NCJ Number
73752
Journal
Psychiatrie, Neurologie und medizinische Psychologie Volume: 30 Issue: 5 Dated: (1978) Pages: 296-301
Date Published
1978
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The development of modern views on the causes of juvenile crime is traced from a socialist perspective.
Abstract
Two schools of thought have predominated over the last 200 years. One theory attributes criminal behavior to inherited personality characteristics, and the other considers criminal activities the result of unfavorable social circumstances. The principal proponent of the 'born criminal' was Lombroso, who in the late 19th century compiled his own work from Gall's theory of phrenology, Lamarck's atavism theory, and Morel's views on degeneration. Lombroso catalogued both physical and mental characteristics typical of offenders. Certain early theoreticians even attributed particular crimes or criminal inclinations to specific races. The sociological school of criminology developed mainly in America at the end of the 19th century as a reaction to views of biological predetermination. Many negative environmental factors cited by this movement are still accepted as conducive to juvenile crime: broken homes, lack of male role models, neglect by mothers, comics, crime literature, the media, bad company, and alcohol or drug abuse. But even supporters of the sociological school admit that certain individuals are more susceptible than others to criminal influences because of low intelligence and emotional handicaps. In fact, socialist criminologists have recently admitted the impossibility of eliminating crime in socialist states because of the presence of psychopaths and sociopaths in socialist society, too. As socialist society has eliminated negative elements such as racial discrimination, unemployment, and exclusiveness of schools for professional training, socially maladjusted individuals have become much easier to identify than in capitalist environments characterized by multiple discrimination. Such individuals lack endurance in their work and the moral basis to satisfy their social obligations. Their adjustment problems are frequently signaled by aggression and violence. The theory of maladjustment considers the effects of both physical and social factors. A 1971 study indicates that psychological inadequacies are the result of organic brain damage in 85 percent of the several hundred cases studied and that the deficiencies lead to failure in school, neuroses, demoralization, familial conflict, bad company, criminal activities as a means of support, and a criminal career. According to this view, crime can be reduced by early identification of limited intellectual and emotional capacity and by specialized training techniques. A 24-item bibliography is supplied.