Deconstructing Individual Trait Theories of Crime
In this presentation, the speaker, Professor Robert M. Worley analyses the individual contemporary trait theories. These theories include both physical and biological approaches. Worley discusses the theories that had widely been ignored in the past times by criminologists. Different factors can determine the personality of an individual. The generic factors through the impact of the nervous system and autonomic nervous system have some physiological basis of criminology disposition. As such, most criminals have defects in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Worley says that there is an association between low serotonin levels in individuals and violence. That is, most of the people who are
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This is believed to be possible since these individuals try to raise their serotonin levels and heart rate by becoming violent. On the other hand, an environment can highly influence the traits. Worley gives an example in which if a child is exposed to toxins, poor prenatal care, poverty or abuse may affect their mind and cause them to be violent. In unraveling juvenile delinquency, research done in 1950 and later re-examined in 1993, a sample of nondelinquent and delinquent boys were studied. The delinquents are more likely to have solid and mesomorphic bodies. Also, there are high chances that they are extroverts as well as having less verbal intelligence. The research proved that the delinquents are more likely to misbehave in school and when they did, the behavior usually occurs about three years before the individual record non-delinquency. The bio-social legacy of the parents of delinquent students was consistently poor than that of the non-delinquent students. The students' behavior reflects significant traits. They markedly disliked school, and very few of them expressed the desire to continue their schooling. The parents of the delinquents suffer, for instance, of physical ailments, were mentally retarded and emotionally disturbed. Criminal traits see human personality traits and personalities develop from the interaction with significant people in their lives such as parents or
Crime causation began to be a focus of study in the rapidly developing biological and behavioral sciences during the 19th century. Early biological theories proposed that criminal behavior is rooted in biology and based on inherited traits. Cesare Lombroso (1836-1909), an Italian army prison physician, coined the term “atavism” to describe “the nature of the criminal”...
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...
Finding strong evidence surrounding this topic could be significant to reducing crime rates and addressing the public health issue. What I have learn from research-based evidence and analyzing social and cultural theories, is that criminal behavior is multifaceted and is influenced by a range of determinants in which surrounds the nature versus nurture debate. I believe that nature and nurture both play significant roles to the making of a criminal.
There are a large numbers of social, and environmental factors believed to influence deviant behavior. These factors include family, communities, schools, peer groups, poverty, and socioeconomic situations, many behaviorists believe that values and social expectations as well as learning and social experiences dictate behavior, for example, widely read social learning theorist Albert Bandura, Walter Miscel, and Richard Walters feel that children will model behaviors based on reactions from others. (Siegal, L.J. 2014) Social learning theories support the idea that delinquent behavior is learned.
In conclusion it is shown through examinations of a average criminals biological makeup is often antagonized by a unsuitable environment can lead a person to crime. Often a criminal posses biological traits that are fertile soil for criminal behavior. Some peoples bodies react irrationally to a abnormal diet, and some people are born with criminal traits. But this alone does not explain their motivation for criminal behavior. It is the environment in which these people live in that release the potential form criminal behavior and make it a reality. There are many environmental factors that lead to a person committing a crime ranging from haw they were raised, what kind of role models they followed, to having a suitable victims almost asking to be victimized. The best way to solve criminal behavior is to find the source of the problem but this is a very complex issue and the cause of a act of crime cannot be put on one source.
Tremblay, R. E., Maasse, B., Perron, D., Leblanc, M., Schwartzman, A. E., & Ledingham, J. E. (1992). Early disruptive behavior, poor school achievement, delinquent behavior, and delinquent personality: Longitudinal analyses. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 64-72. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.60.1.64
They also explore the myths about the connection between genetic factors and criminal behavior. The first myth they looked at was “Identifying the Role of Genetics in Criminal Behavior Implies That There Is a “Crime Gene.”” This myth is dismissed because of the unlikelihood that that a single gene is responsible for criminal behavior. The second myth they look at is “Attributing Crime to Genetic Factors is Deterministic.” This myth is also easily dismissed because of the fact that just because someone has a predisposition to a certain behavior doesn’t mean that the person will take on that behavior.
Reif , A., Rosler, M., Freitage, C., Schneider, M., Eujen, A., Kissling, C., Wenzler, D., & Jacob, C. (2007). Nature and nurture predispose to violent behavior: Serotonergic genes and adverse childhood environment. Neuropsychopharmacology, 32(11), 2375-2838.
There is a complex relationship between mental health and crime. The cause of the relationship can include many different and diverse factors early in life. Hodgins (1997) said that the relationship between mental illness and criminality could be supported by three different types of evidence studies. There has been a great deal of theories on the links between personality and crime. One of them was Eysenck’s personality theory.
*There are numerous theories explaining delinquent behavior in children. Some theories examine the role of nature, or the biological factors that influence behavior. Other theories focus on the role of nurture, which is how socialization impacts delinquency in children. * #### While both sides argue that either nature or nurture is more important in child development, the theories arguing both points offer valuable insights into how human children are impacted biologically and socially. !
Biological theories that have been developed in the society which explain the causes of crime focus their idea on the composition of the human body. The physical body, evolutionary factors, inherited genes, brain structures and hormones influences the ability of individuals to engage in criminal activities. It means that there are certain biological compositions that when an individual has them, they cannot resist committin...
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
The distinction between nature versus nurture or even environment versus heredity leads to the question of: does the direct environment or the nature surrounding an adolescent directly influence acts of delinquency, later progressing further into more radical crimes such as murder or psychotic manifestation, or is it directly linked to the hereditary traits and genes passed down from that individual adolescent’s biological parents? To answer this question one must first understand the difference between nature, nurture, environment, and heredity. Nurture, broken down further into environment, is defined as various external or environmental factors one is exposed to which can be more specifically broken down into social and physical aspects. Nature, itself broken down into heredity, is defined as the genetics and the individual characteristics in one’s personality or even human nature.
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...
The cause of parenting helps a child to grow being disciplined with their behavior and the way that they think for themselves and to others. Proper parenting can be performed by any adult or early adulthood aged individuals who are passionate enough to provide necessary care for their children. It is observed that improper parenting style makes their children to grow irresponsible because they can be at risk for becoming delinquent individuals in the future. It has been learned that children who are involved in delinquent activities did not experienced proper parenting, which caused their attitude to be harboring personality disorders. Anti-social personality has been associated for children who grew up without their parents or guardians that made them to think that all illegal behaviors are perceived to be legal. Children become vetera...