Weeks 4-5 Complete

Week 4-5

biosocial factors

factors resulting from the interaction of individual biological and social characteristics (i.e., determinants), which predispose individuals to certain behaviours

neurocriminology

the study of the interaction between social and biological factors as they relate to crime

biological determinism

the idea that individual physical and mental characteristics are governed solely by heredity

somatotyping

the practice of attempting to draw connections between a person's behaviour or temperament and the individual's body type of physique

Franz Joseph Gall

phrenology: specific mental abilities and characteristics are localized in specific regions of the brain

Johann Gaspar Spurzheim

he allowed for some measure of free will to control the behavioural tendencies associated with the shape of the skull

Charles Buckman Goring

CRIME \= Heredity + Environment

believes that poor mental and physical state makes a person a criminal personality

compared 3,000 recidivist criminals with a control group consisting of soldiers, hospital patients, and university students

Earnest A. Hooton

pioneer of constitutionalism

believed that physical differences, together with social and environmental factors, could be used to predict crime (criminals inferior in most bodily measurements, tattoo, low forehead, nasal anomalies, compressed faces, narrow jaws, thin lips)

Ernst Kretschmer

Proposed relationship between body build and personality type

personality groups: cycloids and schizoids

three body types: asthenic, pyknic, and athletic

William Sheldon

linked personality to physique on the grounds that both are governed by genetic endowment

endomorphic (large) \= viscerotonic (extroverted), mesomorphic (average) \= somotonic (assertive and active), ectomorphic (skinny) \= cerebrotonic (introverted)

XXY type (Klinefelter's syndrome)

associated with degeneration of the testes, sterility, breast enlargement, tallness and thinness, and social and/or school learning problems. Alcoholism, homosexuality, frustration-based outbursts, and over-representation among the mentally challenged have also been reported among those with the syndrome

XYY chromosome theory

the theory that the extra Y chromosome found in some males predisposes them to criminal or anti-social behaviour

Richard Herrnstein

concluded that the evidence suggests a more complex chain of connections between the influence of genetic affects and constitutional and environmental factors on the likelihood for criminogenic behaviour

Henry Herbert Goddard

crime is the result of low-grade mentality (primarily feeblemindedness, which is an inherited quality)

Hans Eysenck

developed a personality scale to predict a person's propensity to commit a crime based on three dimensions (psychoticism, extroversion, and neuroticism)

strongest link between personality and criminality appears in his work

Alexander Schauss

among the first to relate violent delinquent behaviour to bioenvironmental behaviour (specifically diets - 32% higher sugar intake for juvenile offenders)

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

a psychological and/or biological disorder characterized by inability to concentrate

epigenetics

the study of genetic modifications caused by external (i.e., environmental) factors that do not alter the DNA sequence but affect how cells "read" genes, effectively turning them "on" or "off"

Sarnoff Mednick

==Biosocial Theory==

* believed we are all ==occasionally prone to do things that violate== the norms, values, and rules of society
* behaviour triggered by the ==automatic nervous system (ANS)==
* also thinks that we ==do not follow these impulses== because of ==socialization==

Eysneck

==Biosocial Theory==

* first to argue that ==introversion is an inherited trait, and that they were more prone to produce anti-social behaviour==
* ==autonomic and central nervous system== characteristics affect individual’s responsiveness to punishment and propensity for anti-social outcomes
* extroverts experienced cortical under-arousal and were less responsive to punishment than were introverts, but they would be more likely to act anti-socially where an opportunity presented itself

life course theory

an integrated theory used to identify factors that predispose individuals to criminal activity, which involves the study of changes in the offending pattern of an individual over the course of his or her life

Terrie E. Moffitt

Biosocial Theory

* proposed that "the ==biological roots of antisocial outcomes are present before or soon after birth==

