Cognitive Theory of Crime

Cognitive Theory of Crime
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Cognitive Theory of Crime
Abstract
The cognitive theory of crime focuses on the mental processes of people. Understanding how criminals understand and perceive the world is the major business of conflict theorists. The cognitive theory of crime and delinquency focuses on two subdisciplines which include moral development and information processing. The cognitive theory is difficult to test due to two major factors. First, it refers to cognitive thought processes that cannot be observed directly. The validity of the concepts is questionable as the researchers would not be sure whether the memory has changed. The researchers do not observe and examine memories, but they give answers. Secondly, the cognitive theory of crime ignores additional factors towards behavior that have been verified to affect behavior. Therefore, the cognitive theory of crime can be termed reductionist. It explains behavior as the result of five cognitive processes: thought, attention, memory, perception, and language, and pays zero focus on other possible factors. The cognitive theory of crime generalizes that some people get into crime mainly because of their psychological development failure. Secondly, aggressive and violent behaviors are learned over time. Thirdly, some inherent personality traits predispose individuals to criminal acts and behaviors. The research paper will look at the detailed explanation of the cognitive theory of crime, how difficult it is to test the theory, generalizability, how it predicts criminal behavior and policy implications that could affect policing, law, corrections, juvenile justice, victimology, race, crime, and punishment.
Detailed Explanation
The cognitive theory of crime places a focus on the mental processes of individuals. Cognitive theorists strive to comprehend how criminals understand and perceive the world surrounding them (Helm & Reyna, 2017). They seek to understand how these criminals represent the world mentally. The cognitive theory of crime is brought to light in honor of two psychologists, Wilhelm Wundt and William James. The cognitive theory of crime and delinquency focuses on two subdisciplines. The first subdiscipline entails moral development. Moral development aims at understanding how individuals morally reason and represent the world around them (Walters, 2016). The second subdiscipline involves information processing. In information processing, the focus is placed on how people acquire, store, and retrieve information. Critical emphasis is placed on the three stages; acquisition, retention, and information retrieval. According to Jean Piaget, the reasoning process of every individual is usually developed and arranged in an orderly manner (Tuck & Riley, 2017). As one grows and matures from birth, one continues to evolve. Another cognitive theorist known as Lawrence Kohlberg hypothesized that people usually pass through different stages that entail moral growth and development.
How Difficult it is to Test the Cognitive Theory of Crime
The cognitive theory is difficult to test due to two significant factors. First, it refers to cognitive thought processes that cannot...