Routine Activities and Biosocial perspectives
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As we move into the final chapters of our text, we are presented with the most contemporary views on crime and criminality. Of these views, much attention has been paid to the Routine Activities and Biosocial perspectives. Interestingly enough, they both contain elements of Classical thought and have even been referred to as a part of the Neo-Classical paradigm
Please address one of the followong:
- Do these contemporary perspectives have more in common with the Classical or Positivist schools? Why?
- Does the Routine Activities theory push blame to the victim? Is a good way to explain crime?
- How influential is one's biology? How about one's environment? Is either one a bigger 'risk factor' for deviancy?
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Biology is a broad category. It includes mental problems, chemical issues, injuries and genetics. Genetics remains controversial, but some evidence suggests that there is a genetic link between property crime, but not violent crime. Brain chemistry plays a role. Low levels of serotonin are correlated with anti-social behavior. Apparently, there is no effect for Dopamine deficiencies. In addition, damage to the prefrontal cortex can also lead to the development of violent offenses. Hyperactivity (which implies a Dopamine surplus) also is a moderately significant determining factor (NZJ, 2009). The fact of being male is a huge factor in future criminality.
It is also theorized that evolution has created the male as more prone to crime, since the male, for the sake of survival, was early rewarded for aggressive and acquisitive behavior. Even more, male sex hormones are also related to crime. This has led, so it is argued, to the concept that females are attracted to "bad boys" because there is some sense that they will be better providers than the nice guys who wouldn't steal anything (Ellis, 2005).
Race, long a taboo subject among crime researchers, is a determinant of crime. In the Handbook of Crime and Punishment, race retained its position as the single best predictor of future criminality even when income, social status, and education have been controlled for. According to researchers Lauritsen and Sampson, the regression coefficient for the race, that is black and Hispanic, and crime is an extremely high at .78. This has been confirmed by many other studies on similar topics, including the FBI and Census ...
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