The Reward Dominance Theory states that all human behavior is controlled and regulated by two opposing mechanisms. The first being, the behavioral activating system, which is associated with the neurotransmitter dopamine as well as the pleasure areas of the brain. The second mechanism is known as the behavioral inhibition system, which is associated with the neurotransmitter serotonin and the parts of the brain that control memory. The Super Traits Theory, also known as the General Theory, states that an individual with a lack of self-control is the main factor behind criminal behavior. It also states that there are five different life domains that govern self-control: personality, family, school, and work. This paper will discuss the similarities …show more content…
and differences between these two theories. With the Reward Dominance Theory, every human action is, in a sense, dictated by the behavioral activating system and the behavioral inhibition system. These two systems are what control a human and how they react to outside stimuli. Should there be a person with a normal behavioral activating system, but have a faulty behavioral inhibition system, then that person is more likely to act upon their impulses and get into more legal trouble than a person who has a properly functioning behavioral inhibition system. Another system that help control behavior is the flight/fight system. The flight/fight system, which is controlled by adrenaline, helps to tell human beings and other animals when and when not to engage in a certain action that could be harmful to them. Essentially, the flight/fight system is the voice in the back of peoples heads saying, "Danger, danger! Avoid at all costs!" There have been comparisons made of the Reward Dominance Theory and that of Freud's model of approach and avoidance. The behavioral activating system can be likened to that of the id, a powerful feeling that pushes people to appease their natural urges. Just as well, the behavioral inhibition system and the flight/fight system can be compared to that of the superego, which helps to control and reign in peoples' more natural, wild desires and helps to keep humans from reverting to an animalistic state. When someone has a weak behavioral inhibition system, a weak flight/fight system and a strong behavioral activating system, according to the Reward Dominance Theory, it is the makeup of a possible criminal. The Super Traits Theory, more commonly known as the General Theory, states that an individuals lack of self-control is what leads them to commit crimes. The theory explains that multiple factors go into an individual having low self-control. Agnew states that biological factors have a direct effect on personality and that individuals with inherent low self-control and bad tempers will usually receive negative responses from other individuals. Those negative responses only make their irritability, or "negative emotionality", and tendencies worse. One of the factors in Super Traits Theory is poor parenting. Without proper parenting and discipline before a certain age, the child might not be able to differentiate right from wrong. They would be ignorant of what is and is not socially acceptable in today's society. If abused, the child may resort to violent tendencies to vent their frustration and anger, and, if left unattended, could develop violent tendencies. Another factor is negative school experiences. If the child is bullied or harassed while in school, negative emotionality can set in and make their tendencies even worse. Low grades in school can also cause this, as the child may feel pressured by society to succeed. When the child then fails to meet societies standards, it has a chance of furthering their negative emotionality towards society, and possibly pushing them towards criminal behavior. Associating with delinquents is another way for someone with low self-control to further themselves down a life of crime. Being around such bad influences could cause their negative emotionality for society to rise and would feed into their desire for excitement, and impulsiveness since most other delinquents act upon their impulsive nature or their disdain for modern society. A poor-paying job, combined with low self-control can result in criminal behavior as well. Unemployment can have the same effect also, feeling as though they are a failure in society, they may resort to criminal methods in order to get money. Agnew's Super Traits Theory and the Reward Dominance Theory have some things in common.
They both agree that lack of self-control and impulsiveness have a lot to do with the biological aspects of the brain. The Reward Dominance Theory talks of the behavioral activating system, the behavioral inhibition system and the flight/fight system which, if balanced, helps individuals control and keep themselves from doing things that would put them in a bad predicament. Agnew had a similar statement, saying that "biological factors [ANS and brain chemistry] have a direct effect on irritability/self-control..." (Introduction to Criminology, 342). Both theories agree that the main cause of criminality have roots in biological factors and that impulsiveness and lack of self-control are largely genetic. However, this is where the similarities between the two theories ends. While the Reward Dominance Theory implies that the impulsiveness and lack of self-control that lead to criminality are strictly biological, Agnew argues that outside stimuli also have a fairly large, defining factor as to whether or not an individual results to criminal behavior. Simply being reckless and impulsive does not make one a criminal, rather, it requires other outside sources and strains for a person with low self-control and impulsiveness to resort to criminality. Agnew's Super Traits Theory can explain the effects that gender, race, and age have in criminality, as well as point out the differences between those who only committed offenses in their adolescence and individuals who continue their life of crime. When it comes to gender, Agnew found that males are at a greater risk to inherit low self-control compared to females. This could possibly be explained due to evolution, since aggressiveness has led to success in reproduction. Agnew goes on to argue that when it comes to race, African Americans have a higher probability of being poor and to be discriminated against, which can lead to negative
