Chapter 5 crim
o Mental scripts (pyscholigcal)
One reason for faulty reasoning is that people may be relying on mental scripts learned in childhood that tell them how to interpret events, what to expect how they should react, and what should be the outcome of the interaction. Some may have learned improper scripts because as children they had early prolonged exposure to violence
• Attachment theory(psychological)
o According to John Bowlbys, the ability to form an emotional bond to another person important psychological implication that follow people across the life span. o Attachments are formed soon after birth, when infants bond with their mothers. Babies will become frantic, crying and clinging, to prevent separation or to reestablish contact with a missing parent. o Without attachment, they would be helpless and not survive. o Failure to develop proper attachment may cause people to fall prey to a number of psychological disorders, some of which resemble attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). o Such individuals may be impulsive and have difficulty concentrating and consequently experience difficulty in school o People with detachment problems with a variety of antisocial behavior including sexual assault and child abuse. o Adults they often have difficulty initiating and sustaining relationships with others
Contemporary trait theory
o As criminologists John Paul Wright and Francis Cullen put it: the reality that humans are biological creatures who vary in biological traits is becoming too obvious to ignore. o These contemporary trait theorists do not suggest that a single biological or psychological attribute adequately explains all criminality. Rather each offender is considered physically and mentally unique, so there much be different explanations for each person's behavior. o Personal traits and biological conditions, not parenting or social environment, best explain behavior choices.
• The behavioral perspective: social learning theory (psychological
o Behavior theory: maintain that human actions are developed through learning experiences. The major premise of behavior theory is that people alter their behavior in accordance with the response it elicits from others. o The branch of behavior theory most relevant to criminology is social learning theory. Social learning theorist argue that people are not born with the ability to act violently; rather they learn to be aggressive through their life experience. o These experiences include personally observing others aggressively to achieve some goal or watching people being rewarded for violent acts on television or in movies. o People learn to act aggressively when, as children, they model their behavior after the violent acts of adults. Later in life, these violent behaviors patterns persist in social relationship. The boy who see his father repeatedly strike his mother with impunity is likely to do the same thing o Although social learning theorists agree that mental or physical traits may predispose a person toward violence, they believe a person violent tendencies are activated by factors in the environment.
• Biosocial theories of crime What is biochemical, neurological, Genetic, Evolutionary
o Biochemical ♣ The major premise of the theory is that crime, especially violence is a function of diet, vitamin intake, hormonal imbalance, or food allergies. ♣ The strengths of the theory are that it explains irrational violence and shows how environmental interacts with personal traits to influence behavior ♣ The research focuses of the theory are diet, hormones, enzymes, environmental contaminants and lead intake. o Neurological ♣ The major of the theory is that criminals and delinquents often suffer brain impairment. Attention defects hyperactivity disorder and minimal brain dysfunction are related to antisocial behavior ♣ The strengths of the theory are that it explains irrational violence and shows the environment interacts with personal traits to influence behavior ♣ The research focuses of the theory are CD, ADHD, learning disabilities, brain injuries, and brain chemistry. o Genetic ♣ The major premise of the theory is that criminal traits and predispositions are inherited. The criminality of parents can predict the delinquency of children. ♣ The strengths of the theory include the fact that it explains why only a small percentage of youths in high crime areas become chronic offenders. ♣ The research focuses of the theory are twin behavior, sibling behavior, and parent child similarities. o Evolutionary ♣ The major premise of the theory is that as the human race evolved, traits and characteristics became ingrained. Some of these traits make people aggressive and predisposed to commit crime. ♣ The strengths of the theory include its explanation of high violence rates and aggregate gender differences in the crime rate. ♣ The research focuses of the theory are gender differences and understanding human aggression.
