Criminology: Analysis and Theoretical Perspectives

This assignment requires a comprehensive discussion on criminology, including its application in real-world scenarios. The report outlines a case study of Yasmin, who reported theft to the police, and assesses three individuals (Archie, Dani, and Chris) as suspicious offenders due to their financial struggles. The report also discusses various criminological theories (classical, sociological, biological, and interactionist) and their limitations in explaining human behavior. It highlights the difficulties faced by criminologists in applying these theories in real-world scenarios.

APPLYING
CRIMINOLOGY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Type of offence that has been committed....................................................................................1
Characters that could have been committed the crime................................................................3
Critically discussing the evidences for suggesting the characters...............................................4
Problems of application of theoretical evidences while identifying............................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Criminology is related to the study of all aspects of the crime and enforcement of law.it
helps in ascertaining the social setting of any offence, prohibiting and prevention strategies,
investigating and detecting the offender and the overall crime scene. It also helps in analysing the
punishments based upon the intensity of the crime that has been performed by the offender. The
report will make comprehensive discussion regarding the case scenario of Yasmin where she has
reported to the police regarding theft of money. The report helps in analysing the crime that has
been committed by the offender in case o0f Yasmin. Further, the report discusses pros and cons
of the case and analyse that who can be the offender in the given case scenario. The report then
discusses the characteristics of various offenders such as, Archie, Dani and Chris and their
motive behind they will able to be sufficiently discussed in the report with adequate amount of
reasons. In the ends, the report will help in analysing different sociological theories such as,
classical, sociological, biological and Interactionist. The report also discusses the issues faced by
the investigator in applying theoretical theories in practical examination case of Yasmin.
Type of offence that has been committed
According to Weisburd (2015), Crime is an offence which has been performed
internationally which results in violation of the stated law. Since, it is an unlawful act, it is
punishable by the state of any other higher authority. The crime or offence is not about harming a
particular individual but it can also be destructive to a group of individual or for the whole
society. These kinds of practices and acts are forbidden by the law which leads to punishing the
offenders as well. The decision of punishment is taken after analysing the intensity of the crime
and destruction or damage that has been made by it. However, in the view of Taylor, Walton and
Young (2013), crime is an intentional act. An act is declared as a crime which is direct violation
of the rules that have been framed by the government for a particular society. Crime varies upon
the type of society and differences in the cultures as well. There are three elements based on
which crime remain consistent in the countries or states. These are, harm, social agreements and
social reactions towards the offence.
According to Ferrell (2014) there are certain classes of offence. These are, offence
against the person, violent offence, sexual offence and offence against property. Offence against
the person comprises of the crime that has directed physical harm or pressure over a particular
individual. It can be in the form of fatal offence, sexual offence, non-fatal offence, assaults,
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injuries etc. Fatal offences can be murder and non-fatal can be poisoning, body harm etc. violent
crime is a type of offence where force is used to threaten the victim. These types of crime may or
may not be committed by the weapons. Some of the violent criminals include, rapist, kidnappers,
gagsters, drug cartels etc. Another type of offence can be sexual offence which is directly related
to human sexual activity commonly known as sex crimes. Property crime is the category of
crime which includes offences such as, theft, shoplifting, robbery, burglary etc.
According to Taylor, Walton and Young (2013), victim is the individual who has been
harmed through an offence.
He/she is an identifiable person who has been harmed which is directly being performed by the
perpetrator and rather the whole society. However, in contrast to this, as per the views of
Belknap (2015), a victim is the individual where some activities have been resulted in physical,
social or emotional harm. It can be in the form of property damage or economic loss which is the
result of a crime.
According to Naffine (2015), an offender is an individual who has committed some crime
which is illegal in nature. There are wide range of sentences that is available in the form of
justice to the offenders. Life imprisonment and death penalty is considered to be the last resort of
criminal activities being performed by the offenders. Criminal proceedings play an important
role in giving justice to the victim. It is important that all the facts and figures behind the
commitment of any illegal act is thoroughly analysed so that no wrong verdict is taken by the
authority. All the rights under the criminal act of UK have been clearly defined stating all the
important aspects so that all the proceedings of the court, investigation and prosecutions are
properly lined up when any crime is noticed.
