Theories of Crime and Deviance Exam 3

Social Control Theory

Travis Hirschi

four elements of social bond; key mechanisms = stakes in conformity

Early control theorists

Hobbes, Durkheim, and Freud

Hobbes' Leviathan (1651)

feudalism; few had rights; unequal; arbitrary & severe punishments

Human nature assumptions

people are greedy, selfish, at war with one another

people are rational

people create govs and rules to avoid constant state of fear

people grant govs monopoly on use of force

people willingly give up certain rights; abide society rules for protection

if little or no say in gov & application of law, contract is "broken"

Hirshi's social control theory

"unusual psychological needs"

- reaction to strain & drive theories

"profound sense of duty"

- reaction to learning & subcultural theories

Social control theory's core argument

weak bonds/low stakes in conformity -> crime

four components of "social bond"

attachment; commitment; involvement; belief

- key mechanism = "stakes in conformity"

assumes collective consensus

attachment

close relationships with others (parents, peers) should reduce likelihood of crime

- mechanisms: stake in relationship

- fear of harming/losing attachments (disappointing parent, losing friend)

commitment

conventional plans/ goals for future should reduce likelihood of crime

- education, job advancement

mechanisms: stake in goals

involvement

spending time in conforming activities should reduce likelihood of crime

- school-related clubs/sports, church

mechanisms: less time for deviance

belief

strong belief in legitimacy of law associated with less crime

where does low self-control come from?

self-control is developed at an early age, and remains relatively stable afterwards.

- the absence of nurturance, discipline, and learning in childhood can all lead to low self- control

what is low self control?

Gottfredson and Hirschi

- low self - control refers to people who are impulsive, insensitive, physical, nonverbal, risk-seeking, short-sighted, shameless, and self-centered

- fail to fully "consider the negative or painful consequences of their acts

- lack the capacity to resist impulses or delay gratification and are more likely to commit crimes/other deviant acts

what is the role of parenting?

improper child-rearing in the form of failure to monitor behavior, recognize misbehavior, and punish misbehavior can lead to the development of low self-control

what do G&H say regarding the stability of self-control

self-control is developed at an early age, and remains relatively stable afterwards

developmental and life course theories

developmental and life-course theories focus on criminal offending trajectories

- view crimes as events that occur during the course of one's life

moffitt's taxonomy of adolescent-limited

argues that there are two different offending trajectories

1) life course persistent

2) adolescence-limited

Sampson and Laub's age graded theory of social control

states that the sources of social control vary across the life-course and that conventional social bonds can prevent crime

life course persistent

offenders display early signs of antisocial behavior (childhood onset) and that persistent offending throughout the life course (long duration; high frequency

adolescent limited

offending begins in adolescence and does not persist through adulthood (adolescent onset; short duration; early desistance) and majority of offenders follow this pathway

What causes life-course-persistent offending?

offenders' criminal propensity stems from neuropsychological deficits

- children with those deficits may then become "high risk" for committing crime if exposed to a high-risk social environment

What causes adolescence-limited offending?

offenders are affected by the maturity gap between biological and social adolescence and thus find delinquency appealing since it provides access to valuable resources like autonomy from parents, affiliation and status with peers, and social maturity

how and for whom do neuropsychological deficits lead to crime?

stems from neuropsychological deficits that are possibly caused by numerous factors (disruption in fetal brain development, maternal prenatal drug use, inadequate nutrition, etc).

how do they relate to and interact with environmental factors such as parenting and relations with others?

children with neuropsychological deficits become "high risk" for committing crime if exposed to a high-risk social environment (abuse/neglect, inadequate parenting, disrupted family bonds, poverty, etc)

what is maturity gap and how is it related to crime?

the gap between biological and social adolescence

- has lengthened which delays entry into adulthood and access to associated privileges and responsibilities

what role does imitation play in maturity gap?

adolescent-limited offenders often mimic the delinquent style of life-course persistent youth since the delinquency is appealing and provides access to valuable resources

What is the difference between traits and states?

Traits are the relatively stable individual characteristics. Immutable or change very little across the life course

States are variable psychological or social conditions. More temporary than traits and may change across the life course

What are turning points?

