Does the theoretical perspective do a good or not so good job explaining your crime? Why?

Step 1: Choose an actual crime for which you can provide a brief description of both the facts
of the case and people involved. Briefly describe the who, what, when, and where of the crime,
i.e., the known facts and people involved.
Step 2: According to each of the above theoretical perspectives, why did this crime take place?
(To answer this question, you will want to briefly state the main argument(s) of each
perspective and then relate it to the crime. For example, deterrence theory argues that people
are self-interested and the only way to keep them from committing crime is through the threat
of punishment that is certain, severe, and swift. According to deterrence theory, this crime took
place because . . . )
-For each theoretical perspective:
o Does the theoretical perspective do a good or not so good job explaining
your crime? Why?
o Do you believe the perspective offers a good explanation of criminal
behavior (or human behavior) more generally? Why? [are there things the
theoretical perspective can explain, cannot explain, does not consider, etc.?]
Step 3: Which perspective do you think offers the best explanation of the crime you have
chosen to analyze in your paper? Why? If you do not think any of the theoretical perspectives
offers a good explanation of the crime, explain why you think this.
-Whether you think there is a best explanation or not, you should consider:
o What do these theoretical perspectives have in common, and are there
differences between these perspectives or theories within these
perspectives in their explanations of crime?
o Possible points of comparison: Micro, mezzo, macro, process,
structure, tautology, scope, empirically falsifiable.
IMPORTANT note on organizing your paper: Since this is a writing-intensive course, I would
like you to organize the paper with an introduction, body, and conclusion with headings and
subheadings. Here is an example and explanation.
INTRODUCTION
In one or more paragraphs state what the paper is about and what you accomplish in the paper.
Communicate to the reader that you are analyzing why a crime occurred according to the above
listed theoretical perspectives in criminology and assessing their ability to explain the crime and
crime more generally. In the introduction, you should list the theoretical perspectives you will
consider and state your conclusion.
THE CRIME
In this section you describe the crime and the people involved.
THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS
Include a brief paragraph stating that you will analyze why the crime occurred according to
deterrence theory, rational choice theory, routine activities theory, biological/biosocial theories,
and psychological theories.
Deterrence Theory
Explanation of deterrence theory application of deterrence theory to your crime, etc.
Rational Choice Theory
Explanation of rational choice theory application of deterrence theory to your crime, etc.
[continue with an italicized subheading for each of the theories/theoretical perspectives]
CONCLUSION
Briefly revisit what you have done in the body and then shift to a consideration of the theories as a
whole, i.e., what they have in common and where they differ. Offer your assessment of their ability
to explain your crime and crime more generally and whether you find a particular theoretical
perspective better than others or whether you find them all lacking in explanatory power.