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Discuss the causes of crime in society
The causes of crime
The causes of crime
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One of the most popular questions psychologists seek an answer for is “Why do people commit crimes?”. Crime is an act harmful not only to some individual, but also to the community or the state which is forbidden and punishable by lawSo why do people act in certain ways even though they know that they will be punished? The answer to that is not as simple as one may think. It is a combination of acts and circumstances along with the mental condition of someone. One major cause that may ignite criminal behaviour is personality traits and disorders. These two have become very important in the diagnosis of people with anti-social or criminal behaviour. The reason for this is that those traits and disorders aren’t evident only when the individual …show more content…
(2001) say that the inability to control the impulsivity is highly related to aggresive behaviour towards groups.CO is characterized by the individual’s constant violation of societal rules and laws.As the symptoms and effects of the previous disorders become worse as the sufferer grows older, so is logical for CO sufferers to worsen up too.What’s even more important though, is the fact …show more content…
The family habitat is crucial to the upbringing of a child and if there are problems it is only logical that the kid will suffer from them too. We have previously acknowledged the problems of a kid suffering from ADHD and how this can be linked to criminal behaviour. Correlated to that, scientists believe that hyperactivity roots from family problems and environment .When family members are not so emotionally tight together, they tend to act a lot more individually. Therefore, children are less probable to be affected by their parents’ rules and ideals. Thus, it is only normal to conclude that families with less wealth than most have and who are not able to transfer their morals to their children are promoting an antisocial and aggressive behaviour to
Shootings. Homicides. Bombings. It’s safe to say that crime is very abundant in today’s society, filling our news casts with daily reminders of the negative ora that is associated with criminal behavior. But why do people commit the crimes that they commit? Theologians have been studying crime for years, trying to determine the main reasons as to who commits crime and why. These theologians, such as Edwin Sutherland, Ronald Akers, and Robert Agnew, each take very unique view of criminal behavior, giving society many rationalities for these why people exhibit these behaviors.
One warning sign can be antisocial behavior. Don Andrews and James Bonta, authors of the book The Psychology of Criminal Conduct, in the article, “Assessing Criminal Thinking: Attitudes and Orientations Influence Behavior” found that, “An individual who is oriented toward antisocial behavior (i.e., one who thinks like a criminal) and has intermaized anti-social definitions of behavior is much more likely to behave in an anti-social/criminal matter” ( ). Andrew’s and Bonta’s findings parade the fact that persons who are anti-social are more likely to commit crimes than pro-social people, which could be detected by a criminal psychologist. Another warning sign of persons about to commit a crime is a negative or angered attitude. Andrews and Bonta also conducted meta-analyses, and compared with others, in which they deduced, “Several recent meta-analyses have revealed high correlations between negative attitudes, and/or peer associations, and criminal behavior” (Holsinger 22). In the meta-analyses, they showed that subjects that had more opposing attitudes were expected to commit a crime or participate in criminal behavior. These warning signs and behavior patterns are used to predict and prevent possible future crimes. Humans that show emotions, and behavioral similarities to psychopaths and other mental disorders can be at high risk of commit a crime. This makes the psychologist work
People are uniquely different and because of this reason, they do have different behaviors. Crime is one kind of behavior that an individual can engage in. They are punishable by the law and may be prosecuted by the state (Helfgott, 2008). There are different theories existing that try to explain the actions of criminals. They deeply explain what causes an individual to commit a criminal activity. This paper discusses some examples of the biological theories, social theories and psychological theories of crime.
Trait theory views criminality as a product of abnormal biological or psychological traits. It is based on a mix between biological factors and environmental factors. Certain traits alone cannot determine criminality. We are born with certain traits and these traits along with certain environmental factors can cause criminality (Siegel, 2013). According to (Siegel, 2013), the study of sociobiology sparked interest in biological or genetic makeup as an explanation for crime and delinquency. The thought is that biological or genetic makeup controls human behavior, and if this is true, then it should also be responsible for determining whether a person chooses crime or conventional behavior. This theory is referred to as trait theory (Siegel, 2013). According to Siegel (2013), due to the fact that offenders are different, one cannot pinpoint causality to crime to just a single biological or psychological attribute. Trait theorist looks at personal traits like intelligence, personality, and chemical and genetic makeup; and environmental factors, such as family life, educational attainment, economic factors, and neighborhood conditions (Siegel, 2013). There are the Biosocial Trait theories an...
There are many theories that can be applied to different cases that have occurs in Americas history. The two theories that are choses for this paper are the trait theory and under the trait theory is psychological which is “abnormal personality and psychological traits are the key to determinant of anti-social behavior. There is a link between mental illness, personality disorders and crime (Siegel, 2014). The second theory is the Choice theory which “criminals weigh the cost and benefits and make a conscious, rational choice to commit crime” (Siegel, 2014). This paper will show how a theory can be applied to a person and a crime. Some of the cases that are being presented some will not agree but up us all about the person perspective.
