Criminological Theory Test 4

Biosocial Theories

broad range of biological factors to be considered

• genetic inheritance

• biological harms

• birth complications

social environment influences whether biosocial factors lead to traits conducive to crime

Unraveling Juvenile Delinquency - approach, causal links, study, critics

• multi factor approach is necessary

  • biological, psychological, sociological

• while delinquency is associated with school factors and association with delinquent peers, these factors don’t have a causal connection on delinquency

• instead, they are a reflection of individual traits and early family problems that cause delinquency

• hereditary/genetic factors + environmental/cultural factors = causal link to criminal behavior

• study with 500 delinquent and 500 non delinquent boys of same age, race+ethnicity, neighborhoods, and intelligence

  • conclusion: delinquency results from interplay between somatic, temperamental, intellectual, and sociocultural factors

• critics: school factors and association with delinquent peers has a causal connection

Unraveling Juvenile Delinquency - genetic and environmental factors

genetic factors:

• physique/body morphology

• temperamental traits and emotional dynamics

• intellectual traits

environmental factors

• school attainment

• school misbehavior

• general misbehavior

• leisure time and companions

• sociocultural factors

Biological Explanation of Criminal Behaviors

• biological factors (psychophysiology, brain, + genetics) impacts trait conditions of criminal behavior

  • traits: fearlessness, impulsiveness, sensation-seeking

• if these biological factors are present, they will impact these traits, and that’ll make the individual more conducive/prone to criminal behavior

Biological Explanations for Criminal Behavior - psychophysiology

psychophysiology:

• our level of arousal

• measured by heart and sweat rate

• blunted/decreased sweat and/or heart rate (called autonomic functioning) causes criminal behavior under 3 theories

  • fearlessness hypothesis

    • because their autonomic functioning is blunted/decreased, they’re not deterred from crime because they don't experience the correct emotional response

  • sensation-seeking hypothesis

    • in order to get to baseline, they seek some type of sensational conduct that will take them there because they started out low

  • somatic marker hypothesis

    • when someone is stressed, you can tell by their somatic markers (sweaty palm, high heart rate)

    • somatic markers reflect emotional sates which influences decision making

    • when your autonomic functioning is blunted, they don’t experience somatic markers

Biological Explanations for Criminal Behavior - brain and genetics

brain

• reduced volume and functioning in prefrontal cortex (executive functioning), amygdala (emotional responses), + striatum (link between reward and emotional processes)

• any injury or inherited difficulties in these 3 areas will affect whether an individual is prone to criminal behavior

genetics

• level of inheritability of social/criminal behavior is at 40-60%

Personality and Crime

3 Super Traits

• positive emotionality

• constraint

• negative emotionality

people who are high in negative emotionality and/or low in constraint are crime prone

constraint

• traditionalism

  • high moral standards

• harm avoidance

  • prefers safe activities

• control

  • reflective, cautious, careful

negative emotionality

• aggression

  • hurts other for personal advantage

• alienation

  • feels mistreated, victimized, targeted

• stress reaction

  • nervous, vulnerable, prone to worry

positive emotionality

• achievement

  • works hard

• social potency

  • fond of leadership roles

• well-being

  • happy, cheerful

• social closeness

  • sociable, likes people

Pathways in the Life Course to Crime

• life course persistent offenders

  • start antisocial acts early and continues into adolescence and adulthood

  • ~7% of the population

  • age 4: biting + hitting

  • age 10: shoplifting + truancy

  • age 16: drugs + stealing cars

  • age 22: robbery + rape

  • age 30: fraud + child abuse

• adolescence limited offenders

  • shines light on human agency

  • sporadic crime periods

  • lack of consistency in antisocial behavior across situations

    • experimenting

• human agency is the tool that allows the adolescence limited offender to desist/change their ways

Theory of Persistent Offending and Desistance

• emphasis on human agency

• 4 factors leading to change

  • turning point event

  • increased social control

  • routine activities transformed from unstructured and deviant to structured and prosocial

  • commitment to a new life

• implications:

  • adulthood largely has no predictable developmental sequence

  • an offender’s destiny isn’t determined in childhood/adolescence

  • there’s a subjective dimension to our lives

An Identity Theory of Desistance

• working self: the way a person currently sees and thinks about themselves based on present identity

• possible self: what they imagine becoming in the future

  • positive possible self: can be used as motivation

• negative possible self is also called the feared self

• crystallization of discontent: offenders become fed up with the cost of crime and make the rational choice to desist

  • try to avoid their feared self

  • they HAVE to have human agency