Criminal behaviour

• Criminality

  Crime is defined as any act or lack of acting that violates the law and results in punishment by the state.

  Criminal behaviour is a social construct meaning its dependent on the laws in each society (homosexuality).
• Disorganised offenders

  They generally have below average IQ, are socially inadequate who live alone. Likely to be unskilled workers with a unstable father figure. Usually the youngest child and received harsh/inconsistent discipline as a child.
• Organised murderers

  They generally have above average or high IQ, are socially adequate, tend to be sexually competent (live normal lives). They are usually the oldest child and grew up with harsh discipline.
• Acquisitive crimes

  Normally involved in drug use and seek criminal activity for pleasure and thrill. Generally have a formal motivation for their crime and they will take on either an intelligence or an economical reason.
• Terrorism

  They tend to be noncombatant civilians who act from a place of perceived injustice. Sometimes motivated by political or economically triggered issue. They have irrational behaviour patterns and evoke a rationalization of motives.
• Early characteristic of violent offenders

  Animal cruelty: it serves as an outlet for repressed anger and gives individuals a sense of power.

  Fire-setting: often associated with feelings of anger, frustration or wanting to cause chaos.

  Bedwetting: it can cause potential psychological distress
• Inherited criminality (biological)

  Two genes have been linked to criminal behaviour: monoamine oxidase A and Cadherin 13.

  MAOA cleans up excess serotonin in the brain but less MAOA has been linked with impulsive behaviour.

  Epigenetics proposes an interplay between genes and environment where genes are "switched" on or off by epigenomes which have been affected by environmental factors - diathesis stress model
• Inherited criminality (biological)

  An environmental factor apart of the diathesis-stress model is maltreatment in childhood. Caspi et al found that 12% of men with low MAOA had experienced maltreatment in childhood.

  Criminal genes may cause differences in areas of the brain or differences in key neurotransmitters. Low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin may predispose individuals to impulsive aggression.

  Very high and very low levels of noradrenaline have been associated with aggression, violence.
• Evaluation of inherited criminality

  S- Raine found 52% concordance for MZ twins compared with 21% of DZ twins.

  M- MZ twins are more likely to be brought up in similar conditions. Concordance could reflect the environment differences that distinguish twins.

  P- As criminal behaviour is not just one behaviour it cant be simply explained in terms of genetics.
• Role of the amygdala (biological)

  The amygdala plays a major role in how we assess and respond to environmental threats. There is an association between higher amygdala activity and processing aggressive emotions.

  There may be a correlation between amygdala dysfunction, a lack of fear conditioning and antisocial/ criminal behaviour.
• Evaluation of the role of the amygdala (biological)

  S- Gospic et al used the Ultimatum Game which showed a strong, experimental evidence for an association between reactive aggression and increased amygdala activity.

  S- Pardini found high levels of aggression were associated with lower amygdala volumes.

  P- there are other explanations including violent offenders being linked to low metabolism in the prefrontal cortex.
• Eysenck's criminal personality (individual)

  Extraversion- determined by level of arousal in the nervous system. They seek more arousal so engage in dangerous activities.

  Neuroticism- determined by level of stability in the sympathetic nervous system. They are unstable and prone to over-react to situations of threat.

  Psychoticism- related to higher levels of testosterone. It can easily be linked to criminality as they are aggressive and lack empathy.
• Evaluation of Eysenck's theory (individual)

  S- Dunlop found both extraversion and psychoticism were good predictors of delinquency.

  A-There's a situational perspective, suggesting that people may be consistent in similar situations but not across all situations.

  M- when answering the EPQ people may be providing socially desirable answers that aren't truthful.
• Hostile attribution bias (individual)

  This is when someone is more inclined to always think the worst. Such negative interpretations then lead to more aggressive behaviour. It can be cause through bullying by peers or harsh parenting.
• Hostile attribution bias (individual)

  There are steps before a person takes action in a social situation:

  • encode info in the brain and store it
  • accurately interpret that information
  • decide on a goal/aim for the social interaction
  • think about multiple potential behavioural responses
  • evaluate potential responses
  • take action Hostile bias has been linked to problems during stage 2
• Evaluation of hostile attribution bias (individual)

  S- Michael and Aiste's research showed the idea that some individuals 'perceive' others as more hostile than others.

  M- Bias is typically measured with a laboratory task. This lowers ecological validity meaning results may not reflect real life thinking/ behaviour.
• Differential Association theory (social psychological)

  Differential association means people vary in the frequency with which they associate with other who have more or less favourable attitudes towards crime.