Development of trait theory What is Sociobiology?
o Criminologist Cesare Lombroso who conducted the first "scientific studies" o Today their efforts are historical curiosities, not scientific fact, because the research used was slipshod and invalid, not employing control groups and the scientific method. o What they assumed was a biological cause could just as easily have resulte from environment or upbringing o Which spurred Edmund O. Wilsons, Sociobiology: The New synthesis in 1970s, explanation of crime based on human traits received renewed interest from criminologists Sociobiology: the view that human behavior is motivated by inborn (genes)(existing from birth) biological urges to survive and preserve the species. o Sociobiology stresses the following: ♣ Behavioral traits are shaped by both inherited and the environment ♣ Biological and genetic conditions affect how social behavior are learned and perceived ♣ Behavior is determined by the need to ensure survival of offspring and replenishment of the gene pool ♣ Biology, environment, and learning are mutually interdependent factors o Simply put, sociobiology assumes that while social behavior is genetically transmitted, it adapts to and is shaped by existing environmental conditions. Doesn't matter where they live to make the do crime, all people may be aware of and even fear the sanctioning power of the law, but their behavior is controlled by traits that are present at birth or developed soon afterwards
• IQ and Criminality (psychological)
o Early criminologist maintained that many delinquents and criminals have below average IQ and the low IQ causes their criminality. o Some belie that law violators ad inherently substandard intelligence and thus were naturally inclined to commit crime. o These proponents of nature theory: argue that intelligence is largely determined genetically that ancestry determines IQ and that low intelligence as demonstrated by low IQ is linked to criminal behavior. o Contrast proponents of Nurture theory: argued that environmental stimulation from parents, relatives, social contacts, schools, peer groups, and innumerable other accounts for a Childs IQ level and that low IQ may result from an environment that also encourages delinquent and criminal behavior. Thus if low IQ scores are recorded among criminal these scores may reflect the criminals cultural background not their inherited mental ability. o Travis Hirshi and Michael Hundelang suggested a linked existed between intelligence and crime. Youth with low IQs they found, do poorly in school, and school failure and academic incompetence are highly related to delinquency and school failure and academic incompetence are highly related to delinquency and later to adult criminality. o Adolescents with low IQs are more likely to commit crime, get caught, and be sent to prison. o Conversely at risk with higher IQ seem to be protected from becoming criminals by their superior ability to succeed in school and in social relations o A number of research projects have found evidence that residents living geographic areas nations, states, and countries whose residents have higher than average IQs experience lower crime rates than those whose citizen have lower IQ
• The evolution of gender and crime
o Evolutionary concepts that have been linked to gender differences in violence rates are based loosely on mammalian mating patterns. o To ensure survival of the gene pool (and the species), it is beneficial for a male of any species to mate with as many suitable females as possible because each can bear his offspring. o Those males that maximize an aggressive mating effort strategy also possess traits such as strong sexual drive, a reduced ability to form strong emotional bonds, a lack of conscience, and aggressive and violent tendencies. o Those individuals who possess the traits associated with high mating are also more likely to engage in antisocial conduct. Also, likely to produce offspring who are also prone to criminal behaviors. o Therefore, over the long history of the human species, aggressive males have had the greatest impact on the gene pool. The descendant of these aggressive males now accounts for the disproportionate amount of male aggression and violence. o In contrast because of the long period of gestation, females require a secure home and single, stable, nurturing partner to ensure their survival. o Crime rate differences between the genders, then may be less a matter of socialization than of inherent differences in mating patterns that have developed over time.
• Cognitive theory (psychological) And what is information processing theory?
o One area of psychology that has received increasing recognition in recent tears is cognitive theory. o Cognitive theory: Psychological perspective that focuses on the mental processes by which people perceived represent the world around them and solve problems. o Psychologists with a cognitive perspective focus on mental process how people perceive and mentally represent the world around them and solve problems. o The pioneers of this school were Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener and William James today the cognitive area includes several sub disciplines. o Information processing theory: focuses on how people process, store, encode, retrieve, and manipulate information to make decisions and solve problems. o First, they encode information, next they search for a proper response and decide on the most appropriate action and finally, they act of their decision. o According to this cognitive approach, people who use information properly, who are better conditioned to make reasoned judgments, and who can make quick and reasoned decision when facing emotion-Landen events are best able to avoid antisocial behavior choices. In contrast crime-prone people may have a cognitive deficit and priate means to satisfy their immediate personal needs, which take precedence over more distant social needs such as obedience of the law. They are not deterred by the threat of legal punishments because when they try to calculate the costs and consequences of an action that is, because they are imperfect processors of information
• Biological trait theories
o One branch of contemporary trait focuses on the biological conditions that control human behavior. Criminologist who work in this area call themselves biocriminologists, biosocial criminologist, or biologically oriented criminologists
• Personality and Crime
o Personality can be defined as the reasonably stable patterns of behavior, including thoughts and emotions, that distinguish one person from another. One's personality reflects a characteristic way of adapting to life's demand and problems. The way we behave is a function of how our personality enables us to interpret life events and make appropriate behavioral choices. o Criminal personality traits; impulsivity, hostility, narcissism, hedonism, and aggression are highly correlated with criminal and antisocial behaviors o Personality defects related to rape and sexual assault as well as white collar and business crimes. o Han Eysenck's PEN model contains three elements ♣ Psychoticism (P), extraversion (E), and Neuroticism(N). o He associates two personality trait, extroversion and introversion with antisocial behavior: ♣ Extroverts are energetic, enthusiastic, action-oriented, chatty, glib, and self-confident ♣ Introverts tend to be quiet, low key, deliberate, and detached from others. o People who are either extremely extroverted or extremely introverted area at risk for antisocial behavior.
