Criminal Bahviours Flashcards
Definition of crime
Andrew’s and bonta (1998) offer an insight into what criminal behaviour is and includes:
-an act prohibited by law and punishable by state
-an action concidered to be a violation of religious or moral code
-an action that violates the norms of society
-an action that causes serious psychological stress and damage to a victim
What is meant by the term ‘crime is a social construct’
Although crime has a ‘definition’ it doesn’t consider other factors e.g historical context, culture and how these change over time
Muncie and McLaughlin 1996 research
likely that most people have demonstrated several criminal behaviours e.g
Speeding
Drinking underage
Smoking weed
Examples where criminal behaviour isn’t always wrong
Nelson Mandela - campaigned against racial prejudice and spent 27 years in prison he was arrested for conspiracy to overthrow the state
Emmeline Pankhurst - arrested and jailed many times for her fight for women’s equality
Climate change protests
Types of crime - Farr and gibbons 1990
1- property predatory crime
2-property fraudulent crime
3-interpersonal violent general
4-interpersonal violence sexual
5-transactional vice
6-order disruption
7-folk/mundane crime
2 types of crime to remember for exam
1-property predatory crime - involved in attempting or actually taking the property of another - burglary, robbery
2-interpersonal violence general - involved in actions which threaten or cause actual person harm - murder, assult, kidnapping
What are career criminals
Use crime as a primary method for financing their morally bankrupt lives - although career criminals run the full spectrum of age, gender, ethnicity - there are certain psychological traits that bond them
Traits of career criminals
-rationalisation
-entitlement
-asocial value system
-sentimentality
-impulsive
-family dysfunction
-easily distracted
-power centric
-invincibility
-cognitive laziness
3 examples of career criminals traits
Rationalisation - rationaolie own behaviour by diverting blame and questioning motives of others ‘if the lady didn’t want her car stolen shed of been smart and locked it’
Sentimentality - see themselves in. A positive light as they have sentimentality towards certain things e.g animals
Impulsive - lack of control over own temperament
Serial killers - holmes and holmes 2002
Reported many serial killers shared the same characteristics of being white, male and between 25-33 - also tended to be intelligent or at least ‘street smart’ and were considered to be ‘charming and charismatic’
There were 4 sub types
4 different types of serial killers
Visionary:
-no method of selection and kill quick
-motivated by visions/voices
-report their orders are actions from god or devil
-usually declared insane
Mission:
-not psychotic
-need to satisfy a goal/urge
-homeless are usually victims
-believe they have a calling to eliminate a certain group
-may stalk potential victim he thinks is bad
Hedonistic (enjoyment):
-seeks thrill
-for the lust killers there is a link to sexual gratification/violence - they follow a direct process
-comfort killer is for personal gain e.g money - typically female, geographically mobile and hard to catch
Power:
-most dangerous - no empathy
-charming charismatic / intelligent
-often returns back to dead victim to perform sexual or violent acts
-history of childhood abuse
-for sexual gratification
Describe the traits of criminal behaviour (10)
-no set traits
P1- crime is hard to define
‘Act prohibited by law punished by state’ - too many people commit crimes daily e.g speeding/underage drinking
Crime is a social construct and laws become outdated e.g Nelson Mandela and racism and emmiline Pankhurst and women’s rights
P2- Farr and gibbons say there are 7 types of crime e.g
Interpersonal violence general = murder
Property predatory crime = burglary
These criminals don’t have same traits
Career criminals have similar traits = primary motivation of those morally bankrupt
-impulsive
-rational
-sentimentality
P3- however even each crime has different subgroups of characteristics e.g serial killers - holmes and holmes
4 types = visionary, mission, hedonic, power
No crime has a set list of characteristics