The case is regarding Yasmin who has reported to the police that some of her money has
gone missing. As per the judgement of police officer, he has reported the crime in the periphery
of theft. The police have duly analysed the crime scenes and sites so that all the proof can be
duly collected (McIntosh, 2016). It helps in ensuring that they will be able to reach to the
offender. Further, examining the scenario, this type of offence is known as property crime.
However, no physical harm is experienced by the individual yet a harm to property is assessed.
Hence, the Yasmin is the clear case of property crime. The crime scene has been investigated by
the police to find out the potential offenders of the crime.
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Characters that could have been committed the crime
It is important to analyse all the potential offenders of the crime. It helps in reaching to the
criminals after analysing all the facts and figures. The potential criminal has been chosen with
the help of Yasmin, who is the real victim in the given case scenario. The description to the
characters with the reason of being potential criminal is discussed below:
 Character A: Archie: He is a 27 year old young man who lives alone with his pet
snake ‘fang’. He loves to ride the bike and get tattoos. He works as a chef at some local
pub. He is considered to be the main suspect of the case. It can be analysed from his
hobbies and living conditions that he is not financially stable. It shows that he is greatly
in the need of money so as to bear the expenses of riding a motor bike and himself
tattoos. It can also be stated that he is the prime suspect of the case due to his present
living conditions. Archie is also fond of bird watching for which he travels to the
outskirts of the city. It is an additional expense which is borne by him. Further, he also
loves to do carpentry and requires money to collect all the important material that is
required to prepare the furniture. It is difficult for him to cover all the expenses from
the salary that he receive as a chef from the local pub. He always faces crisis at the end
of the month, from all the facts and figures available to the crime investigation officer,
he becomes the price suspect of Yasmin’s theft of money case.
 Character C: Chris: Chris is a 57 year old black man who lives with his wife and three
children. He is a social worker. Since, the salary of a social worker is minimal, it is
difficult to cope up the expenses of five people in the house. Further, she also loves to
hear classical music and hence she commonly visits to various concerts one in a week.
He was also a part of some and during his young days and used to give performances at
various concerts. It led him to smoking of cannabis as well which is an addictive
psychoactive drug. The major reason of bringing him in the periphery of potential
suspects because of his addiction of cannabis. Since, the drug is addictive and
expensive to buy as well. It generates the requirement of money. Moreover, he is not
able to earn adequate amount of livelihood as a social worker which can live up to the
expectation of wife and children and also deal with the addiction of cannabis as well.
After interrogating with Chris, it was analysed that he is currently facing financial
crisis. It shows that he can be the individual who have theft money of Yasmin.
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 Character D: Dani: She is an 18 year old Asian women who is an active member of
her community and never misses to go mosque at least once in a day. She is about to
start her education as a law student in some university. It is required to submit certain
sum of money as a fee of her studies. She is not being involved any kind of
employment and hence in badly need of money. She can be another suspect of
Yasmin’s theft case as she is in need of money so as to submit her university fees.
Another reason of being a suspect to the case can be due to her love towards boxing.
She also goes to go to a regular boxing classes which is for women’s only with the aim
to keep herself fit. It can be considered as an extra expense which is a burden on her.
Hence, analysing all the facts and figures, it can be ascertained that she is another
prime suspect for Yasmin’s theft case.
Analysing all the above three suspect characters, it can be ascertained that the common
thing which is common of Archie, Chris and Dani is the undergoing financial crisis they are
going through. Theft is a criminal activity which is committed by the individual who is in great
need of money. Hence, it can be ascertained that one of the above mentioned potential suspects,
on eof them would have been the criminal of Yasmin.
