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Psychological characteristics of criminals
Psychological characteristics of criminals
Psychological characteristics of criminals
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There are many criminological theories that attempt to explain criminal behavior or crime patterns. For instance, Agnew’s General Strain Theory can be applied to explain why the criminal John Dillinger committed various crimes. Agnew’s General Strain Theory assumes that all individuals experience strain, which, in turn, causes negative emotions that can result in legitimate or illegitimate coping, depending on an individual’s constraints or dispositions. Thus, the continuous criminal behavior throughout John Dillinger’s life can be explained using Agnew’s General Strain Theory in relation to strain, negative emotions, and dispositions. John Dillinger was born on June 22, 1903, in Indianapolis. Three years later his mother died; his father remarried six years afterwards, but Dillinger resented his stepmother. Being raised by a very strict father, who invoked disciplinary extremes, Dillinger became a troublemaker. Dillinger quit school and got a job, but quickly got bored and decided to stay out all night. His father was concerned that city life was corrupting his son, so he decided to move his family to Indiana. However, the move made no difference, since Dillinger began to act the same as he had in the city. After a “break with his father and trouble with the law” Dillinger enlisted in the Navy (“Famous Cases,” n.d). In the Navy, Dillinger got into trouble and decided to leave his ship and move to Indiana, where he married 16-year-old Beryl Hovius in 1924. Both Dillinger and Hovius moved to Indianapolis with a “dazzling dream of bright lights and excitement” (“Famous Cases,” n.d). However, Dillinger had no luck finding work due to the Depression, and joined the “town pool shark, Ed Singleton” in search of easy money. Singleton and... ... middle of paper ... ...ls. Thus, the removal of positively valued stimuli, and the presence of negative stimuli at an early age, along with the failure to achieve positively valued goals led to feelings of anger and resentment that eventually lead Dillinger to express illegitimate coping. Dillinger’s lack of constraints such as social support, perceptions of social control, and community variables also made it possible for him to associate with delinquent peers such as Singleton and later with members of his gang. The prolonged associations with delinquent peers made it more likely for Dillinger to continue committing criminal acts. Thus, the continuous presences of strain, negative emotions and dispositions led Dillinger to become a criminal because Dillinger did not cope with those negative emotions in a positive way, which could have reduced the chances of committing criminal activity.
Predominantly, strain theory can be used to explain the criminal behavior of the Homicide in Hollenbeck documentary. In the course on juveni...
John Herbert Dillinger was a famous American gangster involved in The Dillinger Gang, also known as The Terror Gang, one of the deadliest bank robbing gangs in the country. John was born on June 22, 1903 in the Oak Hill section of Indianapolis, Indiana. He was the youngest of two children, his sister was Audrey Dillinger. His father was referred to as a harsh man who was very firm with his discipline. At the age of 4, his mother passed, resulting in Audrey caring for John until their father remarried in 1912. After his father was remarried, he was given 3 more half siblings; Hubert, Doris, and Francis Dillinger. It was said that originally, john despised his step mother, but that changed and he came to fall in love with her and the two had a 3 year relationship. As a
Both theories by Merton and Agnew are similar because their focus is that social situations and conflicts an individual’s comes in contact within his/her life, may produce crime by emphasizing the a goal of success, much more than the means to achieve it. With Merton’s theory he adopted Durkheim’s concept of anomie to explain deviance. Merton’s theory combined both structural and cultural factors. Merton insists that society promotes goals for their citizens and norms for other’s behavior in attempting to reach these goals. In Merton’s theory people do crime when they are unable to reach or accomplish goals. Merton’s theory also explains how an individual’s social structure prevents an individual from becoming economically fortunate. His theory of modern anomie and strain express that individuals respond to strain in 5 individual ways. Those five ways are conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion. On the other hand Agnew general strain theory, feels strain comes from sources other than economic failure. Agnew general strain theory focuses on a few other types of strain and stress. Like the presentation of a negative stimuli, and the loss of a positive stimuli. Agnew feels that this sort of strain leads to a negative state of mind. The emotions like angry, frustration and fear, lead to crime and criminal behavior. One
