Dr. Agnew's New Criminology Theory

Dr. Agnew describes a new theory that should be taken into account in criminology. His theory is a part of the Strain Theory that describes the "Story Line" that leads up to a criminal act. Dr. Agnew proposes that each criminal act is a culmination of a series of events that results in person wanting to commit a crime. Agnew admits that crime does result from a background and situation factors, but he also states that the story line should also be considered when analyzing a criminal act.

Agnew defines a story line, in respect to a crime, is a series of events that lead up to a crime. He states that it is much like a story, with a start, middle, and end. The criminal act starts with an extraordinary event that will temporarily effect an individual's characteristics, setting, or relationships. This change will cause a rise in strain and stress. This results in the likelihood of a person committing a crime. The crime is an attempt to return the individual's situation to homeostasis.

The background is simply a look at a person's traits that may cause the individual to commit a crime. The story line is an attempt to explain what events lead up to these traits getting out of hand. This may also explain how events will cause a person to be extra cautions about not committing a crime. Most criminologist would argue that a person's level of self control is stable, but he proposes that the level fluctuates based on events. Story line differs from situational factors in the respect that it transcends simply the immediate events surrounding a criminal act.

There are five Story Lines outlined in this lecture. The first being the desperate need for money. Events that cause a person to need money, followed by that person not being able to obtain it leads to a person tying to obtain the money from illegitimate means. This could mean theft, sales of illegal goods, or fraud.

Another Story Line that Agnew mentioned was Unresolved Disputes. When a person does something that another doesn't like, and that results in a negative act against that person. The crime seems to be the best, or only result in reversing the act.

The third Story Line is involvement with a criminal. The individual will learn how to commit crimes, and see the ease of committing crimes through this. Similarly, the fourth Story line is a tempting opportunity for committing a crime. This is when an occasion arises where the benefits of a crime greatly outweighs the consequences.

The final Story Line is when there is a temporary break with conventional others, or institutions. This is when a break in the standard causes a person to think that the consequences are lower than usual. This could be by way parents being out of town, lay offs, or spring break.

Agnew concludes with stating the idea that this theory could be utilized in surveys by asking if these events were part of a crime. This can not only show why certain people are more likely to commit crimes more often than others, but also why people are more apt to commit crimes at certain times than others. This information should be used to monitor people who might be caught in these situations.

Agnew's theory seems to be something that should be greatly considered in criminology. To note certain similarities in criminal's stories should have been a consideration for a long time. It seems that the most practicality in this information would be to work through crimes after they were committed in order to help the individual from avoiding that situation again. A foreseeable criticism would be in the over monitoring of individuals who haven't committed a crime yet. However; I do see how the five points outlined by Agnew could help prevent crimes if utilized on a broad scale. Addressing how to cope with these issues in the early stages of education would be an ideal solution.