CURRENT EXPLANATIONS OF OFFENDER BEHAVIOR (FROM PSYCHOLOGY OF CRIME AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE, 1979, BY HANS TOCH - SEE NCJ-52371)

• NCJ Number: 52377
• Author(s): M Q WARREN; M J HINDELANG
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 17 pages
• Corporate Author: Holt, Rinehart and Winston
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

SOCIOLOGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL THEORIES OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR ARE DISCUSSED AND APPLIED TO FOUR CASE STUDIES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENTS.

Abstract

SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES PLACE ALL OR MOST OF THE CAUSAL FACTORS IN CRIME WITH THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT. THE FOLLOWING SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES ARE DISCUSSED: STRAIN THEORIES, BASED ON THE PREMISE THAT CRIME RESULTS WHEN SOCIALLY APPROVED ENDS CANNOT BE ACHIEVED THROUGH LEGITIMATE CHANNELS; SUBCULTURAL DEVIANCE THEORIES, WHICH SUGGEST THAT SOME SUBGROUPS HOLD VALUES CONTRARY TO THOSE OF SOCIETY AT LARGE AND CONDONE OR EVEN ENCOURAGE CRIMINAL ACTIVITY; AND CONTROL THEORIES, WHICH ARGUE THAT CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR RESULTS WHEN AN INDIVIDUAL'S BOND TO CONVENTIONAL SOCIETY IS WEAKENED OR DESTROYED. PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES, WHICH PLACE CRIMINOGENIC FACTORS WITHIN THE INDIVIDUAL OFFENDER, INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY, WHICH SEES CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR EITHER AS THE RESULT OF FAILED PERSONAL CONTROLS DUE TO FAULTY EARLY TRAINING OR PARENTAL NEGLECT, OR AS A SYMPTOM OF PROBLEMS IN COPING WITH A BASIC ISSUE OF ADJUSTMENT; MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY, WHICH DELINEATES SIX STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT AND SUGGESTS THAT DELINQUENTS AND CRIMINALS STOP DEVELOPING AT AN EARLIER STAGE THAN DO MOST PEOPLE; SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY, WHICH HOLDS THAT CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR IS LEARNED THROUGH THE SAME PSYCHOLOGICAL PROCESSES (REPEATED EXPOSURE TO REINFORCEMENTS) AS ANY OTHER BEHAVIOR; AND BIOLOGICALLY ROOTED CONDITIONING THEORY, WHICH IS BASED ON THE IDEA THAT THE CONSTITUTION OF THE BRAIN VARIES FROM INDIVIDUAL TO INDIVIDUAL. THE QUESTION ARISES AS TO WHY THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT THEORIES. THE COMMONSENSE ANSWER IS THAT CRIMINAL AND DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR VARIES NOT ONLY IN ITS FORM, BUT ALSO IN ITS REASONS AND MEANINGS. CASE STUDIES OF FOUR MALE ADOLESCENT DELINQUENTS ILLUSTRATE THE POINT THAT, WHILE THERE ARE INDIVIDUALS WHO MAKE EACH THEORY SEEM APPROPRIATE, NO ONE THEORY FITS ALL THE CASES. YET THE SUM TOTAL OF THE VARIOUS THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES SEEMS TO EXPLAIN MOST OF THE CASES. THE IMPLICATION IS THAT MOST ETIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME AND DELINQUENCY ARE NEITHER RIGHT NOR WRONG, AND THAT RESEARCHERS SHOULD STOP TRYING TO PROVE OR DISPROVE THEORIES AND BEGIN MATCHING THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES WITH PATTERNS OF ILLEGAL BEHAVIOR. A LIST OF REFERENCES IS INCLUDED. (LKM)