The proposal of Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory in explaining criminal deviance is based on three concepts. The first concept is that people are not naturally inclined to commit crimes. Rather, their transition towards deviant behavior begins when they experience strain. The second concept is that once strain is present, depending on the severity of the stain, a person becomes victim to their own negative emotions like anger, jealousy, and frustration. Their response to those negative emotions may expedite their transition. The third concept looks at a person’s ability to cope with the strain and negative emotions. If a person has poor coping abilities they tend to become overwhelmed by the strain and the negative emotions they are feeling as a result of strain. Poor coping abilities may cause someone to commit crime in hopes of rectifying their situation. (Agnew, 2011)
In criminology there are numerous theories as to the causes of different types of crime. These theories are extremely important in the continuous debate of the ways in which crime should be managed and prevented. Many theories have surfaced over the years. These theories continue to be explored individually and in combination, as criminologists search for the best solutions in ultimately reducing types and levels of crime. These theories include rational choice theory, social learning theory, and biology amongst many others. In this case study strain theory will be used to describe the reasons behind the white collar crimes of Charles Ponzi.
Individuals' personalities and overall quality of living are significantly influenced by several interrelated sources ranging from one's upbringing and quality of relationships to their own feelings of self-esteem and worth. Though this may seem relatively easy and un-complex, countless people today are engaged in persistent antisocial, criminal behavior, and seem unable to find an alternative, legal, means of living. While many have tried to explain such behavior through various theories, the causes of criminal activity remain to be satisfactorily clarified. Essentially, antisocial criminal activity has two aspects to it. Antisocial behavior is that in which one shuns society and others, while criminal activity is the act of performing a deed that violates an established law of the community. Obviously, such actions have serious consequences, which can range from community service and a fine to prison time. Even though there are several reasons that one may become an antisocial criminal, two theories of personality that provide reasonable explanations of this phenomenon, each in their own way, are the psychoanalytic and phenomenological theories.
According to Robert Agnew, “Strain Theory is based on the idea that delinquency results when individuals are unable to achieve their goals through legitimate channels, achievement or strike out at the source of their frustration in anger”. (Agnew, R. (1985). A Revised Strain Theory of Delinquency. Oxford journals. 64(1).151-166). The norms are violated to alleviate the strain that accompanies failure. When a good look is taken at the theories the strains might not only come from peoples frustrations with acquiring “ The American Dream”, but it becomes a mixture of strains such as economic deprivation, abuse, neglect, or the loss of a loved one. However, most people that experience strains do not commit crimes.
The General Strain Theory scope has an intention of providing a clear explanation for why and why not crime occurs across all levels of society, while maintaining that stress is a major cause of criminal involvement. When people experience negative emotions, such as anger, frustration, or depression, they are in result unhappy and upset, thus experiencing strains or stressors (Ganem, 2010). Crime is then a way of reducing or escaping from these strains, and it is their method of coping with their emotions. According to Agnew, “Strains refer to events or conditions that are disliked by individuals (1992,
On June 22nd 1903 John Herbert Dillinger was born to John and Mollie Dillinger . His parents ran and owned a grocery store in Indianapolis, Indiana, and at the age of three his mother died . John Dillinger’s father described his son as a “restless and aggressive” child . Beginning from a young age, the dark side of Dillinger became evident, as he created and led a gang called ‘The Dirty Dozen’ . The worst criminal act the ‘Dirty Dozen’ participated in consisted of stealing coal from the nearby railroad . As Dillinger grew older, so did the intensity of his crimes. In his teenage years Dillinger stole a car to impress a girl, and when caught he fled to the navy. According to John he was “discharged” from the navy, but records say he escaped.
