Criminal Behaviours

What is a crime?

Any act (or lack of acting) that violates law and results in punishment by the state.

Why is crime a social construct?

Behaviours are only crimes when a law is broken.

• To judge whether a behaviour is criminal relies on the law of the country or time period.

For example, the Sexual Offences Act 1967 decriminalised homosexual acts between two men, but in Egypt it is still criminalised.

What are the characteristics of type 1 murderers?

They are disorganised asocial offenders.

• Generally individuals with below average IQ and potentially a high-school drop-out.

• Socially inadequate, don’t date, and live alone.

• Unskilled labourers of low birth order status.

They typically experienced inconsistent and/or harsh discipline in childhood.

What are the characteristics of type 2 murderers?

They are organised non-social offenders.

• Generally individuals with above average IQ and tend to follow the media.

• Socially adequate, date, and are usually sexually competent.

• High birth order status.

• Adept ability to control emotions.

They typically experienced inconsistent and/or harsh discipline in childhood.

What are the characteristics of acquisitive criminals?

Acquisitive crimes include things such as fraud, burglary, burglary and robbery.

• People who commit these crimes are generally involved in drug use, seeking criminal activity for pleasure or thrill.

What are career criminals?

Someone who earns their income through criminal activities.

Why is rationalisation a characteristic of career criminals?

People who commit crime rationalise their own behaviour by diverting blame and questioning the motives of others.

• “If that woman didn’t want her purse stolen, she should have been smart and locked her car.”

As part of the rationalisation process, the criminal generally does not evaluate the consequences of their own behaviour.

Why is cognitive laziness a characteristic of career criminals?

Choosing the path of least resistance is a common trait of career criminals; their lack of ambition and tendency to be bored easily leads them to make poor decisions.

• In their youth, they have a strong desire to live outside the rules, and test the boundaries of acceptable behaviour.

• As they age, criminals tend to live within, and accept, the antisocial boundaries they established in their youth.

Why is entitlement a characteristic of career criminals?

Self-centred, and oblivious to the needs of others, a career criminal lives by the simple motto of “me, me, me.”

• Essentially, these people have the right to commit any acts they desire, because life is all about them – all the time.

Why is impulsivity a characteristic of career criminals?

An inability to control their behaviour — they act on every impulse.

• They lack control over their impulses, but also over their temperament, which leads to disastrous results.

What is the first biological explanation of criminal behaviours?

Role of the Amygdala

What is the amygdala?

The amygdala is located in the medial temporal lobe (in the limbic system), and influences emotion and motivation.

• It plays a major role in how we perceive and respond to threats in the environment, i.e. the fear response.

What is psychopathy?

A personality disorder involving severe disruption in moral behaviour accompanied by pronounced deficits in emotion.

What did Glenn (2009)’s research show about psychopathy?

Glenn (2009) conducted fMRI scans on 17 participants with varying degrees of psychopathy.

• They found that participants with higher psychopathy scores showed reduced activity in the amygdala during emotional moral decision-making. The findings demonstrate that amygdala functioning is disrupted during moral decision-making in psychopathy. 

How does Glenn (2009)’s research explain criminal behaviour?

The amygdala responds to cues indicating distress in others.

• Reduced functioning of the amygdala in more psychopathic individuals suggests there is a reduced responsivity to the thought of causing harm to others.

  • Without such amygdala activation, individuals may be more inclined to commit crime.

What did Raine et al.’s research find about the functioning of the amygdala?

• Hemispheric asymmetry in amygdala functioning,

  • Reduced left, but increased right activity.

These differences produce unusual emotional responses such as lack of fear, empathy, remorse and guilt.

How can Raine et al.’s research explain criminal behaviour?

A lack of fear means that a person will not be scared of repercussions, and a lack of remorse means that there is nothing stopping them committing violent crime.

How can the role of the amygdala explanation be evaluated in terms of its determinism?

If someone has a dysfunctional amygdala, they may be more likely to commit crime, so it is easier to intervene earlier. However, a person may feel powerless to becoming a criminal if they have a dysfunctional amygdala, and others may use their dysfunctional amygdala as an excuse for their criminal behaviour (diminished responsibility).

How can the role of the amygdala explanation be evaluated in terms of its supporting evidence?

Raine et al.

• Hemispheric asymmetry in amygdala functioning, reduced left and greater right activity in the amygdala. These differences produce unusual emotional responses such as lack of fear, empathy, remorse and guilt. 

• Pre-frontal cortex had a lower glucose metabolism compared to controls, leading to lower inhibitions (unable to suppress socially unacceptable behaviour), affected ability to plan and organise (unable to see consequences of behaviour) etc.

• These two things are highly neurally connected, which means that they both have more of an influence on criminal behaviours that the amygdala alone.

How can the role of the amygdala explanation be evaluated in terms of its scientific status?

Uses brain scanning technology, e.g. fMRI scans in Glenn (2009) or PET scans in Raine's research.

• Provides objective evidence, increasing validity.

How can the role of the amygdala explanation be evaluated in terms of its reductionism?

Reducing criminal behaviour to a singular explanation of an amygdala influence.

• It allows us to study the influence of the amygdala on criminal behaviour in more detail.

• It is too simple to argue that the amygdala is the only cause of criminal behaviours, we need to be more holistic.