NCJ Number
57305
Date Published
1978
Length
186 pages
Annotation
THIS CLINICAL STUDY ANALYZES THE CHARACTERISTICS AND CONDUCT OF OFFENDERS AND OF THEIR FAMILIAL AND SOCIAL STRUCTURES, WITH REFERENCE TO PSYCHOPATHIC, PSYCHOTIC, AND NEUROTIC PERSONALITIES, MENTAL RETARDATION, AND OTHER DISORDERS.
Abstract
DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR IS SEEN AS BOTH AN INDIVIDUAL FAILURE (FAILURE OF THE PSYCHIC MECHANISMS THAT CONTROL AGGRESSIVE IMPULSES) AND AS A SOCIAL FAILURE (SOCIETY AND FAMILY DO NOT PROVIDE ADEQUATE MEANS FOR NORMAL DEVELOPMENT). THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS INVESTIGATION OF CLINICAL CRIMINOLOGY IS TO UNDERSTAND MAN IN RELATION TO HIS HISTORIC, SOCIAL, CULTURAL, AND ECONOMIC CONTEXTS, AND TO REACH AN UNDERSTANDING OF INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL PATHOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR. CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR IS SEEN AS A FUNCTION OF THE PERSONALITY WITHIN THESE INSEPARABLE CONTEXTS. IN GENERAL, THE DELINQUENT PERSONALITY IS MARKED BY DEPRIVATION -- ESPECIALLY EMOTIONAL -- AND BY INTERPERSONAL CONFLICTS. INSTITUTIONALIZED PERSONS STUDIED HAD HISTORIES OF ADAPTATION PROBLEMS, LEADING TO CONFLICT RESOLVED BY VIOLENT AND AGGRESSIVE MEANS. MOST DISPLAYED PRIOR CRIMINAL OR AGGRESSIVE CONDUCT, CAME FROM DEPRIVED FAMILY SITUATIONS, AND HAD DISTORTED MORAL/SOCIAL VALUES AND A TENDENCY TOWARD SELF-DESTRUCTION. DESPITE A STABLE BACKGROUND, THE PENT-UP FRUSTRATIONS OF OTHER DELINQUENTS NEVERTHELESS ERUPT IN VIOLENT ACTION. SPECIFIC CHAPTERS DEAL WITH THE PSYCHOPATHIC PERSONALITY AND CRIMINALITY; THE SEX OFFENDER; PSYCHOSIS, NEUROSIS, MENTAL RETARDATION, SENILITY, AND THE DEPENDENT PERSONALITY AND CRIMINALITY; AND COMPULSIVE DISORDERS AND DELINQUENCY. SIGNIFICANT DATES IN HISTORY FOLLOW EACH CHAPTER, AND FOOTNOTES AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE PROVIDED.