¶ … criminology which uses psychological knowledge to analyze criminal behavior. This will include a consideration of historical values ant trait and choice theories. Also, the author will compare how society responds to a criminal's behavior with options of punishment and prevention. We will then contrast these historical values with trait choice theories to analyze how society responds to criminal behavior in terms of punishment and prevention.
It is important to understand both the trait and choice theories when considering the reasons that lead to criminal activity. The traits theory supplies the base from which a range of options arises. This theory considers that criminal behavior emerges from the biological and/or psychological conditions of a person. Theoretically, their control coping strategies ultimately result in criminal behavior. According to this theory, people are born with inherited traits. Some of these traits are suited to leadership or participation in criminal enterprises. Control of crime under such a regime would involve profiling to prevent the crimes that law enforcement would expect the individuals to potentially commit (Volkert, 2007)
Choice theory touches upon how society can deter criminal acts by controlling these options....
It takes into account is taking into account the stages in life. The stages of choice theory combined with the natural temperament and genetic makeup of a person contribute to the choices criminals make. This theory claims that a criminal person chooses crime because the benefits of it far out weighs the alternatives. The individual's life in such a situation appears to be worthless, so the consequences of the crime appear to be worth the risks for the criminal. Under this regime, punishment is an option that is less appealing for the criminal. This would deter an accused criminal from repeating the a like offense and deter other potential criminals from attempting criminal activities (ibid).
One can not explain the decision making process that leads to act however just by looking at crime from the choice standpoint. Obviously, criminal acts still happen. It is therefore the opinion of this author that criminal acts need to be analyzed from both the traits and choice standpoints. One aspect of human behavior does not stand alone. When attempting to understand the "whole" person, all approaches need to considered. While choice theory may not be perfect, it does have an advantage over traits theory in that it is dealing with the crime near the time of commission…
