Theories and practice in the field of criminal justice are difficult to connect because of the lack of theory used to understand crime that will teach lessons for future criminal acts. Instead, the criminal justice field has focused on a result-driven model that prefers practical answers that provide results, which are arrests and convictions.
Please address the requirements below in a paper of 3-4 pages. Be sure to provide support or evidence that will enhance and empirically prove your response. Academic criminal justice articles or real-life criminal justice findings that are found in journals or other academic sources must be used in supporting your answers. Please use APA format for all cited sources, including your references page.
Describe the following sociological theories of crime:
Social control theory
Strain theory
Differential association theory
Neutralization theory
List the basic premises of each of the theories and how they differ from one another.
Discuss 1 strength and 1 weakness for each theory that is unique to that theory.
Include the background of the offender assessed when it is relevant to the theory being used to analyze the offender.
Also, answer the following questions:
Which of the 2 philosophies (classical or positivist) do you believe explains criminal behavior in a much more complete manner?
Why?