The purpose of this paper is to discuss the three major theories of criminology. This paper will talk about the theories that best and worst describe why crime happens. The three major theories of crime are: biological, psychological and sociological. In further examining this paper you will see discussions of personal opinions of the author.
The biological theory states that criminals are born and they are not made. I feel that the biological theory would be the theory that least describes why crime happens. For example, let's take the case of Jeffery Dahmer. Jeffery was a serial killer that focused on cannibalism. From all of the interviews that were given you would be able to conclude that his family (other then him) including his parents were perfectly normal (they ultimately were divorced but that is a normal occurrence in American society). "There was no obvious touchstone in Dahmer's past that can be pointed to as the event that created a serial killer.
Burning Money is Financial Crime and Waste in Chin...
Jeffrey Dahmer during an interview for Dateline NB...
Jeffrey DahmerHe had a seemingly normal childhood, living with his father, mother and younger brother in an upper-middle class neighborhood in Bath Township, Ohio(http://www.apbonline.com/media/gfiles/dahmer/dahmer0814.html?s=pb_dahmer)."
So what happened to Jeffery? I feel that the biological theory does not take part in the role of crime and why it happens because, you are in charge of your own mind (sometimes not the case such as insanity). If your parents are serial killers, that does not mean that you will be a serial killer and with the case of Jeffery Dahmer his parents were normal but he wasn't.
The next theory of crime is the psychological theory. The psychological theory states that innate factors trigger criminal behavior. I believe this theory is among one of the best explanations of why crime happens. Let's look at the Dahmer case again. If...