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Darwin
 | human beings and animals are both subject to the same set of laws which govern behavior |
| neither has free will |
Positivists
| studying human behavior scientifically |
| determinists |
| "behavior is caused by factors over which the person has little or not
control." |
| no free will |
Delinquency rooted in the individual
| biological makeup |
| personality and psychology profile |
Cesare Lombroso
| late 19th century |
| criminals were only capable of living in restricted environments, like prisons |
| stigmata, distinctive physical features |
| atavism, most criminals were probably throwbacks to an earlier stage of human evolution |
William Sheldon
| studies body build or somatotype |
a. mesomorphs have well-developed musculature and are most likely to be delinquent
b. ectomorphs are tall, thin and intellectual
c. endomorphs are over-weight
Glueck and Glueck
| populations of delinquents are disproportionately mesomorphic |
Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
| one’s mental age multiplied by 100 divided by one’s chronological age |
| ability to learn, exercise judgement, and be imaginative |
| cultural bias |
| environment influences |
| Goddard’s |
| early 20th century work on feeblemindedness |
| lent support to the idea that low intelligence predisposes children toward crime |
Genes, Environment, and Behavior
| change in children born with Down’s syndrome |
| interactive relationship between heredity and environment |
| Contemporary studies |
| IQ of secret delinquents not any higher than those who get caught |
| Hirschi and Hindelang |
| delinquent is abut eight points lower than others |
| relationship between IQ and type of offense |
| IQ lower in "spontaneous and impulsive violent offenders" |
| Twin studies |
| monozygotic (MZ) -identical |
| dizygotic (DZ) - fraternal |
| MZ closer |
| environment or genetics? |
Adoption studies
| "criminality of the child was more closely related to the criminality of the
biological parents for property offenses but not for violent crimes" |
| adoptive and biological parents tend to be similar, confounding the nature/nurture
question |
| knowledge of past |
Crime and Human Nature
| Wilson and Herrnestein |
| biological predispositions and environmental experiences mix to produce criminal
behavior |
| age, sex, body type |
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
| impulsive behavior and inattention |
| estimates range from 3-12% of general population |
| highly correlated with delinquency |
Lead Poisoning
| Needleman, et al |
| affected school performance throughout their subjects’ school careers |
| lower IQ, poorer classroom behavior, and shorter attention span |
Public policy application
| sterilization of criminals |
| Skinner v. Oklahoma (1942) abolished |
Psychological theories of delinquency
Crime is function of emotional and mental disturbance
1. relationship between personality disturbance and antisocial behavior
2. three prominent psychological perspectives on delinquency
Psychoanalytical theory
| Sigmund Freud’s psychodynamic or psychoanalytic theory |
| major components of human personality are the id, ego and superego |
 | in a "normal" person these coexist harmoniously |
| imbalance in personality caused by a traumatic early childhood |
Evaluation
| widely used in juvenile correctional settings |
| nearly impossible to test scientifically |
Behaviorism
| emphasize the role of the external environment in shaping behavior |
Skinner
| human behavior follows the same laws of nature as animal |
| operant conditioning |
| repeat behavior that is rewarded and decrease behavior that is punished |
| children increase the frequency of acts which bring good results |
Criticism of Skinner
| pays too little attention to the cognitive processes |
Behaviorism and Delinquency
| harsher penalties and longer sentences |
| increased use of death penalty |
Social learning theory
| behavior is a process of observing and imitating others |
Bandura
| emphasized cognition |
| "Bobo doll" research |
| aggression shown in films in nursery-school children |
| aggressive play |
The media and delinquency
| possible link between sexual violence and pornography |
| children watch varying amounts of TV depending on their age |
| effects of music, videos, and games |
Evaluation of Social Learning
| do children learn form what they see, be it good or bad? |
Moral and Intellectual development theory
Piaget
| Argues that reasoning processes develop in stages |
Kohlberg identifies six stages
| criminals have ceased to progress through moral development stages |
Juvenile Justice Policy
| psychoanalytic theory |
| predelinquent (now at-risk) |
| behavior modification |
| aversion therapy |
| operant conditioning |
| token economy |
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