Sampson & Laub's age-graded theory of social control

- refer to transitions or social events in life like getting married or having children that may cause people to desist from crime

how are they related to crime over the life-course?

sampson & laub believed that these turning points may help understand why some people desist from crime

how might marriage cause desistance from crime?

Sampson and colleagues argued that marriage may cause desistance from crime

ex: increased costs of crime, changes in daily living/routine activities, direct supervision of spouse, and associated with changes in identity

How did giordano and colleagues' discussion of cognitive transformation and hooks for change challenge sampson and Laub's arguments about turning points?

Giordano et al. argued that "turning points" are not randomly distributed across population and that some people choose to change through "hooks for change" and "cognitive transformation"

Did Skardhamar and Savolainen's research on employment and desistance support Sampson & Laub's turning

point arguments, or a cognitive transformation or maturation perspective?

Skardhamar and Sovolainen's 2014 research supported a maturation perspective, showing that people actually desist from crime before job entry and that desistance from crime might be cause by other life-course changes

History of biosocial criminology

-Eugenics

-Historical misuse of biological findings

-Research exploring biological influences on behaviors is gaining traction, sparked by advances in biological

-research (e.g., genetic sequencing, neuroimaging)

Why have biosocial criminologists been critical of traditional criminological theories?

biosocial criminologists critique traditional criminological theories, arguing that humans are not blank slates, pointing out that people exposed to similar environments turn out differently

Why have criminologists been skeptical and reluctant to consider biosocial causes of crime?

criminologists have been skeptical due to historical misuse of biological findings in sociology/criminology

what are biological influences? environmental influences?

biological influences includes physiological processes that occur in the human body and/or brain (evolution, genetics, brain structure, and functioning)

- environmental influences include processes that are external to the human body and brain

What are the ANS and CNS and how are they related to behaviors?

autonomic nervous systems: basic vital responses; includes parasympathetic and sympathetic systems

central nervous systems: brain, spinal cord, nerves; processes sensory stimuli; motor regulation and conscious control

- related to behaviors bc they affect brain structure and functioning

what is a gene and what does it do?

-Segment of your DNA

-Organized on chromosomes (humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes)

-Transcribe or code for protein; part of DNA that codes for things; functional elements of DNA; only 2% of your DNA

-Still learning about DNA

How much genetic similarity is there across humans?

there is about 99.9% similarity in genetic coding sequences across humans, so very small percentage of genes have more than two different copies in human population

polymorphisms

gene with 2 or more different copies (alleles)

alleles

alternative copies of genes

genetic variance

Due to differences in alleles, vast majority of variance is inconsequential.

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs)

one type of polymorphism in which a single part of the genetic sequences differs across people; SNPs are one course of genetic variation

how do researchers typically assess genetic influences on behaviors?

1. behavioral genetic methodologies, which involves inferences from twin/sibling studies and doesn't involve measuring genes

2. molecular genetic methodologies, which involves inferences using measured genes (candidate gene studies)

what are the five types of biosocial research in criminology?

- evolutionary psychology

- biological criminology

- behavioral genetics

- molecular genetics

- neurocriminology

behavior genetics

examines similarities and differences in behaviors across pairs of individuals with known levels of genetic relatedness, most often use twin pairs

what are the differences between MZ and DZ twins?

MZ ("identical") twins: 100% shared genes

DZ twins: 50% shared genes

What are concordance rates?

refer to rates of the presence of the same trait in both members of a pair of twins

if MZ twins' behaviors are more similar than DZ twins' behaviors, genes likely play a significant role

What is a candidate gene? What do most candidate genes affect?

may be a gene that is related to crime

vary in the human population and affect physiological processes that may influence aggressive, antisocial, or criminal behaviors.

- most affect neurotransmission, or the sending of signals from one neuron to another

What is dopamine and what does it affect?

is a neurotransmitter released by the brain that is responsible for pleasure/reward feelings

- affects cognition, movement, memory, sleep, mood, and learning

- some can increase dopamine levels

what are some genes that affect dopamine?

individual variations in transporter and receptor genes can affect dopamine levels

What is serotonin and what does it affect?

a neurotransmitter released by the brain that affects inhibition and regulation of emotion and behavior

- also related to mood balance, depression, appetite, and sleep

what are some genes that affect serotonin?