  A child learns attitudes towards crime, what crime is desirable and specific methods for committing crimes. It is learnt through intimate personal groups through frequency, length and personal meaning like operant conditioning.
• Evaluation of differential theory (social psychological)

  S- Osborn and West found that when there is a father with a criminal conviction, 40% of the sons had committed a crime compared with 13%

  M- the theory is not testable which means we cant establish a cause and effect relationship.

  P- its only a partial account of offending behaviour because it only explains non violent crimes.
• Gender socialisation (social psychological)

  Socialisation-Sutherland claimed that boys are encouraged to be risk-takers and to be tough.

  Role models- social learning theory suggests that we learn our behaviours through observations and imitation of role models.

  Social control- women have fewer opportunities to commit crime due to restrictions from domestic roles
• Evaluation of gender socialisation (social psychological)

  S- The 'Man Up' project found 84% of ppts said it was an 'effective course to challenge offending behaviour'.

  M- Chivalry hypothesis suggests that women commit more crimes than official statistics suggest. Pollak claimed male judges and police tend to have a protective attitude towards women.

  A-Testosterone in men links to aggression. Dabbs et al found 10 out of 11 inmates had higher testosterone levels and had committed violent crimes
• Anger management (modifying behaviour)

  The short term aim is to reduce anger and aggression in prison, long term is rehabilitation and reducing reoffending.

  Cognitive restructuring- create greater self-awareness and control over cognitive dimensions of anger

  Regulation of arousal- control the physiological state

  Behaviour strategies- problem-solving skills, strategies withdrawal and assertiveness

  The 3 key stages of the stress inoculation model are: conceptualisation, skill acquisition and application
• Effectiveness of anger management (modifying)

  Success of programmes- Taylor and Novaco report 75% improvement rates. However, Howells et al only found moderate benefits of anger management programmes

  Limitations- offenders who don't like to reflect on their thinking my drop out of voluntary anger management

  Theoretical issues- in a study of 300 males in prison they found no significant differences between violent/ non-violent offenders in terms of self-reported anger.
• Ethical implications of anger management (modifying)

  Lack of voluntary consent- offenders are required to take part in anger management programmes

  Therapist conflict- when interventions are used within prions there are conflicts for a therapist because they have a duty to the institution and to their client.
• Social implications of anger management (modifying)

  Benefits for prison environment- it reduces aggression and violence which reduces the hostile atmosphere

  Financial implications- anger management is not a short term therapy and can be expensive. However, the cost to the economy of reoffending is at least £9.5 billion a year
• Restorative justice (modifying)

  It usually involves communication between the offender and victim. It aims to address the rehab of offenders.

  Rehabilitation- offender is encouraged to take responsibility for their crime

  Punishment- the offender feels guilty

  Wachtel and McCold state that the focus should be on relationships. The involvement of three 'stakeholders' (victim,offender and community) is needed for full restorative justice
• Effectiveness of restorative justice (modifying)

  Victim- the UK Restorative justice council reports 85% satisfaction from victims in face-to-face meetings.

  Reduce offending- Sherman reviewed 20 studies of face-to-face meetings and found 26% lower rate of reoffending

  Lack of suitability- some kinds of crime may not be suitable (sexual offences)
• Ethical implications of restorative justice (modifying)

  Victim- they may feel the offender showed no empathy, leading to a loss of self-esteem. There's also the risk of psychological harm.

  Offender- there could be abuses of power (victims could gang up). Programmes need to be carefully balanced.
• Social implications of restorative justice (modifying)

  Financial implications- the Restorative justice council claims that reduced reoffending means £8 is saved for every £1 spend on the restorative process.

  Wider approach in community- 'peace circles'are an example of a community programme that has been developed in communities where violence and crime levels are high
• Biological to genetic engineering (application)

  S- One explanation is biological including inherited criminality

  O- It states that MAOA and CDH13 have been linked with criminality

  J- its biological because it focuses on genes predisposing behaviour

  O-Genetic modifying is where an individuals genetic composition is altered so undesirable traits can be eradicated.

  L- both see behaviour as being biological, solution is also biological
• Individual to anger management (application)

  S- One explanation is individual including hostile attribution bias

  O- Someone is more inclined to think the worse which leads to more aggressive behaviour

  J- its individual because it focuses on mental process and thinking

  O- Anger management is based on conceptualisation, skills acquisition and application

  L- both see behaviour as being caused by aspects of the individual
• Social to restorative justice (application)

  S- One explanation is social psychological including differential association

  O- people vary in the frequency with which they associate with other who have more or less favourable attitudes to crime

  J- its social psychological because it suggests people are socialised into crime

  O- Restorative justice involves communication between the offender and victim

  L- both focus on behaviour being learned socially through interactions