseases, scientific ways to study corpses, and brain pathology. But his most important work, and certainly the work that he’s best known for today, is the book “The Criminal Man” (“L’Uomo delinquente”). Criminal Man, Theory of Atavism, and Degeneration In “The Criminal Man”, first published in 1876, Lombroso developed ...

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Filed Under: Criminology Crash Course

Examples and questions about why do we need to belong to someone

The Need to Belong: A Brief Summary

December 2, 2019 By Margit

This post and accompanying video provide a quick summary and overview of the need to belong. The need to belong is the central topic of a classic paper from 1995 that was written by psychologists Baumeister and Leary. The basic hypothesis of their paper is that “a need to belong is a fundamental human motivation” (p. 497). The Belongingness Hypothesis So what is the need to belong? The need to belong refers to the basic need of people to belong to other people. This ...

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Filed Under: Criminology Crash Course

The Jack Roller Summary in Criminology is a delinquent boy biography

The Jack Roller Summary by Clifford Shaw

November 18, 2019 By Margit

The book “The Jack-Roller” is an absolute classic in criminology. The book was first published in 1930 and tells the life story of Stanley, who was a young delinquent in Chicago. Clifford Shaw, who is the criminologist who wrote the book, first contacted Stanley when he was 16 years old, and then followed him over the next 6 years to help write Stanley’s life history. This post covering a "The Jack-Roller Summary" provides a concise overview of the main points from the ...

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Filed Under: Criminology Crash Course

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Recent Posts

  • Strain Theory / Anomie by Robert K. Merton in Criminology and Sociology
  • Rational Choice Theory in Sociology and Criminology Explained
  • The Symbolic Interactionism Perspective in Sociology and Criminology
  • Differential Association Theory: Sutherland’s Sociology and Criminology of Deviance Explained
  • Labeling theory: How Labelling Explains Deviance and Crime in Criminology and Sociology

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