Characteristics of criminal behaviour

Question 1

Data on crime - official statistics

Answer 1

In most countries, the government produces official crime statistics annually.
In the UK the Home Office has produced such information since 1805 for England and Wales.
This information is now based on any incident reported to the police or when the police observe or discover an offence.

Question 2

Data on crime - victim surveys

Answer 2

To ask a sample of people to identify which crimes (reported or unreported) have been committed against them over a fixed period of time.
The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) was started in the UK in 1982.
There’s also been one in Northern Ireland since 1994.
Since 2001 the crime survey has been repeated every year and now involves a sample of about 50,000 households.
Everyone over the age of 16 in the household is interviewed.
There’s a smaller sample of 10-15 year olds who are also involved.
The sample is selected randomly from the Royal Mail’s list of addresses.

Question 3

Data on crime - offender surveys

Answer 3

In England and Wales the Offending, Crime and Justice Survey (OCJS) was carried out annually between 2003 and 2006.
The initial sample consisted of people aged 10-65 living in private households in England and Wales.
A subsample of about 5,000 people aged 10-25 at the outset were studied longitudinally up to 2006.

Question 4

Kathryn Farr and Don Gibbons (1990)

Answer 4

Suggested there are seven different types of crime.

Question 5

Property predatory crime

Answer 5

Persons are involved in attempting to or actually taking the personal property of others without permission.

Question 6

Property predatory crime - examples

Answer 6

Burglary.
Robbery.
Car theft.

Question 7

Property fraudulent crime

Answer 7

Persons are involved in deceit or manipulation with the purpose of converting property or services of others to their own use.

Question 8

Property fraudulent crime - examples

Answer 8

Embezzlement.
Fraud.
Bribery.

Question 9

Interpersonal violence general

Answer 9

Persons are involved in actions that threaten or cause actual person harm.

Question 10

Folk / mundane crime

Answer 10

A broad category whereby persons are involved in actions that can range from minor rule violations to more serious violations.
Folk / mundane criminal acts tend to foster public ambivalence and the public generally regards such acts as an inconvenience or nuisance, rather than a crime.

Question 11

Interpersonal violence general - examples

Answer 11

Murder.
Assault.
Kidnapping.

Question 12

Interpersonal violence sexual

Answer 12

Persons are involved in actions that threaten or cause actual person harm, and contain a sexual element.

Question 13

Interpersonal violence sexual - examples

Answer 13

Rape.
Sexual abuse.
Incest.

Question 14

Transactional vice

Answer 14

Persons are involved in “victimless” offences where there is a willing exchange of goods or services.

Question 15

Transactional vice - examples

Answer 15

Prostitution.
Illegal gambling.
Drug sales.

Question 16

Order disruption

Answer 16

Persons are involved in actions where there is no direct victim, but concern is raised about potential victims.

Question 17

Order disruption - examples

Answer 17

Resisting arrest.
Disorderly conduct.
Loitering.
Rioting.

Question 18

Folk / mundane crime - examples

Answer 18

Minor rule violations:
Fishing without a license.
More serious violations:
Load regulations on commercial vehicles.

Question 19

Office of National Statistics (ONS)

Answer 19

Collects and publishes information about the different types and amount of criminal behaviour in the UK.
It currently categorises criminal behaviours into two “primary offence groups”:
Victim-based crimes
Crimes against society

Question 20

Who is a criminal? - example

Answer 20

In the UK, homosexuality was illegal until 1969.
It remains illegal in some countries such as Egypt.

Question 21

Victim-based crimes - examples

Answer 21

Murder.
Violence.
Theft.

Question 22

Crimes against society - examples

Answer 22

Public order offences.
Drug offences.
Possession of weapons.

Question 23

John Muncie and Eugene McLaughlin (1996)

Answer 23

Suggest that, although most people consider themselves to be “law-abiding citizens”, the average person in the UK, if convicted only one for each type of crime they had recently committed, would’ve spent a total of six years in jail and been fined up to £61,000.
This research highlights the problems psychologists have when investigating criminal behaviour.

Question 24

Who is a criminal?

Answer 24

Crime - Any act that violates the law as determined by the state.
This means that, at any time in history, some behaviours may be deemed criminal whereas we might not regard them in the same way now.

Question 25

Is criminal behaviour always wrong?

Answer 25

There are occasions when criminal behaviour is actually morally right.
Sometimes people break the law and demonstrate criminal behaviour in order to highlight a problem with the law, the unjust actions of a particular individual or group, or the prevailing social norms of society in general.

Question 26

Problems for research

Answer 26

The problem for research into criminal behaviour is that we aren’t explaining one king of behaviour - it may involve violence against a person or it may be a peaceful protests against a principle.

Question 27

Mehmet Goren

Answer 27

Jailed for a minimum of 22 years in 2009 for the kidnapping and murder of his 15-year old daughter, Tulay Goren.
Tulay had ran away from home to live with her older boyfriend, a man who her father and family didn’t approve of.
This was reported in the media as an example of an “honour crime”.

Question 28

Sharon Porter

Answer 28

A financial manager.
Pleaded guilty to embezzling £597,944.06 from her employers between Feb 2006 and Oct 2011.
She was sentenced to 3 years in prison.
Her crime was only discovered after she had tried to give a colleague a pay rise from the stolen funds.

Question 29

Background

Answer 29

Criminal behaviour is not categorised as a mental illness and is therefore not included in either the DSM or the ICD.
Therefore, there are no set clinical characteristics.
Crime is a social context.
It’s culturally and time specific.
Many criminals suffer from various mental illnesses, however the crime is seen as an outcome of the illness, rather than as an illness in its own right.
What is considered to be a crime will vary between cultures and also within a culture over time.

Question 30

Crime

Answer 30

An action or omission which constitutes an offence and is punishable by law.

Question 31

Criminal

Answer 31

A person who has committed a crime.

Question 32

Illegal

Answer 32

Contrary to or forbidden by law, especially criminal law.

Question 33

Raine (1993)

Answer 33

A tendency to commit crimes is inherited through the individual’s genes.
According to this explanation one or more genes predispose us towards crime.
Twin studies comparing identical (MZ) and non-identical (DZ) twins show higher concordance rates in the first group.
52% versus 21%.

Question 34

Amygdala activity and criminal behaviour

Answer 34

Increased amygdala activity has been linked to reactive aggression - hot-blooded.
Reduced amygdala volume and activity have been associated to proactive aggression - cold-blooded.

Question 35

Coccaro

Answer 35

Found that people with intermittent explosive disorder have higher levels of amygdala activity when exposed to an environment threat compared to a control group.
Environment threat - image of an angry face.