Eysenck, H.J., & Gudjonsson, G.H. (1989). The causes and cures of criminality. Contemporary Psychology, 36, 575-577.
Hollin, C. R. (2013). Psychology and Crime: An Introduction to Criminological Psychology. London: Routledge. p48-76.
A persons’ personality is made up of different characteristics such as, being humorous, compassionate, self-obsessive, outgoing, shy, aggressive etc… These are things that influence our behaviour in predicable ways. An increase of certain personality traits like, being aggressive, impulsive, easily influenced, no fear/understanding of consequences, make people more disposed to crime. People with personality disorders are even more disposed to crime. Personality disorders are mental health illnesses that affect how people cope with their feelings and how they communicate with other people. They usually develop in late adolescence and early childhood.
...ulture and beliefs. Another reason one might commit a crime, is when people fail to achieve society’s expectations through legal means such as hard work and delayed gratification, they may attempt to achieve success through crime. People also develop motivation and the skills to commit crime through the people they associate with. Some criminals commit crimes because of the controls that society places on a person through institutions such as schools, workplaces, churches, and families. Sometimes there are occasions where a persons actions goes against what society considers normal, and as a result it is instead considered a crime. Also some criminals continue their criminal acts because they have been shunned by their society because once a person is labeled a criminal, society takes away their opportunities, which in most cases leads to more criminal behavior.
Many people believed that criminal behavior of a person comes from the genes passed down. In recent years, tests have shown that genes and criminal behavior have little to or no correlation. Certain genetic factors may create a predisposition for a particular illness, but that probability depends on the environment a person was reared in. The social relationships that a person forms with the people in their environment and the external components of that environment is what can shape their criminal behavior. Criminal behavior can not be biologically determined because a person who carries a gene for a particular mental illness needs certain elements to develop that illness, like the type of social relationships a person develops with people
In today’s society, one will find that there are many different factors that go into the development of a criminal mind, and it is impossible to single out one particular cause of criminal behavior. Criminal behavior often stems from both biological and environmental factors. In many cases criminals share similar physical traits which the general population do not usually have. For example criminals have smaller brains than properly adjusted individuals. However biological reasons cannot solely be the cause of criminal behavior. Therefore, one must look to other sources as to how a criminal mind is developed. Social and environmental factors also are at fault for developing a person to the point at which they are lead to committing a criminal act. Often, someone who has committed a violent crime shows evidence of a poorly developed childhood, or the unsuitable current conditions in which the subject lives. In addition if one studies victimology which is the role that the victim plays in the crime, it is apparent that there are many different causes for criminal behavior. Through the examination of biological factors, in addition to the social and environmental factors which make up a criminal mind, one can conclude that a criminal often is born with traits common to those of criminals, it is the environment that exist around them that brings out the criminal within them to commit indecent acts of crime.
The world will always be full of crime, thus it is necessary for scientist to grow along with the gruesome and increasing amount of violations. Due to this it sparked scientist to develop crime theories in which emerged to explain why crime is caused by individuals. Some of the few theories that have advanced over the past century and provided many answers to why crimes are committed are biological theories, psychological theories and learning theories. These theories provide an insight to its first use and change in order to provide answers.
Murder, robbery, prostitution, rape; what exactly makes people partake in these crimes? The debate of Nature vs Nurture has never failed to raise questions about people’s personalities and actions. Whether a person commits a crime because of their innate character vs the way they were raised is something that people have been trying to understand for years. Due to this fact, the biosocial perspective of criminology does the best job at explaining criminal behavior because it combines the aspects of nature vs. nurture through various types of family, twin, and adoption studies and studies of the brain.
Understanding Psychology and Crime; Perspectives on Theory and Action, New York. PENNINGTON, D ( 2002) , Introducing Psychology: Approaches, Topics and Methods, London, Hodder Arnold TANNENBAUN, B, (2007),Profs link criminal behaviour to genetics [online] , Available at: http://thedp.com/index.php/article/2007/11/profs_link_criminal_behavior_to_genetics [accessed 16th October 2011]. http://www.docstoc.com/docs/41182390/Explanations-of-Criminal-behaviour
Criminality constitutes strategic mannerisms characterized by apathy to misery inflicted on others, egocentricity and depressed self-control. Habitual criminal behaviour seeks to satisfy the offender’s desires for material prestige, power or pleasurable feelings regardless to damage inflicted to victim or society. Such behaviors extend mistrust, fuel prejudice, and largely corrupt social cohesion. Biological, psychological and environmental attributes are thought to heavily influence antisocial and criminal behaviour. Numerous studies have proven that active emulation, genetic predispositions and psychosocial labeling are all complementary to development and expressions of criminal behaviour. There has historically been a myriad of theories that attempt to explain criminal behaviour through different perspectives, all which constitute intricate paradigms that play a role in expressio...