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Welcome to Deviance and
Violence
Seminar 6
Review
unit 5
What to expect
Q and A
Biology and Psychology in Serial
Murder


What is it about an individuals biology that
would cause them to act violently?
What is it about an individuals psychology
makeup that would cause them to act
violently?
Biology and Violent Crime

Biological Trait Theories
 Biochemical conditions influence antisocial behavior.
 Dan White's "Twinkie defense"
 Influence of chemicals and minerals is
direct/indirect.
 People who start drinking by age 14 are five times
more likely to become alcoholics - early ingestion of
alcohol will have a direct influence on behavior.
 Chemical and mineral imbalances lead to cognitive and
learning deficits that, in turn, are associated with
aggressive behavior.
Biology and Violent Crime
 Diet
 Healthy
diet promotes normal brain function and
growth.
 People eating diets containing too little or too
much of fats, minerals, vitamins seem to be at
higher risk of developing psychological
disturbances.
 Kids with faulty diets lack attention - associated
with educational underachievement
Biology and Violent Crime

Lead exposure
 Exposure linked to emotional and behavioral disorders.
 Locales with highest levels of lead concentration report
the highest levels of homicide.
 Long-term, worldwide trends in crime levels correlate
significantly with changes in environmental levels of lead.

Hypoglycemia
 High levels of reactive hypoglycemia found in groups of
habitually violent and impulsive offenders.
Biology and Violent Crime

Male Hormonal Influences
 Androgens (male sex hormones) - abnormal levels
produce aggressive behavior.
 Testosterone - the most abundant androgen - has been
linked to criminality.
 Prenatal exposure to high levels of testosterone alters
behavior in males and females - long term tendency
toward aggression.
 Gender differences in crime rate may be explained by
differences in testosterone and other androgens
Biology and Violent Crime

Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
 Dalton research: Studies of English women indicated that
females were more likely to commit suicide and to be
aggressive/antisocial just before or during menstruation.
 Significant debate exists re: PMS and aggression.
 Fishbein research: 1) Significant number of incarcerated
females committed crimes during premenstrual phase; 2)
a small percentage of women appear vulnerable to cyclical
hormonal changes.
Biology and Violent Crime
 Neurophysiological
Conditions and Crime
Neurophysiology - study of brain activity
 Inherited or acquired neurological and
physical abnormalities control behavior
throughout the lifespan.
 Research: significant relationship between
impairment in executive brain function
(abstract reasoning, problem solving, motor
skills) and aggressive behavior.
Biology and Violent Crime
 Violent criminals and drug abusers have impairment in
various regions of the brain.
 Neurological impairment may also lead to the development
of personality traits liked to antisocial behavior - i.e., low
self-control.
 Neurological deficits linked to a full range of criminal
activity including serial murder.
 Suspected link between brain dysfunction and conduct
disorder - a precursor of chronic offending.
 One in five offenders report some type of traumatic brain
injury.
Biology and Violent Crime
 Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Developmentally inappropriate lack attention along with
impulsivity and hyperactivity
 Found in 3% of children, most often boys
 Associated with poor school performance, bullying,
stubbornness, lack of response to discipline
 ADHD children may also suffer from conduct disorder.
 ADHD children are more likely to be suspended from
school and engage in criminal behavior as adults.

Biology and Violent Crime

Brain Chemistry
 Low levels of dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin,
MAO, and GABA associated with aggression.
 Low levels of MAO linked to high levels of violence and
property crime.
 Females naturally have higher levels of MAO than males may explain gender differences in crime rates.
 Low serotonin levels are associated with poor impulse
control, hyperactivity, irritability, and sensation seeking.
Biology and Violent Crime

Arousal Theory
 People's brains respond differently in response to
environmental stimuli.
 "Sensation seekers" look for stimulating activities that
may include aggressive, violent behavior patterns.
Biology and Violent Crime

Genetics and Crime
 Human traits associated with criminality have a genetic
basis.
 Antisocial behavior is inherited.
 The genetic makeup of parents is passed on to
children.
 Genetic abnormality is linked to a variety of
antisocial behaviors.
 The association between genetic makeup and
antisocial behavior is often hard to validate.
Psychology and Violent Crime

Psychodynamic Perspective
 Sigmund Freud - believed people carry the residue of the
most significant emotional attachments of their
childhoods that then guide their future relationships.
 Human personality has a three-part structure.
 Id - the primitive part of a person's mental makeup,
seeks instant gratification
 Ego - compensates for the demands of the id by
helping to guide actions
 Superego - the moral aspect of people's personalities
Psychology and Violent Crime
What
happens when the ego and the
superego are defective?
Personality and Violent Crime
Personality traits and crime
 Impulsivity, hostility, narcissism, hedonism, and
aggression are highly correlated with criminal and
antisocial behaviors.
 Psychotic Personality
 Cannot empathize with others, are short-sighted and
hedonistic
 Sociopaths are a product of a destructive home
environment.
 Psychopaths are a product of a defect or aberration
within themselves.

Personality and Violent Crime


Anti-social personality (ASP) - offenders with ASP
 Are crime prone
 Respond with strong negative emotions and are impulsive
 Feel stressed and harassed
 Maintain "negative emotionality" - a tendency to experience anger, anxiety,
irritability
Factors contributing to development of a criminal personality
 Improper socialization
 Having a psychopathic parent
 Experiencing parental rejection and lack of love during childhood
 Receiving inconsistent discipline
 Neurological factors: low level of arousal - therefore are thrill-seekers
 Blair: 15-25% of inmates meet diagnostic criteria for psychopathy.
Social Process Theory

Social Process Theory
 Most people are shaped by their interactions with social institutions
such as schools, and social groups, such as family, peers, and
neighbors.
 Relationships can be positive and supportive or dysfunctional and
destructive.
 Three branches
 Social learning theory - people learn techniques and attitudes of
crime from close relationships with criminal peers.
 Social control theory - everyone has the potential to become a
criminal, but most people are controlled by their bonds to
society.
 Social reaction/labeling theory - people become criminals when
significant members of society label them as such.
Social Structure Theory

Social Structure Theories


Social and economic forces operating in deteriorated lower-class
cause crime.
Three branches of social structure theory

Social disorganization theory
 Focuses on urban conditions that affect crime rates
 Disorganized area - institutions of social control have broken down

Strain theory
 Crime is a function of the conflict between people's goals and the means they
have to obtain them---”American Dream”

Cultural deviance theory
 Subcultures maintain unique values and beliefs that conflict with conventional
social norms.
 Subcultural values are passed from generation to generation
Neutralization Theory

David Matza and Gresham Sykes

Law violators must learn techniques that enable them to neutralize
conventional values and attitudes in order to "drift" back and forth
between conventional and illegal behaviors.

Even the most committed criminals are not involved in criminality
all the time.
Social Control Theory
 General
Precepts
 Maintain that all people have the potential to
violate the law
 Questions why people obey the rules of
society
 Some individuals have self-control.
 Some individuals have been socialized to
have a commitment to conformity.
Social Reaction (Labeling) Theory

General Precepts
 Crime is defined by those in power.
 Not only are acts labeled, so too are people.
 Positive labels can improve self-image and social standing.
 Negative labels can stigmatize and reduce self-image.
 Negatively labeled individuals will become increasingly
committed to a deviant career.
 Labeled persons turn to others who are similarly stigmatized.
 Labeled kids and adults may internalize negative labels and
begin acting in concordance with those labels.
MacDonald Triad
Deviance and Violence
Seminar 6
 Summary
Q and A
What to expect for Unit 7