Offenders and Offending 1&2 (wk 8)

Question 1

Why is important to study offenders and offending?

Answer 1

-Understanding how crime comes about can aid crime prevention.
-Theories of the development and course of criminal behaviour can help us to predict future behaviour, and can have implications for how we deal with offenders.
-Some theories of crime and offending have formed the basis of psychological treatments for offenders (e.g. dysfunctional thought patterns leading to offending treated via CBT)

Question 2

Classical school of criminology

Answer 2

-Law-breaking occurs when people, faced with a choice between behaving rightly and wrongly, choose to behave wrongly

-Emphasizes philosophical concepts such as free will and hedonism (people make a choice on whether to commit crime by weighing up the pros and cons)

-Takes the stance that the punishment must fit the crime (i.e. everyone who commits a given crime deserves the same punishment)

Question 3

Positivist school of criminology

Answer 3

–Emphasise factors that determine criminal behaviour, seeking to understand crime through scientific method and analysis of data (crime is not just a ‘choice’ as the classical theory posits- in reality there are lot of determinants in criminal beahviour)

-Factors may include sociological factors, biological factors, psychological factors, and environmental factors.

-Takes the stance that the punishment must fit the criminal: looks at the broader context of the offender not just you did this crime therefore you get this punishment.

Question 4

How might classical and positivist schools of criminology interact to result the sentencing of an individual?

Answer 4

Classical school of criminology can result in a ‘band’ of punishments for a certain crime that seem reasonable, while, the positivist view (context) determines the specific sentence

Question 5

How Valid are Theories of Crime?

Answer 5

-Validity of criminal theories varies greatly (on a statistical level some theories can account for offending well and others don’t)

-No one theory explains all forms of criminality (all crime is not influenced by the same factors)

-Many theories focus exclusively on violent crime.

-Many theories focus exclusively on men (reflects a bias in the literature)

Question 6

Which gender offends more? And do we offend in the same ways?

Answer 6

-In general, men tend to commit more crimes than women. However, female crime is on the rise

-Different genders commit different types of crime (women= manipulative/ financial crimes. Men= violent offending)

Question 7

Statistically how much of crime does a theory need to account for to be considered valid?

Answer 7

About 10%

Question 8

Sociological Theories

Answer 8

-Propose that crime results from social and cultural forces that are external to any specific individual, and exist prior to the criminal act.

-Crime emerges from social class, political, ecological, or physical structures affecting large groups of people.

-Examples are structural theories and subcultural theories

Question 9

Structural Theories

Answer 9

-Dysfunctional social arrangements prevent people from achieving their goals in a legitimate way (so resort to illegal methods)

-For example…
Poor education
Unemployment
Financial hardship
Disorganized communities

-Doesn’t account for white collar crime, people who are privileged still commit crimes.

-Interesting side note: if this theory stands should people’s background influence the punishment we give to them? If a disadvantaged background has lead them to commit crime then maybe but also have to consider what the purpose of the justice system is- to punish? to rehabilitate?

Question 10

Subcultural Theories

Answer 10

-Criminal behaviour occurs because different behavioural norms are held by different groups. Basically ‘falling in with the wrong crowd’

-Groups pressure their members to deviate from the norms that underlie criminal law.

Question 11

Social-Psychological Theories

Answer 11

-Attempt to bridge the gap between the environmentalism of sociological theories and the individualism of psychological and biological theories.

-Propose that crime is learned through interaction

-Differ on what is learned and how it is learned.

-Examples: learning theories, Control theories, Social Labelling theory

Question 12

Learning Theories

Answer 12

Propose that people learn to commit crime (i.e., in
the absence of this learning, they would not commit crime).
e.g., Social Learning Theory (see something we do it as well- Bobo doll studies)

Question 13

Control Theories

Answer 13

-Propose that people have to learn not to commit
crime (i.e., in the absence of this learning, they would commit crime).
e.g., operant and classical conditioning

Question 14

In what was are learning and control theories opposite?

Answer 14

The baseline is different
-For learning theories the baseline is that people don’t commit crimes and learning then causes them to
-For Control theories the baseline is that people do commit crimes and that learning/ punishment stops them

Question 15

Social labelling theory

Answer 15

Branded as a criminal will start behaving as a criminal

Question 16

Psychological theories

Answer 16

-Propose that crime results from personality attributes that are uniquely possessed, or possessed to a special degree, by the potential criminal

-Examples: psychoanalytic theory of crime, psychopathy

Question 17

Psychoanalytic theory of crime (Freud)

Answer 17

-Three parts of psyche:
The id pushes people to act in selfish ways
The superego is the ethical component
The ego tries to negotiate between the two

-Crime occurs when the ego can’t control the id

Question 18

Psychopathy Checklist- Revised (Hare, 2003)

Answer 18

-Psychopathy is not a DSM diagnosis so this checklist was therefore, an attempt to measure psychopathy..

-Psychopathy has 2 factors both of which have 2 facets:
Interpersonal/ affective= consisting of interpersonal facet and affective facet
Chronic antisocial lifestyle= consisting of a lifestyle facet and an antisocial facet.