For the past century and a half bank robbing has been a major crime throughout the world that law enforcers are trying to crack down on. During the modern world we live in now many banks have put in high tech security systems trying to stop these men from stealing all of their money. As people may imagine bank robbers have had to change their plans in order for them to get away with how they go about taking the money and having a successful getaway. Today people that want to rob a bank have to go through extreme planning to make sure they are not caught. Many of them go after hours so they stay away from potential problems that may arouse when their are others around. Back in the 1920’s that was not the case with the back robbers of that day because they did not have cameras or security systems that they have today. The first banker robber that started it all for others was a famous man by the name of Herman Lamm who robbed his first bank in 1913 (“Bio.com”). Other great bank thieves like Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, and the most famous of all John Dillinger studied and imitated the majestic still of Lamm. John Dillinger was considered the most brilliant and efficient bank robber of all-time and eventually earned the title from the FBI as Public Enemy Number One. In almost two whole years Dillinger and his men robbed a total of twenty-eight banks and took a total of 760,000 dollars which in todays world would be about ten million dollars (“Bio.com”). The FBI covered up the killing of John Dillinger because he was not only public enemy number one and a banker robber but he was a man of the people.
General Strain Theory was discussed by Robert Agnew, and first published in 1992. According to General Strain Theory individuals engage in crime because of strains or stressors which produce anger and anxiety (Agnew, 1992). Crimes become the outlet that the individual uses to cope with or remedy the strains or stressors. Agnew states that there are three different types of deviance producing strains.
As a child he went by “Johnnie.” As an adult he was known as “Jackrabbit” for his moves and quick getaways from the police. As a legend, he was known as “Public Enemy Number One.” His exploits during the depth of the Great Depression made him a headline news celebrity and one of the most feared gangsters of the 20th century. Dillinger then got a job at a machine shop after he quit high school. His father, worried that the temptations of the city were corrupting his teenage son, sold his property in Indianapolis
This paper explores three criminological theories as to why Jeffrey Dahmer committed his crimes. Although these approaches vary in terms of defining the cause of crime, one thing is certain, there is no single cause of crime; the crime is rooted in a diversity of causes and takes a variety of forms depending on the situation in which the crimes occur. However, the published articles vary in their definitions and uses of Criminological Theory. Rawlins (2005) suggest that the criminal phenomenon is too complex to be explained by a single theory. Other theories suggest differently and; therefore, have varying explanations. This paper examines the Psychological, Biochemical, and Social Process theories to slightly explain Jeffrey Dahmer’s actions.
An integrated theory is a combination of 2 or 3 theories that offers many explanations on why crime is occurring, compared to a traditional criminal theory that just focus on one type of aspect (Lilly et al.2010). The purpose of integrated theories is to help explain many aspects into what causes criminal behavior and why one becomes delinquent. From this an argument arises can integrated theories be used to explain all criminal behavior. Integrated theories are successful in explaining certain aspects of crime on what causes one to become deviant; however one theory alone cannot explain why an individual engages in crime. This paper will examine three integrated theories and look in-depth how these theories can explain different aspects on why criminal behavior occurs and the weakness of each theory. The three integrated theories that will be discussed in this paper are Cloward and Ohlin Differential Opportunity theory, Robert Agnew General Strain theory, and lastly Travis Hirschi’s Social Bond theory.
Strain theories of criminal behaviour have been amongst the most important and influential in the field of criminology. Taking a societal approach, strain theories have sought to explain deficiencies in social structure that lead individuals to commit crime (Williams and McShane 2010). Strain theories operate under the premise that there is a societal consensus of values, beliefs, and goals with legitimate methods for achieving success. When individuals are denied access to legitimate methods for achieving success, the result is anomie or social strain. This often leads an individual to resort to deviant or criminal means to obtain the level of success that they are socialized to pursue. This is the basic premise of strain theory. This paper will explore the evolution of strain theories by first examining their intellectual foundations which laid the foundation for Robert Merton’s theories of anomie and strain. Merton’s strain theory will be discussed in detail including the modes of adaptation that people use when faced with societal strain. Finally, the paper will conclude with the strengths and weaknesses of Merton’s strain theory and an examination of the criminological theories and social policies it has influenced.