Criminal Behavior Analysis

What is a criminal, why do they behave the way that they do, and what’s so different about them? These are all questions we ask ourselves when it comes to criminals. Most of us would like to know why they act the way they do and what is so different within them that causes them to act this way. In today’s society, one will find that there are many different factors that go into the development of a criminal mind. It is impossible to single out one particular cause of criminal behavior; it is often from both biological and environmental factors that cause these behaviors. In many cases criminals share similar physical traits, which the general population do not usually have. For example, criminals have smaller brains than properly adjusted

The three super-traits they discuss are constraint, negative emotionality and positive emotionality. They note that the constraint and negative emotionality super-traits are related to self-control and with it criminality. This suggests that some individuals are more crime-prone. Individuals with the constraint and negative emotionality super-traits will be more likely to react on their impulses and provoke other to commit crimes. The article suggests that criminal behavior is influenced not necessary by individual traits, but that psychological causes is the main reason individuals have the mind of a criminal. This explanation is mainly focused on the individual, which ignores the larger social and environmental influences that affect a person’s behavior.

Shaw and Mckay (1969) provide an environmental explanation for criminality. They argue that daily experiences shape behavior. Areas that have high poverty rates and high levels of social change will contain a value system that is supportive of crime. Though adults may try to impress upon their children a non-criminal value system, they compete against a number of organizations that support the criminal value

Gender norms seem to have a significant impact on the lower crime rates of women. Femininity is constituted within a number of debates, which says that not only a woman’s behavior, but also the images that she has of herself and her relationships with other people causes them to act in these manners. A woman’s experience is distinguished by several factors including her body, her mind and her social interaction. Femininity is often associated with self-control and independence; a normal woman is viewed as caring, nurturing, and selfless when it comes to the needs of others. Women receive positive reinforcements for their capability to establish and maintain relationships and accept the obligations of the family. Additionally, their identity is often largely defined based upon the dominant male figures in their lives (e.g. father, husband, etc.). Derivative identity constrains deviance on the part of women involved with conventional male, but encourages the criminal involvements of those who become accomplices of husbands or boyfriends (Sutker