• Psychological theories o Psychodynamic Behavioral Cognitive
o Psychodynamic ♣ Major premise: the development of the unconscious personality early in childhood influences behavior for the rest of a person's life. Criminal have weak egos and damaged personalities. ♣ Strengths: explain the onset of crime and why crime and drug abuse cut across class lines ♣ Research focus: mental illness and crime o Behavioral ♣ Major premise: People commit crime when they model their behavior after others they see being rewarded for the same act. Behavior is reinforced by rewards and extinguished by punishment. ♣ Strengths: Explains the role of significant others in the crime process. Shows how media can influence crime and violence ♣ Research focus: media and violence effect of child abuse o Cognitive ♣ Major premise: Individual reasoning process influence behavior. Reasoning is influence by the way people perceive their environment ♣ Strengths: Shows why criminal behavior patterns change over time as people mature and develop their reasoning powers. May explain the aging out process ♣ Research focus: perception; environmental influences.
• Social learning and violence (pschological)
o Social learning theorist view violence as something learned through a process called behavior modeling. In modern society, aggressive acts are usually modeled after three principal sources: ♣ Family interactions; studies of family life show that aggressive children have parents who use aggressive tactics when dealing with others. The children of wife batterers are more likely to use aggressive tactics themselves than children in the general population, especially if the victims (their mothers) suffer psychological distress from the abuse. ♣ Environmental experiences; people who reside in areas where violence occurs daily are more likely to act violently than those who dwel in low crime areas whose norms stress convential behavior. ♣ Mass Media; Films, video games, and television shows commonly depict violence graphically. o In summary, social learning theorist suggest that the following factors may contribute to violent or aggressive behavior ♣ An event that heightens arousal; for example a person may frustrate or provoke another though physical assault or verbal abuse. ♣ Aggressive skills; learned aggressive responses picked up from observing others, either personally or through media. ♣ Expected outcomes; the belief that aggression will some hose be rewarded. Rewards can come in the form of reducing tension o anger, gaining some financial reward, building self-esteem, or receiving praise of others. ♣ Consistency of behavior with values; The belief, gained from observing others, that aggression is justified and appropriate, given the circumstance of the current situation.
• Psychopathic/antisocial personality
o Some people lack affect, cannot empathize with others and are shortsighted and hedonistic (engaged in the pursuit of pleasure; sensually self-indulgent). There trait make them prone to problems ranging from psychopathology to drug abuse, sexual promiscuity and violence. As a group, people who share these traits are believed to have a character defect referred to as sociopathic, psychopathic or antisocial personality. o Antisocial personality; combination of traits, such as hyperactivity, impulsivity, hedonism, and inability to emphaze with others, that make a person prone to deviant behavior and violence; also referred to as sociopathic or psychopathic personality. o There is evidence that offenders with an antisocial personality are crime prone, respond to frustrating events with strong negative emotions, feel stressed and harassed, and are adversarial in their interpersonal relationships. They maintain "negative emotionality" a tendency to experience aversive affective states such as anger, anxiety, and irritability. o A large number of factors are believed to contribute to the development of a criminal personality. Some factors are related to improper socialization, such as have a psychopathic parent. Some psychologists believe the cause is related to neurological or brain dysfunction. They suspect that psychopaths suffer from low level of arousal as measured by activity of their autonomic nervous system. James blair found that approximately 15 to 25 percent of US prison inmates meet diagnostic criteria for psychopathy. Once they are released former inmates who suffer from psychopathy are 3 times as likely as other prisoners to reoffend
• Neurophysiological conditions and crime(biological trait therioes)
