Analyzing Crime: Uncovering the Root Causes

What are the key factors that could be considered as causes of crime on the University of Sussex campus? In causes of crime essay the answer will be revealed by the author as much as possible.

Research has shown that minor offenses such as alcohol violations and vandalism are the most prevalent on university campuses, however incidents of more serious crimes including that of theft and sexual and aggravated assault have also been reported on university campuses. In this essay the key factors that could be considered causes of crime will be identified through investigating which factors have the greatest impact on causing crimes such as sexual assault, aggravated assault and a substance abuse to be committed. Over the years many theories that seek to address the causes of crime have been put forward such as social-structural, situational and psychological theories. In order to establish what the main causes of crimes committed at the university of Sussex are we will assess which factors have the greatest impact on causing university students to offend.

Firstly, the impact of social factors on criminal activity will be assessed. The social learning theory and specifically the influence that peers can have on individuals can be considered as a cause of crime on the university campus. This view is supported by empirical evidence as Dana et al found that adolescents engaged in more delinquent behaviour if they had delinquent friends and Thomas study suggested that individuals who associated with friends who demonstrated specialization in violence, theft and substance use were more likely to display greater levels of specialization in those types of offenses themselves. This point demonstrates that having friends who commit crimes not only encourages an individual to commit crimes but also acts as a learning opportunity of how to commit certain crimes. This point is significant as during university individuals are often spending more time with their peers than they have ever done before due to the fact that most university students move away from home and live on campus, therefore if an individual is surrounded by others who are committing crimes this may encourage and teach that individual to do likewise. The significance of peer influences can also be attributed to breaking covid19 rules by hosting or attending illegal parties on campus as even if an individual does not want to particularly attend these parties the influence of being around others who are participating in this activities may cause others to do the same

However, a limitation of the influence of peers as a cause of crime on the university campus is that it is often because an individual already has a greater affinity to commit criminal acts that they acquire friends that also partake in criminal activity. Therefore, this limits the significance of this factor and possibly elevates that of other factors that look at the impact of the family environment or psychological factors. Even so, this factor still has relevance as even though an individual may have an affinity to commit crimes the influence of peers may further encourage individuals to commit crimes. This point can especially be applied to cases of substance misuse at university and the attending illegal house parties as even if individuals would not normally partake in these activities the influence of peers can significantly encourage them to do so.

Secondly, we will look at the impact of situational factors and specifically the Routine Activity theory on causing criminality on the university campus. This approach devised by Cohen and Felson suggests that criminal behaviour is caused by a motivated offender and a suitable target without a guardian. Feminist researchers adapted this theory and have successfully used it to explain sexual violence, through looking at how women can be viewed as suitable targets by men. A study by Crosby found that in the college environment alcohol often masked the presence of motivated offenders while exposing the vulnerability of potential victims and research by Schwartz that conducted interviews on male date rape offenders found that motivated offenders viewed women who drank or consumed drugs as “suitable targets”. Results from the study also showed that men who drink two or more times a week and had friends that supported violence were nearly 10 times more likely to admit to being sexual aggressors than men who had none of these traits. However, a limitation of this study is that often offenders report their violence as less frequent and severe than their female counterparts therefore it is important to often keep this in mind when looking at data obtained by the reports of offenders. Nevertheless, this point demonstrates how situational factors can impact the likelihood of sexual assaults being committed at universities. As the fact that the university experience is often indicative of heavy drinking and partying, more opportunities may arise for offenders to encounter vulnerable individuals. Although the Schwartz study does also imply the impact of peers on act of sexual aggression being committed the impact of situational factors is still vital, as without the presence of a vulnerable individual an act of sexual assault cannot be committed.

Thirdly, the impact of psychological factors and emotions will be addressed in order to assess their ability to predict the likelihood of criminality on the university campus. A study that looked at the impact of emotional regulation on criminality assessing 136 male undergraduates from a midwestern university found that those with high emotion regulation difficulties were more likely to perpetrate sexual aggression if they consumed large amounts of alcohol, while those with low emotional regulation difficulties were unaffected by alcohol consumption (Kirwan et al 2019). An issue to note with this study is that due to the sensitive nature of the type of data being reported participants may be inclined to underreport or omit some of their behaviours and although the researchers attempted to counteract this by making responses anonymous some participants responses may still not have been completely truthful. Despite this lack of emotional regulation is still a key cause of sexual assault at university as evidence shows that the likelihood of committing sexual assault are increased when an individual with high emotional regulation difficulties is under the influence of alcohol.

Finally, the impact of adverse events and emotions will be assessed as a cause of criminality at universities. The cognitive neo-associationist theory of aggression is a psychological theory that proposes that adverse events cause negative emotions that can trigger a tendency to fight or flight. Research has shown how the adverse event of a weapon being present can affect the likelihood of aggression, as Berkowitz and LePage found that the mere presence of a weapon enhances the likelihood of attacks on a suitable target. Furthermore Deuser found that participants who viewed violent movie clips later reported higher levels of state hostility than did those who viewed non-violent clips. Additionally, the relative accessibility of aggressive thoughts increased by the violent clip. Therefore, this point suggests that at university individuals who often watch violent movies or view violent video clips on social media may be mentally primed to commit violent crimes as research above shows that watching violent clips increase the accessibility of aggressive thoughts. The significance of this however can be called into question as it can also be suggested that in cases of criminal acts on university campuses situational factors are still important as the theory states that an adverse event is needed to cause these aggressive thoughts. The impact of a predisposition to act aggressively is also important as without this, participants will most likely choose the flight option when encountering an adverse situation. All in all research shows that the impact of adverse events and the corresponding negative emotions does impact the likelihood of crimes being committed but an already established likelihood to commit aggressive acts and situational factors also play a part in the likelihood of aggressive acts being committed on the university campus.

In conclusion, situational, psychological and social factors can all be offered as causes of crime on the University of Sussex campus. However, certain explanations are more vital in explaining certain crimes that are committed on campus. Our investigation revealed that social factors such as the influence of peers best explains crimes such as substance abuse and breaking covid19 rules, as if an individual is surrounded by peers who are abusing drugs and breaking covid19 restrictions individuals may be influenced and taught to do the same. However the influence of peers may be less significant on crimes such as sexual assault and aggression as these are impact more greatly by situational and psychological factors as our research into this area showed that sexual offenders were more likely to commit offends when under the influence of alcohol and with the presence of a suitable target and even though factors such as peer support did play a role ultimately without the presence of a suitable target a crime would not be committed. In summary all the factors mentioned above are causes of crime at the university campus, but this essay demonstrates that the importance each factor has depends on the type of crime being committed.

References

• Berkowitz, L. (2012). A Different View of Anger: The Cognitive‐Neoassociation Conception of the Relation of Anger to Aggression. Aggressive Behavior, 38(4), 322-333.