1 www.onlineeducation.bharatsevaksamaj.net www.bssskillmission.in General Instructions “Introduction to Criminal Behavior”. In Section 1 of this course you will cover these topics: Introduction To Criminal Behavior Developmental Risk Factors Origins Of Criminal Behavior: Biological Factors Origins Of Criminal Behavior: Learning And Situational Factors Topic : Introduction To Criminal Behavior Topic Objective: After studying this topic the student should be able to: Define the Schools of thought Discuss Theories of crime Explain the Symbolic interactionism Define the TypesWWW.BSSVE.IN and definitions of crime Definition/Overview: Although crimeand criminal behavioroften fascinate people, the text presents criminal behavior as a vastly complex, poorly understood phenomenon. There is no all-encompassing psychological explanation for crime, any more than there is a sociological, psychiatric, economic, or historic one. In fact, it is unlikely that sociology, psychology, or any other discipline can formulate basic truths about crime without help from other disciplines and areas of www.bsscommunitycollege.in www.bssnewgeneration.in www.bsslifeskillscollege.in 2 www.onlineeducation.bharatsevaksamaj.net www.bssskillmission.in research. Thus, the authors encourage an interdisciplinary approach to the study of crime. An integration of the data, theory, and general viewpoints of each discipline is crucial. Nevertheless, the primary aim of this text is to review and integrate recent scholarship and research in the psychology of crime, a field that has seen burgeoning scholarly interest over the past two decades. Most recently, the field has taken a more developmental approach, both in its approach to juvenile delinquency and it concentration on criminal behavior throughout the life course. Research on developmental pathways is cited throughout the text, particularly in the earlier topics. The first topic also introduces students to the main measures of crime, including the police data found in the UCR and NIBRS, self-report surveys, and victimization data, particularly that obtained in the NCVS. We have included some preliminary discussion of specific crimes, including hate crimes, and material on juvenile delinquency. Though there is a wealth of statistical information in the topic, much of it will be repeated later in the book, so the instructor may prefer to focus on concepts rather than statistics. On the basis of the material in this topic, the instructor should be able to offer students some insight into the manyWWW.BSSVE.IN career options open to them. There will always be a need for mental health professionals to develop and test theories; collect and analyze data; assess criminal defendants; formulate social policies; develop effective crime prevention programs; provide treatment for juvenile and adult offenders; evaluate treatment programs; and offer support services to crime victims, to name but a few psychologically-oriented career opportunities in the criminal justice field. www.bsscommunitycollege.in www.bssnewgeneration.in www.bsslifeskillscollege.in 3 www.onlineeducation.bharatsevaksamaj.net www.bssskillmission.in Strain Theory : In criminology and the sociology of deviance, the strain theories are related to the concept of Anomie. Strain appears when society emphasizes too much on the success goal and too little on the legitimate means for achieving the goal, and adapting to society. Social control: Social control refers to social mechanisms that regulate individual and group behavior, leading to conformity and compliances to the rules of a given society or social group. Many mechanisms of social control are cross-cultural, if only in the control mechanisms used to prevent the establishment of chaos or anomie. Social learning theory: Social learning theory is a theory to explain how people learn behavior. People learn through observing others' behavior. If people observe positive, desired outcomes in the observed behavior, they are more likely to model, imitate, and adopt the behavior themselves. Social disorganization (neighborhoods) : Social disorganization theory is based on the work of Henry McKay and Clifford R. Shaw of the Chicago School. Social disorganization theory postulates that neighborhoods plagued with poverty and economic deprivation tend to experience high rates of population turnover. These neighborhoods also tend to have high population heterogeneity. With high turnover, informal social structure often fails to develop, which in turn makes it difficultWWW.BSSVE.IN to maintain social order in a community. Social ecology: Since the 1970s, social ecology studies have built on the social disorganization theories. Many studies have found that crime rates are associated with poverty, disorder, high numbers of abandoned buildings, and other signs of community deterioration. As working and middle class people leave deteriorating neighborhoods, the most disadvantaged portions of the population may remain. William Julius Wilson suggested a poverty "concentration effect", which may cause neighborhoods to be isolated from the mainstream of society and become prone to violence. www.bsscommunitycollege.in www.bssnewgeneration.in www.bsslifeskillscollege.in 4 www.onlineeducation.bharatsevaksamaj.net www.bssskillmission.in Key Points: 1. Schools of thought In the mid-18th century, criminology arose as social philosophers gave thought to crime and concepts of law. Over time, several schools of thought have developed. 