o Some researchers focus their attention on neurophysiology: the study of brain activity using brain scanning techniques such s magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), Brain electrical activity mapping (BEAM), and the superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID), they assess areas of the brain that directly linked to antisocial behavior. o Studies carried out show that both violent criminal and substance abusers have impairment in the prefrontal lobes, thalamus, medial temporal lobe, and superior parental and left angular gyrus areas of the brain. o Such damage may be associated with a reduction in executive functioning (EF) a condition that refers to impairment of the cognitive processes that facilitate the planning and regulation of goal - oriented behavior (such as abstract reasoning, problem solving, and motor skills) o Impairments in EF have been implicated in a range of developmental disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD), conduct disorder (CD), autism, and Tourette syndrome. EF impairments also have been implicated in a range of neuropsychiatric and medical disorders, including schizophrenia, major depression, alcoholism, structural brain disease, diabetes mellitus, and normal aging. o Neurological impairment may also lead to the development of personality traits linked to antisocial behaviors. There is now evidence that low self-control may in fact be regulated and controlled by the prefrontal cortex of the brain. o There is a suspected link between brain dysfunction and conduct disorder (CD) which considered long term chronic offender. Children with CD lie, steal, bully other children, get into fights, break school and parents rules. o Conduct Disorder- a pattern of repetitive behavior in which rights of others or social norms are violated
• Evolutionary Views of Crime
o The competition for scarce resources has influenced and shaped human species. o People whose personal characteristics enabled them to accumulate more than others were the most likely to breed successfully, have more offspring, and (generally speaking) dominate the species. o People have been shaped to engage in actions that promote their well-being and ensure the survival and reproduction of their genetic line. o Males who are impulsive risk takers may be able to father more children because they are reckless in their social relationship and have sexual encounters with numerous patterns. o According to evolutionary theories, such behaviors patterns are inherited, impulsive behavior becomes intergenerational(involving or affecting several generations), passed down from parents to children. It is therefore not surprising that human history has been market by war, violence, and aggression.
• Genetics and crime
o The genes crime association may be direct: ♣ 1. Antisocial behavior is inherited ♣ 2. The genetic makeup of parents is passed on to children ♣ 3. Genetic abnormality is directly linked to a variety of antisocial behaviors o It is also possible that the association is indirect: ♣ 1. Genes are related to some personality or physical trait linked to antisocial behavior ♣ 2. Genetic makeup may shape friendship patterns and orient people toward deviant peer associations, which cause them to become crime prone. ♣ 3. Adolescent attachment to parents may be controlled by their genetic make-up; attachment that is weak and attenuated have been linked to criminality. o Whether It be direct or indirect the geners crime relationship have been explored by a number of different methods described below
• Psychological Trait View
o The second branch of choice theory focuses on the psychological aspects of crime, including the associations among intelligence, personality, learning, and criminal behavior. o Charles Goring studied 3,000 English convicts and found little difference in the physical characteristics of criminals and non-criminals. However, he uncovered a signified relationship between crime and a condition he referred to as "defective intelligence" which involved such traits as feeblemindedness, epilepsy, and defective social instinct. o Tarde was the forerunner if modern learning theories, who hold that people learn from one another through imitation. In their quest to understand and treat all variables of abnormal conditions psychologists have encountered clients who's behavior falls within the categories that society has labeled criminal deviant, violent, and antisocial
• Part of contemporary trait theory Individual Vulnerability Vs. Differential susceptibility.
o Trait theorists today recognize that crime producing interactions involve both personal traits, and environmental factors o People living in a disadvantaged community may be especially at risk to crime, which will increase if they also bear a genetic makeup that makes them vulnerable to crime producing influences in their environment o Two views that unfold this, the individual vulnerability model supposes a ***direct link between traits and crime: some people develop physical and mental conditions at birth, or soon thereafter, that affects the social functioning no matter where they live or how they are raised. o In contrast, the Differential susceptibility model: suggests that there is an *** indirect association between trait and crime: some people possess physical or mental traits that make them vulnerable to adverse environment influences. While a positive environment provides benefits, those people whose genetic makeup make them predisposed to violence manifest more aggression when their surrounding becomes troubled. Would benefit from a supportive, therapeutic environment. Opposite so individual vulnerbaility model starts with and I which would make it direct, and differential susceptibility starts with a D which makes it indirect.
