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explanations of crime - Coggle Diagram
explanations of crime
chapter 3: psych theories of crime
genetic and environmental
psychophysiology
brain mechanisms
genetics
bio
MAOA deficiency: monoamine oxidase A
Italian murderer given a year off sentence due to MAOA deficiency which has been shown to contribute to aggressive behaviour following provocation. However is not often shown in non white groups
genetic determinism? if we give people lighter sentence for genetics should we give lighter sentences for other things? 90% of murderers are men but they don't get lighter sentences because of male likelihood to murder
increases neurotransmitter activity (norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine) leading to higher levels of aggression
also linked to childhood trauma, not 100% certain to cause aggressive behaviour without being triggered by a traumatic event)
is stalking learned? (social learning theory as a predictor for stalking and victimisation)
behaviours can be learned, modified or amplified via slt concepts.
stemming from power and control (similar to intimate partner violence, ipv)
differential peer relationships lead to perpetrators seeing their behaviour as justifiable. see behavioural explanation of crime
leads on from behavoural explanations (next step from operant conditioning) eg criminal behaviour can be reinforced vie modelling and imitation.
1: psychological theories of criminal behaviour
collection, examination and presentation of evidence for judicial purposes.
any application of psychological knowledge to a task faced by the legal system (more inclusive definition but doesn't cover development of criminal behaviour)
what is crime?
commission: actively committed a crime, eg actively going out to steal.
possession: owning something illegal, eg drugs, firearms etc
omission: actively not doing something, eg failing to meet a duty of care.
actus reus: guilty act (the crime itself)
mens rea: guilty mind (intent or knowledge to commit crime)
crime of strict liability, eg involuntary manslaughter doesn't require mens rea
why do people commit crime?
levels of explanation
society: societal institutions causing crime, eg misogyny, racism etc
communities: why is crime more prevelent in some communities over others. poverty?
social groups: why is it concentrated in specific groups, understand differing socialisation between groups
criminal acts: analyse patterns of offending to try and establish a pattern of criminal behaviour
individual offenders: individual differences of behaviour as an explanation for criminal behaviour
psychobiological: are criminals born or made?
Lombroso: criminal appearance is similar to primitive humans and it's easy to pick them out of a crowd. physical appearance means psychological propensity for crime. The criminal man
atavistic characteristics (genetic) suggests criminals are less developed than non criminals and this is why they indulge in criminal behaviour.
children with criminal parents are more likely to commit crime. cambridge study (david Farrington) 1950s londoner with criminal parents more likely.
rhee and waldman (genetic meta analysis)
genetics and brain structure (behavioural genetics)
family/sibling, twin (mz and dz) and adoption studies.specifically adoption allows us to look at how nurture affects genetic predisposition for crime.
psychodynamic
freud and psychoanalysis, aichorn (1925): latent delinquency alexander & straub (1931)failure of reality principal. Both develop via failed socialisation
latent delinquency: delinquency is always there it's just not being acted on, once this starts to manifest delinquent behaviour can be seen.
failure of reality principal: develop from pleasure principle to reality principle where we realise we cannot take everything we want to gain pleasure. When reality principle fails we see delinquent behaviour.
ainsworth: attachment to caregivers as a child influences behaviour in later life.
Bowlby: 39% of juvenile thieves experienced early maternal separation (6 months or earlier)
too much emphasis on the mother (ignores father and other possible caregivers)
behavioural explanations: criminal behaviour is conditioned
differential association theory: criminal behaviour is learned. learning occurs through interpersonal association, occurs in close personal groups, attitudes motivations and skills, learned through perception of the law (favourable or unfavourable). unfavourable perception of the law takes over favourable ones.
operant conditioning: criminal behaviour is reinforced rather than learned. eg positive social status, material or financial rewards. plus avoidance of jail time could act as negative reinforcement and increase likelihood to do it again. (trying to avoid poverty)
1 part 2: theories of crime continued
cognitive explanations of crime
impersonal cognition: physical world, interpersonal cognition: people and their actions (ross and fabiano 1985)
self control: criminals tend to be more impulsive and more likely to react to provocation violently
social perspective/ empathy: is it possible for them to have victim empathy? easier to distance themselves from the victim wihtout experiencing remorse for actions
locus of control: how do criminals vs non criminals view the world? criminals tend to have external locus of control, so their environment and circumstances are the reason for their behaviour, not themselves.
social problem solving: likely to use heuristics to determine why someones acting a certain way and it's likely the first response is not the most assertive, productive one. (eg upon provocation they behave violently
rational choice: cornish and clarke (1986) the reasoning criminal. seek to benefit from criminal behaviour and therefore take opportunities to benefit themselves regardless of legality. what drives rationality of criminals vs non criminals.
personality explanations of crime
eysenecks personality theory
extravert: impulsive risk taker (sociability isn't linked to criminal behaviour)
neuroticism: strong emotional reactions, moody and anxious
psychoticism: lack of feeling, sensation seeking and aggressive
conditionality and socialisation: certain traits make it harder to socialise or condition and individual.
low conditionality leads to more antisocial/criminal behaviour because they were never able to understand why this is wrong.
high extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism means low conditionality so higher likelihood for antisocial/criminal behaviour
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