Theories
This theory/explanation would argue for the sterilization of offenders
Biological
A time when religious views began to give way to scientific explanations
The Enlightenment
Personality is the product of the id, ego, and superego according to this person
Freud
This concerns the size and shape of skull as a measurement of criminality.
phrenology
Comte
Positivism
This theory would suggest exorcisms as a solution to crime
Pre-classical/Demonic
This theory assumes that potential offenders choose whether to commit crime carefully after calculating risks and rewards
Rational Choice Theory
This person promoted psychopathy as an explanation for crime
Hare
This explains the ability to distinguish right from wrong and to determine the ethically correct course of action in complex cases.
Moral development
Beccaria and Bentham
Classical Theory (Utilitariansim)
This theory argues that there might be biological predispositions but the environment must be right
Biosocial
This theory would advise security/police presence in the large crowds of Red Sox baseball games
Routine activities
This study showed that normal people can commit acts of violence
The Milgram Experiment
Richard Speck entered into a house of 9 nurses one night in 1966. He rounded them up and placed them in one room. He then took them one by one to the room next door to kill 8 of them. One escaped and this led to his capture. Speck is an example of this
A mass murderer
Becker, Cornish, and Clarke
Rational Choice Theory
This theory is associated with the phrase “The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number”
Utilitarianism
This type of offense is more deterrable than this type of offense
instrumental or material gain and expressive or emotional reasoning
This assumes that people's body shapes affect their personalities and hence the crimes they commit.
Somatology
Ed Gein murdered two individuals. He is considered this
Murderer
Lombroso
Biological (Atavism--the belief that criminals were evolutionary accidents who resembled primitive people more than modern people)
This theory/explanation assumes that potential and legal punishment can effect crime rates
Deterrence
Advocating for an increase in police patrols and provide better lighting and security systems in high-crime areas is an example of this
situational crime prevention
According to Moffitt, this is a predictor of delinquency
childhood aggression
Spree Killer
Someone who commits a criminal act that involves two or more murders or homicides in a short time, often in multiple locations.
Cohen and Felson
Routine Activities Theory