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Chapter 1: What Is Criminology? Understanding Crimes and the People Who Commit Them
Chapter 2: Where Do Theories Come From? From Idea to Evidence
Chapter 3: Early Theories of Crime: Historical Perspectives
Chapter 4: Biosocial Theories, Body Chemistry, and Neurocriminology: Interaction is Key
Chapter 5: Psychological and Psychiatric Foundations of Criminal Behavior: It’s How We Think
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter 1
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
To the Instructor
This Instructor’s Manual (IM) with Test Bank is designed to accompany and complement the eleventh edition of Criminology Today by Frank Schmalleger and to help make your job more manageable and your teaching more effective. It provides you with a comprehensive summary of the information in the textbook and serves as an easy-access reference to the issues presented in the textbook and to complementary materials.
The chapters of the IM correspond directly to those in the textbook. Each chapter contains the following sections:
Chapter Overview: This section provides a detailed summary of the chapter.
Learning Outcomes: These are the learning outcomes from each chapter and are presented in the IM for your convenience.
Chapter Outline: This includes an outline of the main topics covered in the chapter, as well as a list of teaching suggestions for each topic. Suggestions for relevant video material (available online) that may be show in class or assigned to students for out-of-class viewing is also included.
List of Changes/Transition Guide: This section identifies the main changes that have been made to the text in each chapter since the seventh edition, making it easy to update lesson plans, assignments, and other course materials to reflect the new edition.
Additional Assignments and Class Activities: This section includes both additional lecture topics, which are topics not covered in the textbook, but which closely complement the chapter material, and which may be used to supplement lectures, and student activities that may be used in class or assigned to students as outside activities. Many involve the use of the World Wide Web.
Suggested Answers to End-of-Chapter Assignments: The textbook contains a number of Questions for Review at the end of each chapter. Although students’ personal opinions may play a role in their answers to these questions, most responses can be assessed in terms of basic information and common themes found throughout the textbook. Sample suggested answers to the questions are provided.
In addition, sample syllabi are provided for courses using Criminology Today, eleventh edition. Both 10-week and 16-week samples are included.
This course provides an introduction to the field of criminology, providing an overview of the issues involved in defining, measuring, and explaining crime. Students will learn about the field of criminology, examine general characteristics of crime and criminals, review early and contemporary theories which attempt to explain criminal behavior, and discuss crime in the modern world.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Examinations: There will be three non-cumulative examinations, including both multiple choice and true/false questions. Each examination will be worth 100 points and will contain 50 questions (each question will be worth two points). Examinations will cover materials presented in lectures and the textbook.
Make-up policy: [Insert here]
Writing Assignments: Each chapter of Criminology Today includes a number of Questions for Review and Questions for Reflection. You will select one question from each chapter and provide a detailed written response. Each assignment will be worth 20 points.
Class Participation: Participation in class is worth 50 points. Read and study the textbook before each class and be prepared to ask and answer questions.
GRADING SCALE
The following grading scale will be used to determine course grades:
Note to instructors: It is important to clearly describe the method you will use to assign grades that you describe clearly the method you will use to assign grades. If you use a percentage scale (as in the table above), be sure to include the minimum and maximum points required for each grade. If you use a curve to assign examination or final grades, include information on this as well. If you provide opportunities for extra credit, these should be clearly stated in the syllabus.
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
This section should include university policies on issues such as academic integrity and sexual harassment as well as your policies on issues such as attendance, make-up examinations, missed assignments, classroom behavior, and so on.
CLASS SCHEDULE
WEEK TOPIC(S)
1 What is Criminology?
2 Where Do Theories Come From?
3 Early Theories of Crime
4 Biosocial Theories, Body Chemistry, and Neurocriminology
5 EXAM 1
6 Psychological and Psychiatric Foundations of Criminal Behavior
7 Social Structure Theories
8 Theories of Social Process and Social Development
9 Social Conflict and Emergent Theories
10 EXAM 2
11 Criminal Victimization
12 Crimes against Persons
CHAPTER ASSIGNMENT
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Covers material in chapters 1-4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Covers material in chapters 5-8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
13 Crimes against Property Chapter 11
14 White-Collar and Organized Crime Drug and Sex Crimes
Chapters 12-13
15 High Technology Crime Globalization and Terrorism Chapters 14-15
This course provides an introduction to the field of criminology, providing an overview of the issues involved in defining, measuring, and explaining crime. Students will learn about the field of criminology, examine general characteristics of crime and criminals, review early and contemporary theories which attempt to explain criminal behavior, and discuss crime in the modern world.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Examinations: There will be two cumulative examinations, including both multiple choice and true/false questions. Each examination will be worth 100 points and will contain 50 questions (each question will be worth two points). Examinations will cover materials presented in lectures and the textbook.
Make-up policy: [Insert here]
Writing Assignments: Each chapter of Criminology Today includes a number of Questions for Review and Questions for Reflection. You will select one question from each chapter and provide a detailed written response. Each assignment will be worth 20 points.
Class Participation: Participation in class is worth 50 points. Read and study the textbook before each class and be prepared to ask and answer questions.
GRADING SCALE
The following grading scale will be used to determine course grades:
Note to instructors: It is important to clearly describe the method you will use to assign grades that you describe clearly the method you will use to assign grades. If you use a percentage scale (as in the table above), be sure to include the minimum and maximum points required for each grade. If you use a curve to assign examination or final grades, include information on this as well. If you provide opportunities for extra credit, these should be clearly stated in the syllabus.
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
This section should include university policies on issues such as academic integrity and sexual harassment as well as your policies on issues such as attendance, make-up examinations, missed assignments, classroom behavior, and so on.
COURSE SCHEDULE
1 What is Criminology? Where Do Theories Come From?
2 Early Theories of Crime Biosocial Theories, Body Chemistry, and Neurocriminology
3 Psychological and Psychiatric Foundations of Criminal Behavior
Social Structure Theories
4 Theories of Social Process and Social Development
Social Conflict Theories
5 Exam 1 – covers chapters 1-8
6 Criminal Victimization
7 Crimes against Persons
Chapters 1-2
Chapters 3-4
Chapters 5-6
Chapters 7-8
Chapter 9
Chapters 10-11
8 White-Collar and Organized Crime Drug and Sex Crimes Chapters 12-13
9 Technology and Crime Globalization and Terrorism Chapters 14-15
10 EXAM 2 – covers chapters 9-15
Chapter 1
What Is Criminology?
Understanding Crimes and the People Who Commit Them
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
Chapter 1 introduces the textbook and the field of criminology. Crime can be defined in a variety of ways; the four main definitional perspectives see crime from the legalistic, political, sociological, and psychological viewpoints. The text uses a legalistic approach, which sees crime as a violation of the criminal law. This approach does have some limitations, some of which may be addressed by the other perspectives on crime.
Many crimes are forms of deviant behavior, human activity that violates social norms; however, not all crimes are deviant and not all deviant behavior is criminal. There is also a significant difference between what is crime and what should be criminal. The consensus perspective holds that a law should be enacted to criminalize a certain behavior when the members of a society generally agree that such a law is necessary. However, in a multicultural society, consensus may be difficult to achieve. The diversity of society is recognized in the pluralist perspective, which suggests that behaviors typically are criminalized through a political process after debate over the appropriate course of action.
The field of criminology itself is discussed in detail, with various definitions considered. While criminology is primarily a social science, it is interdisciplinary. It contributes to, and overlaps, the field of criminal justice. A criminologist is one who studies crime, criminals, and criminal behavior; the term applies primarily to academics, researchers, and policy analysts with advanced degrees who are involved in the study of crime and crime trends and in the analysis of societal reactions to crime. Criminalists collect and examine physical evidence of crimes, while criminal justice professionals do the daily work of the criminal justice system. There are many professional opportunities for individuals with degrees in criminology.
One subfield is theoretical criminology, which posits explanations for criminal behavior. There are many different theories of crime. General theories attempt to explain all (or most) forms of criminal conduct through a single overarching approach. An integrated theory does not necessarily attempt to explain all criminality but merges concepts drawn from different sources.
Evidence-based criminology or knowledge-based criminology involves the use of rigorous scientific techniques to develop knowledge in the field of criminology. It is focusing on the creation of a body of scientific evidence that is applicable to modern social problems and realities.
Criminological theorizing has as its ultimate goal the development of meaningful social policies based on scientific evidence. Translational criminology involves translating criminological research results into workable social policy. Translating research into practice is often difficult, even with solid evidence to support policy innovations. For example, despite widespread concern among professional groups about the effect of the media on teenage violence, policymakers have been reluctant to curtail the production of violent media. Essentially there is a conflict between crime reduction policies and the profit motives of media vendors.
The social policy theme of the text is presented through a contrast of the two main perspectives popular in today’s society: the social problems perspective and the individual responsibility perspective. Recently the individual responsibility perspective has had a substantial
influence on national crime control policy.
Crime does not occur in a vacuum; every crime has a unique set of causes, consequences, and participants. Crime is seen as a social event rather than an isolated individual activity. The criminal event is the result of the coming together of inputs provided by the offender, the criminal justice system, the victim, and the general public (society). Background and foreground features or inputs provided by each contributor are discussed. In addition, each crime has consequences, or outputs, which affect not only the victim and offender but also society and the criminal justice system. These consequences may be immediate or more long-term.
The text recognizes the primacy of sociology: the belief that the primary perspective from which many contemporary criminologists operate is a sociological one. However, not all criminologists agree with this perspective and new and emerging perspectives are being developed.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After reading this chapter, students should be able to answer the following questions:
1.1. What is crime? What is the definition of crime that the author of this text has chosen to use?
1.2. What is deviance? How are crime and deviance similar? How do they differ?
1.3. Who decides what should be criminal? How are such decisions made?
1.4. What is criminology? What are its many roots?
1.5. What do criminologists do?
1.6. What is evidence-based criminology? How does it complement theoretical criminology?
1.7. How does criminology, and especially criminological research, influence social policy? What is translational criminology?
1.8. What is the theme of this chapter? Upon what two contrasting viewpoints does it build?
1.9. What is the social context of crime? What are crime’s consequences?
1.10. What social science has traditionally provided a central theoretical basis for criminology? Why?
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Introduction
• Ask students to write down three ideas they immediately think of when they hear the term crime. Have them read out their responses and lead a discussion about the diversity of the responses.
• Many people accept the fictional (or fictionalized) view of crime that is presented by the media in crime-related entertainment (not only primetime television programs but also reality programs, news programs, and newspaper content). Explain that the needs of the media often influence or distort the images and information; the mass media often focus on unusual circumstances rather than presenting more typical images of crime.
• Ask students if they regularly watch any of today’s numerous crime-related television shows. Then lead a discussion comparing the reality of crime and criminal justice with the media representation.
• Ask students whether a random act of violence has recently occurred in their community. You can also ask about an event they have heard about recently on the news or read about online. Ask them to discuss their initial response, and ask whether they are concerned about possibly becoming a victim of such random violence.
• Lead a class discussion as to why there is so much public interest (as evidenced by all the crime shows on television) in crime and justice.
II. What Is Crime?
• Crime covers a limited number of wrongs. Explain that, because crime is concerned with the social control of wrongs, crime is fundamentally an issue of morality.
• Lead a class discussion as to whether crime and wrongdoing are the same.
• Ask students to identify ways in which each of the four perspectives on crime discussed in this text aligns with the democratic principles of our society.
• Explain why the legalistic approach dominates this text as well as most thinking on issues about crime. Inform students that an emphasis on the legal definition of crime can limit the development of theory and crime-related policy.
• Point out that there can be no crime unless defined by law. Lead a class discussion as to whether there can still be harm.
• Divide the class into four groups. Assign each one of the four perspectives on crime as discussed in the text. Lead a debate in which each group defends their assigned perspective.
III. Crime and Deviance
• Explain that deviance is a broad area whose boundaries include much crime but also extend beyond crime and include many legal behaviors as well. One example that may be used is clothing. Some people say that wearing hoodies or sagging pants are fashion statements, while others say that wearing such clothing paints the wearer in a negative light.
• Ask students to create a list of behaviors they consider deviant. Emphasize the similarities and differences in the student responses. Discuss which of the behaviors are crimes and which are not.
• Explain that what one group considers deviant may not be considered deviant by another group. Identify a social group and discuss how its “normal” behavior may be considered deviant by another group.
• Explain that “youth” is not the only status that determines the criminality of a behavior. Review other behaviors that the law has distinguished by status (e.g., outlawing the ownership of firearms by convicted felons; laws that prohibit members of one gender from using public bathrooms not intended for that gender).
IV. What Should Be Criminal?
• Ask students to come up with examples that show how the question “What is crime?” differs from the question “What should be criminal?”
• Point out that not everyone agrees about what is moral or immoral; nor do they agree about what should be legal or illegal – and laws vary from one place to another. Ask the class to identify forms of behavior that are illegal in some jurisdictions (or states) but not in others.
• Compare the consensus and pluralist perspectives and explain how both are consistent with a democratic system of criminal justice.
• Ask the class to discuss why it is easier for members of our society to reach a consensus about right and wrong on some behaviors than it is on others.
• Demonstrate the complexity of the consensus and pluralist perspectives on crime by illustrating that there can be a general social consensus that the act of murder is wrong but, at the same time, there may be disagreement over the kinds of acts that make one criminally liable for the killing of a human being. Euthanasia might serve as an example.
• Ask the class if all laws should be enforced all the time. Are there situations in which the police should focus on the spirit rather than the letter of the law?
V. What Is Criminology?
• Ask students to write down their concept of criminology. Discuss the responses with the class.
A. Defining “Criminology”
• Discuss Edwin Sutherland’s definition of criminology and compare it to the definition used by the text.
B. The Interdisciplinary Nature of Criminology
• Compare criminology and criminal justice. Explain how they overlap and how they differ.
•
• If it is relevant, identify members of the faculty who have degrees in fields other than criminology and/or criminal justice. Invite one or more to come to class and discuss the impact of their educational background on their criminological journey. You could also identify seminal criminologists whose doctoral degrees are in other fields.
VI. What Do Criminologists Do?
• Stress the differences among a criminologist, a criminalist, and a criminal justice professional.
• Consider sharing with the class how you first became interested in criminology. You may also want to share your current research and writing activities with your students, if appropriate.
• Ask students about their possible interest in a career in criminology, and ask why they might want to pursue this occupation. Ask if any are currently working in criminal justice and what their future career goals might be.
A. Theoretical Criminology
• Explain that theoretical criminology is only one subfield within criminology and that there are many other areas in which criminologists may specialize.
• Explain the difference between general and integrated theories and discuss why integrated theories are so challenging to develop.
VII. Evidence-Based Criminology
• Explain that “evidence” does not refer to the evidence used in criminal investigations.
• Discuss what it means to say that criminology is built on a social scientific approach.
VIII. Criminology and Evidence-Based Social Policy
• Discuss why it is often difficult to translate research into policy and emphasize that effective crime-control policies must be directly linked to explanations of crime.
• Discuss the ways in which crime and crime control have become increasingly politicized.
• Ask students to discuss how violence in the media might influence actual occurrences of violence.
• Ask students to discuss why it is often so difficult to persuade policy makers to link policy to research findings. Have them consider what criminologists might do to help ensure policy makers consider criminological research findings when developing sound social policies.
• Have students discuss why reactions to crime are important and why it might be important to change how people think about the criminal justice system or the crime problem.
• Watch the video, “Translational Criminology: A Message From The Director” on YouTube.
• Watch the video, “How Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships Are Redefining How We Study Crime, Introduction” on YouTube. This video includes the introductory remarks by John Laub at the opening plenary of the 2012 National Institute of Justice Conference.
IX. The Theme of This Text
• Discuss the assumptions inherent in each of the two perspectives on crime. Emphasize that these perspectives are not necessarily contrasting or mutually exclusive.
• Discuss the ways in which a public-health approach to crime is more closely aligned with crime prevention rather than crime fighting.
• Lead a class discussion as to whether crime is primarily a public-health issue or a criminal justice issue.
• Ask students to discuss whether a responsible society has the right to punish individuals who violate the law if that society allows the existence of social problems that may contribute to crime.
• Ask students to write about which perspective they prefer and to provide reasons to support their choice. Discuss their responses in class.
A. Individual Responsibility and the Law
X. The Social Context of Crime
A. Making Sense of Crime: The Causes and Consequences of the Criminal Event
• Ask students to write about which perspective they prefer and to provide reasons to support their choice. Discuss their responses in class.
• Discuss what the author of the textbook means by saying that “criminal activity is diversely created and variously interpreted.”
• Ask students to discuss how the concept of social relativity fits with the two perspectives that guide this textbook.
B. Crime and the Offender
• Discuss the various background and foreground contributions made by offenders and how these may affect our interpretation of the crime event.
C. Crime and the Criminal Justice System
• Ask students to discuss whether they agree that the criminal justice system may contribute to crime.
• Discuss various ways in which the criminal justice system can contribute to a criminal event or reduce the amount of crime.
• Emphasize that saying that the victim plays a part in the social construction of crime is not the same thing as victim blaming.
• Ask students to identify ways in which a victim might contribute to the occurrence of a crime event. Have them discuss whether the victim should be seen as responsible for the crime and how this could affect social views of the offender’s guilt or innocence.
E. Crime and Society
• Ask students what is involved in viewing crime as a social event and what such a view might add to our understanding of crime.
• Lead a discussion as to why the fear of random violence as increased. Ask students how this increased awareness and fear of random violence affects people.
• Ask students to consider how media reports of criminal events present the perspectives of the offender, the victim, the criminal justice system, and society. Discuss whether it is important for the media to present all perspectives equally.
F. The Consequences of Crime
XI. The Primacy of Sociology?
• Explain to students that many of the theorists they will study in the textbook are primary based in sociology or have been influenced by the writings of sociologists. Emile Durkheim is a good example of the latter because his work on modern society and social change has influenced several different criminological theories.
• Point out that although sociology is the primary perspective upon which criminology traditionally has been based, many other disciplines make important contributions as well.
LIST OF CHANGES/TRANSITION GUIDE
• The key term “criminal” has been redefined in keeping with the style of person-first language.
• A new chapter-opening story now begins the chapter.
• Data, figures, charts, and tables have been updated through this chapter.
• The discussion of “What Should be Criminal” (in a Crime in the News box) has been updated, as has the associated image.
• The image showing the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives has been updated.
• Some figures have been removed to simplify the chapter.
ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS AND CLASS ACTIVITIES
Additional Lecture Topics
The Impact of the Mass Media on Crime. The mass media includes not only television news but also television reality programs, non-reality-based television programs, movies, radio news, and newspapers. This lecture segment could include:
• What are the typical images of crime that are presented by the mass media (a focus on unusual circumstances or elements)?
• How are these images and information influenced or even distorted by the needs of the media?
• What types of crime are most commonly featured by the media (a focus on violent crime)?
• How “real” are reality-based TV shows?
• Do the large number of crime-related shows and information presented by the media leave viewers with a mistaken impression concerning the true amount and seriousness of crime in society?
• Are certain types of media more likely to sensationalize crime than other types?
• In what ways might the media improve its coverage of crime?
Subfields of Criminology. The text mentions theoretical criminology, but there are many other fields or areas within the discipline of criminology. Some of these include:
• Penology
• Victimology
• The sociology of law
• Criminal statistics
• Criminal behavior systems
Student Activities
Activity #1: How Does the Media Portray Crime and the Criminal Justice System? Watch several reality-based television shows such as Cops and keep a record of the following information for each crime/event:
1. The gender and race of the suspects
2. The gender and race of the police officers
3. The type of crime
4. The products being advertised during these programs
Questions to consider:
1. What is the predominant race of the suspects? The police officers?
2. Do you notice any difference in the behavior of the suspects and police officers when they are both of the same race? Of different races? Of different genders?
3. What types of crimes are featured? Does one type of crime predominate?
4. Are the products advertised during these programs directed toward any specific subgroup of the population? Are they age- or gender-based?
Activity #2: The Difference between Crime and Deviance. First, on your own, identify five behaviors that are against the law but which you do not consider to be deviant, as well as five legal behaviors which you do consider to be deviant. Your instructor will divide the class into groups. Within each group, compare and contrast the items on your lists. Focus on the wide range of opinions present among a fairly homogenous group (university students studying criminal justice). Discuss possible reasons for differing opinions (e.g., religious beliefs, profession, prior experiences with the criminal justice system).
SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO END-OF-CHAPTER ASSIGNMENTS
Questions for Review
1. What is crime? What is the definition of crime that the author of this text chooses to use? How might the notion of crime change over time? What impact does the changing nature of crime, and its understanding, have on criminology?
There are four definitional perspectives in contemporary criminology that may be used to define crime: legal, political, sociological, and psychological. The text employs a legalistic approach and defines crime as human conduct in violation of the criminal laws of a state, the federal government, or a local jurisdiction that has the power to make such laws.
Laws are social products, so crime is socially relative in the sense that it is created by legislative activity and determined by society. Laws may be modified as social norms change over time. As a result, criminologists must manage their work under constantly changing conditions mandated by ongoing changes and revisions of both the law and social policy. Legalistic and definitional changes are frequently arbitrary and often unpredictable, making it more difficult to study crime.
2. What is deviance? How are crime and deviance similar? How do they differ?
Deviance is defined as human activity that violates social norms. While the concepts of crime and deviance overlap, they are not identical; some forms of deviance are not violations of the criminal law, while some crimes are not considered deviant behaviors. Deviance is a broad area whose boundaries include many (but not all) types of crime as well as many noncriminal behaviors.
The concept of crime changes over time as society’s interpretation of behaviors changes. A behavior that was in the past considered unacceptable and which was against the law may over time come to be seen as acceptable behavior, and the laws may be changed to reflect this. Similarly, a formerly acceptable behavior may become seen as deviant and eventually the laws may be changed to criminalize the behavior.
3. Who decides what should be criminal? How are such decisions made?
The decision of what behaviors should be criminal is difficult, because while there is much general agreement in society that some forms of behavior (such as murder, rape, and theft) should be illegal, there is much less agreement about behaviors such as drug use, abortion, gambling, and so on.
According to the consensus perspective, behaviors should be criminalized when members of society generally agree that such laws are necessary. However, a shared consensus is often difficult to achieve, particularly in a multicultural and diverse society like the U.S. The
pluralist perspective says that behaviors should be criminalized through a political process only after debate over the appropriate course of action.
4. What is criminology? What are its many roots?
There are many definitions of criminology. This text defines criminology as “an interdisciplinary profession built around the scientific study of crime and criminal behavior, including their forms, causes, legal aspects, and control.” This definition was chosen because it includes many of the elements in the definitions provided by earlier writers as well as recognizing the increasingly professional status of the criminological enterprise.
Criminology is an interdisciplinary field and is rooted in a wide variety of other disciplines. These include anthropology, biology, sociology, political science, psychology, psychiatry, economics, ethology, medicine, law, philosophy, ethics, and many others.
5. What do criminologists do? How does the work of a criminologist differ from that of a criminalist?
A criminologist is someone who studies crime, criminals, and criminal behavior. The term is generally reserved for academics, researchers, and policy analysts who have advanced degrees and who are involved in studying crime and crime trends, and in the analysis of social reactions to crime. Academic and research criminologists generally hold doctoral degrees in criminology, criminal justice, or a related field, and most teach criminology or related subjects in institutions of higher learning and are involved in research and/or writing projects by which they strive to advance criminological knowledge. Some are strictly researchers and work for federal agencies or private research organizations.
In contrast, a criminalist is someone who specializes in collecting and examining the physical evidence of a crime. Criminalists include crime-scene investigators, crime-scene photographers, crime laboratory technicians, fingerprint experts, ballistics experts, among others.
6. What is evidence-based criminology? How does it complement theoretical criminology?
Evidence-based criminology involves the use of rigorous social scientific techniques, especially randomized controlled experiments, and the systematic review of research results, to develop criminological knowledge. It results in a body of scientific evidence that is applicable to the problems and realities of today’s world.
Evidence-based criminology and theoretical criminology are linked by the need to use social scientific research methods to develop and test criminological theories. The more evidence that exists to support a theory’s explanation of criminal behavior, the more applicable the theory is to the development of social policies.
7. How does criminology, and especially criminological research, influence social policy? What is translational criminology?
Criminology and criminological research can influence social policy by providing scientific evidence for the likely success of a given policy. Criminologists are aware of the need to link social policy to the objective findings of well-conducted criminological research, and many criminologists are working to help policy makers effectively use research results.
Translational criminology is the work of translating the results of criminological research into workable social policy.
8. What is the theme of this text? On what two contrasting viewpoints does it build? This book builds on a social policy theme and contrasts two perspectives on crime causation. The social problems perspective sees crime as a manifestation of underlying social problems such as poverty, discrimination, inequality of opportunity, etc. This is a macro approach because it views crime as resulting from widespread contributory social conditions that enmesh unwitting individuals in a causal nexus of uncontrollable social forces.
The individual responsibility perspective holds that people are fundamentally responsible for their own behavior and that they choose crime over other, more law-abiding courses of action. This is a micro approach because it focuses on individual offenders and their unique biology, psychology, background, and immediate life experiences.
9. What is the social context of crime? What are crime’s consequences?
Crime is not an isolated individual activity but a social event. This text sees crime as having a unique set of causes, consequences, and participants – it does not occur in a vacuum. It impacts direct participants (offenders, victims, witnesses, the police, etc.) as well as society as a whole. Reactions to crime may affect the course of future criminal events.
Crime may have immediate consequences as well as lasting effects. Immediate consequences tend to be relatively obvious for those directly involved, particularly the offender and the victim. However, crime also indirectly affects society and the justice system over a longer term. However, the impact of the crime is mediated by perceptual filters, resulting in interpretations – cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions to the criminal event.
10. What social science has traditionally provided a central theoretical basis for criminology? Why?
Criminology is interdisciplinary and numerous disciplines have contributed to the study of crime and crime causation. However, the primary perspective from which many criminologists today operate is a sociological one. Of all the disciplines, sociology has contributed the most to criminology and many modern theoretical explanations of criminal behavior are routinely couched in the language of social science and fall within the framework of sociological theory.
Chapter 2
Where Do Theories Come From?
From Idea to Evidence
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
Criminological theory cannot be fully appreciated unless one understands its fundamental assumptions. This chapter examines how contemporary social scientific research methods are used in the development of evidence-based criminological theories, policies, and practices. Evidence-based criminology is founded upon the experimental method; evidence refers to scientific findings rather than the kind of evidence gathered by the police or used in criminal trials. One of the primary techniques used in evidence-based criminology is randomized experiments.
John Laub identified three eras that characterized criminology over the past century and indicated that the current (or fourth) era, 21st -century criminology, contains “all possible offspring” of what came before. Present-day criminology has moved away from the armchair criminology of the past and is much more scientific, with an emphasis on determining causality.
The goal of criminology research is the construction of theories or models that allow for better understanding of criminal behavior and permit the development of strategies intended to address the problem of crime. A theory is a series of interrelated propositions which attempt to describe, explain, predict, and ultimately control some class of events, such as criminal behavior. Theories serve a variety of purposes, including giving meaning to observations.
Theories are tested against the real world using various research strategies. Research is the use of standardized, systematic procedures in the search for knowledge. Applied research is carried out with a practical application in mind, while pure research is undertaken for the sake of advancing scientific knowledge. Primary research is characterized by original investigation, while secondary research involves new evaluations of existing information collected by other researchers. Research is conducted in four stages: problem solving, research design development, the selection of data-gathering techniques, and a review of the findings.
Problem identification involves choosing a problem or issue to be studied. Most criminological research is intended to explore causality issues, especially the claims made by theories which purport to explain criminal behavior. Much contemporary criminological research involves hypothesis testing. Research designs structure the research process. One basic design is the one-group pretest–posttest. However, this type of design does not eliminate the possibility of confounding effects, or rival explanations, which may affect both the internal and external validity of the research. There are many factors that may threaten the internal or external validity of a research design. The use of an experimental or a quasi-experimental research design may increase the validity of the results by eliminating some rival explanations. These designs require the use of randomization when assigning research subjects to experimental and control groups.
There are five main data-gathering strategies commonly used in criminology: survey research, case studies, participant observation, self-reporting, and secondary analysis. The strategy selected must produce information in a form usable to the researcher and thus depends on the questions to be answered. Data collection involves scientific observation, which must meet the criteria of intersubjectivity and replicability. Even so, some observations may lead to unwarranted conclusions. Once the data have been collected, they are usually analyzed in some
way, generally using statistical techniques. Descriptive statistics, such as the mean, median, mode, and standard deviation, describe, summarize, and highlight the relationships within the data. Inferential statistics, including tests of significance, attempt to generalize findings by specifying how likely they are to be true for other populations or locations.
Research methods can be quantitative or qualitative. Both are useful and provide important information. Some criminologists believe that qualitative data-gathering strategies represent the future of criminological research.
Research is not conducted in a vacuum and cannot be free of biases and preconceptions. The best way to control biases is to be aware of them at the start of the research. Ethical issues are also extremely important; although they may not affect the validity of the results, they may have a significant impact upon the lives of researchers and subjects. Key ethical issues include protection of subjects from harm, privacy, disclosure, and data confidentiality. One way to overcome many of these ethical issues is through the use of informed consent. Criminological research may also have an impact on social policy, although many publicly elected officials may prefer to create politically expedient policies rather than consider current research.
After a research study has been conducted, the results usually are presented in the form of a research report or paper. There is a standard format which is generally followed. Most criminologists seek to publish their research results. The primary medium for such publication is refereed professional journals, which use peer reviewers to determine the quality of submitted manuscripts.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions:
2.1. What is the role of social scientific research methods in the development of criminological theories? How does the meaning of the word evidence in evidence-based criminology differ from the evidence found at a crime scene or the evidence used in criminal trials?
2.2. What is a theory? What purposes do theories serve? What role do research and experimentation play in theory building in criminology?
2.3. What is the role of criminological research in theory building? What is internal validity? External validity? How can threats to internal and external validity be addressed?
2.4. What are the differences between quantitative and qualitative methods in the social sciences? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each method?
2.5 What are some of the ethical considerations involved in conducting criminological research?
2.6 How do criminological research and experimental criminology impact social policy?
2.7. What sections might a typical research report contain?
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Introduction
• Ask students to discuss the various ways they use scientific information or knowledge in their everyday lives.
• Present the statement by Lawrence W. Sherman at the end of the introduction. Ask students to discuss why this may be true and to propose ways in which this problem could be addressed.
II. Today’s Evidence-Based Criminology
• Ask students to explain the difference between the kind of evidence gathered by law enforcement authorities in seeking to prosecute criminal offenders and the kind of evidence used in evidence-based criminology.
• Discuss some of the major randomized experiments conducted in criminology and how they have affected public policy. Consider including both classic experiments (e.g., the Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment; the Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment) as well as more recent experiments (see the Journal of Experimental Criminology for information on new experimental research).
• Watch the video, “What is Evidence-Based Policing?” on YouTube.
A. The Evolving Science of Criminology
• Explain that the scientific method provides one means of understanding aspects of our society, including crime. Although it is not the only such means, it is the one that guides criminology as a discipline.
• Ask students to discuss the commonly-used statement, “Facts speak for themselves.” Do they agree with this statement? Why or why not?
• Ask students to consider the difference between using scientific knowledge versus personal experience to understand and explain patterns of crime
III. Theory Building
• Ask students to consider Inspector Parr’s conclusions regarding the relationship between lunar phases and criminal behavior. Have them discuss whether these conclusions are scientifically grounded or if the relationship may be spurious. (When leading the discussion, you could point out, for example, that Parr compared lunar phases and violent crime over only one year. It is possible that during that year, the full moon disproportionately occurred on weekends, when crime is known to increase anyway).
• Stress that a theory is merely an attempted explanation, and that theories come and go over the years. Not all theories are equally valid. For example, consider mentioning how early theories of crime supposedly caused by demonic possession are no longer generally accepted.
IV. The Role of Research and Experimentation
• Ask students to discuss whether they think pure research or applied research would better inform public policy on crime.
• Provide examples of primary and secondary research and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each. Have students discuss whether they think primary or secondary research is more valuable.
A. Problem Identification
• Provide students with information on a variety of criminological research studies and have them identify the variables in each study. Have them identify each as independent or dependent.
• Discuss the politicized nature of problem identification in criminological research.
B. Development of a Research Design
• Provide students with sample research studies and have them identify possible confounding effects.
• Ask students to discuss why the basic one-group pretest-posttest design is not a good research structure. Consider explaining other possible designs.
• Provide students with sample research studies and have them identify possible threats to internal and external validity.
• Ask students to discuss the ways in which quasi-experimental research designs differ from “pure” experimental designs.
• Have students consider the possible benefits of conducting experiments in natural settings. Ask them to consider whether these benefits might be outweighed by other factors.
• Have the class consider the research discussed in the text (the prison-based study of diets with and without refined white sugar). Ask them how this study might be conducted as a quasi-experiment if a true experiment was not possible.
C Choice of Data-Gathering Techniques
• Ask students to discuss the ways in which the results of survey research affect their daily lives.
• Ask students to consider what limits should be imposed upon participant observers engaged in criminological research, and why.
D. Problems in Data Collection
• Break students into groups. Give each group the same research question, and ask them to modify it as needed to develop a way to address it with each of the techniques of data collection that are described in the text.
E. Review of Findings
• Explain that tests of significance do not ensure that researchers can be absolutely certain that their conclusions are accurate.
• Stress that correlation does not imply a causal relationship between variables.
V. Quantitative versus Qualitative Methods
• Ask students to discuss why so many social scientists suffer from the mystique of quantity.
• There are many useful videos on YouTube explaining qualitative and quantitative research.
• Stress that quantitative and qualitative research methods are used to address different kinds of research questions. Neither is innately superior to the other; the main issue is which method is better suited for the research problem under consideration.
VI. Values and Ethics in the Conduct of Research
• Ask students whether they believe members of vulnerable populations, such as persons who receive public assistance or persons who are incarcerated, can truly give informed consent.
• Have students discuss ways in which the need for informed consent might affect the results of research.
• Lead a class discussion on the question of what participant observers should do if the research participation appears to require them to violate the law. Point out that failure to comply may not only affect the research but put a researcher’s life at risk.
• Watch the video, “Research Ethics; Ethics in Research” on YouTube.
VII. The Impact of Criminological Research on Social Policy
• Ask students to discuss ways that researchers might reduce potential pressures to produce findings that support the current political stance on crime policy.
• Have students view the ethical codes of the American Society of Criminology (ASC) and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) and compare the two. What differences can they identify? Consider having them attempt to create an “ideal” code for criminology and criminal justice researchers.
• Ask students to discuss why the author of the textbook states that research results ideally should have practical implications and should affect the decisions of public policy makers.
VIII. The Research Report
• Consider discussing your own publication experiences, or your recent research and/or writing, if applicable.
A. Writing for Publication
• Discuss the similarities and differences between writing for publication and the types of writing students do for their coursework.
LIST OF CHANGES/TRANSITION GUIDE
• The term “science-based” has been changed to “evidence-based” for consistency throughout this chapter and the text.
• Two new key terms, “decolonize” and “Eurocentric,” have been added along with a new Theory versus Reality box titled “Decolonizing Criminology.”
• The Theory versus Reality box describing the Stockholm Prize in Criminology has been revised, and now recognizes the Prize’s latest recipient, Beatriz Magaloni, of Stanford University.
• A new Criminal Profiles box has been added that describes the Buffalo grocery store mass shooter Payton Gendron.
ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS AND CLASS ACTIVITIES
Additional Lecture Topics
The Impact of Criminological Research on Social Policy. Discuss specific ways in which criminological research has affected social policy. One example is the impact of the Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment and the replications on police policy and state law:
• Many states changed their laws regarding the requirements for misdemeanor arrest in cases of domestic assault
• Many police departments moved to a policy emphasizing arrest in domestic cases; some developed a policy of mandatory arrest
• Most states mandate a minimum number of hours of pre-service and in-service training on domestic violence for police officers
Criminological Research Methods. Consider discussing specific types of research methods in more detail. Possible topics include:
• A discussion of cohort research, including both longitudinal and retrospective cohort studies
• A discussion of time-series analysis
• A discussion of some classic criminology experiments (e.g., the Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment, the Newark Foot Patrol Experiment, the Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment, and the five follow-up experiments)
• A discussion of random and nonrandom sampling techniques, and how the method used to select the sample can affect external validity
Student Activities
Activity #1: Social Science Codes of Ethics. Many social science organizations have adopted official codes of ethics. This exercise deals with the similarities and differences found in the ethical codes of various fields. The Codes of Ethics for the American Society of Criminology (ASC) and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) are available on the societies’ websites.
1. Access the code of ethics of the American Society of Criminology (ASC). What (if anything) does the ASC code of ethics have to say about each of the following issues?
• Informed consent
• Confidentiality
• Reporting of research
• Protection of subjects from harm
• Plagiarism
2. Access the code of ethics of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS). What (if anything) does the ACJS code of ethics have to say about the above issues?
3. Which of the two codes you examined do you prefer, and why?
Activity #2: Designing a Research Study. Your instructor will place you into groups. Aprilville, a small town outside Bigcity, plans to implement a Neighborhood Watch program. The town mayor has asked you to find out if the program, once implemented, will have any effect on the town’s crime rate. Your group is to design a research study to answer this question. You will need to:
1. Formulate one or more hypotheses and operationalize the concepts.
2. Choose a research design from those discussed in the chapter and explain why you selected this design.
3. Select a data-gathering strategy and explain why you chose this technique SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO END-OF-CHAPTER ASSIGNMENTS
Questions for Review
1. What is the role of social scientific research methods in the development of criminological theories? What does it mean to say that criminology is evidence based?? How does the meaning of the word evidence in evidence-based criminology differ from the evidence found at a crime scene or the evidence used in criminal trials?
Social science research methods are used in conducting research that tests and evaluates criminological theories. Contemporary criminology is considered to be “evidence based”
because it is built because it is built on scientific findings, particularly the results of controlled randomized experiments.
The word evidence refers to scientific findings, not to the kind of evidence that is gathered by the police at a crime scene or used in criminal trials.
2. What is a theory? What purposes do theories serve? What role do research and experimentation play in theory building in criminology?
A theory is a set of interrelated propositions that describe reality and provide a relatively complete form of understanding a problem, by relating observations to things that are already understood. A theory not only describes a behavior but also explains its occurrence and attempts to predict future occurrences. By providing an explanation for the occurrence of a behavior, a theory provides a framework for designing a strategy to prevent or control that behavior.
3. What is the role of criminological research in theory building? What is internal validity? External validity? How can threats to internal and external validity be addressed?
The goal of criminological research is the construction or development of theories that help increase our understanding of criminal behavior. Research allows criminologists to test theories against the real world, and to revise the theories based on the results of the research.
There are two types of validity. Internal validity asks whether something other than the treatment could have produced the behavioral change. Most researchers consider internal validity the most vital component of any planned research. Threats to internal validity include history, maturation, testing, instrumentation, statistical regression, differential selection, and experimental mortality. External validity is the ability of researchers to generalize research results to other settings. Threats to external validity include the reactive effects of testing, self-selection, the reactive effects of experimental arrangements, and multiple-treatment interference. One of the best ways to control these threats is through the use of an experimental design.
4. What are the differences between quantitative and qualitative methods in the social sciences? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each method?
Quantitative methods are techniques that produce measurable results that can be analyzed statistically. Surveys and self-report studies are examples of quantitative methods. Quantitative methods allow complex forms of behavior and interaction to be expressed numerically. However, numerical expression primarily is the result of how the researchers structure their approach. The “mystique of quantity” is the delusion that everything can and must be quantified.
Qualitative methods are techniques that produce subjective results, or results that are difficult to quantify. Life histories, case studies, and participant observation are examples of qualitative methods. These techniques are important because they provide insight into the subjective workings of the criminal mind and the processes by which human experiences are assigned meaning. Qualitative methods are subjective and may be affected by the views of the researcher.
5. What are some ethical considerations involved in conducting criminological research? How can researchers make sure that such considerations are met?
Some of the key ethical considerations involved in criminological research include protecting human subjects from harm, privacy, the need to disclose research methods, and data confidentiality. One way to ensure that these considerations are met is through the use of informed consent, which means that subjects are informed as to the nature of the research to be conducted, their anticipated role in the research, and the uses that will be made of the data they provide. Many institutions have institutional review boards, which examine research proposals to determine whether expectations of ethical conduct have been met before the proposals are submitted to funding organizations.
6. How do criminological research and experimental criminology impact social policy? Criminological research and experimental criminology may impact social policy when research results have practical implications that are used to guide policy development and daily practice in relevant areas. In reality, publicly elected officials often are ignorant of current research, or do not take the advice of professional criminologists. Research findings may be ignored because they conflict with public sentiment, are not politically expedient, or do not serve the dominant ideology. Generally, policy makers rarely consult criminologists when debating crime legislation or considering the effectiveness of past policy.
7. What sections might a typical research report contain? Where are research findings in criminology published?
Most research reports follow a traditional format with a series of key components: the title page, acknowledgments, table of contents, preface (if desired), abstract, introduction, literature review, description of the situation, statement of the hypothesis, description of the research plan, disclaimers and limitations, findings or results, analysis and discussion, summary and conclusion, appendixes, references, and endnotes. Not all of these components are included in every research report. The primary medium for publication of research findings are refereed journals, which use peer reviewers to gauge the quality of submitted manuscripts.
Chapter 3
Early Theories of Crime Historical Perspectives
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
The first half of this chapter examines the belief that at least some illegal behavior is the result of rational choices made by individuals seeking illicit rewards. It introduces the Classical School of Criminology. The second half of this chapter focuses on early biological theories of crime and examines some of the earliest attempts in criminology to apply science to the question of what might lead someone to violate the criminal law.
The Classical School grew out of concepts and ideas developed by Enlightenment thinkers in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The Enlightenment was a social movement that saw humans as rational beings possessing freedom of choice. The Classical School of criminological thought viewed crime and deviance as products of the exercise of free will.
Cesare Beccaria, a key Enlightenment philosopher, published his Essay on Crimes and Punishments in 1764, setting forth his philosophy of punishment. Beccaria emphasized punishment based on the degree injury caused, felt that the purpose of punishment should be deterrence (rather than retribution), and saw punishment as a tool to an end (crime prevention), rather than an end in itself. He emphasized the need for adjudication and punishment to be swift and for punishment, once decreed, to be certain. He also felt that punishment should only be severe enough to outweigh the personal benefits to be derived from crime.
Jeremy Bentham, another founder of the Classical School, developed an approach known as utilitarianism, or hedonistic calculus. Bentham believed that humans are rational and weigh the consequences of their behavior, considering pleasure versus pain. Therefore, he emphasized that to prevent crime, the pain of punishment must outweigh the pleasure derived from the crime. Like Beccaria, Bentham considered punishment to be a deterrent for those considering criminal activity.
By the end of the 1800s, classical criminology was being replaced by positivism, which rejected the notion of free will and emphasized the concept of hard determinism: the belief that crime results from forces beyond the individual’s control. However, by the 1970s, studies suggesting the failure of rehabilitation, combined with an increasing fear of crime, led to a resurgence of classical ideals known as neoclassical criminology, which offered a middle ground between total free will and hard determinism.
Rational choice theory (RCT) was developed out of the neoclassical school of criminology and is based on the belief that criminals make a conscious, rational, and at least partially informed choice to commit crime after weighing the costs and benefits of available alternatives. Situational choice theory, an extension of RCT, suggests that the probability of criminal activity can be reduced by changing the features of the environment. Jack Katz’s book, The Seductions of Crime, argues that crime is pleasurable for those committing it; he stresses the sensual dynamics of criminality. Situational crime-control policy builds on the work of rational and situational choice theorists. The basic approach is situational crime prevention, which looks to develop greater understanding and more effective crime prevention strategies through concern with the physical, organizational, and social environments that make crime possible. Rational and situational choice theories have been criticized for overemphasizing the importance of individual choice,
disregarding the role of social factors (poverty, poor home environment, inadequate socialization, etc.) on crime causation, and assuming that everyone is equally capable of making rational decisions. Their emphasis on situational crime prevention strategies may also result in displacement rather than true prevention.
Both classical and neoclassical thought emphasize punishment. However, the Classical School sees deterrence as the purpose of punishment, while the neoclassical view also incorporates retribution: if an individual chooses to violate the law, s/he deserves punishment and must be punished. Just deserts is the sentencing model that refers to the notion that offenders deserve the punishment they receive at the hands of the law. Deterrence is a hallmark of modern neoclassical thought and today’s neoclassical thinkers distinguish between specific and general deterrence. For punishment to be an effective deterrent, it must be swift, certain, and severe enough to outweigh the rewards of the crime. However, these requirements are rarely met by the modern criminal justice system, which may explain the extremely high rates of recidivism in the United States.
There are a number of policy implications to come out of the Classical School, including the concepts of determinate sentencing, truth-in-sentencing laws, and incapacitation. One criticism of classical and neoclassical thought is that it represents more a philosophy of justice than a theory of crime causation. Classical theory does not explain how a choice for or against criminal activity is made.
Unlike classical and neoclassical thought, biological theories focus on how internal sources affect crime. Early biological theorists focused primarily on physical features and heredity, while contemporary biological theorists take a more in-depth look at human biology, examining a variety of influences on behavior. Newer biological theories also see the interaction between the organism and its environment as the crucial determining factor in almost all behavior.
Early biological theories built on the scientific tradition of positivism. The Positivist School of criminology was based on two key principles: an acceptance of social determinism and the application of scientific techniques to the study of crime and criminology. Some of the earliest studies used biological and anthropological data to identify physical abnormalities that early criminologists thought could be used to distinguish criminals from others. One of the best-known early biological theorists was Cesare Lombroso, who developed the theory of atavism, suggesting that most offenders are “born criminals.” His work led to the development of crminal anthropology. While mainstream criminology no longer focuses on the link between physical abnormalities and crime, some contemporary researchers are examining the link between criminality and minor physical abnormalities.
Constitutional theories explain crime by reference to offenders’ body types, genetics, or external observable physical characteristics. In his work on somatotyping, William H. Sheldon identified four basic body types, linked them to personality, and concluded that the mesomorphic body type was most likely to be associated with delinquency. Early research into heredity focused on studying criminal families, such as the studies of the Juke and the Kallikak families. This led to the development of eugenic criminology, which accepted the idea of genetic determinism. Social policies calling for the sterilization of women with intellectual disabilities were endorsed by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1927 case of Buck v. Bell. The eugenics movement was largely discredited by public condemnation of Nazi policies and practices. The discovery of “supermales,” or male individuals displaying the XYY chromosome structure, led a number of offenders to attempt to offer a chromosome-based defense. However, there is little evidence to suggest that people with XYY chromosomes commit crimes of greater violence, although they may commit more crimes overall. Another way to examine the role of heredity in crime causation is to study fraternal and identical twins
Sociobiology, which was popularlized by Edward O. Wilson, examines the biological basis of social behavior in humans and non-human animals, looking at the interplay between genetic and environmental factors in shaping social interactions. The field has generated debate and controversy, particularly concerning the application of principles of sociobiology to human behavior.
Early biological theories tended to reject the idea of free will, emphasizing human behavior as determined and suggesting that efforts at reformation will have little positive effect on future behavior. Other concerns stem from linking the concept of crime, a social construction that varies over cultures, and place, with biological variables.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions:
3.1. What are the major principles of the Classical School of criminology?
3.2 What is neoclassical criminology, and how does it differ from the classical perspective? How does it build on it?
3.3 What are the policy implications of the Classical School and of neoclassical thought?
3.4 What are the criticisms of classical and neoclassical perspectives on crime?
3.5 What are the basic principles of biological theories of crime?
3.6 How does the Positivist School explain criminality?
3.7 What are some critiques of early biological theories of criminal behavior?
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Introduction
II. The Classical School
• Use Figure 3-1 to discuss the major principles of classical and neoclassical criminology. Explain how assumptions associated with the Classical School of criminology are still a major part of criminological thought today. Ask students to write down whether they agree or disagree with each assumption, and ask them to tell why in one or two sentences. Return the students’ responses at various points throughout the semester, and ask them whether they want to revise any of their original statements.
• Point out that a number of social scientific disciplines, including sociology, trace much of their early development to the Enlightenment thinkers.
A. Cesare Beccaria
• Ask students to identify what three elements Cesare Beccaria considers to be most important for effective punishment.
• Have students examine the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights and identify specific places where they see the influence of Beccaria’s ideas.
• Explain that although classical thinkers in the field of criminology claimed that rational decision-making plays a big role in crime causation, rationality is different than motivation. Ask students to discuss what classical thinkers likely saw as motivating factors behind criminal behavior.
• Watch the video, “Beccaria on Crimes and Punishments Crash Course” on YouTube.
B. Jeremy Bentham
• Identify the similarities and differences between the work of Beccaria and Bentham. III. Neoclassical Criminology
• Compare positivism and classical criminology. Explain that positivism can be reconciled with notions of free will if one accepts soft determinism.
• Discuss the factors that led to the decline of positivism in the 1970s.
• Explain why Robert Martinson’s research had such an impact on criminal justice policy.
• Explain that classical and neoclassical criminology appear to assume that human actors have free will – they can make choices and impose those choices though their behavior on the world around them. Have students discuss the role that free will plays in crime commission and ask them whether some crimes might result from something other than the exercise of free will.
A. Rational Choice Theory (RCT)
• Review Figure 3-3 and explain how the different steps lead an individual to choose property crime or conventional behavior. Discuss how this model would change if applied to drug offenders.
• Explain how rational choice theory moved the focus of crime prevention from broad social programs to factors such as environmental design and target hardening.
B. The Excitement of Crime
• Ask students how crime may be rewarding for those who commit it? Have them discuss ways in which rewards might be reduced.
C. Situational Crime-Control Policy
• Discuss the benefits of focusing crime-prevention efforts on places rather than on people.
• Break students into groups, and ask them to come up with several examples of how crime prevention has become a routine part of everyday life.
• Give examples of access control and target hardening by focusing on the increased popularity of devices that individuals in our society use to protect their homes and themselves.
D. Critique of Rational Choice Theory
• Ask students to identify situations when they might be unable to make a rational decision.
• Explain how situational crime prevention strategies like target hardening can lead to displacement of crime and ask students what the implications of displacement might be for crime-control policy.
E. Punishment and Neoclassical Thought
• Ask students to compare and contrast the general perspectives on punishment held by the classical and neoclassical thinkers and identify similarities and differences between them.
• Explain that the just deserts model is concerned with punishment that is proportional to the offense committed. Ask students how consensus on proportionality is achieved in society.
• Explore with students why the just deserts approach appears to be such a popular approach to punishment.
• Distinguish between specific and general deterrence by focusing on which one has the greater potential to reduce crime.
• Explain that recidivism can be defined simply as a return to crime, but precise measures of this concept vary across research studies.
• Use Figure 3-4 to illustrate the due process safeguards of our criminal justice system and the priority attached to democratic principles.
• Given that early release may negatively affect deterrence, ask students what effect eliminating the possibility of early release (e.g., parole) might have on corrections.
• Watch the NIJ video, “Key Principles to Reducing Recidivism” with Edward Latessa on YouTube.
• Watch the TED talk, “Reducing Recidivism” on YouTube.
IV. Policy Implications of Classical and Neoclassical Thought
• Ask students how the social problems and individual responsibility perspectives would view determinate sentencing and truth-in-sentencing practices.
• Point out that the work of Marvin Wolfgang involving chronic offenders has had enormous implications for the direction of criminal justice research and policy.
• Explain how Wolfgang’s research demonstrated the benefits of longitudinal research and supported the claim that the propensity for offending is not spread equally across the population of offenders.
• Discuss the pros and cons of selective vs collective incapacitation. Ask students to consider the financial implications of each strategy.
V. A Critique of Classical and Neoclassical Theories
• Point out that U.S. prison populations have grown considerably over the past 40 years and many prisons in America are overcrowded. At the same time, crime rates are down significantly. Ask students why they think America’s prisons so full and whether it might have anything to do with the influence of neoclassical thinking. Ask students if full prisons equate to lower crime rates.
VI. Early Biological Theories of Crime
• Students may be skeptical of the usefulness of biologically based theories of crime. Make it clear to them that the scientific methodology that guides current research on biology and criminality is sound and rigorous and is not characterized by the same racist motivations that characterized some past efforts.
• Point out that if we are serious about addressing explanations for crime in an interdisciplinary manner, we should explore all possible avenues of explanation Given that, ask students for their reaction to biological theories of crime.
• Using Figure 3-6, review the basic assumptions of early biological theories of crime causation. Ask students to consider each of these assumptions and discuss whether they agree or disagree with each, and why.
VII.The Positivist School and Biology
• Review the key principles of early positivism and discuss how it differed from classical criminology.
• Explain how the scientific method and positivism greatly influenced sociology and criminology.
• Use the Theory in Perspective box to briefly outline the main categories of early biological theories and the key concepts in each.
• Explain that although phrenology may seem somewhat absurd today, it was an important step forward in theoretical development because it was based on scientific measurement rather than philosophical reasoning.
B. The Italian School
• Discuss Lombroso’s notion of a “born criminal” and review the other categories of criminals he identified.
• Lombroso argued that women who committed crime were particularly vile because their essential nature was opposed to criminality, so women involved in crime were “enormously wicked.” Ask students to discuss the biases that factored into Lombroso’s “scientific research.”
• Discuss the basic methodological flaws in the research of the early criminal anthropologists. For example, their control groups of “non-criminals” may have included offenders, and some of the features identified as characteristic of offenders were clearly not inherited (e.g., tattoos) or could have been caused by environmental causes such as poor nutrition or a lack of adequate health care.
• Ask students to consider ways in which criminal anthropology, particularly the association of unattractiveness or disfigurement with evil, is reflected in the media. For example, have them consider whether certain actors always play “bad guys” on television or in the movies because they “look criminal.”
• Consider discussing more contemporary research that links minor physical abnormalities to crime. Stress to students that the researchers recognize that the abnormalities may be linked to neurological defects or other factors that may affect development or socialization.
• Watch the video “Cesare Lombroso, Left Handedness, and the Criminal Mind” on YouTube.
• Watch the video, “Cesare Lombroso: Theory of Crime, Criminal Man and Atavism” on YouTube.
C. Constitutional Theories
• Explain that studies of delinquent youth conducted in the 1950s by Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck provided support for Sheldon’s theory linking mesomorphs and delinquent or criminal behavior.
• Watch the video, “William Sheldon Talks Somatotypes,” featuring William Sheldon, on YouTube.
D. Criminal Families
• Inform students that archival research suggests that Estabrook appears to have deliberately misrepresented the data by withholding information on those members of the Juke family who were positive members of society (lawyers, real estate
brokers, etc.). Estabrook appears to have been trying to ensure that the research results supported the eugenics movement.
• Explain that Buck v. Bell has never been overturned. Ask students why they think the Supreme Court has not overturned their ruling in this case.
• In February 2001, a resolution to express profound regret by the state for the eugenics movement was passed by the House of Delegates and the Senate in Virginia, making Virginia the first state to denounce this history. Point out that such efforts to discredit past practices serve to further current biological initiatives that are based on sound scientific methods.
• Ask students whether there are any situations in which forced sterilization of an individual might be considered appropriate today.
• Watch the video “Exposing the Dark American History of Eugenics” on YouTube.
E. The XYY Supermale
• Explore the extent to which the belief in the XYY “supermale” is still part of the public consciousness.
• Discuss the recent research into the cognitive and behavioral development of children with a third sex chromosome conducted by the Attention, Brain, and Cognitive Development program in the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford.
• Watch the video “The Myth of the ‘Supermale’ and the Extra Y Chromosome” on YouTube.
• “The XYY Man” series of novels by Kenneth Royce focused on a man who, due to his extra Y chromosome, committed crimes and was genetically unable to “go straight.” The books were made into a television series, also titled “The XYY Man.” Episodes may be available on YouTube.
F. Twin Studies and Heredity
• Point out that one problem with these early studies of heredity and crime is that they do not separate genetics (nature) from environment (nurture).
• Ask students why we would expect the behavior of monozygotic twins to be more similar than the behavior of dizygotic twins if behavior is at least in part due to heredity.
• Ask students if we can assume that all twins share a common environment.
• Discuss some of the methodological weaknesses of the early twin research. For example, prior to the advent of genetic testing, it was possible to misidentify twins as MZ instead of DZ.
• Explain that most of the research linking biology to criminal behavior is based on correlational research studies studies that are quite weak in demonstrating a causal role of biology with crime. Consider linking this information back to the discussion of correlation vs. causation in Chapter 2.
• Watch the Khan Academy video “Twin Studies and Adoption Studies” on YouTube.
G. Sociobiology
• Discuss the impact of Wilson’s work on the field of criminology
VIII. Critique of Early Biological Theories of Criminal Behavior
• Review the key problems found in the research linking biological factors to crime. Ask students if they think these factors invalidate the importance of examining biology as an explanatory source of crime.
• Ask students to discuss if and how their views of the relationship of biology to crime have changed after reading this chapter.
LIST OF CHANGES/TRANSITION GUIDE
• What had previously been Chapters 3 and 4 have been combined, and all historical perspectives are now described in a single chapter (Chapter 4).
ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS AND CLASS ACTIVITIES
Additional Lecture Topics
Shaming as Deterrence. Consider discussing the issue of shaming as a form of deterrence, including both stigmatic and reintegrative shaming. Topics to discuss could include:
• The use of stigmatic shaming or degradation throughout U.S. history (e.g., branding, stocks, public punishments)
• The recent revival of stigmatic shaming (e.g., publishing the names of offenders in newspapers, posting them on billboards, televising criminal trials)
• John Braithwaite’s concept of reintegrative shaming
The Influence of the Classical School. Discuss various specific ways in which the Classical School has affected the criminal justice system. Topics for discussion include:
• The reform of criminal codes to eliminate torture, develop more consistent and certain punishments, and reduce the use of capital and corporal punishment
• The increased use of incarceration as a punishment as well as for short-term detention of those awaiting trial, execution, or corporal punishment
• The reform of law enforcement, including the development of the modern full-time police force with the goal of deterring and preventing crime
Positivism. Consider expanding on the discussion of positivism in the text. Outline the main propositions of early positivism:
• A rejection of the fundamental principles of classical criminology: positivists saw themselves as scientists rather than philosophers, emphasized a naturalistic rather than a legalistic definition of crime, and saw human behavior as determined by biological or genetic forces rather than individual free will
• An emphasis on the scientific study of crime: positivists demanded empirical investigation before drawing conclusions about the nature of crime
• A belief that criminals are fundamentally different from noncriminals either anatomically or physiologically (or both)
• An emphasis on the use of typologies to classify and identify offenders (e.g., the classification systems developed by Lombroso, Ferri, Sheldon, etc.)
Adoption Studies. In addition to the topic of twin studies, discuss the results of adoption research, which also lends support for the influence of genetics as well as social environment on criminality. For example, an early study by Hutchings and Mednick in Denmark matched criminal adoptees with a control group of noncriminal adoptees and found that the criminality of the biological father significantly predicted the criminality of the child.
Methodological Flaws in Early Biological Research. Consider discussing some of the problems with early biological research, particularly criminal anthropology. For example, research by Lombroso, Goring, and Hooton:
• Assumed that all subjects identified as criminals were actually offenders and all non-criminal subjects were not criminals (whereas his “control group” could have included offenders who were never identified as such)
• Identified as characteristic of criminals features that could be due to other causes (poor nutrition, diet, lack of health care, etc.)
• Identified features that were not inherited (tattoos, broken nose, etc.)
Eugenics Movement. Expand upon the discussion of eugenics, including the eugenics laws adopted in the U.S. in the 1920s and 1930s. Explain the case of Buck v. Bell in more detail. Link U.S. eugenics laws to Nazi Germany Nazi leaders consulted the leaders of the California eugenics program for advice when developing their sterilization program. Consider discussing the forced sterilization of almost 150 incarcerated women in California between 2006 and 2010 (information on this may be found on most major news websites, such as CNN).
Lessons Learned. As the text moves into the modern biosocial perspective, it may be important to discuss the lessons learned from the past theoretical developments. Class discussions could include:
• Can you identify any current crime control policies align with biological theories on crime?
• What sorts of new policies could be put into place that are inspired by biological theories on crime, yet do not violate our modern notion of human rights (e.g., those that were violated during World War II by Nazi Germany)?
• Is chemical castration a violation of human rights?
Influence of Instinctual Behavior. Discuss the ways in which how instinctual behavior still predicts some of our own aggressive acts. Possible topics to consider with students include:
• Thinking about your own dating experiences, can you think of a time that you acted aggressively or a time when your potential love interest acted aggressively? Did that aggressive act help or hinder your chances of pursuing a relationship?
• When you think about the old adages, “nice guys finish last,” or “women fall for bad boys,” do you think that there is an instinctual component that attracts “good girls” to “bad boys”?
Student Activities
Activity #1: The Influence of the Classical School on the U.S. Constitution. Your instructor will place you into groups. Your group is to read the U.S. Constitution (including the Bill of
Rights) and prepare a short report on how this document was influenced by the principles of the classical school of criminology, including specific examples.
Activity #2: Physical Attributes in Media Images Today.
• Watch several episodes of a reality-based criminal justice television show. Observe the suspects in each crime/event and record as much information as possible about their physical characteristics. Do you notice any common physical characteristics among the suspects? Does there appear to be a “criminal type”?
• In addition, watch several episodes of a non-reality-based criminal justice television show and record information about the physical characteristics of the actors playing the criminal offenders. Do fictional television shows cast actors of a certain physical type to play offenders? What characteristics (if any) are common to fictional offenders?
Activity #3: Undesirable Americans. Research the American eugenics movement and identify the main groups that were at one time or another considered “unfit” or “undesirable” and were therefore possible candidates for sterilization. Do you know anyone who fits any of these characteristics? Bring this information to class for discussion.
SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO END-OF-CHAPTER ASSIGNMENTS
Questions for Review
1. What are the major principles of the Classical School of criminology?
Human beings are fundamentally rational, and most human behavior is the result of free will coupled with rational choice.
Pain and pleasure are the two central determinants of human behavior.
Punishment, a necessary evil, is sometimes required to deter law violators and to serve as an example to others who would also violate the law.
Root principles of right and wrong are inherent in the nature of things and cannot be denied.
Society exists to provide benefits to individuals that they would not receive in isolation.
When men and women band together for the protection offered by society, they forfeit some of the benefits that accrue from living in isolation.
Certain key rights of individuals are inherent in the nature of things, and governments that contravene those rights should be disbanded.
Crime disparages the quality of the bond that exists between individuals and society and is therefore an immoral form of behavior.
2 What is neoclassical criminology, and how does it differ from the classical perspective? How does it build on the classical perspective?
Neoclassical criminology provided a kind of middle ground between the total free will of the classical perspective and the hard determinism of positivism. It differs from the classical
perspective in that it focuses focused on the importance of character and the dynamics of character development, but also incorporates classical concepts by considering the rational choices people make when faced with opportunities for crime. Essentially, it is a modern-day application of classical principles to current problems of crime and crime control in contemporary society.
3 What are the policy implications of the Classical School, and what kinds of punishment might work best to prevent crime?
A number of punishment practices have been developed based on classical principles. Determinate sentencing requires a specified fixed amount of time to be served for every offense category. This is based upon two key elements of classical thought: that the pleasure of a crime can be assessed and that the amount of punishment necessary for deterrence can be determined. Truth in sentencing requires judges to determine and make public the actual time an offender is likely to serve (as opposed to the length of time to which the offender is sentenced). Many statutes now require offenders to serve a certain portion of their sentence (usually 80%) before they become eligible for release. Incapacitation focuses on using incarceration and other techniques to reduce the likelihood that an offender will be capable of committing future crimes (based on the assumption that while an offender is in prison, s/he is not free to commit crimes against the general public).
4. What are the criticisms of the Classical School? Of neoclassical thinking about crime and crime control?
Classical and neoclassical thought represents more a philosophy of justice than a theory of crime causation. While supporters of neoclassical approaches argue that much of the credit for the recent decline in crime is due to the implementation of “get tough on crime” policies based on neoclassical thinking, critics point out that crime also declined in areas where these policies were not implemented. They also note that the extent of the decline in crime may not be as substantial as many people think. Critics also argue that classical and neoclassical thought fails to comprehensively explain criminal motivation. While the perspective suggests that crime is the result of free will and individual choice, it does not explain how such a choice (for or against criminal activity) is made.
5. What are the basic principles of biological theories of crime causation?
The brain is the organ of the mind and the locus of personality.
The basic determinants of human behavior, including criminal tendencies, are, to a considerable degree, constitutionally or genetically based.
Observed gender and racial differences in rates and types of criminality may be at least partially the result of biological differences between the sexes and between racially distinct groups.
The basic determinants of human behavior, including criminality, may be passed on from generation to generation a tendency toward crime may be inherited. Much of human conduct is fundamentally rooted in instinctive behavioral responses characteristic of biological organisms everywhere.
The biological roots of human conduct have become increasingly disguised because modern forms of indirect expressive behavior have replaced more primitive and direct ones.
At least some human behavior is the result of biological propensities inherited from more primitive developmental stages in the evolutionary process.
The interplay among heredity, biology, and the social environment provides the nexus for any realistic consideration of crime causation.
6 What was the role of free choice in the Positivist School, and how did it explain crime?
Unlike the Classical School, positivism is based on social determinism, the belief that human behavior is determined by factors behind an individual’s control, not by the exercise of free will. Early biological theories, such as those discussed in this chapter, explain crime by the belief that people may be predisposed to behaviors such as aggression and risk-taking, which increase the likelihood of involvement in crime. These theories argue that these predispositions are constitutionally or physiologically influenced and inherited.
7 What are some critiques of early biological theories of crime?
A central concern with all early biological theories relates to the fact that they tend to largely reject the role of free will in human behavior. If behavior is largely determined by inherent factors, then an individual may be condemned to a life of crime and efforts at reformation can be expected to have little positive effect on future behavior.
Other concerns stem from aligning the concept of crime with biological variables because crime is a social construction and its meaning varies over time and place. Because the legality of a specific behavior may change, it is difficult to link specific biological features with potential criminality. It also appears unlikely that any biological feature or combination of features could explain the wide variety of criminal offending today.
Chapter 4
Biosocial Theories, Body Chemistry, and Neurocriminology
Interaction Is Key
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
Genetic characteristics and variations in human chromosomes may play an important role in aggression and crime causation. Genetic researchers focus on a model of gene-environment interaction. There is also a focus on the concept of heritability as a way to explain behaviors that involve law violation. Researchers have found that genes not only shape humans but that they can also be influenced by the environment, creating a feedback loop. It is important to recognize, however, that researchers do not believe that there is one identifiable “criminal gene” that causes crime. While researchers have found links between specific genes and deviant, violent, and addictive behaviors, this does not mean that these genes inevitably produce antisocial behavior Instead, they may simply influence the way in which people respond to their surroundings. Genes are both the cause and consequence of our actions – they enable rather than determine human action.
Researchers are also exploring the relationship between brain dysfunction and criminality. The frontal brain hypothesis references physical changes in certain parts of the brain to explain criminality. Other brain mechanisms that may be involved in aggression include allergic reactions to common foods that may produce swelling in the brain and brain stem. Physical injuries, emotional trauma, and long-term exposure to stress can also produce changes in the brain. The concept of neuroplasticity, which suggests that the brain can alter its structure and function in response to new experiences, has been advanced as a way to explain why some people experience significant personality changes while undergoing new experiences. Researchers recently found that the majority of criminal justice-involved people in Colorado had a history of serious brain injury, significantly more than found in the general population.
Researchers have also linked violent or disruptive behavior to body chemistry. Criminal behavior has been linked to factors such as sugar or coffee consumption, food additives, vitamin deficiencies, and other nutrients. Environmental pollution (lead, manganese, and other toxic metals) also has been linked to violent crime. Prenatal exposure to substances such as tobacco smoke, alcohol, and marijuana have been found to be related to various behavioral factors, including delinquency. Psychobiotics examines the effects of bacteria on emotions and behavior, with a particular focus on gut bacteria. Hormones such as testosterone, serotonin, and cortisol have been shown to be associated with aggression. However, instead of affecting behavior directly, hormones may interact with social factors to produce criminal behavior. Low resting heart rate appears to be associated with antisocial behavior and there also appears to be a link between heightened galvanic skin response and negative and antisocial qualities. Some researchers have suggested a relationship between the digit ratio (comparative length of index and ring fingers) and stereotypical masculine characteristics, including aggression and criminal behavior Infection with certain parasites can contribute to behavior changes that may lead to an increased risk of involvement in crime. Temperature has been found to have an influence on both violent and property crime, although it is moderated by temporal factors such as the time of day and day of the week.
A recent synthesis of biological and environmental factors was presented by James Q. Wilson and Richard Herrnstein in their book Crime and Human Nature. They identified a number of constitutional factors, such as gender, age, body type, intelligence, and personality, as
contributing to crime. More recently, biosocial criminologists have emphasized the importance of the interaction between biology and the environment in the formation of behavioral responses to given situations and stress that biosocial perspectives are theories of criminality, not crime.
The gender ratio problem refers to the need to explain why the number of crimes committed by men far exceeds the number committed by women in almost all categories. Gender differences in criminal behavior have remained extremely regular over time, refuting claims of early gender gap researchers who suggested that cultural changes producing increased opportunity for women to commit crime would lead to an increase in crimes by women. Biosocial criminologists suggest that gender itself may be responsible for the observed differences. However, genetically based behavioral differences between the two genders appear to be moderated by various aspects of the social environment.
An evolutionary perspective is one that tries to explain behavior with reference to human evolutionary history and also recognizes the influence genes have over human traits. Evolutionary neuroandrogenic theory suggests that the propensity for crime commission evolved as part of the male reproductive strategy and that a particular neurochemistry, which is characteristic of male individuals, increases the probability of male criminality relative to female individuals
Neurocriminology incorporates neuroscience insights into criminology, focusing on how the brain’s structure and function relate to criminal behavior. Neuroimaging studies of individuals with psychopathy have found specific deficits in areas of the brain associated with empathy, morality, and decision-making. There are a number of ethnical issues that must be taken into consideration when using neuroscientific evidence in legal settings. One specific topic that neurocriminology has been studying is chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disorder primarily caused by repeated head trauma.
The standard social science model assumes humans are born “blank slates” and acquire values, behavioral patterns, and modes of thought through socialization. Recently, this model has largely given way to broader perspectives incorporating the role of biology and genetic influences on human behavior. While there are almost certainly no genes for something as complex as criminal behavior, many genes may affect brain functioning in ways that increase or reduce the chances of individuals learning various complex behavior patterns, including those that may lead to criminal sanctioning.
Biological, biosocial, and neurocriminological approaches have generated considerable controversy. Contemporary criminologists have provided focused critiques of these perspectives, raising methodological and other concerns. It does appear that various biological factors are correlated with various measures of criminal behavior, although the influence of social factors has overshadowed the relationship.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions:
4.1. What role do genetics and heritability play in contemporary explanations for crime?
4.2. How does brain dysfunction relate to criminality?
4.3. How do body chemistry theories – including those involving diet, blood sugar levels, environmental contaminants, and hormones – explain crime?
4.4. What are biosocial theories, and what role does the gender ratio problem play in contemporary criminology?
4.5 What is neurocriminology? What can it tell us about human behavior, aggression, and criminality?
4.6 What are the policy implications of modern biological, biosocial, and neurocriminological theories of crime?
4.7 What are some criticisms of biological, biosocial, and neurocriminological theories?
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Introduction
• Use the Theory in Perspective box (found later in the chapter) to briefly introduce the main modern biological theories and the key concepts relevant to each.
• Ask students to discuss ways in which information from the Human Genome Project might affect public policy relating to crime prevention and offender treatment.
• Point out that there are a wide variety of crime shows on television today that stress the use of new technologies such as DNA testing. Have students discuss the possible impact of these shows on social views of criminal justice and offenders.
II. Genetics and Crime
• Describe neurotransmitters and explain how the presence or absence of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and noradrenaline may affect behavior.
• Ask students to identify types of aggressive and thrill-seeking behaviors that might provide individuals with a dopamine-like experience without violating the law.
• Discuss the concept of a “biosocial” interaction, as has been demonstrated between the enzyme MAO-A and early child abuse.
• Watch the documentary, “Born to Rage: Inside the Warrior Gene” in class, or have students watch it at home (the documentary is available online). Put students in groups and have them discuss the implications of this research for criminal justice. They may want to read about the case of Bradley Waldroup, who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, rather than first-degree murder, at least in part due to the introduction of genetic evidence. This could also be assigned as a topic for a written assignment.
• Discuss how an understanding of the biological basis underlying the risk of drug and alcohol addiction could impact policy makers.
• Ask students to consider the ways in which the research into genetic memory might affect criminal justice.
• Watch the BBC video, “Can Your Genes Make You Violent?” on YouTube.
• Go to the website of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and listen to the podcast, “The Crime Gene,” which discusses the first court case in the world to acknowledge genetics as a factor in criminal behavior.
A. Future Directions in the Study of Genes and Crime
• Ask students what the textbook author means by saying that genes “do not so much determine human action as enable it.”
• An extreme conclusion to reach from exploring the genetic basis for crime is that society plays no role in the production of crime. Discuss the implications of this conclusion with students by applying the social problems and individual responsibility perspectives that characterize this text.
• Discuss the 2008 Gender Nondiscrimination Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of information obtained from genetic testing. The text of the act may be found online.
III. The Dysfunctional Brain
• Ask students why there might be brain differences between individuals who are prone to impulsive violence and those who preplan violent crimes.
• Discuss possible links between schizophrenia and crime.
• Explain the concept of neuroplasticity and how it relates to the study of criminal behavior.
• Ask students to discuss the possible ethical implications of examining the prefrontal cortexes of the brains of very young children to identify signs indicating the potential for future problem behavior.
• Ask students to discuss the implications of the findings in Colorado regarding the higher prevalence of brain injury among justice-involved people compared to the general population.
IV. Body Chemistry and Criminality
A. Ingested Substances and Nutrition
• Break students into groups and have them design a research study to determine the effect of sugar consumption on crime. This activity provides a link to the material covered in Chapter 2. Each group could be assigned a different data collection method on which to base their research design.
• Discuss the ways in which types of food and food additives can affect behavior.
• Divide the class into groups and lead a debate on the following issue: If diet can contribute to criminal behavior, should parents who do not provide children with a healthy diet, or who provide an excess of food items that have been implicated in the production of criminal violence, be liable for their children’s involvement in crime and delinquency?
B. Environmental Pollution
• Discuss the different ways in which exposure to toxic metals may affect individuals and review the ways in which exposure to lead has been linked to crime
• If the presence of pollution is a key factor in crime causation, ask the class what should be the responsibility of the organizations and industries that caused the pollution and what responsibility should the government and the community have in dealing with these types of pollution.
• Divide the class into groups and lead a debate on the following issue: Given that prenatal substance exposure has been shown to affect child development, should women who expose their children to these substances during pregnancy be sanctioned?
C. Psychobiotics
• Ask students what they think about the concept of a chemical gut-brain axis? Do students believe that bacteria can affect feelings, emotions and behavior?
• Watch the video of the TED Talk, “Do Gut Microbes Control your Personality?” on YouTube.
D. Hormones and Criminality
• Explain the function of testosterone in the body. Discuss the reasons why female individuals produce testosterone and why they produce it at lower levels than male individuals
• Ask students whether the research studies that link testosterone to aggression are claiming that there is a link between testosterone and crime.
• Have students research studies linking testosterone levels and crime commission. Then ask them if the researchers they identified would have focused on the role of testosterone as a possible explanation for crime if they did not already know from other sources, such as arrest rates, that male individuals have greater involvement in crime than female individuals. Discuss what this might say about the direction of science and explanations for crime.
• Explain Daigle’s assertion that hormonal changes do not, on their own, account for aggressive behavior but that they may affect a third (unidentified) variable, leading to aggression.
E. Low Resting Heart Rate and Crime
• Point out that while the relationship between low resting heart rate and various forms of antisocial behavior is well established, researchers have not explained this relationship. Discuss the difference between identifying a relationship and explaining it, and link this to theory development.
F. Galvanic Skin Reponses
G. Digit Ratio
• Stress that researchers are not claiming that finger length affects the likelihood of crime, but that they are using the digit ratio as a proxy measure for other factors, such as prenatal exposure to androgens.
• Discuss the problems with using the digit ratio as an indicator of criminality
H. Parasites and Criminality
I Climate, Weather, and Crime
• Have students research daily crime rates in their community and compare them with temperatures. Do they observe any relationship between changes in temperature and changes in reported crime?
• Ask students to consider what other natural or environmental factors might influence crime.
V. Biosocial Criminology
• Explain the basic concept of biosocial theory, as opposed to biological or sociological theories of criminality.
• Review the constitutional factors that James Q. Wilson and Richard Herrnstein cited for their contributions to crime.
• Discuss the reasons why Wilson and Herrnstein’s book, Crime and Human Nature, was so influential.
• Explain the difference between crime and criminality.
A. Gender Differences in Criminality
• Ask students to propose explanations for the gender gap in criminal involvement.
• Discuss ways in which gender affects involvement in crime.
• Explain the concept of sexual selection and its importance in understanding gender differences in criminality.
• Break students into groups, and ask them to consider what evidence supports the belief that disproportionate involvement of men in crime is more culturally than biologically based. Are they persuaded by these points? Ask them to explain.
• Watch the video, “Gender and Crime” on YouTube.
B. Evolutionary Neuroandrogenic Theory
• Discuss the application of an evolutionary perspective on behavior to criminology.
VI. Neurocriminology
• Review some of the neurological research results discussed in this section.
• Discuss the Brain Activity Map project. More details about this project may be found online.
A. People to Know in Neurocriminology
B. Legal and Ethical Considerations in Neurocriminology
• Break students into groups and have them discuss whether genetic information, such as a genetic propensity toward some type of behavior, should be admissible at trial, whether it should be considered at sentencing (and if yes, would it be a mitigating or aggravating factor), and whether it should be used as a factor in bail decisions.
C. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
• Watch the video, “Demystifying Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy” on YouTube
VI. Policy Implications of Biological, Biosocial, and Neurocriminological Theories
• Discuss how the SSSM may have affected the development of criminological theories in the 20th century.
• Lee Ellis and Anthony Walsh contend that criminal behavior is too complex to be accounted for by a gene and that biological links to criminal behavior are indirect. Ask the class to discuss whether they believe that studying these indirect biological links to crime is worthwhile.
• Lead a discussion as to the particular types of crimes that might be best addressed through biologically based crime theories.
VII. Critiques of Biological, Biosocial, and Neurocriminological Theories
• Review the critiques of the various theories discussed in this chapter. Lead a discussion as to whether the criticisms negate the usefulness of these types of theories.
LIST OF CHANGES/TRANSITION GUIDE
• A new chapter-opening story begins the chapter.
• A new section on neurocriminology has been added to the chapter and to the Theory in Perspective box within the chapter.
• Two new key terms, “weather” and “climate” have been added, and both are discussed in terms of their effect on criminality.
• A new Theory versus Reality box on climate change and crime has been added.
• A discussion of toxoplasmosis and its influence on behavior has been added.
• Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is now discussed, using the example of onetime football star, Aaron Josef Hernandez. Hernandez is featured in a Criminal Profiles box at the end of the chapter.
ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS AND CLASS ACTIVITIES
Additional Lecture Topics
Brain Research. Explain that the HGP is only one of many projects trying to increase our understanding of the makeup of the human body. Consider discussing the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative. Information on the BRAIN Initiative is available on the website of the National Institutes of Health.
Policy Implications of Biological, Biosocial, and Neurocriminological Research for Criminology. Discuss how knowledge of biological and genetic factors could impact criminal justice. For example, in late 2013, a jury charged with deciding the sentence to be imposed upon John McCluskey, an offender who was convicted of carjacking and two murders committed after his escape from an Arizona prison, was unable to come to a unanimous decision on the death penalty. As a result, McCluskey received a sentence of life without parole. The evidence presented to the sentencing jury included brain scans used by the defense to show that McCluskey had structural brain abnormalities that, combined with other factors, contributed to his crimes. The defense argued that these abnormalities, along with other early childhood experiences, should be considered mitigating circumstances.
Student Activities
Activity #1: Nature vs. Nurture in the Criminal Justice System. Your instructor will place you into groups. Each group is to visit the website of the Human Genome Project (www.genome.gov) and locate the exercise “Nature vs. Nurture in the Criminal Justice System”. Complete this exercise and bring your responses to class. Discuss each groups responses and the reasoning behind their decisions.
Activity #2: Access by Law Enforcement. Your instructor will place you into groups. Each group is to visit the website of the Human Genome Project (www.genome.gov) and locate the exercise “Access by Law Enforcement” in the Online Education Kit. Complete this exercise and bring your responses to class. Discuss each group’s responses and the reasoning behind their decisions.
SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO END-OF-CHAPTER ASSIGNMENTS
Questions for Review
1. What role do genetics and heritability play in contemporary explanations for crime? Genetic characteristics and chromosomal variations appear to be important factors in aggression and crime. Researchers do not believe that there is a specific “crime gene” that causes people to be involved in crime. Instead, there are likely to be many hundreds of genes that may increase someone’s risk of involvement in crime. Defective versions of genes such as the one responsible for the production of MAO-A or the one that controls dopamine flow have been linked to criminal and deviant behavior. Contemporary researchers have proposed a gene-environment interaction model and suggest that people who are genetically predisposed to certain types of behavior of behavior may be more likely to become aggressive or criminal when they interact with the surrounding social and physical environments. Basically, because they enable rather than determine human action, genes appear to be both the cause and the consequence of behavior.
2 How does brain dysfunction relate to criminality?
Research has shown that various types of brain dysfunctions may be related to antisocial and criminal behavior. This includes structural and functional damage to or differential functioning of certain areas of the brain, such as the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, orbital cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).
For example, one study of murderers and attempted murderers found that they exhibited lower levels of glucose uptake in the prefrontal cortex than control subjects. Prefrontal cortex dysfunction may be related to violence as it is associated with impulsivity, loss of selfcontrol, immaturity, poor social judgment, and other factors. Similarly, psychopaths have been found to exhibit reduction in the volume of the prefrontal cortex and amygdala, compared to non-psychopaths. It appears that violent psychopathology in youth is associated with structural and functional damage to the orbital cortex of the brain. Offenders with lower levels of activity in the ACC are significantly more likely to reoffend compared to those with higher levels of activity in that region of the brain.
3 How do body chemistry theories explain crime?
Body chemistry theories explain crime by linking violent or otherwise disruptive behavior to factors such as poor nutrition and vitamin deficiencies, environmental contaminants, prenatal substance exposure, and varying hormone levels. For example, some food additives have been linked to criminal violence and research suggests that deficiencies in some vitamins and other nutrients can increase aggressiveness and agitation. Toxic pollutants, particularly lead and manganese, also have been linked to aggressive behavior and a loss of control over impulsive behavior. Prenatal exposure to substances such as tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol appear to be linked to problems both in childhood and later in life. Fluctuations in levels of hormones such as testosterone and serotonin have been linked to aggression and impulsivity as well.
4. What is biosocial criminology? How is criminality explained from a biosocial perspective?
Biosocial criminology is a theoretical perspective that perspective sees the interaction between biology and the physical and social environments as key to understanding human behavior, including criminality.
From a biosocial perspective, criminality is seen as a property of individuals – the willingness to violate individual rights and social norms, regardless of whether or not such behavior is against the law. Biosocial explanations of criminality tend to focus on issues such as a propensity for violence, aggression, deceit, recklessness, fearlessness, etc., and there is an emphasis on the belief that features of the surrounding environment determine how such propensities will be expressed.
5. What is neurocriminology? What can it tell us about human behavior, aggression, and criminality?
Neurocriminology is a subfield of brain science that focuses on how the structure and function of the brain relate to criminal behaviors. The ultimate goal is to improve our understanding of criminality and contribute to the development of effective and workable interventions. The use of neuroimaging techniques has allowed researchers to associate various brain abnormalities with criminal behavior. For example, in-depth neuroimaging
studies of individuals with psychopathy have found deficits in areas of the brain associated with empathy, morality, and decision-making. Abnormalities in these areas have been linked to increased proneness to criminal conduct and to violent behavior. Understanding these neural underpinnings can provide valuable insights into why certain individuals engage in criminal behavior and may inform more effective interventions aimed at reducing recidivism rates.
6. What are the social policy implications of biological and biosocial theories of crime? What modern-day social policies reflect the biological and biosocial approaches to crime causation?
Biological theories of crime suggest the possibility of social policies that are biologically based. However, it will not be until the impact of biology on human behavior is fully recognized that effective social policies aimed at controlling crime can be developed.
Answers may vary.
7. What are the shortcomings of biological theories of criminal behavior? Why have biological approaches to crime causation encountered stiff criticism?
Many biological and biosocial theories have been criticized because they fail to predict criminality while purporting to understand its causes.
Biosocial theories can be criticized in a number of ways. These include:
• Methodological problems, such as the use of small and unrepresentative samples
• Difficulty in generalizing findings to other settings
• Difficulty in drawing definitive conclusions from small samples studied under unique conditions
• The failure of theories to explain regional and temporal variations in crime rates
• The inability of theories to explain why certain kinds of crime are more likely to occur in certain parts of the country, in particular types of communities, and among members of specific subcultures rather than in others
Some biosocial criminologists have been accused of racial and class bias for failing to explain why a disproportionate number of certain kinds of crime are committed by people with low income and members of historically marginalized groups
Chapter 5
Psychological and Psychiatric Foundations of Criminal Behavior
It’s How We Think
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
This chapter introduces psychological and psychiatric theories of human behavior, which focus on individual characteristics or propensities when explaining crime. Most early psychological theories emphasized personality theory, which built on the area of cognitive science, and behaviorism, which examined social learning and emphasized behavioral conditioning.
Early 20th century psychologists adapted the disease model. One of the most serious mental diseases is psychopathy, a personality disorder characterized by antisocial behavior and a lack of sympathy, empathy, and embarrassment. Hervey Cleckley described a psychopath as a “moral idiot,” with poverty of affect as the central defining characteristic. Today, the terms “psychopath” and “sociopath” have been replaced by the concept of antisocial personality. Individuals with antisocial personality disorder are generally unsocialized and likely to engage in behaviors that will at some point bring them into conflict with society. The disorder is much more prevalent among incarcerated men than the general population.
Trait theory empahsizes fundamental personality characteristics, or traits, which are believed to be inherited. The original three-trait model focused on three personality supertraits or dimensions (psychoticism, extroversion, and neuroticism) and suggested that psychotics are the most likely to be criminal. Modern trait theories now emphasize five basic traits (openness to experience, extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and agreeableness). These form the basics of the Five Factor Model of psychology Many psychologists consider these traits to be strongly genetically influenced. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) may be linked to depression, substance abuse, and feelings of alienation from friends and family. While PTSD may involve aggressive or violent behavior, few people with PTSD ever become violent and those who do may have already had a propensity towards antisocial behavior before being diagnosed with PTSD. Post-partum depression (PPD) has occasionally be used as a defense in court. Postpartum psychosis is a much rarer disorder.
Cognitive theories are learning theories that examine thought processes and try to explain how people learn to solve problems and how they perceive and interpret the social environment. There are several branches of cognitive theory. Moral development theory holds that individuals become criminal when they have not successfully completed their intellectual development from childhood to adulthood. Cognitive information-processing theory involves the study of human perceptions, information processing, and decision making. Branches of this theory include cognitive dissonance theory and script theory. The third branch focuses on the criminal mind-set and is based on the idea that criminals have a different mindset and make different assumptions about living and behaving than noncriminals. Psychological inventories are used to evaluate criminal thinking styles and identify risk factors for antisocial behavior.
Psychiatric criminology envisions a complex set of motives and drives operating from hidden recesses deep within the personality to determine behavior. Psychoanalytic theory, based on the work of Sigmund Freud, suggests that criminal behavior is maladaptive, the result of inadequacies inherent in the offender’s personality. This perspective suggests that one possible cause of crime may be a poorly developed superego, which leaves the individual operating without a moral guide. Mental disorders such as neurosis and psychosis may contribute to
criminal behavior, including violent crime. Freud’s frustration–aggression link was more fully developed by researchers such as J. Dollard, who suggested that everyone suffers frustration and thus aggression is a natural part of life; it may be manifested in socially acceptable or unacceptable ways. Other theorists suggest that crime is adaptive behavior that fulfills some purpose, such as the need to be punished or the need to reduce stress. Andrews and Bonta identified a number of major risk factors or criminogenic needs associated with criminal conduct, although later researchers view them not as needs in themselves but as psychopathological symptoms or indicators of maladaptive functioning. Other researchers have found that certain parenting styles may contribute to delinquency and criminality. Attachment theory suggests that the lack of a secure attachment between a child and their primary caregiver may lead to delinquent and criminal behavior later in life.
Behavior theory, the second main thrust of early psychological theorizing, built upon the concept of conditioned behavior, particularly Pavlov’s concept of classical conditioning. B.F. Skinner further developed the theory by introducing the concept of operant conditioning, which involves the use of rewards and punishments to control a person’s responses. Albert Bandura’s social cognition theory of aggression suggests that people learn to act by observing others; observation of aggressive behavior teaches one how to behave aggressively.
Correctional psychology focuses on the diagnosis and classification of people who commit crimes, the treatment of people in prison, and the rehabilitation of people in prison and others who break the law. Many psychological and psychiatric treatments for criminal offenders have been developed based on these theories. The most successful appear to be behavior therapy for sex offenders, cognitive behavioral interventions, psychodrama, and humor therapy to treat depression. The concept of selective incapacitation is based on the notion of career criminals and relies on the use of psychological techniques to identify likely future offenders and those likely to reoffend. A number of risk-assessment models have been developed. Assessing dangerousness is a central issue in psychological approaches to criminality. Critics of psychological and psychiatric theories of criminality argue that the focus on the individual results in theories that do not sufficiently consider social or environmental conditions that produce crime. Individual theories also have been criticized on various levels. Psychological or criminal profiling is used to help police better understand people wanted for serious crimes. Critics say it is still more art than science and question its value. A psychological autopsy involves investigating a person’s death by reconstructing what the person thought, felt, and did prior to death, with a particular focus on identifying patterns consistent with personality disorders or mental illnesses.
Insanity is a legal rather than a clinical concept and refers to a type of defense allowed in criminal courts. Several tests for insanity are used in the United States. A verdict of guilty but mentally ill (GBMI) means that a person is held responsible for a crime despite the presence of some degree of mental incompetence. Insanity defenses are rarely used in the real world and are rarely successful. Some critics question whether mental illness should be seen as a cause, an explanation, or an excuse for criminal behavior.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions:
5.1. What are the major principles of psychological and psychiatric perspectives of criminal behavior?
5.2. What two major ideas characterized early psychological theories, and what was the difference between them?
5.3. How do personality disturbances explain criminality?
5.4. What are cognitive theories, and what two types of cognitive theories does this chapter discuss?
5.5. What insights into criminal behavior does the psychoanalytic perspective offer?
5.6. How does behavior theory explain the role of rewards and punishments in shaping behavior?
5.7. What are the policy and treatment implications of psychological understandings of criminality?
5.8. How can psychological and psychiatric theories of crime be critiqued?
5.9. What are some assumptions underlying the practice of criminal psychological profiling?
5.10.How does the legal concept of insanity differ from behavioral understandings of the same concept?
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Introduction
• Watch the video, “What’s the Relation Between Psychology & Criminology” with Laurence Miller on YouTube.
II. Principles of Psychological Theories
• Use the Theory in Perspective box to briefly outline the main categories of psychological theories and the key concepts in each.
• Using Figure 5-1, review the general assumptions that underlie psychological and psychiatric theories and ask students if any of these assumptions might be shared with other perspectives on crime causation.
• Discuss the differences between forensic (or criminal) psychology and forensic psychiatry.
• Ask students to consider what distinguishes psychological explanations of crime from other explanations.
• Point out that some of the theories that students will encounter in later chapters have a psychological component. Travis Hirschi’s social control theory, for example, includes a key component that he labels “attachment,” which is essentially the development of a conscience.
• The film Pulp Fiction investigates several interrelated stories of criminals who exhibit both good and evil tendencies. However, the extreme depictions of violence in this film were upsetting to many viewers.
III. History of Psychological Theories
• Explain the two major ideas that characterized early psychological theories.
IV. Personality Disturbances
• Clarify the difference between the terms “psychopathy” and “psychopathology.”
A. The Psychopath
• Explain the concept of a psychopath and discuss why psychopaths are often difficult to identify.
• Review the main characteristics of the psychopathic personality.
• Explain the difference between a primary psychopath and a secondary psychopath, and discuss the other types of psychopathy that have been identified
• Present students with examples of offenders who have been diagnosed as psychopathic, or have them conduct research online to identify such offenders. Have them classify these offenders based on the types of psychopaths described in the text. This activity could also be done with fictional offenders presented in movies.
• Divide the class into groups and present them with moral questions such as those used in the Moral Sense Test (available online). Have the students discuss their answers and how and when they believe their moral viewpoints were developed. Have them compare and contrast their answers based on student demographics (gender, race, ethnicity, etc.)
B. Antisocial Personality Disorder
• Ask students to explain why individuals who are diagnosed as having antisocial personalities are at an increased risk of involvement in criminal behavior.
• Explain that changes in terminology that appear in publications like the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-IV reflect ongoing scientific research relevant to psychological classification. Mention, as an example, that in 1974 the APA voted to remove homosexuality from its list of diseases.
• Have students research antisocial personality and bring back information on treatment approaches. Tell them to be prepared to discuss whether they think that these approaches might prevent or inhibit the link with criminal behavior.
• Explain that the effect of antisocial personality on criminal behavior is not always direct; that is, antisocial personality might contribute to criminality, but it is not necessarily the cause of crime commission.
• Discuss the fact that most research on the link between antisocial personality and criminal behavior has involved primarily subjects who are men and ask students if this is a significant problem with the research.
• Watch the video “Psychopath in the Family” on YouTube. This video was produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
• Watch the ABC News Nightline video, “Tommy Lee Sells: The Mind of a Psychopath” on YouTube. Note that this video does include some disturbing content.
C. Trait Theory
• Have students identify examples personality traits which are stable across the life course. What are examples of patterns that may change over the life course?
• Explain Eysenck’s three supertraits and provide examples of personality traits characteristic of each.
• Ask the class why Eysenck suggests that the findings from twin studies support his view of a genetic basis of personality.
• Explain why Eysenck believes psychotics have the greatest probability of engaging in criminal behavior.
• Explain the Five Factor Model in greater detail and provide examples of each of the five personality dimensions in the model. Discuss the empirical evidence that supports the model.
• Have students take “The Big Five Personality Test” (available online) and invite them to discuss the results.
• Have the class discuss whether trait theories like the theory developed by Hans Eysenck should be considered psychological theories or biopsychological theories.
• Watch the video, “The Big Five Personality Traits Model Explained” on YouTube.
D. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Watch the video, “Trauma and crime: The hidden epidemic” on YouTube. This video is a report from Fox9 News (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota).
E. Post-Partum Depression (PPD)
• Watch the documentary, “Postpartum Psychosis Tragedy: When the Health System Fails Mothers” on YouTube.
V. Cognitive Theories
• Inform students that they will encounter social learning theories in later chapters. Sutherland’s differential association theory, for example, includes not only the concept of learning techniques of crime commission but also learning motives, drives, and attitudes toward criminality.
A. Moral Development Theory
• Review Piaget’s four stages of human intellectual development and discuss how his perspective applies to the issue of criminal behavior.
• Explain Kohlberg’s levels and stages of moral reasoning development. Explain how an individual’s stage of development may influence their decision whether or not to commit crimes.
• Ask students to watch the Sprouts video, “Kohlberg’s 6 Stages of Moral Development” on YouTube. Lead a discussion regarding the Heinz Dilemma presented in this video.
B. Cognitive Information-Processing Theory
• Discuss the implications of cognitive information-processing theory for criminal justice policy makers. For example, if offenders engage in violent behavior because, due to incorrect information processing they believe they are actually defending themselves, should these individuals be considered criminals?
• Discuss how script theory might provide an explanation for the link between growing up in an abusive environment and engaging in child abuse or intimate personal violence as an adult.
• Ask students to discuss whether script theory might provide an explanation for the proposed link between observing violent behavior in the media (television, movies, violent video games, etc.) and the commission of violent or aggressive acts?
C. The Criminal Mind-Set
• Ask the class if they agree with Samenow’s argument that crime resides in the person and is not affected by the environment.
D. Criminal Thinking Styles and Psychological Inventories
VI. The Psychoanalytic Perspective – Criminal Behavior as Maladaptation
• Discuss how criminal behavior is viewed from the perspective of psychoanalytic theory.
• Discuss Freud’s work on personality, and review the concepts of id, ego, and superego. Explain how Freud’s three components of personality relate to criminal behavior.
• Stress that Freud’s concept of the “ego” has no connection to the concept of an “egotistical person” or the idea of an “inflated ego.”
• Explain that Freud had many interests but did not directly address crime or systematically study criminals.
• Discuss repression and how it relates to criminality.
A. The Psychotic Offender
• Review the main characteristics of people with psychotic disorders and explain why these individuals are described as being “out of touch with reality.” Discuss how psychosis relates to criminality.
• Explain that some forms of schizophrenia may be controlled through diet and nutrition. Link this back to the material from Chapter 4 on the role of biology in human behavior.
• Point out that not all individuals with psychotic disorders commit crimes.
B. Frustration-Aggression Theory
• Discuss the link between frustration and aggression.
• Place students into groups and ask them to come up with examples to support Dollard’s assertion that “aggression is a natural consequence of living.” Have the students present healthy ways in which they experience this on a daily basis.
• Explain that the psychoanalytical term displacement may refer to a type of violence that is vented on something or someone who is not the source of the original frustration. Discuss the relationship between displacement and crime.
C. Crime as Adaptation
• Ask the class to consider the ways in which crime can be understood as adaptive or as maladaptive behavior.
• Explain alloplastic and autoplastic adaptation, and provide examples of each.
• Provide examples to illustrate how behaviors other than crime may serve the same adaptive needs as crime. Illustrate how choices may vary due to factors such as environment and opportunity.
• Discuss ways in which stress may lead to self-aggression as well as aggressive behavior towards others.
• Ask students to consider possible policy implications of linking stress and aggression.
D. Criminogenic Needs
• Discuss the main risk factors or criminogenic needs that are associated with recidivism.
• Ask the class to consider how the concept of risk factors and criminogenic needs might be translated into public policy.
• Ask students to consider the various parenting styles they may have experienced and whether those have led to the outcomes suggested in Table 5-1. In this discussion, students should be free to present personal experiences or equally should be free to refuse to do so.
E. Attachment Theory
• Discuss the various forms that attachment can take.
• According to John Bowlby’s work on attachment theory, attachment can take both healthy forms and unhealthy forms. Ask students how delinquency fits into this schema.
VII. Behavior Theory
• Discuss the relationship of crime to behavior theory. Ask how rewards might reinforce criminal behavior.
• Explain the concept of classical conditioning
• Watch the TED-Ed lesson, “The Difference Between Classical and Operant Conditioning – Peggy Andover” on YouTube.
A. Behavioral Conditioning
• Review the basic ideas behind the stimulus–response approach to human behavior and discuss how reward and punishment can explain crime.
• Have students discuss how rewards and punishments might apply to some of their roles and daily activities. Ask whether they feel their behavior has been influenced by the rewards and punishments that they’ve personally experienced.
• Discuss how behavior theory addresses both the origins of criminal behavior and the changes in already existing behavior. Ask students to consider ways that the principles of behavior theory might be used to reform offenders?
B. Social Cognition and the Role of Modeling
• Review the three laws of intimidation and suggestion that characterize Gabriel Tarde’s theory of human behavior. Ask students to provide some examples for the law of insertion that are not included in the text.
• Explain that according to modeling theory, aggressive behavior may be learned through the modeling process. Ask whether this process is as powerful in the case of impersonal entities (e.g., television, movies, and video games) that might provide behavioral models as it is with personal entities (e.g. other individuals). Does this distinction present a problem for modeling theory?
• Ask students if they play video games that involve violent or aggressive behavior (including reality-based games like the Call of Duty series or fantasy-based games such as Quake or Baldur’s Gate 3). Break them into groups where at least part of the group consists of players. Ask them to discuss how video games and TV may influence their worldview.
VIII. Policy and Treatment Implications of Psychological and Psychiatric Approaches
• Explain correctional psychology and how it relates to criminology.
• Discuss how cognitive behavioral intervention (CBI) is used to modify the thinking and behavior of various types of offenders
A. Assessing Dangerousness
• Ask students to explain how the concept of career criminals falls into the strategy of selective incapacitation.
• Ask students how much faith they have in the ability of selective incapacitation as an effective strategy to reduce and control crime, given the difficulty of identifying potentially violent offenders.
• Ask students to discuss the ethical implications of selective incapacitation, given the difficulty of accurately identifying which offenders are “chronic offenders.” Have
them discuss what might happen if an offender was misidentified as a chronic offender.
B. Predicting Criminality
• Ask students whether an individual who scores high on a test to assess dangerousness should be required to undergo treatment or be involuntarily committed to a mental hospital even if the individual has no known criminal behavior. Lead a discussion on how we can balance individual rights with the protection of society.
• Ask students to consider the importance of the environmental context in understanding criminal behavior, if aggressiveness is stable over time.
IX. Critique of Psychological and Psychiatric Theories of Crime
• Discuss some of the key problems found in the research linking psychological and psychiatric factors to crime. Ask students to discuss how these problems affect their views of theories that use these factors to explain crime.
X. Criminal Psychological Profiling
• Explain psychological profiling, and discuss how effective is it as a tool for the apprehension of criminal suspects.
• Ask students to visit the FBI Web site and to compare the information they find there on criminal profiling with their own ideas about criminal profiling taken from their everyday knowledge or exposure to the media.
• Distinguish between the “reality” and the “myth” of criminal profiling.
• The film The Silence of the Lambs deals with the connection between a cannibalistic serial killer, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, and an FBI profiler who seeks his help on another serial killer’s case. This film started the public fascination with profiling. The TV series Hannibal is based on characters in the books on which the movie was based and also focuses on profiling.
• Copycat deals with a psychiatrist who has been housebound ever since she was almost killed by a serial killer whom she testified against in court. Two homicide detectives working another serial killer’s case bring her in to assist with finding the killer
A. The Psychological Autopsy
• Explain the purpose of a psychological autopsy.
XI. Insanity and the Law
• Stress to the class that insanity is a legal rather than a medical concept and explain the difference.
• Link the use of the insanity defense to the discussion of classical and neoclassical criminology in Chapter 3 and explain that the traditional classical school’s emphasis on free will rejected insanity as a defense, but that neoclassical criminology’s acceptance of soft determinism allowed for the idea of insanity creating a lack of free will in some situations.
• Ask students to consider why insanity is used as a defense in cases of criminal prosecution. Discuss how legal notions of insanity differ from psychiatric ones.
• Ask students to discuss whether they believe all states should use the same standard for judging legal insanity, rather than having a variety of different rules and tests.
• The textbook only discusses two standards for judging insanity (M’Naughten and irresistible-impulse). Consider reviewing some of the other tests for insanity that have been used in the United States. Discuss which is used in your state.
A. Guilty but Mentally Ill (GBMI)
• Ask students to research how the justice system in their state handles offenders found “guilty but mentally ill.”
B. Problems with the Insanity Defense
• Point out that the insanity defense is rarely used, and that when it is used, it is rarely successful.
• Ask students how they would evaluate the verdict of “not guilty by reason of insanity” from both the social problems and individual responsibility perspectives.
LIST OF CHANGES/TRANSITION GUIDE
• A discussion of a commonly used assessment tool, the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS), has been added.
• A new section on “Child Maltreatment and its Relationship to Adult Criminality” has been added, along with three new key terms: “child maltreatment,” “parenting style,” and “parental burnout.”
• A new metanalysis of parental attachment and delinquency is explored.
• A new Criminal Profiles box about Lori Vallow Daybell, the Idaho mother convicted in 2023 of first-degree murder in the killing of two her three children, has been added.
ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS AND CLASS ACTIVITIES
Additional Lecture Topics
Intelligence. One topic that is related to the issue of mental disorder is that of intelligence. Consider discussing the argument that low intelligence is related to, contributes to, or even causes, crime. Research that could be referenced includes:
• Travis Hirschi and Michael Hindelang’s 1977 research linking IQ and crime, suggesting that criminals and noncriminals exhibit significant differences in IQ, even after controlling for socio-economic status and race.
• James Q. Wilson and Richard Herrnstein’s book Crime and Human Nature, which is also discussed in Chapter 5 and which suggested that there is an indirect link between IQ and crime: low intelligence contributes to poor performance in school, which increases the likelihood of criminal involvement.
• Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray’s book The Bell Curve argued that intelligence is linked to a variety of factors, including crime. Individuals with a low IQ are more likely to commit crimes, more likely to be caught, and more likely to receive a sentence of incarceration. Herrnstein and Murray feel that intelligence is inherited, and therefore the link between intelligence and crime cannot be affected by the social environment. While discussing this topic, it might be interesting to point out that researchers are operationalizing “intelligence” through the use of IQ. Consider the definition of “intelligence” and debate whether or not IQ is really a good measure of intelligence.
Student Activities
Activity #1: The Insanity Defense. Your instructor will assign you a state. Go to the website of the Cornell University Law School’s Legal Information Institute, locate the statutes for this state, and find the definition of the insanity defense. Answer the following questions:
1. What test or tests are used to determine legal insanity?
2. Is the defendant presumed to be sane until proven otherwise?
3. Does the burden of proof for the defense of insanity lie with the defense or the prosecution?
4. If legal insanity is proved, what verdict is used, NGRI or GBI?
Activity #2: Rewards and Punishments. Your instructor will place you in groups. Within your group, discuss different ways that you were taught right from wrong as a child. Using behavior theory, classify these techniques as positive rewards, negative rewards, positive punishments, or negative punishments. Which of the four types of rewards and punishments seemed to be most effective?
SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO END-OF-CHAPTER ASSIGNMENTS
Questions for Review
1. What are the major principles of psychological perspectives of criminal behavior?
• The individual is the primary unit of analysis.
• Personality is the major motivational element because it is the seat of drives and the source of motives.
• Crimes result from abnormal, dysfunctional, or inappropriate mental processes within the personality.
• Criminal behavior may be purposeful for the individual insofar as it addresses certain felt needs. Behavior can be judged “inappropriate” only when measured against external criteria purporting to establish normality.
• Normality is generally defined by social consensus (what the majority of people in any social group agree is “real,” appropriate, or typical).
• Defective, or abnormal, mental processes may have a variety of causes, including a diseased mind, inappropriate learning or improper conditioning, the emulation of inappropriate role models, and adjustment to inner conflicts.
2. What two major ideas characterized early psychological theories, and what was the difference between them?
There were two major ideas that characterized early psychological theories: Personality and behaviorism. Personality theory built on the growing area of cognitive science and included personality disturbances, moral development, and diseases of the mind. Behaviorism examined social learning with an emphasis on behavioral conditioning.
3. How does personality explain criminality?
Some researchers suggest that crime is the result of personality characteristics. According to trait theory, personality is defined by the traits that comprise it and remains stable over time. Trait theory links personality and associated traits to behavior, and holds that an individual’s
