Criminal Behavior and Agnew's Super Traits Theory

Overview of Crime Theories

• Examination of how crime begins, continues, and eventually ceases in individuals’ lives.
  • Key questions:
  • When does criminal behavior start?
  • What causes it to persist?
  • Do individuals cease criminal activity with age, or do they become habitual offenders?

Characteristics Associated with Criminal Behavior

• Discussion of traits linked to long-term criminal careers such as:
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  • Conduct Disorder
• Importance of recognizing operational "risk and protective factors" in understanding criminal behavior.

Agnew's Theory: General Developmental Theory

• Robert Agnew's General Strain Theory transforms into a focus on developmental aspects:
  • Incorporates sociological and biological factors into crime causation.
• The theory incorporates:
  • Five Life Domains: Personality, Family, School, Peers, and Work.

Core Components of Agnew’s Theory

1. Super Traits

   • Low self-control and irritability identified as core traits that contribute to criminal behavior.
   • Low self-control correlates with negative emotional responses and poor impulse regulation.

2. Personality Domain

   • Interactions with the family, school, peers, and work environments.
   • Negative traits can hinder development of pro-social behaviors, contributing to criminal actions.

Interaction of Domains in Agnew's Theory

• Interaction Effects:
  • Traits affect relationships and dynamics across different domains, leading to:
  • Poor family relationships, poor performance in school, and inability to maintain consistent employment.
  • Example of feedback loops leading to escalation of criminal behavior:
  • Negative interactions in family or school can worsen self-control problems, increasing criminal tendencies.

Factors Influencing Criminal Behavior within Domains

• Family:
  • Poor family dynamics can lead to poor social bonds and low self-control in children.
• School:
  • Negative interactions with school officials can lead to conflict and disengagement from school, reinforcing criminal paths.
• Peers:
  • Associating with delinquent peers can reinforce negative traits and encourage criminal behavior through learning and affirmation.
• Work:
  • Difficulties maintaining employment exacerbated by traits, leading to financial stress that can push toward criminality.

Implications of Agnew’s Theory

• Feedback Loop:
  • Continuous negative interactions in multiple domains can exacerbate traits leading to a cycle of crime.
• Potential for Change:
  • Highlighted the complexity of interactions indicating that some individuals may not follow the path to criminality depending on protective factors.

Key Factors Discussed by Agnew

• Gender Differences in Crime:
  • Recognition that males may inherit super traits as a product of evolutionary biology affecting their crime rates.
• Aging Out of Crime:
  • Hormonal changes during adolescence increase susceptibility to criminal behavior; declining in late teens and early twenties contributes to ‘aging out’.

Summary of Key Insights

• Positive and Negative Reactions:
  • The theory emphasizes the feedback between personality traits and social interactions, where escalating negativity can predict future behavior.
• Understanding Deviance:
  • Provides a life-course perspective on crime; significant for understanding how and why individuals cease or continue criminal behavior over time.