When thinking about criminals, or simply people who commit crimes, the first thoughts that commonly come to mind after that are questions, like “Why do they commit crimes?”. That question I will be attempting to answer in the shorter, more compact medium of an article as the answer is a vortex of environmental, social and even genetic factors. I will be exploring the sociological and psychological aspects of crime on two different levels, the individual, and the wider community.

The Individual

One of the more famous theories behind crime, sociologically speaking, is strain theory, devised by functionalist sociologist Robert Merton. He pondered on how deviance and crime exists because of the culture and structure of a society. He proposed that society shares the same values, and as a result, form similar goals in life due to those values. When those goals aren’t achieved, or there is a struggle, people start to divert towards crime to achieve them. A relevant example would be how legal employment doesn’t provide enough material success, since that is one of Merton’s primary goals, and people would resort to burglary for instance. Crime becomes the more lucrative way to earn financial resources which eventually leads to anomie, or the breakdown of societal norms within a person, which can have psychological consequences, such as cognitive dissonance, anxiety and depression.

Cognitive dissonance, a consequence of crime, is a form of psychological discomfort that is caused by a clash of two beliefs, one often being moral and one to do with an action one commonly does. It was first theorised by Leon Festinger, who coined the term cognitions and defined it as “pieces or knowledge about the self, environment or behaviour” when two of those are are pitted against each other it can cause the discomfort. An example would be “stealing is wrong” as a moral value, and “I just stole a wallet” as a behaviour. The action of stealing the wallet was probably done because of Strain theory, or in more intense cases, Arousal theory. This concept was devised by Marvin Zuckerman, who claimed people with higher sensation seeking personalities often did crimes like vandalism for the “buzz” or “thrill” it gives. This sensationlism is often linked to the popular term “adrenaline junkie”. Of course, Arousal theory is less common than Strain theory, as it is seen as more irrational and impulsive than the latter.

More on Strain Theory

Merton then divided strain theory into 5 adaptations that are done because of that strain:

• Conformity- People have no way alternative to make their goals easier to achieve so they force their way through their current path.
• Innovation- People make new ways to achieve their goals that can be sometimes illegal.
• Ritualism- Abandoning society’s goals, but still going through the motions of life
• Retreatism- Abandoning society’s goals and the means of achieving them
• Rebellion- Retreatism but a more active, resistive form that is more aggressive

This essentially is a summarised, short version of what can cause individual people to commit crimes from a sociological and psychological standpoint.

The Community

Crime within a community is much more advanced, as the issues involved become more lodged and solving them is harder. The key theories involved here are Subculture theory, Broken Window theory, and the idea of Groupthink:

Broken Window Theory, (Wilson and Kelling 1982)

• This concept is centred around the idea of derelict, abandoned neighborhoods. People see broken windows, or other signs of abandonment, and think crime is less stigmatised here, or less frowned upon, as social structure starts to break down when people start to care less about the area.

Subculture Theory, (Cohen 1955)

• When mainstream ideas break down, and groups of people adopt a different set of informal rules, this can be seen in gang behaviour or mobs, and other micro-societies that involve organised crime as a common ritual.

Groupthink, (Janis, 1972)

• When individually people cannot commit crimes because of the stigma around it, group cohesion can override rational decision-making and lead to crimes like rioting, as people feel when more people do it, there is less responsibility falling on each individual, due to a diffusion of criminality.

By considering each of these along with the theories involved in with individuals, it can provide us with a better understanding of crime, and why it happens.