CMRJ303

respond to this 250 words

This week we have the pleasure of discussing a couple of theories that are in the criminology world that explain why criminals do the things they do when they break the laws set in place. A couple of these theories are the Life course theory and the ENA theory. The life course theory is clearly the superior choice out of these two because it actually gives a good foundation for how somebody were to make a decision when it comes to breaking the law. Basically the life course theory states that everything that happens in somebody’s life has an impact on how they act in the future and in certain situations. The ENA theory says that people evolved and are brought up the in the way of being a criminal. Now not to say that may not be entirely true, I find it hard to believe that people are just born that way and choose to be a criminal. I believe that the life course theory has a bit better of an argument when it comes to criminology because if something traumatic were to happen in somebody’s childhood, it may scar them for life and make them choose the wrong decision if faced with the wrong situation. Therefore they may not know any better but in my opinion there is always a choice to be had. Take for example the study from Bowlby, his studies suggest that most boys and girls that get in trouble at an early age had a troubled childhood and could never get a good connection with their primary caregiver for whatever the reason may be (Western Criminology). I think this reflects the life course theory well because these children are used to being able to do whatever they want, however they want, and whenever they want and have no role models so they truly know no better, they in a sense see rules as something to be broken because they never experienced them. 
Another person to back this up is Farrington when he identified that the peak of offending children is usually between the ages of 8 and 14, and the peak age of calming down after this is 20 to 29 (Criminal-Justice). So, fellow classmates, what do you think is the best theory? Do you think that it is just instinct and in people’s nature to break the law when presented the opportunity, such as the ENA theory suggests, or, do you think that how people’s lives are effecting by certain significant events and at certain times in their lives affects how they will act in certain situations. Like I said earlier in this post I firmly believe that the life course theory explains things a bit better when it comes to how criminals work in this world instead of just saying, “that’s how they were born and taught to live”. I look forward to getting the opportunity to read everybody’s posts this week and seeing what you all think is the better theory out there!
Eriq
References
Life Course Criminology – Criminal Justice – IResearchNet. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://criminal-justice.iresearchnet.com/criminology/life-course-criminology/4/
Katz, R. (n.d.). Building the Foundation for a Side-by-Side Explanatory Model: A General Theory of Crime, the Age Graded Life-Course Theory and Attachment Theory. Retrieved November 15, 2018, from http://www.westerncriminology.org/documents/WCR/v01n2/Katz/Katz.html