Critically discussing the evidences for suggesting the characters
It is important to analyse all the facts and figures based on which it can be assessed that
who has actually committed the crime. It is analysed that there is always a motive behind the
commitment of crime if it has been conducted by any sound individual. Theories of criminology
have been able to define various motives that can be present behind the criminal activities. Some
of the important criminological theories are discussed below:
 Classical theory: the main characteristic of this theory is that the individual who has
committed the crime has done it with the free will and has not been forced by one or
the other person. The person is also very well aware of the consequences of the crime.
The crime committed by the person is immoral in nature (Lanier, Henry and Desire,
2014). Based upon the intensity of the crime, punishment is decided by the court or the
other senior authoritative people. This type of behaviour can be controlled with proper
counselling from the side of the psychologist. The motivating factor of committing the
crime as per the classical theory is that these types of people wants to seek pleasure and
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avoid pain. Robbery and theft comes under the characteristics of classical theory as
these are conducted with adequate will and is not forced.
 Biological theory: This is one of the most important theory of criminology where it
comes in the human behaviour of the individual to conduct criminal activities and has
been passed from one generation to the other through genetics. Some of the common
cause of common transmission of criminal acts to generations are, trauma in the brain,
environmental contamination lack of nutrition, exposure to drugs and alcohol,
consumption of alcohol during pregnancy also makes the person more prone to
conduction of criminal activities (Brummett and et.al., 2014). The conditions and
circumstances in which the person is dwelling forces him to indulge in criminal
activities. The biological conditions of the person also make him prone towards
involving in criminal activities.
 Sociological theory: It is due the situation of the society due to which a person gets
indulged in criminal activities. Some of the common causes includes, broken bonds
from the family, friends, peers, school, religion. They involve in the activities because
they do not find any benefits in adhering to the rules and regulation of the society.
Conventional social values doe not give any benefit to them. Seeing benefits in the
criminal activities bend them towards it. These activities give them a sense of
belongingness and empowerment. Poverty is another major cause of criminal or
deviant behaviour of an individual.
 Interactionist theory: A direct association to the individual who is already involved in
criminal activities also acts as a contributing factor for a person to indulge in these
actions (Bachman and Schutt, 2013). Failure in the self-direction acts as a driving force
for the people. Moreover, people who are looking for acceptance also try to take favour
in this format. Offenders are able to change their behaviour and find opportunities
based on which they can change their own behaviour so that they can better fit in the
society.
All the above sociological theories happen to be quite common in criminal theories.
Analysing the suitability, the two theories that is best fit to the prospective criminal in Yasmin’s
case are classical theory of criminology and sociological theory. Since, the main cause that has
been assessed on the potential offenders is requirement of money, hence, the applicability of
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classical theory of criminology is higher. Living up to the expectations of the society as a
motivator to the offender and to fulfil this requirement and they get to indulge in criminal
activities.
Property crime is considered to be the most common activity in the world. Most of the
people get to involved in this offence as they are aware that the rules, regulations and
punishment criteria for this type of crime is minimal. Moreover, it also helps in satisfying their
requirement without harming the individual physically. In the gives case scenario, it is quite
related to theft and has not given any harm to any individual. Hence, it is the common offence
that can be conducted by the individual who is in requirement of money so as to fulfil the basic
and luxurious needs.
Problems of application of theoretical evidences while identifying
It is difficult to analyse the offender only with the help of theories that has been earlier given
by the famous criminologists. These theories are quite rigid and do not have flexibility to be
applied or moulded as per the crime scene activity.it helps in analysing the motives that a person
can have while any criminal activity (Bachman and Paternoster, 2016).
The common activity conducted by criminologist to understand who is the criminal is
offender profiling. It helps in analysing the likely suspect of the crime. The social and
psychological screening of the offender is performed to analyse the belongingness and
requirements of the offender. Moreover, the activity is also beneficial to assess the real motive
behind the crime as well. There are some common steps of profiling. It includes, analysing the
criminal activity and trying to compare it with the criminal activities that have already taken
place in the past, analysing in depth different aspects at the crime scene with the aim to find out
any proof that could be present here (Cherry and et.al., 2015). Another step is assessment of the
background of victim and understand that what could be the possible motives behind the crime
and other connection that can directly lead the investigator towards the offender, considering
other possible motives of the offender that could be present in his minds. In the neds, the profile
and description of the offender is developed with the aim to compare it with the previous cases.
