Download Biosocial Trait Theories Biochemical Conditions and

Chapter 6
Trait Theory
Criminology 8th edition
Larry J. Siegel
© 2003 Wadsworth Publishing Co.
QUESTION
Do you think that people who commit crime
are physically or mentally abnormal?
TRAIT THEORIES

Trait theories are made up of biosocial and
psychological theories.

The primary focus of trait theories is
human behavior and the link to anti-social
behavior, i.e., aggression, violence, and
criminality.
Biological and Psychological Traits

Both biological and psychological traits have been
linked to criminal behavior, but not as causal
linkages.

It is the “multiple factor” approach or the interaction
of mental and physical traits with environmental and
social factors that either suppress or trigger
criminal behavior.

The focus is generally on persistent or chronic
offenders.
Foundations of Biological Trait
Theory
Biological explanation of criminal behavior first
became popular during the middle part of the 19th
Century with the introduction of positivism.
What is positivism?
Positivism

Positivism rejects the concept of free will.

Crime can only be understood if it is studied
by the scientific method.

Human behavior is a function of internal and
external forces, i.e., social, biological,
psychological, or economic forces.
Early Positivists

Early positivists included:

Lombroso (belief that certain physical characteristics
indicate a criminal nature).

Garofalo (certain physical characteristics and psychological
characteristics indicate criminal nature).

Ferri (belief in biological, social and organic factors as a
cause of crime and delinquency).

Sheldon (belief in body types which were susceptible to
certain types of delinquent behavior).
Problems With Early Positivist
Theories
The research
of the earliest
positivists
(who were
biologists) was
plagued by
poor:
Methodology
Testing
Logic
Biosocial Trait Theories

Biochemical Conditions and Crime

Neurophysiological Conditions and Crime

Genetics and Crime

Evolutionary Views and Crime
Principles of Biosocial Trait
Theories

Genetic makeup contributes significantly to
human behavior.

Not all humans are born with equal potential
to learn and achieve.

This combination produces individual human
behavior patterns.
QUESTION
How does a biosocial theorists
explain learning?
Biosocial Theory:
Biochemical Perspective
CAUSE
Crime, especially
violence, is a function
of diet, vitamin intake,
hormonal imbalance,
or food allergies.
STRENGTHS
Explains irrational
violence. Shows how
the environment
interacts with personal
traits to influence
behavior.
QUESTION
Is there a link between sugar and antisocial
behavior? Is there a link between hormones
and antisocial behavior?
Biochemical Considerations

Aggression and criminal behavior have
been linked to diet. Some believe sugar
intake is one culprit. If this is true, to
what extent is behavior voluntarily
induced by these foods?
Biosocial Theory:
Neurological Perspective
CAUSE
Criminals and
delinquents often suffer
brain impairment, as
measured by the EEG.
Attention deficit
disorder and minimum
brain dysfunction are
related to antisocial
behavior.
STRENGTHS
Explains irrational
violence. Shows how
the environment
interacts with
personal traits to
influence behavior.
Neurological Impairment

If the medical
community tells
us that
neurological
impairment was
related to violent
crime can the
offender be held
accountable?

If research in the
community finds
similar
impairments in
non-offenders,
does this change
the issue of
culpability among
offenders who
have the
impairment?
Biosocial Theory:
Genetic Perspective
CAUSE
Criminal traits and
predispositions are
inherited. The
criminality of parents
can predict the
delinquency of
children.
STRENGTHS
Explains why only a
small percentage of
youth in a high-crime
area become chronic
offenders.
Biosocial Theory:
Evolutionary Perspective
CAUSE
As the human race
evolved, traits and
characteristics have
become ingrained.
Some of these make
people aggressive and
predisposed to
commit crime.
STRENGTHS
Explains high
violence rates and
aggregate gender
differences in the
crime rate.
QUESTION
It there is a biological basis to violence and
aggression – then how would a biosocial
theorist explain white collar crime?
Evaluation of Biosocial Trait
Theory


Criticisms

If there are biological
explanations for street
crimes then by
implication biological
theory says that
member of groups are
biologically different,
flawed or inferior
Response

Rather than suggest that
there are born criminals and
non-criminals, proponents
maintain that some people
carry the potential to be
violent or antisocial and that
environmental conditions
can sometimes trigger
antisocial responses
PSYCHOLOGICAL
TRAIT THEORIES

Social Learning

Mental Illness and
crime

Personality and Crime

Intelligence and Crime
Psychodynamic
Behavioral
Cognitive
Psychological Theory:
Psychodynamic Perspective
Major Premise…..
The development of the
unconscious personality
early in childhood influence
behavior for the rest of a
person’s life. Criminals have
weak egos and damaged
personalities i.e., anger,
sexuality, tendencies.
Created by Sigmund Freud.
Strengths….
Explains the onset of
crime and why
crime and drug
abuse cut across
class lines.
Psychological Theory:
Behavioral Perspective
Major Premise…..
Strengths….
People commit crime when
they model their behavior
after others they see being
rewarded for the same acts.
Behavior is reinforced by
rewards and extinguished
by punishment, i.e., learning
processes.
Explains the role of
significant others in
the crime process.
Shows how family life
and media can
influence crime and
violence.
Social Learning Theory
(Life Experiences)
An event
that
heightens
arousal
Behavior and
values become
consistent
Factors that
help produce
violence and
aggression.
Expected
outcomes
rewards
Learned
aggressive
skills
Psychological Theory:
Cognitive Theory
Major Premise…..
Strengths….
Individual reasoning
processes influence
behavior. Reasoning is
influenced by the way
people perceive their
environment and by their
moral and intellectual
development, i.e.,
thinking, memory, ethical
values.
Shows why criminal
behavior patterns
change over time as
people mature and
develop their moral
reasoning. May
explain aging-out
process.
Crime and Mental Illness
A great deal of early research efforts found that many
offenders who engage in serious, violent crimes suffer
from some sort of mental disturbance. However,
empirical evidence has contradicted this.
Research shows that upon release, prisoners who had
prior histories of hospitalization for mental disorders
were less likely to be rearrested than those who had
never been hospitalized.
Mentally disordered inmates who do recidivate upon
release appear to do so for the same reasons as the
mentally sound.
Personality and Crime - Trait
Personality can be defined as the reasonably stable
patterns of behavior, including thoughts and emotions
that distinguish one person from another. Personality
reflects a characteristic way of adapting to life’s
demands and problems.
Anti-Social Personalities
I
Abnormal Affect
Psychopaths
Sociopaths
Intelligence and Crime
What is the difference between nature theory
and nurture theory?
Do you think IQ and crime are linked?
If so, why are there more male than female
criminals? Or, Why does “aging out” occur?