Rick's Story and Random Bits

Question 1

What are two biological theories that could apply to Rick?

Answer 1

1.Criminal Families
Criminality seems to run in families although it is arguable whether that is due to genetic factors, socialization, or a combination of both. In Rick’s case, being born into a family with high rates of criminality (e.g. his father, and his brothers), makes him more predisposed to criminality.

2.Genetic Factors of Mental illness:
Genetic factors can contribute to the development of mental illnesses including substance abuse disorders. For Rick, having a father with a substance abuse disorder makes him predisposed to develop the same disorder.

Question 2

What are two cognitive theories that could apply to Rick?

Answer 2

1. Moral Development Theory (Piaget and abuse)
   According to Piaget, moral development is better facilitated in environments characterized by love, warmth, and clear boundaries. Environments characterized by rejection, abuse, and harsh punishment can impede moral development, affecting a person’s ability of moral reasoning. For Rick, he lived in a home where his mother was largely absent and withdrawn, his father was rarely around and when he was, he brought high levels of conflict and stress with him, and his grandmother was abusive. According to Piaget’s theory of moral development, Rick was living in an environment unconducive to moral reasoning development which would impact his ability to make moral decisions entire life.
2. Kohlberg moral development:
   Moral development happens in stages as children grow up. It is learning that can be fostered in environments like home and school. The first two stages occur in the range Kohlberg calls pre-conventional morality. At this stage, you have a fear of punishment and authority, and will act towards your own self interest and are motivated by reward and punishment. In Conventional morality, the next two stages, you begin to develop concern for others, and recognize the role of society in upholding the law and social organization. In the final two stages, principled morality, you develop an understanding of the social contract, and recognize the dignity and rights of other people. Kohlberg suggests that many people do not move much beyond the stages of conventional morality but for Rick, likely because of the environment he was raised in, he did not have the opportunity to develop beyond pre-conventional morality. In this case he was guided entirely by self-interest and was unable to consider the effect of his actions on others.

Question 3

How do Andrew and Bonta’s theory apply to Rick?

Answer 3

1. Criminogenic domains
   Bonta and Andrews developed this theory. It is the idea that there are risk factors and protective factors for criminality. Risk factors include Having a previous criminal history, have anti-social attitudes, having an anti-social personality, and having criminal associates. Other risk factors including having low self-control , family factors (criminal family, marital instability, poor parenting skills, low social achievement, substance abuse, and a lack of prosocial pursuits.

For Rick, he has many of these risk factors. He started criminal activity from a young age (has a criminal history) and has criminal associates (his brothers). As well, his family has a great deal of marital conflict (parents always fighting when his father was around), had neglectful parents (father never around, mother withdrawn and distant), as well as criminal behaviour in the family (brothers and father). Rick had low social achievement in that he left school at a young age, and also started abusing drugs at a very young age.

Question 4

What are three social structure theories on crime that apply to Rick?

Answer 4

1. Social disorganization/criminality of place
   Although typically looked at on a larger scale, the idea of transience as a form of social disorganization applies to Rick. He moved all around across the country living in various states of poverty with no opportunity to build a sense of connectedness or belonging to a community. As well, he was often living in that criminology of place would call “criminal hot spots” (i.e. the most impoverished neighborhoods in inner cities. This instability combined with location can increase risk of criminality.
2. Strain Theory/General Strain Theory:
   Strain theory suggests that criminal behaviour is an adaptive response when socially acceptable ways of meeting goals are not available. People who have the means to do so will conform to socially acceptable ways of reaching the goals but means are not equally distributed so those who face more barriers (or experience more strain) will resort to innovate, sometimes criminal ways of reaching those goals. Strain can include experiences of social oppression (e.g. based on class, race, sexual orientation, gender etc.) or, under general strain theory, can also include individual factors like experiencing ACE’s.

For Rick, he experienced a great deal of strain, including ACE’s such as abuse and neglect, exposure to marital conflict, mental illness, and substance use etc. He also experienced homelessness, victimization (predator at the NA meeting), had criminal associates etc.

3. Violent Subcultures:
   Violent subcultures is the theory that in certain cultures, violence can have advantages. The violent behaviour is saturated in the environment where you learn it and are rewarded for it. For Rick, this especially applies to his experience in prison where violence was a form of self-protection where he could establish himself as a someone who is not to be “messed with”, or use it to respond to insults (e.g. being called a “goof”).

Question 5

What are two social process theories that apply to Rick?

Answer 5

1. Differential association theory:
   The idea that we learn techniques and attitudes for criminality from others. The extent to which that person has an affect on our learning is based on a variety of factors including Frequency (how often we see them), duration (the length of time we see them), priority (how early in life we met them), and intensity (how much value we have on the relationship. This means that family and peers are often key sources for learning criminality.
   For Rick the fact that his family exposed him to violence and crime at an early age could be an influence on his early entrance into crime. His father and brothers were involved in criminal activity and drug use, he experienced violence and abuse from his grandmother etc.
2. Social bonds and attachment: the idea is that people who have connections to their community, prosocial bonds with other people, have a reason to behave morally, they have more to lose with criminal behaviour. For Rick we can see the difference in his desire to meaningfully engage in his community after he left prison with a social support system. When he had people in his life who cared for him and whom he cared for, he was more motivated to change his behaviour and do better.