• The Psychodynamic perspective (psychological trait theory)
o Was originated by Sigmund Freud and has remained a prominent segmand of this theory ever since o Freud believed that we carry with us the residue if the most significant emotional attachments of our childhood which then guides our future interpersonal relationships. o According to psychodynamic theory, the human personality has a three-part structure. ♣ The ID is the primitive part of people's mental makeup, is present at birth, and represents unconscious biological drives for food, sex, and other life sustaining necessities. ♣ The Ego is the part of the personality that compensates for the demand of the ID by helping the individual keep his or her actions within the boundaries of social convention. ♣ The superego develops as a result of incorporating within the personality the moral standard and values of parents, community, and significant others. It is the moral aspect of people's personalities; it judges their own behavior o People who had a shitty childhood or lack love and nurture have weak egos that make them unable to cope with society. o Weak egos are associated with immaturity, poor social skills, and excessive dependence on others. Also, may be easier to led into crime by antisocial peers. In sum, the psychodynamic traditions links crime to a manifestation of feelings of oppression and the inability to develop the proper psychological defenses and rationales to keep these feelings under control
Intro What is trait theory?
• The image of a disturbed, mentally ill offender seems plausible because a whole generation of Americans has grown up on films and TV shows that portray violent criminals as mentally deranged and physically abnormal. • These trait theories can be subdivided into two major categories: those that stress biological make up and those that stress psychological functioning. Although these views overlap (that is brain function may have a biological basis, each branch has its unique characteristics. • Trait theory: The view that criminality is a product of abnormal biological or psychological traits •
o Hypoglycemia (biological trait)
♣ A condition that occurs when glucose (sugar) in the blood falls below levels necessary for normal and efficient brain functioning. ♣ Symptoms such as irritability, anxiety, depression, crying spells, headaches, and confusion. ♣ High levels have been found in groups of habitually violent and impulsive offenders
Diet (biological trait)
♣ Bio criminologists maintain that a healthful diet can provide minimal levels of minerals and chemicals needed for normal brain function and growth, especially in the early years of life. ♣ Research conducted over the past decade how that oversupply or undersupply of certain chemicals and minerals (including caffeine, sodium, mercury, potassium, calcium, amino acids, and iron) can lead to depression, hyperactivity, cognitive problems, memory loss, or abnormal sexual activity. Either eliminating harmful substances or introducing beneficial ones into the diet can reduce the threat of antisocial behaviors
o Hormonal influences(biological trait)
♣ Biological research has found that abnormal levels of male sex hormones (androgens) can produce aggressive behavior ♣ Other androgens related male traits include sensation seeking, impulsivity, dominance and reduced verbal skills; all of these traits are related to antisocial behavior. ♣ Adolescents experience more intense mood swings, anxiety, and restlessness than their elders, explain in part that high violence rates found among teenage males ♣ Testosterone, the most abundant androgen, which controls secondary sex characteristics such as facial hair and voice timbre, has been linked to criminality and violence. ♣ Gender differences in crime rate may be explained by the relative difference in testosterone and other androgens between the two sexes. ♣ Females may be biologically protected from deviant males. Hormone levels also help explain the aging out process: levels of testosterone decline during the life cycle, and so do violence rates.
o Brian Chemistry(neurophysiological conditions of crime/biological trait)
♣ Chemical compounds called neurotransmitters influence or activate brain functions. ♣ Neurotransmitters: chemical compounds that influence or activate brain activity. ♣ Those studied in relation to aggression and other antisocial behaviors include dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, monoamine oxidase (MOA), and gamma-aminobutyric acid(GABA) evidence exist that abnormal levels of these chemicals are associated with aggression ♣ Research efforts have linked low levels of MAO to high levels of violence and property crime, as well as defiance of punishment, impulsivity, hyper activity, poor academics, drug use. ♣ MOA show gender differences in the crime rate, females have higher levels of MOA then males ♣ MOAs on crime persists throughout the life span: delinquent youth with low levels of MOA have been found to have a greater likelihood of engaging in physical aggression later in adulthood ♣ What is the link between brain chemistry and crime? • Prenatal exposure of the brain to high levels of androgens can result in a brain structure that is less sensitive to environmental inputs and more prone to criminal behavior choices.
