Are Criminals Born or Made? Through many different theories, psychologists can understand criminal behaviour completely. The three theories I will discuss are: the social theory of crime, biological theory and the psychological theory. A thorough explanation is provided with each theory. Which is the better explanation that elucidates the question: Are criminals born or made?
These concept explain crime at levels of the society, the individual, and the group. An individual’s potential for criminality depends on the competition between associations that treat criminal behavior positively and those who treat it negatively (Vandelay, 2010, p.1) The main points of Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory are the nine propositions which are one that criminal behavior is learned second which is similar to the first proposition is that criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other people in an attempt to communicate. The third main point or proposition is that the principal part of the learning of criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal groups. The fourth main point is that when criminal behavior is learned, the learning includes; the techniques of committing the crime which are sometimes complicated or very simple and the specific motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes. The fifth main point is the specific direction of motives and drive is learned from the definition of the legal codes whether it is favorable or unfavorable.
He believes that the positivist scientific method could be applied to the study of crime so as to find out its causes and prevent it. His particular approach was described as criminal anthropology. He compared the known offenders and a control group of soldiers by the post-mortem measurement and examination. After studying the resulting, Lombroso think that there a correlation between certain physical features, such as an asymmetrical face, large jaws and long arms, and criminality. In his opinion, these physical traits were characteristic of an earlier period of human evolution.
Criminal Investigative Psychology is the area in Forensic Psychology that is least likely to be acknowledged. The majority of people see this as merely a criminal justice area of expertise. In actuality, this area is strongly associated with how the human mind works. Psychologists can apply their knowledge of human motivation and behavior to areas in the criminal-investigative arena. The criminal profiler creates a psychological profile or picture of a suspect based on what he/she knows about motivation, mental illness, and also human behavior.
Crime is know as any behavior which breaks known laws. This behavior can be learned and usually stems from aggression or anti social behavior. There are various theories for crime and the cause of it but they all fit into 3 main catorgries psychological, social, and biological. One theory of crime is eysnecks personality theory. He has composed a test to measure different aspects of a persons character.
There are many theories relating to deviance and crime with each theory illustrating a different aspect of the procedure by which people break rules and are classed as deviants or criminals. (New texts pg 138) which highlights the problems in defining crime or deviance. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CRIME AND DEVIANCE Many believe crime and deviance has developed on separate tracks over the years as criminologist serve only for legality, crime and crime-related phenomena. The study of deviance however serves for a wider range of behaviours that are not necessarily illegal for example suicide, alcoholism, homosexuality, mentally disordered behaviours. (Bader et al) The main difference between crime and deviance is deviant behaviour is when a social norm has been broken whereas a crime is where a formal and social norm is broken.
With much of the past research focusing on those with criminal records, new research has come to examine and include psychopathic personality traits of persons in non forensic settings. Specifically for this purpose, a shorter version of the PCL-R is being used called The Psychopathy Checklist Screening Version (PCL: SV). The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised Introduction Cleckley (1941) saw psychopathic features as being based in personality traits more than in behavioral characteristics hence his definition of a successful psychopath, one who does not necessarily engage in the behavioral aspect of psychopathy. Hare, on the other hand, focused his assessment measures on the criminal behavior characteristics of psychopathy impulsiveness and aggression (Akobeng, 2007). Building on research done by Cleckley, Hare (1991) advanced the study and diagnosis of psychopathy by creating a new
The British Crime Survey also includes crimes which are not reported to the police, therefore is an important alternative to police records and provides criminologists, the police, the courts, the media and anyone else who has an interest with the statistics, two different types of data: Firstly trends on crime over time chartered, Details are compiled from offenders who are eventually found guilty or cautioned; details gathered include sex and the age of the offender. Information is gathered on the “Known offender”, in this case the “Typical offender”, (Maguire 1997). Official crime
Holmes & Holmes (2009, p290) stated “To appraise a crime without some knowledge of the victim is certainly remiss.” The victim constitutes half of the crime therefore victimology should be heavily looked at in order to connect them to the offender (Douglas, Burgess, Burgess, & Ressler, 1992).Victimology is important to an investigation process in that, it is not just learning about the victim’s personal history and personality, but it also why the victim was chosen (Petherick, 2010). Holmes and Holmes (2009,p 291) created a list of elements which should be important to victim profiling it includes: "Physical traits, marital status, personal lifestyle, occupation, education, personal demographics, medical history, psychosexual history, court history, and last activities." A victim’s lifestyle, preferences, family, relationships, and routines, can give investigators clues about potential suspects who had access to the victim (Brown & Davenport, 2012). Other concepts that should be considered when victim profiling are the method of approach, method of attack and risk assessment (Turvey, 1999). Con, surprise, and blitz are three methods of approach that an offender will use to capture his victim.
In it’s simplest definition, victimology is the study of the victim or victims of a particular offender (Wallace & Roberson 2011: 3). However, two other definitions expound deeper into victimology: (1) victimology is the study of crime victims and the psychological effects of being a victim (Def, Random House Dictionary, 2011), and (2) victimology is the study of the ways in which the behavior of crime victims may have or have not contributed to their victimization (Def, Merriam-Webster, 2011). The early works about victims were first written by criminologist, as early as the mid 1700’s. The term victimology was coined by Beniamin Mendelsohn in 1974 (Dussich, 2000). Several criminologist (Hentig, Mendelsohn and Ellenberger) examined victim-offender interactions and stressed reciprocal influences and role reversals.