From Theory to Practice: Can our theories combat crime?

Abstract

A range of theoretical perspectives in criminology seek to account for why some individuals engage in criminal behaviors and others do not. In this small-group activity, students in criminology or criminal justice courses use a modified DENT framework to translate theories of crime causation into proposed interventions. It is designed to promote...

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Details

Subject Area(s):

Criminology/Delinquency

Resource Type(s):

Class Activity, PowerPoint

Class Level(s):

College 100, College 200, College 300, College 400

Class Size(s):

Medium, Small

Usage Notes

The included documents provide a description of the DENT approach, the specific steps to complete this activity, the activity prompt for students to follow, a blank group handout, a blank individual worksheet, and a rank-order activity that can be completed a class session in advance to introduce the topic. This resource is best suited for an...

Learning Goals and Assessments

Learning Goal(s):

1. Students will explore links between theories of crime and commonly occurring crimes.
2. Students will discuss how theories of crime causation would explain a given crime.
3. Students will propose an intervention for a given crime based on a selected theory of crime causation.

Goal Assessment(s):

1. Students can give examples of what crimes tend to occur the most in American society.
2. Students can develop an explanation for why a crime occurs based on selected theories of crime causation.
3. Students will develop a theoretically-driven intervention targeting a specific crime and share that information with the class.