Unified Criminology: Chapter Summary And Analysis

In chapter 4 of Agnew’s Towards a Unified Criminology, he discussed the nature of human nature while posing the question “Are people self-interested, socially concerned, or blank slates?”

According to Agnew (2011), because crimes are caused by forces beyond the individual's control, it is necessary to know what individual and environmental forces increase the chance of crime. Therefore, he goes on to mention physical size, strength, emotions, goals, religion, and social characteristics just to mention a few as some of the forces that can push an individual to commit a crime (Agnew 2011). All forces mentioned put together shapes the human nature.

According to Agnew

(2011), “human nature refers to individual characteristics (including ways

The self-interest or the rational actor assumption is at the center of classical theory. Self-interest means “people think and act first for themselves, that they are not naturally inclined to subordinate their interest to the interest of others” (Agnew 2011).

People are seen as rational because they ascertain the risk level of an action they might take to know if they will derive more pleasure or pain from the action (benefit or cost). The self-interest or the rational actor theory argues that “individuals are more likely to offend when the cost of crime is low”

(Agnew 2011). However, criminologist does not assume people are perfectly rational because people do not hold complete and accurate information about all actions they might get involved in. This self-interest or the rational actor assumption is the focal point of most crime theories including rational choice theory, deterrence theory, and social and self-control theory. To this

Further, the social concern actor theorists argue that “social circumstances pressure individuals to engage in crime” (Agnew 2011). According to this view, people must be pressured to engage in crime. The strain theorists are proponents of the social concern assumption. The socially centered actors have strong inclination to conform to norms of others because they do not want to endanger ties with them.

The actors care for others so they are inclined to help them. People are always under pressure to conform to the status quo under this theory. According to strain theorists, one thing that can cause crime is when others prevent an individual from achieving a valuable monetary goal (Agnew 2011). Therefore, one may resort to crime when they are badly treated. The theory’s recommendation to control crime is to reduce the strains that put pressure on the individual to commit a crime. My question to this particular crime control tool is that, what happens next if that particular strain is reduced and the fellow continues to commit crime because it is in his nature to commit a crime?

Finally, the Blank