The Understanding of Criminology Today

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Introduction

Crime has various meanings, which depend on the point of view. From a sociological perspective, crime is wrong that violates social relationships. This paper gives a detail of the different sociological theories, which broadens the understanding of crime. Crime typologies help in understanding violent crimes, an explanation of various crime typologies has been given. Doctor-assisted suicide is an issue that has caused intense discussion. This paper gives various reasons why assisted suicide should not be legalized.

What is the nature of sociological theorizing?

Sociological theories are used to study societal structures and social organizations. These theories also examine how social organizations influence people’s conduct. Unlike psychological theories, sociological theories focus on the nature of conduct depicted by a gathering of people. The criminological theory focuses on a sociological perspective because of various reasons (Frank, 2004). One of the reasons is that there has been a concerned interest in social issues like poverty and unemployment.

Based on a sociological description, crime occurs because of various reasons. A person’s locality within the community may influence crime. This is due to the social and financial aspects of life like poverty, isolation, unstable families, cultural issues, which contradict conventional principles. Crime is also a result of social practices such as improper socialization and social education. This stresses the role of social relations and self-discipline in crime.

In addition, crime is caused by class struggle. This approach focuses on the prevailing power relationship between communities and the financial structure of the society (Frank, 2004).

There are three classifications of sociological theories. The different classifications share a certain aspect. The first one is social disorganization theory, which has a link with social ecology. Social ecology was the idea of Park and Ernest Burgess at the University of Chicago. Social ecology deals with how the societal arrangement adjusts to the environment and the presence of other humankind. Social ecology adds valuable information to criminology.

It suggests that society exerts a key impact on individual conduct. Ecological views on the origin of crime have reappeared in the form of environmental criminology. Environmental criminology highlights the role of the geographical locality as a link to crime occurrences.

The second classification is the strain theory. Strain theory shows that criminal behavior is a response to bad social surroundings. Strain theory formed by Robert Merton stated that goals such as riches, education, and class are desirable for everybody. However, he noted that not all people in a social group could achieve these goals.

As a result, delinquency becomes an option for success when people feel the pressure to succeed. Robert Agnew reformed the strain theory to express a coping system that helps minors cope with social challenges caused by negative societal ties (Frank, 2004). Agnew found that different strain theories shared common elements, which were bad relations with other people and that minors engaged in crime due to bad relations with people.

Culture conflict theory claims that the major origin of crime is the conflict of beliefs between members of various groups over what is good conduct. Thorsten Sellin suggests in his book that two types of culture conflict exist, primary and secondary conflict. Primary conflict occurs when a major conflict of cultures takes place and secondary conflict takes place when lesser cultures within the primary contradict. Subculture, which deals with smaller social groups, is part of the bigger culture. Some subcultures do not adhere to the values of the national culture.

The subcultural theory is a sociological view that stresses the role of social groups in delinquency. Walter in his writing states that sub-cultural crime does not originate from lack of wealth, rather it originates from certain values attributed to such subcultures.

What are the assumptions upon which sociological perspectives on crime causation rest?

There are different assumptions upon which sociological views on the origin of crime have been established (Frank, 2004). Foremost, societal gatherings, communal organizations, social structures, and societal functions all give the best avenue for criminological examination. Secondly, communal activities and associations, small group liaisons create the fundamental link from which crime is born. Thirdly, the societal arrangement and its level of management are key elements leading to the occurrence of criminal activities.

Finally, though it is hard to foretell the particular conduct of a person, statistical approximations of group traits are achievable. Therefore, the likelihood that a person belonging to a grouping will participate in a crime can be approximated.

Why are crime typologies useful for understanding violent crimes?

Crime topologies are created to modify social realism. Topologies recognize a trend in crime that is unique compared to others. For a typology to be helpful, how a typology is structured should fulfill a certain function. Subculture of violence can be used to understand crime because it has been the major viewpoint employed to describe the connection between victims and criminals. Homicide findings show that victims and criminals have the same features such as age, sex, and nationalism. Different regions have different patterns of crime based on sub-cultural perspectives (Frank, 2004). For instance, the South has maintained a record of high homicide occurrences.

