Psychological and psychiatric theories

Biological theories

Multiple causation theory

Social environment theories

Theological and ethical theories

Climatic theory

THE CAUSES OF CRIME

(1) No one knows why crime occurs. The oldest theory, based on theology and ethics, is that criminals are perverse persons who deliberately commit crimes or who do so at the instigation of the devil or other evil spirits. Although this idea has been discarded by modern criminologists, it persists among uninformed people and provides the rationale for the harsh punishments still meted out to criminals in many parts of the world.

(2) Since the 18^th century, various scientific theories have been advanced to explain crime. One of the first efforts to explain crime on scientific, rather than theological, grounds was made at the end of the 18^th century by the German physician and anatomist Franz Joseph Gall, who tried to establish relationships between skull structure and criminal proclivities. This theory, popular during the 19^th century, is now discredited and has been abandoned. A more sophisticated theory — a biological one — was developed late in the 19^th century by the Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso, who asserted that crimes were committed by persons who are born with certain recognizable hereditary physical traits. Lombroso's theory was disproved early in the 20^th century by the British criminologist Charles Goring. Goring's comparative study of jailed criminals and law-abiding persons established that so-called criminal types, with innate dispositions to crime, do not exist. Recent scientific studies have tended to confirm Goring's findings. Some investigators still hold, however, that specific abnormalities of the brain and of the endocrine system contribute to a person's inclination toward criminal activity.

(3) Another approach to an explanation of crime was initiated by the French political philosopher Montesquieu, who attempted to relate criminal behavior to natural, or physical environment. His successors have gathered evidence tending to show that crimes against person,such as homicide,are relatively more numerous in warm climates, whereas crimes against property,such as theft,are more frequent in colder regions. Other studies seem to indicate that the incidence of crime declines in direct ratio to drops in barometric pressure, to increased humidity, and to higher temperature.

(4) Many prominent criminologists of the 19^th century, particularly those associated with the Socialist movement, attributed crime mainly to the influence of poverty.They pointed out that persons who are unable to provide adequately for themselvesand their families through normal legal channelsare frequently driven to theft, burglary, prostitution, and other offences.The incidence of crime especially tends to rise in times of widespread unemployment.Present-day criminologists take a broader and deeper view; they place the blamefor most crimes on the whole range of environmental conditions associated with poverty. The living conditions of the poor, particularly of those in slums, are characterized by overcrowding, lack of privacy,inadequate play space and recreational facilities, and poor sanitation.Such conditions engender feelings of deprivationand hopelessness and are conducive to crime as a means of escape.The feeling is encouraged by the example set by those who have escaped to what appears to be the better way of life made possible by crime.

Some theorists relate the incidence of crime tothe general state of a culture, especially the impact of economic crises,wars, and revolutions and the general sense of insecurityand uprootedness to which these forces give rise. As a society becomes more unsettled and its people more restless and fearful of the future, the crime rate tendsto rise. This is particularly true of juvenile crime,as the experience of the United States since World War II has made evident.

(5) The final major group of theories are psychological and psychiatric. Studies by such 20^th century investigators as the American criminologist Bernard Glueck and the British psychiatrist William Healy have indicated that about one-fourth of a typical convict populationis psychotic, neurotic, or emotionally unstableand another one-fourth is mentally deficient.These emotional and mental conditions do not automatically make people criminals, but do, it is believed, make them more prone to criminality.Recent studies of criminals have thrown further light onthe kinds of emotional disturbances that may lead to criminal behavior.

(6) Since the mid-20^th century, the notion that crime can be explained by any single theory has fallen into disfavour among investigators. Instead, experts incline to so-called multiple factor, or multiple causationtheories. They reason that crime springs from a multiplicity of conflicting and converging influences —biological, psychological, cultural, economic and political. The multiple causation explanations seem more credible than the earlier, simpler theories. An understanding of the causes of crime is still elusive, however, because the interrelationship of causes is difficult to determine.

