SELF-TEST
 Why
do people commit crime?
Brainstorm reasons for criminal behavior
based on these three catagories:
 Social
 Economic
 Biological
Nature vs. Nurture
debate
Well you look like a duck, quack like a
duck but….Who brought you up?
What do people become criminals?
NATURE vs. NURTURE
 NATURE:


Criminals are born, not made
Biological Theories – Genetic or Physiological
make-up leads to criminal behavior.
Personality Theories – certain types inclined to
crime
Social Learning – learned
criminal ways: Cultural Transmission Theory
 NURTURE:
NATURE
THEORIES
About what makes
someone a Criminal
Old School nature theories
about criminals:
 Cesare
Lombroso
(1876) criminals are a
separate species.
 Theory: shape of the
head and face
determined the "born
criminal".
CRIMINAL HEADS
ACCORDING TO
LOMBROSO
CRIMINAL
BODY
TYPE???
ACTUAL
CRIMINALS
SMALLISH
HEADS?
 Another
Old School NATURE Theory:
 William
Sheldon Body types
determined criminality.
1.
Endomorphic (fat ) sociable and relaxed.
2.
Ectomorphic (thin) are introverted and restrained. LEAST
LIKELY TO BE CRIMINALS
3.
Mesomorphic = CRIMINAL (muscular and aggressive) .
IDENTIFY SOME FLAWS IN THIS THEORY?
NATURE: MODERN THEORIES
Neurophysiological causes

PET (brain) scans done on impulsive killers showed:
Damage in the pre-frontal cortex, which
controls impulsive behavior.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtOQnM3LQkE Charles Whitman sniper
Neurochemical
The brain’s chemistry can be influenced by diet, food
additives, or pollution.
The TWINKIE DEFENSE: A psychiatrist claimed that a
poor diet could intensify mood swings as part of
“diminished mental capacity”.
Neurochemical


STEROIDS? Can the
abuse of steroids, which
increase testosterone
levels, can cause people
to become extremely
violent? ("roid rage").
NO direct link between
steroids and violence has
not been made.
http://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=hN7rf4Mm1QA
Twin studies: Genetic influence
on crime



IDENTICAL TWINS (same genes and gender) that have been
separated at birth and brought up separately have been
studied
The degree of similarity between two twins is known as the
concordance rate.
This rate was compared with FRATERNAL twins who are
brought up separately
 Concordance
rate for IDENTICAL
twins: 55%
 FRATERNAL twins: 17%
Psychopaths and Sociopaths
 SIMILARITIES:
Both are dangerous, impulsive,
and criminally minded

Both have definable mental disorders
 PRIMARY

DIFFERENCE:
Generally Speaking
• PSYCHOPATHS ARE BORN
(NATURE)
• SOCIOPATHS ARE MADE
(NURTURE)
 Sociopaths


(NURTURE):
Are capable of EMPATHY and can form
meaningful personal relationships
Common sociological factors such as
• Abused as children,
• running with the wrong crowd,
• Poverty
• Parents are criminals / neglectful
 Personal

Characteristics:
Easy to spot: socially inadequate, agitated,
don’t fit in, spontaneous ill-thought-out
crimes
Psychopaths
(NATURE)
Psychopaths show some of these characteristics:
•More organized in crimes
•Less easily recognized – appear “normal”
•Cunning / ability to deceive / manipulative
•Superficially charming
•Lack of EMPATHY
•Lack of REMORSE / SHAME
•Takes pleasure in the suffering of others
(including family)
•Flat affect (do not display emotion / fake
emotion)
•Extreme Narcissism
Mental Disorders related to Psychopathy
(and to a lesser degree SOCIOPATHS)

