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The major approaches that criminologists use to explain crime are positivist criminology

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The major approaches that criminologists use to explain crime are positivist criminology
The major approaches that criminologists use to explain crime are positivist criminology; classical perspective; sociological criminology and environmental criminology.

Positive Criminology, an approach which attempts to explain criminal actions not as an exercise of free will or of one 's choosing, but rather as a consequence of multiple different internal and external. (http://psychologydictionary.org/positivist-criminology/)
Cesare Lombroso (1835 – 1909), an Italian criminologist views that criminals are born not made, and criminal an example of nature, not nurture. Focused on biological and psychological factors to explain criminal behavior, and studied cadavers of executed criminals in an effort to determine scientifically whether criminals were physically any different from non-criminals, he believed that people were born criminals and facial features of criminals included things like enormous jaws and strong canine teeth. "Atavism"
In the 1960s, positivist criminologists argued that criminal behaviour lies in abnormal chromosomes, the XYY theory argued that violent male (genes)criminals have an abnormal XYY (super male) chromosome (XY is the normal pattern in males)
The Positivist theory of criminals being born rather than made died out, and there were moral implications with this.
(http://sociologycriminology.wordpress.com/positive-theory-positivism/)

Classical criminology is an approach to the legal system that arose during the Enlightenment in the 1700s. Philosophers like Cesare Beccaria, John Locke, and Jeremy Bentham expanded upon social contract theory to explain why people commit crime and how societies could effectively combat crime. The concepts continue to play a large role in the legal systems of many nations today, although the approach in the modern world tends to be a bit more flexible.
It is important to understand the context in which classical criminology was developed. During the Enlightenment, Europe was changing radically,



References: List The Open University of Hong Kong (2013). LESM A204 tutorial 2 Criminology for the security manager (unit 2). Hong Kong :OUHK http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/143163/criminology/272204/Sociological-theories http://psychologydictionary.org/positivist-criminology/ http://sociologycriminology.wordpress.com/positive-theory-positivism/ http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-classical-criminology.htm

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