emotionality and an impulsive lifestyle for some African Americans. Agnew goes on to say that immaturity can be tied to the adolescent brain, as it is undergoing "remodeling". Hormonal surges are also occurring during this remodeling stage which can lead to aggression in some adolescents. This aggression is only temporary throughout adolescence, however, and those that continue to commit crime afterwards have a stable characteristic of low self-control/negative emotionality. Unlike the Reward Dominance Theory, which suggests that criminals act based off of their desires and lack of control of them, Agnew's Super Traits Theory provides that criminality is also largely because of society and the way society as a whole reacts to those who have low self-control/irritability, such as when someone without as much self-control as a normal person gets fired from their job. The individual may feel as though they no other choice other than to resort to a unlawful way of obtaining money in order to survive. Another example would be that the individual had neglective parents that never taught them right from wrong and let them do as they please. This could lead that individual to act upon their reckless nature and believe there to be no consequences for their actions, and when punished by law enforcement, could also possibly lead to negative emotionality towards society and its laws. The Reward Dominance Theory, however, simply states that anyone with a strong enough behavioral activating system and a weak enough behavioral inhibition system as well as a weak flight/fight system is more than likely to resort to criminality and other anti-social behavior. The main difference between these two theories, Agnew's Super Traits Theory and the Reward Dominance Theory, is that the Reward Dominance Theory is much more narrowed down than the Super Traits Theory. It is simply implying that when an individual has low self-control, they are more than likely to engage in criminal behavior, no matter their environment or the people whom they surround themselves with. However, Agnew's theory implies that there is more to just biological predisposition to make an individual into a true criminal. Rather, it takes not only low self-control but also the reactions of those around the individual to lead them to develop and harbor negative emotionality, which can later on develop into criminality. While these two theories may seem to see eye-to-eye on the topic of biological predisposition, it seems that compared to Agnew's Super Traits, the Reward Dominance theory is a bit narrow. Both the Reward Dominance Theory and Agnew's Super Traits Theory can be beneficial in understanding criminals and why they commit said crimes. Reward Dominance Theory helps others to see why certain individuals would choose to abandon their reasoning to pursue their carnal desires, even if it meant landing them in serious trouble with law enforcement, possible harm, or even death. It also helps to understand what goes on in the psychopathic mind and what compels these individuals to act in such a way. Theories such as this can also help correction officers to deal with such individuals in a more productive and less violent way. Using theories such as the Reward Dominance Theory, we can even learn how to spot such behavior before it comes to the point of criminality and treat it accordingly. This theory is not perfect, however, As it does not help to understand what goes on in the mind of certain other offenders, ones that are not simply motivated by their carnal desires. Some individuals have deeper motives to their criminal behavior, which is where Agnew's theory comes in. Agnew's theory of Super Traits helps to further explain why those with low self-control may resort to criminality. Giving evidence such as the strains between family, school grades, peers who partake in delinquent-like activities and poor-paying work/unemployment, Agnew's theory sheds more light as to why other people would resort to criminalistic tendencies, rather than just blaming lack of self-control itself. Both of these theories can help criminologists and law enforcement officials understand the criminal a great deal more, however, not all criminals lack self-control. Some individuals who are considered to be completely stable have committed crimes as well, such as forgery, heat of passion, etc. While these two theories help a great deal, more information and theories are needed in order to fully understand the "why" of crime. Overall, writing this paper was a fairly enlightening experience. I've learned quite a bit when it comes to what might make an individual commit a crime or do something that another person might not think is a smart thing to do. Learning more about the human mind has always interested me and being able to find out what some of the primary causes of criminality has been a very interesting experience. It was interesting to see that it is not always just an imbalance in the brain or certain circumstances of one's upbringing that can cause a person to resort to a criminal lifestyle, but rather many other factors, including what society expects of us, or rather, what we expect for society to expect from us. That stress can cause any individual to resort to actions they would not normally commit. After writing this paper, I now know more about really causes other people to commit crimes and how genetics and biological factors can play a huge role in determining whether someone is at a higher risk to exhibit criminality. In the end, researching and learning about these two theories was pretty enjoyable and furthered my interest in the criminal justice field.
The Self-Control Theory is self explanatory, for example people with little or no self-control are lazy, impulsive, lose their tempers ea...
The self-control theory suggested that people engaged in criminal behaviors as they believed that crime was an advisable way of fulfilling their self-interest, which provided them a sense of pleasure immediately. Everyone has different ability to control their impulses for instant satisfaction, the ability mainly developed before puberty and relatively stable over the life span. The probability for engaging in criminal behaviors was greater in people with low self-control than those with high self-control. Moreover, the self-control theory suggested that the relationship between self-control and the involvement in criminal behaviors was less affected by factors like peer influences or cultural influences (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). Therefore, self-control theory is totally different from differential association theory. According to Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990), the major cause of children with low self-control may be inefficient parenting. Parents should monitor their children, keep the children under surveillance, and actively react to improper behaviors. They should be able to recognize when deviance occurs, then punished and disapproved that misbehaviors. If the parents failed to do so, children with low self-control may be produced and thus the children may have a greater likelihood to commit in
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
This theory offers an explanation for how personality flaws developed in youth lead to delinquent behavior later on in life. In this theory, Freud posits that that the personality is comprised of three elements known as the id, ego, and superego (Siegel & Welsh, 2017). The id is indulgent and desires instant gratification. This aspect is present from birth while the ego forms gradually over time. The ego acts as a filter for the id and aids in controlling compulsive tendencies that the id creates. Finally, the superego is fostered through connections with close relatives and instills virtue and ethics. While the superego is the conscientious aspect and the id is the indulgent aspect, the ego acts as a buffer for the two, creating moral behavior. While all three aspects function concurrently, a balance between the three allows individuals to exhibit healthy behavior and responses. When one element is expressed more outwardly than the other two, the balance is disrupted and the personality
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.
