Why do people commit crimes?

Reference: https://owlcation.com/social-sciences/Psychology-of-Crime-Why-do-people-become-criminals

There are numerous  reasons why people become criminals. Several theories have been made to try and explain this.

Psychological theories of crime

Many people have their own theories on what makes a criminal. Some of these theories are based on first hand knowledge or experience, some unfortunately may be based on racism or prejudice, and some on scientifically investigated studies. 

And there are several psychological theories of crime, most of which have been shown to have a sound scientific basis. However, it is widely accepted that the reasons for crime are seldom one cause or the other, but rather a combination of some.

Biological Theories of Crime

These include genetics, hormones, brain chemistry (neurotransmitters) and brain structure and anatomy.

Genetics:

Because statistically more males commit crimes than females, it was proposed that this must be because of the genetic make-up of males. However, this theory has been largely discredited.

Socialisation theories of crime

These include Learning Theories such as:

• Classical Conditioning-the famous example being Pavlov’s Dogs, in which Pavlov trained the dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell.
• Operant Conditioning-The Skinner Box, developed by B.F Skinner (who else?) in which he trained rats to press (or ‘operate’) levers in order to get to their food.
• Observational Learning-“Monkey see-Monkey do”

But humans are not dogs, rats or monkeys. However, it would seem that we do learn by similar methods. If a child is surrounded by crime, either within the family or the community, they are likely to learn criminal behaviour by any or all of the above methods.