Throughout history man has been tangled up wondering whyindividuals are so interested in committing crimes and why these individualsare continually committing crimes and not being deterred.
Through the centuriessociety has come up with this scientific study called criminology which isdefined as “a scientific science study of crime and why people commit crime” (Tibbetts p2). Through criminology humankindcreated scientific theories that help us determine why individuals commit crimein logic and deductive ways. Criminology is studied in two parts: crime as asocial phenomenon and social behavior, but we will mainly focus on the social behavioraspect. Theories are classified into paradigms, which are distinctivetheoretical models used to study the social behavior aspect (Tibbetts p4). I willuse theories like deterrence and classical theories such asRational Choice and Routine Activities Theories.
Theories like deterrence were created for mankind tohelp control or deter the influence of crime but deterrence has remainedineffective and it offers little in the way of understanding criminal behavior.The deterrence theory was created to be the most effective method toreduce crime, thus expecting crime to decline but ended up being ineffectiveand left individuals committing crime at an increasing rate.In order for mankind tofind evidence that supports classical theories, society mustuse empirical tests, scopes, logical consistencies,policy implications, and other methods like a criminal narrative from thecriminals themselves.
For this I have used a criminal narrative about an Armydeserter by the name of Frank Koehler. Frank Koehler was an individual that waswell-known to the local law enforcement in the State ofNew York. Koehler committed crimes that ranged from multiple burglaries, threehomicides (Pete McGinn, Billy Burns and Richie Glennon), and criminalpossession of a weapon. Koehler was able to get away with these crimes for overtwenty-five years allowing him to keep the confidence of not being caught ordeterred anytime soon. Frank Koehler’s father was a burglar who was in and outof jail and his mother was “a good teacher” according to him.
Koehler dreamt ofbeing just like James Cagney, who played a gangster in one of Koehler’sfavorite childhood movies. His family background had a big impact on this lifecausing him to make many irrational decisions throughout his life.The first, most importanttheory we willlook at is the theory of deterrence, whichwas introduced by an Italian scholar Cesare Beccaria. Deterrence is defined as,”a theory whic