Levels of serotonin are affected by variations in a transporter gene, 5HTTLPR.

What does the MAO-A enzyme do?

The MAOA gene encodes the MAO-A enzyme that breaks down neurotransmitters (e.g., adrenaline, serotonin, dopamine). One variant of the gene is often referred to as the "warrior gene."

what gene encodes for this enzyme?

the monoamine oxidase A gene?

is there a "crime gene?

No. Complex behaviors = complex combinations of genetic and environmental influences

can genetic influences change over time?

Yes; environment affects gene expression.

Approximately how many genes are found in a fruit fly's DNA?

15,000 genes in a fruit fly's DNA

How many of those genes influence aggression in fruit flies?

as many of 4,000 of total 15,000 genes are linked to aggression in fruit flies

At least what percent of all human genes are expressed primarily in the brain?

at least one third (33%) of all genes are expressed primarily in the brain

What are the brain regions that have been linked to aggression and crime?

limbic system, amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, frontal lobe, dorsolateral prefontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and medial prefontal cortex

limbic system

generates emotions and forms long-term memories (including fear); acts as the "accelerator"

Amygdala

generates anger, rage, and fear; emotional learning and fear conditioning

Hippocampus

involved in the formulation of long-term memories, emotional learning, and fear conditioning

Thalamus

relays messages throughout the body, receives/organizes/dispatches messages

Hypothalamus

regulates visceral functions; releases biochemical

frontal lobe

regulates emotional responses, acts as a "brake system"

external motivation

differential association, social learning, subcultural, anomie/structural strain, general strain, dual taxonomy

internal motivation

Self/Identity, Reactance, Psychodynamic

external constraint

Classical Criminological Theories, Social Disorganization and Collective Efficacy, Social Control, Age-Graded Theory of Social Control

Internal Constraint

Freud (superego), Self-Control, Dual Taxonomy (LCP), Biosocial (frontal lobes), Situational Action

what are the different types of theoretical integration?

the three most common forms of propositional theoretical integration are known as end-to-end, side-by-side, and up-and-down integration

end-to-end theoretical integration

A type of theoretical integration that conveys the linkage of the theories based on the temporal ordering of two or more theories in their causal timing. This means that one theory (or concepts from one theory) precedes another theory (or concepts from another theory) in terms of causal ordering or timing.

side-by-side integration

a type of theoretical integration in which cases are classified by a certain criteria and two or more theories are considered parallel explanations based on what type of case is being considered. thus, there are two different paths in which a case is predicted to go, typically based on initial variable

up-and-down integration

a type of theoretical integration that is generally considered the classic form of theoretical integration because it has been done relatively often in the history of criminology theory development.

- involves increasing the level of abstraction of a single theory so that postulates seem to follow from a conceptually broader theory

what are the basic arguments of the oppositional tradition

separate theories are essentially pitted against one another in a form of battle or opposition

wha other theories of crime are integrated into SAT?

SAT integrates self-control, rational choice, and situational theories with morality theories

what is SAT's main argument

most people refrain from crime for moral, not rational reasons

According to SAT, what is the primary reason why most people do not engage in most acts of crime?

The main reason why most people, most of the time, do not engage in most acts of crime is that they generally

do not perceive crime as an action alternative.

which is more important to explaining compliance - morality or reason?

Wikstrom believes that morals are more important to explaining compliance

What is the moral filter and how does it work?

Wilstrom's Situational Action Theory explains moral filter as the consideration of personal moral rules of the setting in the (non)contemplation of criminal action alternatives.

- some criminal options are filtered from contemplation, criminal options that pass through the moral filter are subject to rational deliberation

How does SAT incorporate the four key components of an adequate theory?

motivation, constraint, opportunity, contingencies

motivation

for crime (internal & external) SAT largely assumes rather than explains motivation

constraint

(internal & external)

SAT mostly emphasizes constraints

Opportunity

SAT recognizes opportunity as necessary for crime and structured by situations/social environments

Contingencies

SAT specifies contingencies or conditions under which rational choices do and do not lead to conformity or crime