These steps can help the criminologist to directly reach to the offender.
Sometimes there are cases, which may not match with any of the theories mentioned above.
It requires adequate amount investigation to reach to the offender. Moreover, the theories have
adequate discussion regarding the nature of the criminal but do not ascertain that how can these
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theories be helpful in assessing that what type of criminal could have been involved in this
activity.
In the given scenario Yasmin, it is difficult to analyse that who is the offender. However,
the main reason of the offence is taken to be the requirement of money for which the offender
has theft the money of Yasmin. However, there can be other biological reason that could be
attached with the offender as well. Hence, the criminological theories do not prove to be helpful
in ascertaining the nature of the offender. Hence, the theories are just helpful in ascertaining the
nature of crime but are do not hold any importance in ascertaining that who can be the criminal
to any offence that have been committed (Siegel, 2017).
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that, criminology helps in analysing various
aspects of the crime scene which further leads to the offender of suspicious offenders. It is
important for the investigator to consider all the facts and figures while finding out the offender
so that justice can be provided to the victim. The report outlined regarding the case of Yasmin
where she reported to the police stating about theft of money. The investigating team analysed all
the important aspects of the case and assessed that the three-main suspicious offender in case of
theft can be Archie, Dani and Chris. These are the people who are in need of money and have
adequate amount of reason to indulge in theft activities. The report further explains the reasons
of making these people a suspicious offender of the crime. Further, the report outlined regarding
different criminological theories such as, classical, sociological, biological and Interactionist,
which helps in ascertaining the real motives of offenders behind the crime. In the end, the report
helped in making comprehensive discussion regarding, difficulty faced by the criminologist in
applying the stated theory of criminology in the present case scenario.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Bachman, R. D., & Paternoster, R. (2016). Statistics for criminology and criminal justice. Sage
Publications.
Bachman, R., & Schutt, R. K. (2013). The practice of research in criminology and criminal
justice. Sage.
Belknap, J. (2015). ACTIVIST CRIMINOLOGY: CRIMINOLOGISTS’RESPONSIBILITY TO
ADVOCATE FOR SOCIAL AND LEGAL JUSTICE. Criminology. 53(1). 1-22.
Brummett, B. & et.al. (2014). NSFW: Experiencing Immanentism or Transcendence upon
Hearing Gilbert Gottfried's Rendition of Fifty Shades of Grey in the Postmodern
Workplace, Or Liberatory Criminology. Science Journal of Sociology and
Anthropology, 2014.
Cherry, E. & et.al. (2015). Quantitative Criminology, and Justice Quarterly. Alvinelle Matthew
is a doctoral student at the University of West Indies. Interested in the links between
social capital, human resource development, and youth problem behavior, she is currently
analyzing survey data she collected in Trinidad and Tobago for her
dissertation. Sociological Inquiry. 85(1). 180-181.
Ferrell, J. (2014). Cultural criminology (pp. 904-913). Springer New York.
Lanier, M. M., Henry, S., & Desire'JM, A. (2014). Essential criminology. Hachette UK.
McIntosh, K. (2016). Review of Counter-Colonial Criminology: A Critique of Imperialist
Reason by Biko Agozino. London: Pluto Press, 20. Enriching Resource on African
Languages Database. 1(1).
Naffine, N. (2015). Female crime: The construction of women in criminology (Vol. 3).
Routledge.
Siegel, L. J. (2017). Criminology: the core. Cengage Learning.
Taylor, I., Walton, P., & Young, J. (2013). The new criminology: For a social theory of
deviance. Routledge.
Taylor, I., Walton, P., & Young, J. (Eds.). (2013). Critical Criminology (Routledge Revivals).
Routledge.
Weisburd, D. (2015). The law of crime concentration and the criminology of
place. Criminology. 53(2). 133-157.
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