o Evaluation of Trait Theory
♣ Critics find some of these theories racist and faulty in other ways as well, if there are biological and of psychological explanations for street crimes such as assault, murder, or rape the argument goes and it as official crime statistics suggest the poor and minority group members commit a disproportionate number such acts then by implication, trait theory is suggestive of the fact that members of these groups are different, flaws, or inferior. ♣ Trait based explanations for the geographic, social, and temporal patters in the crime rate are also problematic. Is it possible that more people are genetically predisposed to crime in the south and the west than in New England and the Midwest? Or towns and villages? Furthermore, trait theory seems to divide people into criminals and noncriminal on the basis of their makeup, ignoring self-reports that indicate that almost everyone has engaged in some type of illegal activity. Trait theorists of Lobroso, which suggest that people are born either criminals or noncriminal and nothing can alter their life course. Contemporary trait theories instead maintain that some people carry the potential to be violent and antisocial and antisocial behavior occurs when these preexisting tendencies are triggered by environmental conditions
o Lead exposure(biological trait theory)
♣ Exposure to lead has been linked to emotional and behavioral disorders. ♣ Very important because very popular among children who suffer from harmful levels of lead exposure. ♣ Exposure to not enough lead also lead to effects of IQ, ability to pay attention, and academic achievements. ♣ About 2 million kids 18 and under have dangerously high lead levels ♣ Delinquency has shown much higher lead levels than children in general population ♣ There is also evidence linking lead exposure to mental illness such as schizophrenia. ♣ High lead also led to highest levels of homicide. ♣ Unleaded gas made a decrease in crime rate.
o Social policy and Trait theory.
♣ For quite some time, biological and psychological views of criminality have influenced crime control and prevention policy. ♣ The results have been primary prevention programs: that seek to treat personal problems before they manifest themselves as crime. To this end, thousands of family therapy organizations, substance abuse clinics, and mental health associations operate throughout the US. Teachers, employer, courts, welfare agencies, and other make referrals to these facilities. ♣ Secondary prevention programs: provide treatment such as psychological counseling to youth and adults after they violated the law. Attendance at such programs may be requirement of a probation order, part of a diversionary sentence, or after care at the end of a prison sentence, ♣ Biological oriented therapy is also being used in criminal justice system. Programs gave altered diets, changed lighting compensated for learning disabilities, treated allergies, and so on. ♣ More controversial has been use of more altering chemical, such as lithium, pemoline, imipramine, phenytoin, and benzodiazepine to control behavior. ♣ Another practice that has elicited concern is the use of psychosurgery (brain surgery) to control antisocial behavior. Surgical procedure has been used to alter the brain structure of convicted sex offender's in an effort to eliminate or control their sexual drives. ♣ The numerous psychologically based treatments that are available range from individual counseling to behavior modification. ♣ Cognitive therapists attempt to teach explosive people to control aggressive impulses by viewing social provocations as problems demanding a solution rather than retaliation. Programs are aimed at teaching problem solving skills such as self-disclosure, role playing, listening, following instructions, joining in, and using self-control. ♣ Therapeutic interventions designed to make people better problem solvers may involve measures that enhance • Coping and problem-solving skills • Relationship with peers, parents, and other adults • Conflict resolution and communication skills, and methods for resisting peer pressure related to drug use and violence • Decision making abilities and thinking about consequences • Prosocial behaviors, including cooperation with others, self-responsibility, respecting other, and efficacy in public speaking. • Empathy
o Parental deviance
♣ If crime tenancies are inherited, children of criminal parents should be more likely to become law violators than the offspring of conventional parents. ♣ Cambridge Youth Survey in England, found that a significant number of delinquent youths have criminal fathers. ♣ David Farrington found that one type of parental deviance school yard aggression or bullying may be both inter and intrageneratinal. Bullies have children who bully others and these second-generation bullies grow up to fathers who are also bullies in a never-ending cycle
o (biologicao trait theory) Biochemical conditions and crime
♣ In 1978 the biology crime began to receive national attention when Dan White killer of San Fran killed the Mayor and city councilman, claimed that his behavior was precipitated by an addiction to sugar laden junk food. ♣ His Twinkie defense convinced Cali Jury to find him guilty of a lesser offense of diminished capacity manslaughter rather than first degree murder. ♣ Today traits theorist believes that biochemical conditions, including both those that are genetically predetermined and those that are acquired through diet and environment, influenced antisocial behavior. ♣ Adolescents drinking may have a direct long-term influence on antisocial behavior
o Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)(biolgoical trait therioes/neurophysociological condtions of crime)
♣ In which a child shows a developmentally inappropriate lack of attention, along with impulsivity and hyperactivity. Some of the various symptoms of ADHD include easy distraction, acting without thinking, and inability to sit still. ♣ About 3 percent of US children most often boys are believed to suffer from this disorder ♣ Although the origin of ADHD is still unknown suspected causes include neurological damage, prenatal stress, and even reaction to food additives and chemical allergies. ♣ Many children with ADHD also suffer from conduct disorder (CD) and continually engage in aggressive and antisocial behavior in early childhood. ♣ Children diagnosed with ADHD are more likely to be suspended from school and to engage in criminal behavior as adults ♣ Children with ADHD are more likely to than non-ADHD youth to illicit drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes, be physically aggressive and engage in sex offenses in adolescence.