The victim-offender relationship and the context of crime are useful in establishing crime patterns. Findings depict that about twenty-five percent of homicides are family-related. Females are both likely to be criminals and victims as compared to males. The instrumental-expressive continuum formed by Carolyn Block and Richard Block helps to understand how sibling offenses such as theft may result in a killing. For example, in the case of theft, the goal is to get money or other goods. When there is no agreement between the criminal and the victim an argument may arise leading to homicide.

In understanding crime, victim precipitation deals with the traits of the victims, which may have caused them to be targeted. This helps examine trends of homicide as homicide originates from a conflict between individuals who have a relationship. Weapons play a significant role in understanding crime. The weapon in a crime scene tells whether the crime is lethal or nonlethal. Moreover, the presence of weapons in a place may increase criminal activities (Frank, 2004).

Alcohol and drug use can be linked to committing offenses though it depends on particular types of personalities. Studies reveal alcohol to be a key element in foretelling primary homicide. Gang unions are also factors in crime. Studies reveal that gang members participated in several crimes through the use of weapons and their victims were unrelated to them. Serial murders have one unique feature when compared with others. They are discrete and thus hard to recognize (Frank, 2004).

They frequently alter their technique of committing a crime. The motive behind mass murders is based on personal issues. The major motives are vengeance, love, personal gain, and fear.

Do you believe that doctor-assisted suicide should be legalized?

Legalizing assisted suicide would be a serious fault because of the following reasons. Globally, disability rights activists and groups play a significant role in opposing assisted suicide (Frank, 2004). The basis of their opposition lies in the threats to people with disabilities and the decrease in value of life that are caused by assisted suicide.

Patrons of assisted suicide claim that it helps lessen pain and distress before death. However, many people in Oregon who have practiced assisted suicide law wanted to end life not because of suffering, but other factors linked to disability, low self-esteem, and failure of somebody’s organs to function properly. The fear of being an invalid contributed greatly to assisted suicide. However, many people living with disabilities who depend on others to do basic things know that death is not an option (Frank, 2004). If assisted suicide became a law, then it would be based on bias and favoritism against the disabled.

A major crisis with making it lawful to assist suicide is the impact in health care organizations. Health care systems have always ruled out doctors’ opinions because of financial factors. Financial factors may also influence the decision of nonprofit health programs which receive little funding. The motivation to reduce costs by refusing to give medication creates a major risk. This danger is enhanced when assisted suicide becomes a law. The full impact of legalizing assisted suicide would greatly affect financially unstable people who cannot meet their medical expenses.

Medicine as a profession is also affected by legalizing assisted suicide. Medical practitioners claim that assisted suicide ruins the trust between the sick and the physician and alleviates the physician’s role in preserving life (Frank, 2004).

Investigating the performance of assisted suicide in Oregon portrays the major challenges associated with assisted suicide. These challenges include freedom to make decisions, the risk to persons with disabilities, and the doubtful incidence of Oregon’s deaths. Assisted suicide advocates plead to freedom of choice and free will.

However, legalized assisted suicide destroys a person’s power to choose and become independent. When the lethal injection is being administered, no person is needed to witness. An individual could use another method to kill such as suffocation without the knowledge of others. When the patient accepts suicide, he or she makes a declaration that if he passes away, his death will be unquestionable.

The patient will be defenseless if he or she plans to stop the suicide immediately after the lethal dose has been prepared. In addition, there is a threat that many individuals would select assisted suicide due to external factors (Frank, 2004). For example, old people who refuse to depend on their families for financial assistance may opt for assisted suicide.

Conclusion

Criminology is a broad subject that covers diverse topics such as types of crimes, theories explaining crimes, crime typologies, and whether some issues are legal or illegal such as assisted suicide. A good understanding of criminology is essential in understanding crime, solving crime mysteries, and preventing crime.

Reference List

Frank, S. (2004). Criminology Today, An Integrative Introduction. USA: Pearson Custom Publishing.

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