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Psychological factors underlying criminal behavior
Psychological factors underlying criminal behavior
With good examples, what is deviance
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Essentially, this theory suggests that crimes and other comparable acts occur due to the lack of self-control (O’Grady 2014, 117-118). Thus, low self-control and criminal opportunity makes way for criminal acts (Broll, 2017). Moreover, the theory suggests that individuals lacking self-control are self-centered, risk-takers, impulsive and lack perseverance (O’Grady 2014, 118). According to Gottfredson and Hirschi, self-control is established early in life (O’Grady 2014, 118). An individual’s degree of self-control is influenced by the quality of parenting during childhood (O’Grady 2014, 118).
People that have gone to a good school and have a family with positive influences are less likely to engage in deviant behavior. External structures like schools, churches, clubs, police departments, keep individuals from deviating, these institutions push individuals into conforming to the norms of society. Travis Hirschi introduced four elements of social bonds: “attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief” (Vierra 2014). Reckless believed that these four components could prevent crime and deviant behaviors because they give the individual a purpose and sense of responsibility. If individuals in many of these lower income neighborhoods do not have a job and no source of steady income, then they are ever more likely to resort to deviant behaviors in order to attain the means of survival.
Parents have a large impact on their children's lives, and depending on what type of parent they are, the child will act differently in the
Initially, peer and family influences can greatly contribute to children committing juvenile acts. Mandel states “there are parents who
Time, space, and context are also important in regards to deviance. When someone commits a deviant act, where they commit it, and who commits it/what setting they commit it in can affect other people’s reactions to the deviant behavior. A deviant action or behavior will not be viewed in the same way by everyone. Each person has their own perspectives and what might constitute grievous deviant behavior to one person might just be a minor inconvenience to another. The same principle applies to deviant behavior when setting is
Due to Bender’s behaviour and personality, he is often alienated by those around him. Merton’s strain theory of behaviour states that deviance is a product of society itself and the conditions that it lays down for each individual. Each society has a certain set of goals and a means of achieving it however when an individual is unable to achieve them, they may resort to deviance (Haskings-Winner, Collishaw, Kritzer & Warecki, 2011). Bender who is unable to meet society’s expectation subtly portrayed by the other students of being academically inclined, popular or athletic, feels the need to go against society because he would not fit in our the school regardless. Moreover, Bender’s household is a distinct factor in his deviant behaviour.
These theoretical perspectives provide insight to understanding, explaining and dealing with acts of deviance (Pfohl, 2009). For this analytical paper, the book Hell’s Angel, written by Ralph “Sonny” Barger, will be analyzed by utilizing three of the different perspectives studied throughout the term in Images of Deviance and Social Control written by Stephen Pfohl. The social disorganization perspective, the classical perspective, and the learning perspective will all three be utilized in the analysis, including components and limitations of
This theory clearly rules out the effect of inherited or innate factors, and the last is the cognitive theory, which is based on how the perception of an individual is manifested into affecting his or her potential and capability to commit a crime. (Psychological theories of crime) Relating these theories to the case under study, it’s clear that the behaviour can be traced most times to faulty relationships in the family during the first years of
As a child we watch our parents and we learn from them. We learn how to cook, how to clean, how to raise children, how to do right from wrong, how to work, how to do things we don't want to, how to be happy, how to have fun, and many more things.
Social learning theory and social bonding theory are two theories that may be compared and contrasted because they both overlap and differ. Although these theories have their similarities and differences, one theory may prove to be more convincing in terms of applying the theory to the understanding of crime and delinquency. Social learning theory refers to Akers’ theory of crime and deviance. Akers attempted to specify the mechanism and processes through which criminal learning takes place by explaining crime and deviance; he did this in such a way that the likelihood of conforming or deviant behavior based on the influence of an individual’s history of learning was accounted for. This theory was based off Sutherland’s differential association theory, which had nine propositions outlining the process by which individuals acquire attitudes favorable to criminal or delinquent behavior with the basic idea that people tend to associate with others in which they come into contact.
Fifth, the specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of the legal codes as favorable or unfavorable. Sixth, a person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violation of law over definitions unfavorable to violation of the law. Seventh, Differential associations may vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity. Eighth, the process of learning criminal behavior by association with criminal and anti-criminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning. Lastly, while criminal behavior is an expression of general needs and values, it is not explained by those needs and values, since non-criminal behavior is an expression of the same needs and values.
For example, maternal relationships seem to be a crucial role in influencing crime and delinquency. In simple terms, if a mother does not play close attention to his children then a child may turn to crime. Parental interaction has also been a factor in impacting the behavior of a child whether male or female. Parental interaction influences the probability of adult criminal behavior. Petts, (2009) found out that children who are brought up in families where they are closely supervised are unlikely to turn into crime as adults.
Deviance has many functions in society. Although deviance violates social norms, without it, we would not have rules, so it helps form, guide, and shape society’s norms and goals. Social norms are different from culture to culture. Norms that may be acceptable in one culture may be frowned upon in another. Emile Durkheim quotes that “deviance and deviant behavior is an integral part of all healthy societies (Adler, 2014, p74).”
The model demonstrates different risk factors in one’s environment which may lead to antisocial or criminal behaviors. The interactional theory discusses social cognition which focuses on human behaviors and environment factors. The theory explains how delinquent activities can be traced to negative social bonds, negative beliefs and values, and a commitment to the criminal
The second outcome that could be observed is that a person may receive the stimulus but choose to act completely against it or behave in a completely opposite way by being non-violent as the motivation in this case would be to restrict further violent harm. The theory also suggests that deviant behaviour also acts as a major stimulant. It states that criminal and deviant behaviour is learned in both social and non-social situations through combinations of direct reinforcement, vicarious reinforcement, explicit instruction and even direct/indirect observation. Both the probability of being exposed to certain behaviours and the nature of the reinforcement are dependent on group norms. This is seen in the case of the protagonist of the famous TV series “Dexter” where the main character reacts to a violent stimulus in his life by turning into a vigilante killer who kills for justice by subjugating the murderers and the killers to horrible painful deaths.