1. CONDUCT DISORDER (diagnosed before age 15)
 Criteria:
 lack of adherence to social norms (bullies,
threatens, fights).
 Physically cruel to others
 Animal Cruelty
 Has forced someone into sexual activity
 Setting fires to cause harm and damage
 Lies, cheats, steals
2. ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER
Diagnosed over age18;
frequent diagnosis of serial killers, rapists, thrill
killers
CRITERIA:
•Violates norms (repeatedly arrested)
•Lies, deceives for profit or pleasure
•Impulsivity
•Irritability and aggressiveness
•Reckless disregard for safety of self or others
•Irresponsibility (work, repayment of debts)
•lack of remorse, indifferent to the
suffering of others
Self-Test
 What
is the difference between a
psychopath and a sociopath?
 What diagnosis must have been made to
be labeled Antisocial Personality
Disorder?
 What is the difference between a
ORGANIZED and DISORGANIZED serial
killer?
Serial Killers
 Murder
three or more victims, but
each is killed on separate
occasions
 usually select their victims
 cooling off periods between
murders
 plan their crimes carefully
Serial Killers
 Most
serial killers will fall into a
pattern: modus operandi (method),
location, victim type, motive, etc.
 The patterns of activities often allow
police to apprehend the killer.
 Serial killers are often described as
‘normal’, ‘very chatty’ and ‘a good
neighbor’.
Serial Killers
Typical serial Killers are:
 Predominantly male
 White
 Within their twenties or thirties
 Middle class
 Kill within their ethnic group
Types of serial killers (patterns)
Organized

Characteristics:








Socially competent (may lead a “normal” life)
Intelligent
Planner
Generally targets strangers
Uses restraints
Has sex with their victims
Follows their crimes in the media
Returns to scene
 Very
difficult to catch
Types of serial killers (patterns)
Disorganized

Characteristics:









Socially immature
May know victims
Kills spontaneously
Often sexually inhibited
Harsh childhood discipline.
Lives alone
Sloppy crime scene / evidence present
Shows little interest in the media
Easier to catch than the organized killer
Women who commit Crime
•Men
•Why
commit about 80% of all Crime
/ 93% of all murders
do women commit so few murders?
•Theory: Women’s orbital frontal region of
the brain larger in women = more ability to
control aggression.
Women serial killers: RARE
Psychopathy: “Anti-Social Personality Disorder” RARE IN WOMEN

1. “Angel of Mercy / Death” Nurses or health care
workers who kill their patients

2. Mothers: Münchausen syndrome by proxy
Deliberately cause injury or illness to another person
(most often his or her child / 90% WOMEN), to gain
attention or some other benefit.

3. BLACK WIDOWS: Husband murders; favorite
method: Poisoning
Freud: Criminals are
like Children
Children should progress from:
1. Pleasure principle (id = need instant gratification)
2. Reality principle (where the ego / self control is
dominant).
. Freud: stable home environment necessary to make
the transition.
Research has supported the fact that most criminals
come from unstable homes.
Child abuse and Crime
 Abused
or neglected children 59% more likely
to be arrested as a juvenile
 One
study showed 76% of the serial rapists
were abused when young.
 Only
about 10% of abused children go on to
commit crimes.
Juvenile “Delinquency”
Many
Juvenile offenders are diagnosed
with CONDUCT DISORDER
Causes of juvenile delinquency:
 Poor parenting / upbringing
 Psychological disorders
 Low intelligence
Every state makes their own rules with
regard to who is a juvenile
Juvenile Courts
 Juvenile
courts less formal than adult
courts
 Early “JD’s” were sent to “REFORM
SCHOOL” a type of prison school for
troubled kids
 Their goal was to REHABILITATE not
PUNISH
 Goal of Juvenile Justice
Landmark Court Cases regarding
Juveniles:
 In Re Gault (1967)
 15
year old boy (Gault) is arrested for making
lewd phone calls
 Held by the police, questioned, and sentenced
(6 years!) with no trial or input from his parents
 Supreme Court: Juveniles have the same
rights as adults!



Right to counsel
Right to confront your accusers
Right to remain Silent
Roper v. Simmons (2005)
 Supreme
Court rules: defendants
under the age of 18 cannot be
executed
 Violates the CRUEL AND
UNUSUAL punishment prohibition
of the 8th Amendment.
New Jersey
 Agency:
NJ Juvenile Justice Commission


Emphasizes accountability and offers
programs to create independent, productive
and law abiding citizens.
DIVERSION: Goal is to avoid incarceration
 Top
Juvenile crime in NJ: Robbery
 Juveniles: 59% of Arson arrests
Bringing down organized
Crime
R.I.C.O
R.I.C.O
 Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act
 1970: RICO created to break up
“organized crime” THE MAFIA
 MAFIA bosses did not ever directly commit
crime. HOW DO YOU PROSECUTE
THEM?
 Charge them under RICO
 Today RICO is used to prosecute any
group that act illegally.