Criminal Behaviours Flashcards by Izzy Davies

What are the 7 types of crime?

1 - Property predatory crime
2 - Property fraudulent crime
3 - Interpersonal violence general
4 - Interpersonal violence sexual
5 - Transactional vice
6 - Order distruption
7 - Folk/mundane crime

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Who suggested the 7 types of crime?

Kathryn Farr and Don Gibbons (1990)

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What is property predatory crime?

Persons are involved in attempting/taking personal property of others without permission.

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What is property fraudulent crime?

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

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What is interpersonal violence general?

Persons are involved in actions that threaten or cause harm to another.

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What is interpersonal violence sexual?

Persons are involved in actions that threaten or cause harm to another with a sexual element.

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What is transactional vice?

Persons involved in ‘victimless’ crimes where there is an offer or exchange of services or goods.

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What is order disruption?

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

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What is folk/mundane crime?

Persons involved in actions that can range from minor rule violations to more serious violations. These crimes are generally regarded as a nuisance rather than a crime.

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What are the 2 biological explanations for criminal behaviour?

Inherited criminality & Role of the amygdala

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What are the individual differences explanations for criminal behaviour?

Eysenck’s criminal personality
Cognitive factors

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What are the social psychological explanations for criminal behaviour?

Differential association theory
Gender socialisation

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What are the methods of modifying behaviour for criminal behaviour?

Anger management
Restorative justice

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What are the genetic factors in inherited criminality?

One or more genes predispose individuals to criminal behaviour.

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Who did research into the genetic factors of inherited criminality?

Adrian Raine (1993)

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What was Adrian Raine’s study?

Reviewed research on delinquent behaviour of twins. Found 52% similarity for identical twins compared with 21% for non-identical twins.

Which 2 genes have especially been linked to behaviour?

Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA)
Cadherin 13 (CDH13)

Who did research into the link between MAOA gene and criminality?

Han Brunner et al (1993)

What was Han Brunner et al’s study?

Analysed DNA of 28 male members of a Dutch family with history of violent behaviour.
They found that the men shared a gene that led to low levels of MAOA.

Who did research into the link between CDH13 gene and criminality?

Jari Tiihonen et al (2015)

What was Jari Tiihonen et al’s study?

900 offenders with evidence of low MAOA activity also had low activity from the CDH13 gene.
Estimated that 5-10% of all violent crime in Finland is due to abnormalities in these two genes.

How does inherited criminality link to diathesis-stress?

Genes linked to criminal behaviour ‘switched’ on/off by environmental factors.

Who did research into the relationship between criminal behaviour and diathesis-stress?

Caspi et al (2002)

Who did research into the relationship between criminal behaviour and differences in the brain?

Adrain Raine (2004) and Seo et al (2008)

What was Caspi et al's research?

Assessed antisocial behaviour at age 26. Found that 12% of men with low MAOA had experienced some sort of maltreatment but were responsible for 44% of violent convictions.

How does inherited criminality link to differences in the brain?

'Criminal' genes may cause differences in areas of the brain or in key neurotransmitters. Both high and low levels of noradrenaline have been linked with aggression and violence as it helps people to perceive threats and so abnormal levels reduce this ability.

What was Adrian Raine's research into inherited criminality and differences in the brain?

Cited 71 brain imaging studies showing that murders, psychopaths and generally violence individuals have reduced functioning in the prefrontal cortex.

What was Seo et al's research into inherited criminality and differences into the brain?

Suggest low levels of neurotransmitter serotonin may predispose them the impulsive and aggressive criminal behaviours.

What are the strengths of the inherited criminality explanation?

Research support (Adoption studies)

What are the weaknesses of the inherited criminality explanation?

Doesn't explain non-violent crimes Deterministic Cause or effect?

Explain strength of inherited criminality - research support.

Raymond Crowe (1972) - Adopted children with biological parent with criminal record had a 38% greater risk of having criminal record by 18. Adopted children with biological parent without criminal record only 6% risk of having criminal record by 18.

Explain weaknesses of inherited criminality - Doesn't explain non-violent crimes.

Most research looks into association between violent behaviour and genes. Biological explanations may just account for certain types of crime, e.g, violence and psychopathy. Criminal behaviour also includes non-violent crimes such as fraud, drug use etc. Lynn Findlay (2011) - crime isn't a 'natural' category. People created this category and includes many different types of crime making it difficult to argue such behaviour can be explained in terms of genetics.

Explain weaknesses of inherited criminality - Problems with deterministic explanations.

Genetic explanations are presented as if genes determine later behaviour. Evidence shows that criminality cannot be explained 100% by genetics. E.g. Tiihonen et al (2015). However, law asks if the cause of behaviour is outside persons control. Or at least it is harder for some to resist criminal behaviour. This could be due to genetics and environment.

Explain weaknesses of inherited criminality - Brain differences : Cause or effect?

For genes to be linked to criminal behaviour, they must be linked to physical or psychological effect. However many observations suggest that criminals report having had some kind of head injury, therefore brain differences could be caused by nurture rather than nature.