Psychological Explanations of Criminal Behaviour

1. Psychological Explanations of Criminal Behaviour Introduction Winter 2014

2. What is it we want to understand? What “behaviour” are we trying to explain? Any unlawful behaviour? Criminal behaviour? Serious criminal behaviour? Violent behaviour? Recidivistic criminal behaviour? Antisocial behaviour?

3. Criminal vs. Antisocial Behaviour What is antisocial behaviour? • behavioursthatare costly or injurious to the individual perpetrator, other citizens, and/or society overall. Fishbein, 2001

4. Criminal Behaviour Not necessarily offensive to most people Includes victimless crimes Violates criminal laws Detection by CJS Antisocial Behaviour Offends most people Usually excludes victimless crimes May not violate criminal laws official detection not required Fishbein, 2001 Criminality vs. Antisocial Behaviour

5. Recent cases Vancouver City Police arrested a 32-year old Abbotsford man allegedly responsible for a string of purse snatchings. The purse snatcher targeted older women who were walking. The perpetrator would push his victims to the ground, grab their purses from them, and leave. The Province, August 24, 2008

6. Recent cases Without warning a 40-year old man on a Greyhound bus repeatedly stabbed the passenger who was asleep in the seat next to him. He then decapitated the victim and held the victim’s head up for the other passengers to see. Witnesses described the assailant as calm, like “a robot or something”. CBC News, July 31, 2008

7. Recent cases Three former executives of Nortel Networks were charged with a variety offences for allegedly misstating and making false entries concerning the company’s financial results and acting with the intent to deceive or defraud the members, shareholders and creditors of the company. Vancouver Sun, June 20, 2008

8. Recent cases The mayor of PoCo burst into his ex-girlfriend’s home and assaulted her boyfriend. On arrival, police found he was very intoxicated. He had also stopped taking antidepressants just prior to the incident. The Province, July 25, 2008

9. “Causes” of criminal behaviour? • What do you think are the causes of criminal behaviour?

10. Many layers to “Causes” Biological Personal Interpersonal Situational Social

11. What is Psychology? Psychology may be defined as: • The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. Three elements of this definition: • Psychology is empirical in nature • Observation of behaviour • Infer mental processes

12. Psychology in Criminology • Criminology is a multidisciplinary study of crime. • Sociological criminology: • Examines relationships of demographic and social variables to crime. Focus on the group, societal and environmental influences • Psychological criminology: • This is the science of the behaviour and mental process of individuals who commit crimes. Focus on individual differences • Cognitions (attitudes, beliefs, thoughts and values) , emotions, behaviours

13. Psychology in Criminology • Assumptions of Psychological Theories • Assumption of offender deficit: • The view that offenders who break the law have some psychological deficit that distinguishes them from normal law-abiding citizens • Assumption of discriminating traits: • The view that offenders are distinguished from non-offenders by, for example, their high levels of impulsiveness and aggression

14. Nature vs. Nurture Nature • behaviour is primarily a function of our genes and resulting biological form Nurture • behaviour is primarily a function of our environment and resulting social influences

15. An Example of Integrated Approach Diathesis-Stress Model • Not nature vs. nurture, Nature + Nurture Diathesis – a inherited or biological predisposition or vulnerability to express a certain trait or behaviour • biological conditions set the stage for how an individual responds to environmental stressors • dynamic interaction between biological & social causes

16. Theoretical Model for Integrated Approach • Nature Plus Nurture • Biochemistry Plus Social Hierarchy • Serotonin (neurotransmitter) levels are directly influenced by environmental factors, such as stress. • Temperament Plus Learning • Shyness and the Autonomic Nervous System • Behavioural modification may lower levels of reactivity of ANS and result in more extroverted behaviour.

17. What needs to be accounted for? Philadelphia Cohort Study (Wolfgang, 1983) • 12% of the 1958 birth cohort (N = 28,338) accounted for 85% of all official delinquent acts recorded between ages 10 to 18 years Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (Farrington, 1997) • 6% of the sample of 411 males from London, UK had  6 offences by age 40 years and they accounted for half of all convictions for the entire sample

19. Evaluating theories A “good” theory should… support theoretical interrelationships with research inform interventions that reduce criminal behaviour predict variation in criminal behaviour • intra-individual • inter-individual account for criminal behaviour across gender, culture & ethnicity

20. Complexity • Because crime and criminal behavior is complex, explanations of crime require complicated, involved answers. • No one theory explains. Multidisciplinary! • Most people have limited tolerance for complexity and ambiguity = want easy, straightforward answers. • Vast explanations, and often poorly integrated and understood.