For instance, Donner & Jennings (2014) contributes to literature built on previous research in low self-control theory. Low self-control theory (as cited by Donner & Jennings, 2014) contends that individuals who lack self control are generally impulsive risk takers with non-verbal skills who have short sighted goals. (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990) Therefore, many studies in self-control design their measures around impulsive behaviors which are generally manifested in low level crime. (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990)
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.
It also includes the factors of social environment. It recognizes more factors of influence, building on trait theory. Arousal theory provides that individuals have different levels of arousal affected by the nervous system, chemistry in the brain, and heart rhythm. The basic idea of this theory is that certain actions, including the act of committing a crime, causes a “thrill” to some. They seek out the thrill and stimulation provided by these actions. Thus, a feeling that is positive, created by an action, will cause someone to seek out that feeling. Genetic theory is another trait theory. Genetics being the sole influence that might make a person behave in a certain way is the explanation of this theory. A certain genetic configuration causes personality traits, and determines behaviors the individual will be likely to have. Attachment theory uses psychology to suggest that criminal behavior is linked with a lack of a personal relationship or attachment as an infant. This lack of positive attachment to a motherly figure leads to psychological problems, such as antisocial behavior. Nature theory is that criminal activity is based on IQ, whereas a low IQ means more of a possibility of criminal behavior. Social structure theory provides that social and economic events and
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.
Developmental theories are broken up into two perspectives; Life-course, and Latent Trait. These perspectives may answer questions on why juveniles have grown to lead a destructive life-style and why others grow out of their delinquency. Latent trait explains that some tendencies we are may be born with and how important it is to be there for our children. Our parenting skills do have a profound effect on how our children may lack self control or have an impulsive behavior.
Psychology covers a huge field and one interesting aspect of it is personality. Personality by itself involves various issues. Some aspects are Psychoanalytic, Ego, Biological, Behaviorist, Cognitive, Trait, and Humanistic. Different types of behaviors are amazing to learn about, mainly the behavior therapy, collective behavior, crime and punishment, and Social behavior and peer acceptance in children. I chose Behaviorism over the other aspects because I believe behavior determines human personality and is very interesting. You can tell what one is by his behavior, and one behaves according to what place he has in society. By doing this paper on Behavior, I hope to get a better understanding of, if behavior develops a personality or if personality guides behavior. I also see behaviorism helping me in the future with my personal and professional career by understanding human personality and behavior better than I do. No matter what your major is, if you can determine one's personality by his behavior you can really get your work done from that person and understand the better than you would otherwise. This person could be your employee or your employer. Behavior Therapy Behavior therapy is the application of experimentally derived principles of learning to the treatment of psychological disorders. The concept derives primarily from work of Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov. Behavior-therapy techniques differ from psychiatric methods, particularly psychoanalysis, in that they are predominately symptom (behavior) oriented and shows little or no concern for unconscious processes, achieving new insight, or effecting fundamental personality change. The U.S. psychologist B.F. Skinner, who worked with mental patients in a Massachusetts State hospital, popularized behavior therapy. From his work in animal learning, Skinner found that the establishment and extinction of responses can be determined by the way reinforces, or rewards, are given. The pattern of reward giving, both in time and frequency, is known as a schedule of reinforcement. The gradual change in behavior in approximation of the desired result is known as shaping. More recent developments in behavior therapy emphasize the adaptive nature of cognitive processes. Behavior-therapy techniques have been applied with some success to such disturbances as enuresis (bed-wetting), tics, phobias, stutteri...
Agnew, R. (1985). Social Control Theory and Delinquency: A Longitudinal Test. Criminology Volume 23 , 47-59.
Lastly, the findings of trait theory and its components described within the paper will be summarised. Major contributors to the trait theory of personality include three prominent psychologists. Boeree (2006) states that American born psychologist Gordon Allport has been described as the founding father of personality trait theory. Allport’s distinguished career included holding the presidency of the American Psychological Association (APA) and receiving the Gold Medal Award and a Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the APA (Carducci, 2009, p. 260). After meeting with Sigmund Freud in 1922 and studying his interpretation of personality, Allport developed the opinion that psychoanalysis was too in-depth while behaviourism was far too shallow in the field of personality psychology.
There are various theories within the biological explanation as to why individuals commit criminal behaviour, these include: genetic theory, hereditary theory, psychosis and brain injury theory. In the next few paragraphs examples of each will be shown.
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...