Exercise 3:Write down Russian equivalents for the words and expressions in bold type, given in the text above.

Exercise 4: Find in the texts above the English equivalents for the following words and expressions and reproduce the context in which they were used:

1. мошенничество
2. кража
3. убийство
4. кража со взломом
5. сравнительный анализ преступников и законопослушных граждан
6. соотнести преступное поведение с факторами окружающей среды
7. преступления против человека
8. преступления против собственности
9. совершать преступления умышленно
10. некоторые узнаваемые наследуемые черты
11. выдающиеся ученые-криминологи
12. ряд условий
13. уровень преступности
14. быть склонным к преступной деятельности
15. пролить свет на проблему
16. теория многообразия факторов
17. достоверная теория

Exercise 5: Render the following passage into English-paying special attention to the words and expressions in bold type:

Преступность и ее причины

Преступность и ее причины могут быть изучены на индивидуальном, групповом и социальном уровнях. Им, следовательно, могут быть даны психологическое, социологическое и философское объяснения. Эти объяснения не противоречат друг другу, а дополняют одно другое, позволяя проанализировать причины преступности с различных сторон.

Рассматривая эту проблему на индивидуальном уровне, можно обозначить причины преступности как конфликт поведения человека с социальной средой.

Когда человек попадает в проблемную ситуацию, он часто не находит решения возникших сложностей и выбирает преступный путь.

Но возникает естественный вопрос: а почему личность формируется таким образом? И почему возникают проблемные ситуации, ставящие человека перед трудным выбором? Ответить на эти вопросы невозможно, если не обратиться к изучению современного общества. При этом очевидно, что в качестве причин преступности выступают и социально-экономические, и политические, и духовные факторы, тесно связанные друг с другом.

Обстоятельствами, ведущими к преступному поведению, считаются: антиобщественное поведение родителей; алкоголизм и нервно-психические заболевания родителей; низкий уровень культуры в семье.

Негативными особенностями личности и поведения считаются: прежняя судимость; совершение иных противоправных поступков; негативное отношение к нравственным ценностям; злобность, грубость и мстительность; пьянство, употребление наркотиков, азартные игры.

Итак, после того, как мы узнали о криминологии достаточно многое, нетрудно заключить, что преступность может возникнуть на основе взаимодействия личности и социальной среды.

UNIT 13. PUNISHMENT

Text 1: Read the text and write down Russian equivalents for the words in bold type:

Punishment describes the imposition by some authority of adeprivation— usually painful — on a person who has violated a law, a rule, or other norm. When the violation is of the criminal law of society there is a formal process of accusation and prooffollowed byimposition of a sentenceby a designated official, usually a judge. Informally, any organized group — most typically the family, may punish perceived wrongdoers.

Because punishment is both painful and guilt producing,its application calls for a justification. In Western culture, four basic justifications have been given: retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitation.

Most penal historiansnote a gradual trend over the last centuries toward more lenient sentencesin Western countries. Capital and corporal punishment,widespread in the early 19^th century, are seldom invoked by contemporary society. Indeed, in the United States corporal punishment as such appears to be contrary to the 8^th Amendment's restrictions on cruel and unusual punishment. Yet the rate of imprisonment in the United States appears to be growing. Furthermore, since the mid-1970s, popular and professional sentimenthas taken a distinctly punitive turn and now tends to see retribution and incapacitation — rather than rehabilitation — as the goals of criminal punishment.

Criminal sentences ordinarily embrace four basic modes of punishment.In descending order of severity these are: incarceration, community supervision, fine, and restitution.The death penalty is now possible only for certain types of atrocious murdersand treason.

Punishment is an ancient practice whose presence in modern cultures may appear to be out of place because it purposefully inflicts pain.In the minds of most people, however, it continues to find justification.

Exercise 1: Explain the meaning of the following words and expressions:

authority, authorities justification

community supervision rehabilitation

deterrence restitution

fine retribution

incapacitation sentence

incarceration

Exercise 2: The word PUNITIVE has the following meanings in Russian: