Trait Theory: Criminality and Biological Factors PDF

Trait Theory: its in their blood Trait Theory: Criminality is a product of abnormal biological and or psychological traits Biological and psychological views  Began with Lombroso  Sociobiology theory: Edmund Wilson o Biological and genetic conditions affect how social behav...

Trait Theory: its in their blood Trait Theory: Criminality is a product of abnormal biological and or psychological traits Biological and psychological views  Began with Lombroso  Sociobiology theory: Edmund Wilson o Biological and genetic conditions affect how social behaviors are learned and perceived o Personal traits separate deviant from non deviant o Explains why some commit crime and others do not  Contemporary trait theory  Every offender is physically and mentally unique o Various explanations for individual behavior o No single attribute explains criminality o Crime happens when personal traits and environmental factors interact in certain ways  Some traits develop at birth and affect social functioning and behavior choices  Environmental stimuli can either support or supress antisocial acts  Trait theories are becoming more popular as criminologists study recidivism Biological trait theories  Chemical and mineral influences o Minimum levels of minerals/chemicals are required for normal brain function o Inadequate diet of these minerals. Chemicals can lead to  Depression  Mania  Cognitive problems  Memory loss  Abnormal sexual activities  Hormonal influences o Males are biologically are more aggressive than females, which is the result of gender based hormonal differences o High hormone levels produce thrill seeking behavior, impulsivity, volatility and anti social behaviors o Hormonal effects promote violence and other crimes; testosterone has been linked to criminality  Environmental contaminants o Dangerous levels of environmental contaminants exist in the ecosystem  o Contaminants can influence behavior; emotional and behavioral o Food dyes and artificial colors and the flavors have been related to antisocial behavior  Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) o Developmentally-inappropriate o lack of attention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity o Three percent of children (most often boys) have ADHD o Associated with poor school performance, grade retention, special needs, bullying, stubbornness, lack of response to discipline o ADHD and a link to the delinquent career  Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder o Physical and behavioral characteristics in infants and children associated with alcohol use during pregnancy o No firm guidelines to diagnose FASD o Link between FASD and crime involvement o Among the indigenous population, links reported as being related to substance abuse and those sent to residential schools  Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) o ABI in youth associated with risk behaviors  Neurophysiological conditions and crime o Brain Chemistry  Neurotransmitters: chemical compounds influencing or activating brain functions  Abnormal levels of various chemicals are associated with aggression o Arousal therapy  Brains function differently when faced with environmental stimuli  People try to maintain a preferred level of arousal  “Sensation seekers” need high levels of stimuli to be comfortable  Genetics and crime o Parental deviance  Researchers are examining any link between parental criminality and children’s delinquent behavior o West and Farrington  37% of youths with criminal fathers became chronic offenders o Twin Behavior  It is hard to determine if a twin behavior is the result of biological or sociological/ psychological conditions  Study compared MZ twins to DZ twins  Sixty percent MZ twins shared criminal behavior patterns vs. 30 percent of DZ twins o Adoption studies   Some studies indicate the relationship between biological parents behavior and children with no contact  biological father criminality was significant predictor  Evolutionary views of crime o Evolution of gender and crime  Beneficial for males to mate with many females to ensure the survival of the gene pool  Woman seek a secure home and a single, stable nurturing partner to ensure survival  Because of the differences in mating patterns, the most aggressive males mate most often and have the most children  Crime rate differences between genders may be due to inherent behaviors developed over time than due to socialization  Aggression among males is caused by a need to reproduce o Cheater Theory  Subpopulation of men with genes that incline toward low parental involvement  These men use deception for sex  Low IQ  Evolution od biological trait theory o Critics: biological theories are racist and dangerous in their implications o Biological explanations for geographic, social and temporary patterns in crime are also a problem o Biosocial theorists note that people are not born criminals or non-criminals; instead, some are more susceptible to environmental triggers Psychodynamic Perspective  We all carry the residue of most significant childhood emotional attachments  Human personality is controlled by an unconscious mental process developed early in childhood  Personality involves interaction of o ID- primitive part of brain, present at birth o Ego- developed early in childhood o Superego- incorporation of moral standards and values of influential people in one’s life  Psychodynamics of criminal behavior o The criminal offender is an aggressive, frustrated person influenced by childhood events o A weak ego can be seen as immaturity, poor social skills, dependence on others  Aichorn o Societal stress can cause criminality o Latent delinquency: psychological predisposition to commit antisocial acts because of an id dominated personality Behavioral Perspective  Behavior Theory o Human actions are developed through learning experiences o People alter their behavior according to relations with others o Crimes are a learned response  Skinner o Operant conditioning: based on positive and negative reinforcement  Social learning learning theory o Based on the principals of operant and classical conditioning o People learn to be aggressive by observing others acting aggressively to achieve goals or being rewarded for violent acts  Behavioral modeling: the process of learning behavior by observing others o Aggressive acts can be modelled by  Family members  Other influential people  Mass media  Social learning theory advances four factors that may cause aggressive or violent behaviors o An event that heightens arousal o Aggressive skills o Expected outcomes o Consistency of behavior with values Cognitive perspective  Cognitive theory o Focuses on mental processes, how people perceive and mentally represent their world  Information processing theory o How people process, store, encode, retrieve, and manipulate information to make decisions and solve problems  Violence can result from learning improper scripts that influence inappropriate aggressive behaviors in response to situations Personality and crime perspective  Personality o Reasonably stable patterns of behavior, including thoughts and emotions, that distinguish one person from another  Is there a link between crime and personality o Suspected traits: impulsivity, hostility, aggression o Eysenck associates two personality traits with antisocial behavior  Extroversion- introversion  Stability-instability  Personality deficits noted in the criminal population  o Hyperactive o impulsive o Short attention spans o Conduct disorders o Anxiety disorders o Depression o Lack affect o Cannot empathize with others o Short sighted o Hedonistic  These traits can result in character defects, such as sociopathic, psychopathic or antisocial personality Intelligence and crime perspective  Early criminologists believed that criminals had low intelligence o This lead to nature vs nurture  Nature theory: intelligence determined genetically  Nurture theory: IQ determined by environment  IQ and personality o Low IQ increases the likelihood of criminal behavior o Youths with low IQ do poorly in school; a lack of success in school is related to delinquency and later to adult criminality o More recent study have found IQ has a negligible influence on criminal behavior o Ongoing debate, with the IQ crime link still leaving many patterns of crime to be explained Mental disorder and crime  Schizophrenia: hearing voices, hallucinations, delusions, inappropriate responses  Despite statistics, questions remain about a greater inclination towards criminality amount those with mental disorders  Most people with mental disorders are not criminals  Conventional view: no strong association exists between mental disorder and violence  More recently: the probability for violence is greater for people with serious mental illness  Psychosis combined with substance abuse substantially increases the risk of violence Evaluation of psychological trait theory  Findings from trait theory research are the foundation for many treatment programs for problem behaviors  Critics point out that studies often contradict other studies  Psychological trait theorists counter criticisms: All behaviour begins with the individual and interaction of biological and psychological makeup  Social policy implications  o Primary prevention programs, such as substance abuse clinics and mental health associations, treat problems before they manifest into crime o Secondary programs, such as psychological councilling to youth and adults, occurs after law is violated Exam Review Chapters 1-5