o Mental Disorders and Crime (pyschological)
♣ Psychologists and psychiatrists have long debated the origin of mental disorders and mental illness, linking it to a variety of sources such as genetic predisposition traumatic family and upbringing, brain trauma, and substance abuse. ♣ Regardless of the source (beaten as child), criminologists have connected antisocial behavior to mental instability and turmoil. ♣ Some have been diagnosed with some form of mood disorder characterized by disturbance in expressed emotions. ♣ Children with opposition defiant disorder (OOD): for example experience an ongoing pattern of uncooperative, defiant, and hostile behavior toward authority figure that seriously interferes with day-to-day function. ♣ OOD: a pattern of negativistic, hostile, and defiant behavior, during which a child often loses her or his temper, often argues with adults and often actively defies or refuses to comply with adult's requests or rules ♣ Adolescent boys with antisocial substance disorder (ASD) repeatedly engage in risky antisocial and drug-using behaviors. Research has linked this disorder with misfiring in particular areas of the brain and suppressed neural activity. ♣ Children who are diagnosed with conduct disorder (CD) have great difficulty following rules.
o Brain structure (biological trait theories/ neurophysiological conditions of crime)
♣ Research Guido Frank find that aggressive teen behavior may be linked to the amygdala, an area of the brain that process information regarding threats and fear, and to a lessening of activity in the frontal lobe, a brain region linked to decision making and impulsive control. ♣ They tend to strike back when being teased, blame others when getting into fights and overreact to accidents.
o Twin Behavior
♣ Research efforts confirm a significant correspondence of twin behavior in activities ranging from frequency of sexual activity to crime. However, because twins usually brought up in the same household and exposed to the same social conditions, determining whether their similar behavior is a result of similar biological, sociological, or psychological conditions is difficult. ♣ To control for environmental factors criminologists have compared identical monozygotic (MZ) twins with fraternal, Dizygotic twins (DZ). ♣ MZ are genetically identical where as DZ twins have only half their genes common. ♣ MZ that have never met behaviors are still the same ♣ Studies conducted have detected significant relationship between the criminal activities of MZ twins and a much lower association between DZ twins
o Environmental contaminants (biological trait theory)
♣ Research has linked prenatal exposure to PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) (shit they banned in the US in 1979) to lower IQs and attention problems, both considered risk factors for serious behavioral and learning problems. Similarly, exposure to air pollution has been found to cause cognitive deficits and changes in the brain structure of otherwise healthy children. ♣ These destructive changes affect intelligence, influence cognitive control, and produce other neurological deficits that have been associated with school failure; educational underachievement is a condition that has long been associated with delinquency and adult criminality.