Heuristic Biosocial Model of Violence

demonic possession

control of an individual by a supernatural spirit or power, typically identified as the cause of deviant or criminal behaviour

evil

relative and evolutive historically associated with deviant behaviour today it is understood as individual behaviour modern way definition is that "evil" behaviour is simply a maladaptive (i.e., inappropriate) coping mechanism

Actus Rea

crime

Actus Reus

guilty act

Mens Rea

guilty mind

Henry Maudsley

believed that criminals were "morally degenerate"—lacking in moral development instrumental in laying the legal framework for diminished responsibility due to mental disease

\
his ideas helped inform the basis of Canadian prison education programs

Isaac Ray

most influential forensic psychiatrist who described "moral insanity" as a disease never established by a single diagnostic symptom

Gustav Aschaffenburg

German pioneer of psychiatric criminology argued that we are influenced less by heredity than by our social environment

psychological explanations of criminal behaviour

intrapsychic (internal psychological) factors and those emphasizing learning factors

\
Although the learning theories are more widely accepted today, we will begin with Freud's intrapsychic approach, as it was one of the first influential theories to treat individual personality as an observable and measurable factor in criminal behaviour

criminal personality

a personality type characterized by such traits as anti-social behaviour, social immaturity, and nervous systems that produce criminal tendencies not easily modified by punishment - believed by some to be typical of criminals but correctable

Sigmund Freud

wrote about the best-known intrapsychic and positivist perspective which is psychodynamic theory

psychodynamic theory

freud's theory that behaviour - including criminal behaviour - is an expression of internal conflict stemming from unresolved experiences during childhood, often submerged in the subconscious

id

Represents, Old part of the brain, (psychoanalysis) primitive instincts and energies underlying all psychic activity

ego

the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.

superego

the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations

organic disorder

brain damage or skewed brain chemistry

functional disorders

mental, experiential, or psychic in origin but have no known physical basis

guilt

comes before the crime

sublimation

satisfying an impulse (e.g., aggression) with a substitute object, in a socially acceptable way (i.e., sports)

regression

a movement backwards in psychological time caused by exposure to stress (e.g., child begin to such thumb or wet bed after witnessing violence)

displacement

satisfying an impulse (i.e., aggression) with a substitute object (e.g., someone mad at their boss might kick their dog)

projection

involves individuals attributing their own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, and motives to another person (e.g., you hate someone but your superego tells you that such hatred is bad. you believe they hate you instead)

denial

involves blocking external events from awareness. if some situation is too much to handle, the person just refuses to experience it

repression

an unconscious mechanism employed by the ego to keep disturbing or threatening thoughts from becoming conscious

psychoanalysis

freud's approach to treating internal conflict and tension that results from certain unresolved, often unconscious experiences, a "talking therapy" that often focuses on the patient's early childhood and dreams in order to bring repressed fears to consciousness

cognitive, moral development, and behavioural

3 primary types of learning theory

environment → mind → behaviour

mentalistic/cognitive model of human behaviour

cognition

the mental processes through which we organize our thoughts and make sense of the world around us include: attention, perception, memory and language

Frustration-Aggression Theory

thought to provide a viable explanation for most criminal acts, and it was the primary theoretical perspective to justify the use of treatment focused on rehabilitation


1. Aggression is always a consequence of frustration
2. risk of aggression escalates with the degree of outside interference, the frequency of frustrating experiences, and the intensity of the event that instigated the frustration
3. greater perceived risk of punishment = less likely to commit the crime
4. aggression is often redirected (no inflicting pain on the actual source of frustration)
5. once frustration is vented = less desire to act aggressively (catharsis)

based on social learning theory and the assumption that an individual's personality and behaviour are shaped through environmental influences, which is also considered part of cognitive psychology

Hostile Agression

aggression stemming from feelings of anger and aimed at inflicting pain or injury

instrumental aggression

aggression as a means to some goal other than causing pain

Thanatos

an innate drive toward disintegration

Albert Bandura

identified three kinds of learning: observational learning, response simulation, and vicarious reinforcement

moral development theory

the theory that morality develops in stages

Jean Piaget

four primary stages of mental development

Lawrence Kohlberg

theorized that all individuals pass through a common series of stages in which they develop their moral reasoning skills. As we progress through the stages, we learn to make decisions about right or wrong and determine the ethically/morally acceptable course of action based on circumstances.