1.1. Classical school The Classical School, which developed in the mid 18th century, was based on utilitarian philosophy. Cesare Beccaria, author of On Crimes and Punishments (1763-64), Jeremy Bentham, inventor of the panopticon, and other classical school philosophers argued that (1) people have free will to choose how to act. (2) Deterrence is based upon the notion of the human being as a 'hedonist' who seeks pleasure and avoids pain, and a 'rational calculator' weighing up the costs and benefits of the consequences of each action. Thus, it ignores the possibility of irrationality and unconscious drives as motivational factors (3) Punishment (of sufficient severity) can deter people from crime, as the costs (penalties) outweigh benefits, and that severity of punishment should be proportionate to the crime. (4) The more swift and certain the punishment, the more effective it is in deterring criminal behavior. The Classical school of thought came about at a time when major reformWWW.BSSVE.IN in penology occurred, with prisons developed as a form of punishment. Also, this time period saw many legal reforms, the French Revolution, and the development of the legal system in the United States. 1.2. Positivist school The Positivist School presumes that criminal behavior is caused by internal and external factors outside of the individual's control. The scientific method was introduced and applied to study human behavior. Positivism can be broken up into three segments which include biological, psychological and social positivism. Cesare Lombroso, an Italian prison doctor working in the late 19th century and sometimes regarded as the "father" of criminology, was one of the largest contributors to www.bsscommunitycollege.in www.bssnewgeneration.in www.bsslifeskillscollege.in 5 www.onlineeducation.bharatsevaksamaj.net www.bssskillmission.in biological positivism and founder of the Italian school of criminology. Lombroso took a scientific approach, insisting on empirical evidence, for studying crime. Considered as the founder of criminal anthropology, he suggested that physiological traits such as the measurements of one's cheek bones or hairline, or a cleft palate, considered to be throwbacks to Neanderthal man, were indicative of "atavistic" criminal tendencies. This approach, influenced by the earlier theory of phrenology and by Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution, has been superseded. Enrico Ferri, a student of Lombroso, believed that social as well as biological factors played a role, and held the view that criminals should not be held responsible when factors causing their criminality were beyond their control. Criminologists have since rejected Lombroso's biological theories, with control groups not used in his studies. Lombroso's Italian school was rivaled, in France, by Alexandre Lacassagne and his school of thought, based in Lyon and influent from 1885 to 1914. The Lacassagne School rejected Lombroso's theory of "criminal type" and of "born criminals", and strained the importance of social factors. However, contrary to criminological tendencies influenced by Durkheim's social determinism, it did not reject biological factors. Indeed, Lacassagne created an original synthesis of both tendencies, influenced by positivism, phrenology and hygienism, which alleged a direct influence of the social environment on the brain and compared the social itself to a brain, upholding an organicist position. Furthermore, Lacassagne criticized the lack of efficiency of prison, insisted on social responsibilities toward crime and on political voluntarism as a solution to crime, and thus advocatedWWW.BSSVE.IN harsh penalties for those criminals thought to be unredeemable ("recidivists") for example by supporting the 1895 law on penal colonies or opposing the abolition of the death penalty in 1906. Hans Eysenck (1964, 1977), a British psychologist, claimed that psychological factors such as extraversion and neuroticism made a person more likely to commit criminal acts. He also includes a psychoticism dimension