-Interpersonal facet= glibness superficial charm, grandiose sense of self worth, pathological lying, conning/ manipulative

-Affective facet= lack of remorse or guilt, shallow affect, callous lack of empathy, failure to responsibility for own actions

-Lifestyle facet= need for stimulation/proneness to boredom, parasitic lifestyle, lack of realistic long term goals, impulsivity, irresponsibility

-Antisocial facet= poor behavioural control, early behavioural problems, juvenile delinquency, criminal versatility

Might just be better to look at the diagram in the hand out- probability don’t have to be able to list all the individual symptoms of the facets, just have the general gist?

Question 19

Is the psychopathy checklist revised a good predictor for criminal behaviour?

Answer 19

This checklist is a good predictor for risk of criminal behaviour but then again the checklist measures criminal behaviour directly via the antisocial facet therefore we can’t conclusive conclude that psychopathy is the driver of criminal behaviour

Question 20

Dual model of psychopathy

Answer 20

1. neurologically unable to experience the level of fear or anxiety normal people do
2. inability to adequately control impulses for doing
   inappropriate things

Question 21

Is psychopathy impossible to treat? Where might this thinking have arose from?

Answer 21

-It can be difficult to treat, as individuals often have no motivation or desire to be rehabilitated but it is not impossible to treat

-The reason the mentality is often that psychopathy are impossible to treat is because of studies like the Oakridge experiment were treatment backfired.

-Oakridge experiment: psychopaths were put against their will in a psychiatric facility and given ‘treatment’. These treatments included: starving individuals of human contact, drugs (LSD), naked isolation etc. They then measured recidivism (re-offending) and found the psychopaths were committing just as many offences as the control group (psychopaths who had not received ‘treatment’) but were more violent in their offending. Just because treatment didn’t work in this case doesn’t mean that psychopaths are impossible to treat- likely more a reflection the terrible treatment methods they used in the study.

Question 22

What is the closest disorder in the DSM to psychopathy?

Answer 22

-Antisocial personality disorder

-The ‘symptoms’ are similar to what is on the psychopathy checklist.

Question 23

Sensation seeking and it’s link to criminal behaviour

Answer 23

-Sensation seeking= amount of physiological arousal you need for life to be tolerable. There is an individual level for each of us.

-Psychopaths tend to be high in sensation seeking like adrenaline junkies. This is not to say that adrenaline junkies (like Alex Honnold) are psychopathic but they do tend to share a characteristic with psychopaths- less anxiety in high sensation seeking situations.

Question 24

Biological theories

Answer 24

-Propose that genetic influences, neuropsychological abnormalities, and biochemical irregularities play a role in criminal behaviour
-These biological dispositions are translated into specific criminal behaviour through environments and social interactions

Question 25

Twin studies

Answer 25

-Monozygotic (identical) twins versus dizygotic (fraternal) twins

-Concordance Rate - percentage of twins that share the behaviour of interest.

-If the concordance rate for identical twins (who share a higher percentage of DNA-100%) is significantly higher than the concordance rate for fraternal twins (only 50%), we can tentatively conclude that the behaviour is genetically influenced.

-In this case the behaviour would be crime but this thinking could apply to any behaviour

Question 26

Adoption study

Answer 26

-When biological parents are criminal but adoptive parents are not the criminal influence is biology

-When biological parents are noncriminal but adoptive parents are the criminal influence is environment

-The crime rate is higher in the 1st condition as opposed to the second: biology/genes has more of an influence on crime

Question 27

MAOA gene

Answer 27

-We all have this gene but there are different variants of the gene

-One of these genes variant is associated with violence in certain situations (need the variant of the gene and a tough/ violent upbringing for it to have an effect)

-Example of irresponsible reporting by the press. This variant is typically found at higher percentages in Māori populations. Press started calling it the Māori warrior gene.

Question 28

What gets inherited?

Answer 28

-Constitutional predisposition (body characteristics like being big or tall influence the likelihood someone will offend as influences their success as a criminal.)

-Neuropsychological abnormalities (e.g. offenders more likely to have abnormal EEG patterns)

-Autonomic nervous system differences (prefrontal cortex differences- lack of planning, impulsivity, controlling behaviour)

-Physiological differences (chronically low levels of autonomic activation- less anxiety about actions/ getting caught?, higher testosterone levels, lower serotonin, insulin increase)

-Personality and temperament differences (antisocial)

Question 29

James Fallon

Answer 29

-Studied psychopaths for years
-Found out his own brain patterns were similar to a psychopath
-Case showing that lots of things have to conspire together to cause offending and an individual may ‘tick the boxes’ but ultimately everyone is different and it is hard to predict offending
-James Fallon’s view: 3 things that together result in a psychopath. Brain damage, genetics, abuse.

Question 30

What is the offending peak? What are the two possible ‘options’ to explain it?