classical conditioning

a process of behaviour modification in which a subject comes to respond in a manner to a previously neutral stimulus that has been repeatedly presented along with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits the desired response

Behavioural Learning Theory

A psychological theory maintaining that all behaviour is learned through some type of external stimulus (negative or positive)

\
not by inherent personality traits focus on specific behaviour rather than abstract concepts such as attitudes, interests, past experiences, or individual personality patterns

Classical Conditioning (Pavlov)

a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events

simultaneous conditioning

CS and US are presented at the same time

Delayed conditioning

when the CS precedes the onset of the ucs and may continue after the commencement of the UCS

Trace conditioning

when the CS is terminated before the onset of the UCS: there is a delay between the two stimuli

Backward conditioning

when the UCS precedes the CS least effective conditioning according to Adams

avoidance learning

a form of behavioural learning in which the individual learns to associate an undesirable behaviour with punishment and therefore avoids it

psychopathy

a personality disorder characterized by lack of empathy and remorse, an inability to learn from experience, low arousal levels, and anti-social behaviour

\
a growing body of literature suggests that many chromic criminal offenders suffer from some degree of psychopathy

low arousal

a condition in which an individual experiences lower than normal emotional arousal to external stimuli, often leading to restlessness, impulsivity, and sensation-seeking.

paraphilia

A condition characterized by abnormal sexual desires, typically involving activities, situations, or objects that most people do not consider sexually arousing.

pedophilia

a psychological disorder in which an adult (or older adolescent) is sexually aroused primarily by underage (usually prepubescent) children

crime and deviance hierarchy

mild crime: social diversions, moderate crimes: social deviations and conflict crimes

consensus crimes

Severe crimes

B.F. Skinner

maintained that human cognition could not be scientifically studied because, without a physical basis, it could not be observed and measured

Behavior modification

A psychological theory and treatment that focus not on changing personality (i.e., trying to make people "good") but behaviour, relying on a system of rewards and punishments.

token economy

A strategy used by behavioural therapists to reinforce a desired behaviour by rewarding the participant with poker chips, gold stars, or other "tokens." 2 basic schedule methods: ratio and interval

Behaviour modification (BM)

a systematic approach to changing behaviour through the application of the principles of conditioni

Auguste Comte

coined “positivist” to express what he considered the final stage of social development, in which metaphysical explanations would be replaced by a rational, scientific view of the world

positivist school of criminology

A school of criminological thought whose adherents use the scientific method to measure behaviour, and advocate rehabilitation over punishment.

Cesare Lombroso

laid the foundation for biological positivist theories and is the father of modern criminology

\
environment can play a role in an individual’s development

\
first true interdisciplinary criminological thinker

\
found numerous ==correlations between physical appearance and criminal activity== (largely discredited)

he did not consider the possible effects that social labelling might have in triggering ==anti-social behaviour== among those “labelled” as different or even evil

Paul Broca

based his theory of ==biological determinism== in criminality on the concept of ==atavism==

\
*Atavistic* → physical malformations (criminal stigma)

determinism

A doctrine that denies free will while maintaining that our decisions are decided by predictable and/or inherited causes that act on our character.

atavism

A biological condition supposedly rendering an individual incapable of living within the norms of a society.

deterministic

Based on or involving the belief that events and behaviour are caused by prior events and conditions existing outside the realm of free will.

1. weakness of methodology
2. limited application to the understanding of white-collar crime, organized crime, and political crime
3. a general fear that positivist-based policies will be intrusive and possibly lead to totalitarianism
4. failure to distinguish clearly between the roles of environment and heredity

biological, psychological, and sociological determinism has been challenged on four key issues: