2.3 An Integrative look at criminal behavior

1. 2.3 An Integrative look at criminal behavior

2. Biological Level of Analysis • Are some people born to be criminals? • Is crime specific to ethnic groups, gender, physical characteristics? • What is the biological, cognitive and sociocultural aspect of criminal behavior?

3. Are some people born to be criminals? • 3 biological theories • Genetics • Brain abnormalities • Neurochemical imbalances

4. Genetics • Crime runs in the family? Is this all genetic? • Christiansen (1977) • Twin study, (n=3586 sets) • Found concordance (i.e. criminal activity) • 35% MZ males twins • 13% DZ male twins • 21% MZ female twins • 8% DZ female twins • Are these concordance rates high or low? • How would you evaluate the findings? (pg61)

5. Genetics cont., • Hutchings and Mednick (1975) • If both the biological and adaptive fathers had a criminal record, then • 36.2% sons also had criminal record • If only the biological father had a criminal record • 21.4% sons had criminal record • If only the adoptive father had a criminal record • 11.5% sons had criminal record • When neither father had a criminal record • 10.5 % of sons had criminal record • What does this study demonstrate?

6. 2 limitations of genetic arguments • What is the probability that there is a gene specific for criminal behavior? How do you evaluate criminal behavior? • Criminal behavior follows age patterns, reaching peak when age 20 and declining at age 30. genetically speaking, why does this change over a lifetime?

7. The Brain • Interrelationships between emotions and decision making. • Emotions: controlled by limbic system • Decisions: frontal lobe http://www.stanford.edu/group/hopes/cgi-bin/wordpress/2010/06/the-hopes-brain-tutorial-text-version/#limbic-system http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/limbicsystem.html

8. Interrelationships between emotions and decision making. • Blair et al. (1999): [key study sheet] • Subject: brains of psychopath • Method: Natural • Procedure: PET • Results: impairment of pathways between the amygdala and frontal lobe • Conclusion: impairment makes it difficult for individuals to moderate their behavior. • Frontal Brain Hypothesis • A malfunctioning of the relationship between the frontal brain and the limbic system may cause criminal behavior. • What about Brain Trauma?

9. Neurotransmitters and Hormones • Is there a gender difference regarding criminal behavior? • 90.1 % of apprehended murderers were male • 82.1 % violent crimes committed by males (2004 US FBI report) • What is the relationship with neurotransmitters? • Low levels 5-HT • Antisocial behavior • impulsive • Testosterone • James Dabbs demonstrated higher levels of testosterone associated with increased violence. *note: these are correlations – does that show a cause and effect?

10. Are biological factors alone, enough to establish causes for criminal behavior? • What if psychologist could determine that criminals have a biological predisposition towards their behavior? Should the courts be more lenient in enacting penalties? • How would that affect the government view on the thought of punishment as a deterrent to crime?

11. Criminal behavior: Cognitive Levels of Analysis

12. Yochelson and Samenow (1976)How do criminals think? • Cognitive distortions: an error in the way we process information. • Blaming others fro your own failures • Super-optomistism: extremely wishful or magical thinking. • “I think, therefore it is” : not being able to accept mistakes • Minimizing: limit the significance of a behavior to prevent taking responsibility for ones actions. • Build up: exaggerating ones accomplishments to make ourselves look better in the eyes of others. • This study only addressed criminal, i.e. it did not look at the non-criminal population.

13. Cornish and Clark (1987) • Rational choice theory: criminal behavior is the outcome of a reasoned decision-making process. • Criminals seek to benefit from their crimes. • Cost to benefit analysis: • Risk • Financial reward • Ease of breaking in * The results of this study were from burglars.

14. Criminal behavior: the sociocultural levels of analysis Social and culture expectations that people have on individuals. Economic and political realities

15. Poverty: Messner (1988) • Are those who earn less more likely to commit crime? • Messner found a high correlation between structural poverty and crime rate as opposed to income level and crime rate. • Structural poverty – a holistic view of addressing criminal behavior and socioeconomic status. • Single parent families • Low levels of education • High infant mortality • Low social mobility

16. Poverty cont., • Unemployment and Crime? • Social factors may interact with biological factors and lead to criminal behavior? • Poverty and stress • Stress and brain development

17. Labeling and self-fulfilling prophecies • Self-fulfilling prophecy: we live up to the expectations or label that we are given. • “Troublemaker” “rebel” “gangbanger” – does giving a person a label begin to hardwire them toward that characteristic? • Jahoda’s (1954): Study on the Ashanti people of Ghana • Ashanti custom of naming boys according to the day of the week they are born. • A day of the week predicts a future temperament • Monday = calm, reserved & peaceful • Wednesday = problematic, aggressive. • Boys born on Wednesday had a higher arrest record relative to boys born on Monday

18. Critical thinking: • Is criminal behavior primarily biologically based? • To what extend do biological and sociocultural factors determine criminal behavior? • What factors contribute most to criminal behavior – biological, sociocultural or cognitive? • Article: Self Fulfilling Prophecy • What other study did we address that looks at the self-fulfilling prophecy?