o Adoption studies
♣ Several studies indicate that some relationship exists between biological parent's behavior and the behavior of their children, even when they have been adopted at birth and had no contact. ♣ Studies of adopted youths have found that the biological father's criminality strongly predicted the child's criminal behavior even if the adopted parents was noncriminal. ♣ When the biological father and the adoptive father were btoh criminal, the probability that the youth would engage in criminal behavior increases greatly
o Crime and mental illness (pyschological)
♣ The most serious forms of mental illness are psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder(manic-depression), which affect the mind and alter person's ability to understand reality, think clearly, respond emotionally communicate effectively, and behave appropriately. ♣ People with psychotic disorders may hear nonexistent voices, hallucinate, and make inappropriate behavioral responses. Others exhibit illogical and incoherent thought process and lack of insight into their own behavior. They may see themselves as agents of the devil, avenging angels, or the recipient of messages from animals and plants. ♣ Richard Dorn using a longitudinal sample of about 35,00 subject, examined the association between mental disorder and violence. They found that when compared to the mentally sound, people suffering from mental illness were significantly more likely to engage in violent episodes, especially if they abused drugs and alcohol. ♣ Mentally ill are also appear in arrest and court statistics more then their population and more likely to recidivate. ♣ Delinquent adolescents have higher rates of clinical mental disorders than adolescents in the general population. ♣ As adult criminals people who have been arrested for multiple crimes are more likely to suffer from psychiatric disorder than non-chronic offenders. ♣ In sum, there is a body of research showing that people who suffer from severe mental illness and distress seem to be more antisocial than members of the general population and that punishment may do little to reduce criminal offending ♣ It is possible that the link between mental illness and crime is spurious and that in fact, both mental illness and criminal behavior are caused by some other independent factor like: • People who supper from prior social problems (for example, child abuse) may be more likely to commit criminal acts, use drugs, and alcohol to cope and to suffer mental illness. • Mentally ill people may also be more likely than then mentally sound to lack financial resources. They are thus forced to reside in deteriorated high crime neighborhoods, a social factor that may increase criminal behavior. Living in a stress filled urban environment may produce symptoms of both mental illness and crime • The police may be more likely to arrest the mentally ill, which fosters the impression that they are crime prone. • People with severe mental illness are more at risk to violent victimization than the mentally healthy. Violent victimization has been linked to increased crime rates. • Those suffering mental illness may self-medicate by using illegal substance, a practice linked to criminal behavior
o Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)(biological trait)
♣ The suspicion has long existed that the onset of the menstrual cycle triggers excessive amounts of the female sex hormones, which stimulate antisocial, aggressive behavior. ♣ Katharina Dalton, whose studies of English women indicated that females are more likely to commit suicide and to be aggressive and otherwise antisocial just before or during menstruation. ♣ Diana Fishbein also concluded that there is in fact an associated between menstruation and elevated levels of female aggression. She argues show that • A. a significant number of incarcerated females committed their crimes during the premenstrual phase • B. At least a small percentage of women appear vulnerable to cyclical hormonal changes that make them more prone to anxiety and hostility.
o Arousal theory (biological trait theories
♣ The view that people seek to maintain a preferred level of arousal but vary in how they process sensory input. A need for high levels of environmental stimulation may lead to aggressive, violent behavior patterns. ♣ For a variety of genetic and environmental reasons people's brains function differently in response to environmental stimuli. ♣ All of us seek to maintain a preferred or optimal level of arousal; too much stimulation leaves us anxious and stressed, whereas too little makes us feel bored and weary. ♣ People vary in the way their brain process sensory input. Some nearly always feel comfortable with little stimulation, whereas others require high degree of environmental input to feel comfortable. ♣ Some brains have many more nerve cells with receptor sites for neurotransmitters than other brains have. ♣ People with low heart rates are more likely to commit crime because they seek stimulation to increase their arousal to normal levels.
o Is crime inherited?
♣ Those who support a gene crime relationship maintain that antisocial behavior is roughly 50 percent heritable; some calculate that the influence of genes on deviant behaviors may be as high as 85 percent. ♣ Genetic influence appears strongest for chronic offenders ♣ The theoretical association between crime and genes is by no means certain. There has been serious debate over heritability of human behavior. ♣ Callie Burt and Ronald Simons, believe the social environment plays a more critical role in shaping behavior than genes and heredity, especially during the critical periods of childhood and adolescents. ♣ They argue the environment, shapes biological process and enables people to function and survive in existing social conditions; human biological makeup helps people respond to the everyday situations and events they face in their social world. As environment conditions change, so do the brain and nervous environments sculpt or change an individual's brain functioning, causing them to respond to environmental events with aggression, violence, ad coercion. ♣ However, when they called for an end to gene based research they were challenged by groups who found fault with their assumptions and who believe that a great deal of human behavior is shaped by inherited rather than learned traits. Needless to say, the debate over the heritability of crime remains an open issue among criminologists.