Theory: Its Concepts and Relevance

According to Okada (2015), theory is a series of statements that seek to understand and explain a
particular phenomenon. Theoretical explanations are very significant in providing a clear and wider
understanding of criminal behaviors. It also provides a framework in coming up with new policies in
response with crimes like the development of political and social policies and treatment programs for
dealing with criminals and their victims.

In criminological perspectives, theories help us to understanding the workings of the criminal justice
system and the actors in the system. It suggests the ways the things are, not the way things ought to be.
They are not inherently good or bad; however, they can be used for good or bad purposes. It also
explains crime in its macro or micro level (Akers, Sellers, See and Kieser, 2013).

Crime as a Problem

Crime is an aspect of life that all citizens must deal with as it seems to have been around as long as
civilization itself. According to Escareno, crime overpowered communities for centuries and becomes
more prevalent on poor inner-city neighborhoods than those who are rich which is also in agreement
with the report of the Secretary General on the state of crime and criminal justice in 2015 because
people living in low-income countries suffer the biggest threats to their security and well-being.

Crime has high diverse costs. The direct physical, material, mental, and emotional injury suffered by
victims of crime is deplorable. Perhaps even more tragic, however, is the indirect damage to society.
Attempts to control crime through the criminal justice system increasingly intrude in our private lives.
Personal freedoms are threatened as we repeatedly choose between public order and individual rights.
Moreover, crime amplifies mistrust, feeds prejudice, and generally degrades social cohesion (Vila, 1994).
People become more fearful, often imprisoning themselves in their own homes. Guns are kept within
reach, a knock on the door evokes terror, a stranger in need of assistance is ignored.

As regards to the international crime trend it has shown stability or a slight decrease in violent crime like
homicide, robbery and rape however the killing of women by intimidate partners is becomes prevalent.
UNODC estimates that 43,600 women are killed by their intimate partner or a family member in 2012,
which is 47% of all women killed that year. There was a significant increase on homicide rates in Central
America and Carribean after 2007 but it declines after 2011.

Developing countries experienced the most serious crime problems (Nantarajan, 2016). However, based
on official statistics or victim surveys, crime rates in most developed countries have been falling for
many years (Farrell et al.2011; Elonheimo 2014), but there is limited evidence that developing countries
have enjoyed these same benefits. Many developing countries are plagued not just by ordinary volume
crimes, but also by culturally-sanctioned violence against women and gays and serious forms of
transnational crime such as sex trafficking, drug trafficking, murderous incursions by militias, and theft
of natural resources including valuable minerals, endangered animals, fish stocks and timber. Most of
the serious crime problems of the world are now to be found in developing countries, but these
problems have received only scant attention from criminologists and crime scientists, who mostly work
in developed/ Westernized nations. Crime scientist have a special role to play in studying these crimes
because their work is oriented to solutions and it is this kind of practical help that the developing world
most needs.

In the Philippines setting, based on the 2017 Crime & Safety Report, crime remains a significant concern
in urban areas throughout the Philippines. The most common crimes reported are theft, physical
assault, and robbery in 2016 based on police records. Other common criminal acts include
pickpocketing, confidence schemes, and credit card fraud. Date-rape drug use has also been reported.
Carjacking, robberies, and violent assaults also occur occasionally. There was a decline on robberies by
taxi drivers in 2016 and individuals using stolen taxi cabs also decreases from 2015. Drug related crimes
became prevalent up to present.

Crime is present in various forms in the Philippines, and remains a serious issue throughout the country.
Illegal drug trade, human trafficking, murder, corruption and domestic violence remain significant
concerns. The Philippines has a high rate of murder cases, which is the highest in Southeast Asia as of
2014. Security problems are not new to the Philippines - kidnappings and bombings have plagued the
south of the country for decades. Few crimes hit closer to home than those in malls, the place where
residents of the capital love to shop, eat and hang out.

A Systems Perspectives on Crime

Criminal behavior is the product of a systematic process that involves complex interactions between
individual, societal, and ecological factors over the course of our lives. It explains that from the
beginning onward the intellectual, emotional, and physical attributes we develop are strongly influenced
by our personal behavior and physical processes, interactions with the physical environment and
interactions with other people, groups and institutions.

These systematic processes affect the transmission from generation to generation of traits associated
with increased involvement in crime. To have a better understanding as to how they work together the
following are discussed below.

1. Ecological Factors
It involves interactions between people and their activities in a physical environment. It pertains
to physical environment like geography and topography, crowding, pollution, and recreational
opportunities which influences the physical and emotional development of people over their
lives as well as the level of hostility, fear, or well-being they feel from moment to moment as
they experience, for example, a crowded subway, dark lonely parking lot, or serene park.

It also determines what opportunities for crime exist because they include interactions between
people and the ways physical environment channel those interactions. The routine activities of
people in a physical setting can have important effects on when and where opportunities for
crime occur. A crime is not possible unless a motivated and able offender converges with a
victim, property, or illicit substance or behavior in the absence of capable guardianship (people
or physical barriers to prevent the crime).

2. Societal or Macrolevel Factors

 It deals with systematic interactions between social groups which describe the ways society is
structured. It includes the relative distribution of the population among groups and the flows of
information, resources and people between groups. It also encompasses the variety and
heterogeneity of racial/ethnic/cultural/productive groups, their behaviors and beliefs, and
economic relations.

3. Motivation and Opportunity

Individuals actually commit the crimes. Individual factors always intervene between any
descriptions of the causes of crime. Individual or microlevel factors describe how a person
becomes motivated to commit a crime.

What is motivation?
It is just the driving force behind our actions? In this discussion. Motivation is more than the “I
want.” Portion of the equation. It includes “I could”, “what will it cost me compared to what I
think I’ll get?” and “is this right and proper?”

Motivation is the outcome of a process in which a goal is formulated, costs and benefits are
assessed, and internal constraints on behavior are applied. Individual motivation varies,
sometimes a person’s motivation is influenced more by rational decision making, other times by
emotions such as anger, greed, or lust. To some extent there are similarities wherein some
people tend to be more motivated by cost /benefit calculations more of the time than others.

Can motivation stand alone?

No. Motivation alone cannot cause a crime to occur; opportunity also is required. Opportunity
itself may influence motivation (Katz 1988).

In effect the interactions between biological, socio cultural and developmental factors affect
how motivated a person is to use force, fraud, or stealth to obtain resources when an
opportunity is presented. If motivation is sufficiently high in the presence of an attractive
opportunity, a crime may occur so long as the person has the ability required to commit it.

Cause Causation: Its historical Overview

Aristotle offers a philosophical standpoint on crime causation who stated that the crime is
poverty related describing poverty as a mother of all revolutions and crimes.

According to Francis Bacon, criminality will depend on social situations. He described his
standpoint in this sentence: ‘Opportunity makes a thief.” Bacon pointed out that human
behavior will depend on situations.

The famous encyclopedists Voltaire and Rousseau introduce the concept of free will. Crime is
the same as hedonistic behavior and failure to fulfill the social contract obligations.