Answer 30

“Adult antisocial behaviour virtually requires childhood antisocial behaviour, yet most antisocial youths don’t go on to become antisocial adults”

-Creates a peak in teenager years where there are a lots of people offend and then gradually diminishes

-Option 1= A change in the number of people willing to offend = PREVALENCE. In other words, the people in teen years who offend are new to offending and won’t continue to offend once their adults.

-Option 2= A change in the number of crimes that people are committing = INCIDENCE. It is the same people offending they just do so at different rates

Question 31

Which of the ‘options’ to explain the offending peak is likely to be correct?

Answer 31

-Option 1= A change in the number of people willing to offend = PREVALENCE. In other words, the people in teen years who offend are new to offending and won’t continue to offend once their adults.

Question 32

Moffitt (1993)

Answer 32

-Dunedin Multidisciplinary Study (all babies born in Dunedin during 1972)

-There are distinct individual differences in the stability of antisocial behaviour.
> Temporary and situational= those that just offend in teen years
> Stable and persistent= start with problems and persist throughout life

= Two qualitatively different categories of individuals requiring two theoretical explanations.

Question 33

Life Course Persistent antisocial behaviour (ASB) ?

Answer 33

-Displays continuity across the lifespan and across situations.

-Heterotypic continuity = continuity of an inferred trait or attribute that is presumed to underlie diverse behaviours.

-This underlying disposition changes its manifestation when age and social circumstances alter opportunities (antisocial behaviour manifests in different ways throughout the lifespan)

Question 34

What Puts a Child at Risk for life course persistent (LCP) antisocial behaviour (ASB)?

Answer 34

-Neuropsychological deficits that are present at birth or occur around the time of birth.

-Maternal drug use, poor nutrition, exposure to toxic agents, delivery complications, heritability.

-Presents as problems with temperament, verbal functioning, and/or executive functioning.

-Interactional continuity: children with cognitive/temperamental problems are often not born into supportive environments:
> temperament and personality
> cognitive ability
> home and neighbourhood environment
Interaction between problems in the child and problems in the family/ environment.

Question 35

How does Life Course Persistent ASB Develop?

Answer 35

-Evocative Interaction: when our behaviour evokes distinct responses from others (for example, the kid that no one liked in school)

-Reactive Interaction: when we interpret our environment according to our behavioural style (for example, brush past and the kid interprets it as a deliberate and so reacts)

-Proactive Interaction: when we seek out environments that support our own style (gravitate towards those similar to us)

Question 36

What are the Consequences of these Interactions?
(interactions that occur in LCP individuals that result in continuation of ASB)

Answer 36

-Cumulative Consequences – the “snowball effect”
A → B → C → D
for example: Verbal functioning problems- not doing well at school- avoid school- get in trouble out of school- not likely to get an education-can’t get a job

-Contemporary Consequences – the same factor influences several later factors
A → B and A → C and A → D

Question 37

How Do We Account for the Continuation of the ASB in life course persistent individuals?

Answer 37

-Limited behavioural repertoire: individuals haven’t learnt the skills they need because right from the start they have had problems)

-Becoming ensnared by the consequences of ASB (trapped by actions: drug addiction, no education, teen pregnancy etc.)

Question 38

What is adolescence- limited ASB?

Answer 38

Antisocial teenagers who have no notable history of antisocial behaviour in childhood and no future as antisocial adults

Question 39

Why does adolescence limited ASB start?

Answer 39

-Social mimicry of antisocial youths

-Social Mimicry = when one species mimics the behaviour of a more successful species to gain access to a valuable resource

-Valuable Resource in this case= Mature Status

-AL teenagers notice that LCP teenagers don’t seem to suffer as much from the maturity gap.

LCP teenagers have and AL teenagers want these things:
Possessions
Sexual experience
Freedom from family
Decision-making
Effect on society

Question 40

What is the maturity gap?

Answer 40

Gap between psychically being an adult and being allowed to do adult things like drive, vote, drink

Question 41

How is Adolescence-Limited ASB Reinforced?

Answer 41

By its consequences:
-Damaging quality of interactions with parents
-Provoking responses from adults in authority
-Looking older
-Tempting fate
= STATEMENTS OF PERSONAL INDEPENDENCE

Question 42

Why Don’t ALL Teenagers Become Delinquent?

Answer 42

1. Maturity gap doesn’t occur/is not perceived:
   -Late puberty (means less of a maturity gap)
   -Access to roles respected by adults (for example: part time job, responsibilities etc.)
2. Lack of exposure to life course persistent (LCP) adolescent role models
   -lack of physical access
   -personality characteristics (just don’t want to be like them)

Question 43

What relationship has been revealed between changes in the maturity gap with time and the offending peak?

Answer 43

The maturity gap has increased with time and subsequently so has the offending peak.

Question 44

Why does adolescent limited antisocial behaviour stop?

Answer 44

1. Waning motivations
2. Shifting contingencies (there are punishments for criminal acts like having a criminal record and you know you need a job for example)
3. The presence of options for change (you have the skills created in a normal childhood which is different to life course persistent individuals who become stuck)