Contemporary Criminology Theories and the Changing Conditions of the Essay

Contemporary Criminology Theories and the Changing Conditions of the Post Modern Society - Essay Example Narrowing this concept down to the realm of criminology, Borowski quoted James Wilson has saying, â€Å"the only morally defensible and efficacious strategy for reducing crime is to attack its root cause (Borowski, 2). In the attempt to attack criminology from its root causes, scientist and philosophers, over time, have evolved countless theories, each theory seeking to better explain the logical causal reasoning behind crime and criminal motivation. Policies and programmes aimed at the reduction and prevention of crime have been, understandably, always based on one or more of these theories, with the utility of such policies and systems depending on the strength or weakness of such theories. This paper first reviews the concept and definitions of crime and criminology; it then examines some of the notable contemporary theories, Classicism, Individual Positivism, Law and Order Conservatism, Social Disorganization and Anomies/Strain theories. These theories selected to examine a broad theoretical perspective from individual to social theories and finally re-appraises the relevance of these theories and their compliance or otherwise with the conditions obtainable in a postmodern society. Criminology is an advanced theoretical field of study and should be differentiated from Criminal Justice, which focuses on the component of justice system such as courts, police and correction and/or rehabilitation facilities. Criminology embodies a wide array of theories and hypotheses seeking to explain the root cause(s) of criminal behaviours, the tendency towards and the pattern of criminal activities and also attempts a prognostic utility in the reduction and prevention of crime. Wikipedia online encyclopaedia describes criminology as a social phenomenon that includes the causes and consequences of crime, criminal behaviours as well as the development and effectiveness of policies and penal system. Criminology has a long history dating back to Lombroso; who is generally considered as the father of criminology, in the late nineteenth century. It has since become a separate field of study, completely divorcing itself from sociology, the parent social discipline. Over the years, criminology has developed its own method of thinking, analysis and hypotheses testing and has evolved theories that explain, in details, norms and values on which the society is based, what constitute crime and criminal behaviours against the society, and ideas, methods or policies that may be utilized in combating and reducing crime. Regardless of societal variance, each community or social group of people are guided by a set of established norms and belief system on which co-existence, mutual trust and family ties are based. Violation of these, in whatever form, constitute what is known as criminal behaviour. Crime may be seen from different perspectives, depending on the values of each society, crime against the individual or crime against the state. When the responsibility of dealing with crime, establishing guilt and appropriately punishing offenders is vested on the state authority, crime is seen as a violation of social order and thus an act against the state. But, when this responsibility is shared among every member of a community, criminal acts are therefore seen as offences against individuals, and the community, victim and offender inclusive, determines what appropriate sanctions the criminal act deserves. Nevertheless, what constitute