Unit Three Seminar
Development of a Delinquent
Trait
Sociology
Introduction
We will discuss the differences between
latent or trait theories verses sociological
theories.
Trait Theory
Trait Theory
• The view that criminality is a product of
abnormal biological or psychological traits
• The view began with Lombroso and then fell out
of favor in the early 20th century, only to reemerge in the early 1970s
Contemporary Trait Theory
• There is no single biological or psychological
attribute to explain criminality
• Focus is on basic human behavior and drives
that are linked to antisocial behavior patterns
• Crime-producing interactions involve personal
traits and environmental factors
Biological Trait Theories
• Focus on the biological conditions that control
human behavior
Sub-areas within
Biological Trait Theories
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Biochemical conditions
Neurophysiological conditions
Genetics
Evolutionary views
Biochemical
• The major premise of the theory is that crime is
a function of diet, vitamin intake, hormonal
imbalance, or food allergies
• The strengths are that the theory explains
irrational violence and shows how the
environment interacts with personal traits to
influence behavior
Neurological
• The major premise of the theory is that criminals
often suffer brain impairment
• The strengths are the theory explains irrational
violence and shows how the environment
interacts with personal traits to influence
behavior
Genetic
• The major premise of the theory is that criminal
traits and predispositions are inherited, and
therefore, the criminality of parents can predict
the delinquency of children
• The strengths are that the theory explains why
only a small percentage of youth in high-crime
areas become chronic offenders
Evolutionary
• The major premise of the theory is that as the
human race evolved, traits and characteristics
have become ingrained, and some of these
traits make people aggressive and predisposed
to commit crime
• The strengths are that the theory explains highviolence rates and aggregate gender differences
in the crime rate
Major Contributions of
Biological Trait Theories
• Brain chemistry and hormonal differences are
related to aggression and violence
• There is no relationship between sugar intake
and crime
• The male hormone testosterone is linked to
criminality
• Neurological impairments have been linked to
crime
• Violence-producing traits are passed from one
generation to the next
Critiques of Biological Trait
Theories
• Some scholars suggest these theories are racist
and dysfunctional
• Biological explanations cannot account for the
geographic, social, and temporal patterns in the
crime rate
• Lack of adequate empirical testing
Psychological Trait Theories
• Focus on the psychological aspects of crime,
including the associations among intelligence,
personality, learning, and criminal behavior
Sub-areas within
Psychological Trait Theory
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Psychodynamic perspectives
Behavioral perspectives
Cognitive theories
Personality
Intelligence
Psychodynamic
• The development of the unconscious personality
early in childhood influences behavior for the
rest of a person’s life
• Criminals have weak egos and damaged
personalities
• Explains the onset of crime and why crime and
drug abuse cut across class lines
Behavioral
• People commit crime when they model their
behavior after others they see being rewarded
for the same acts
• Behavior is reinforced by rewards and
extinguished by punishment
• Explains the role of significant others in the
crime process
• Shows how media can influence crime and
violence
Cognitive
• Individual reasoning processes influence
behavior
• Reasoning is influenced by the way people
perceive their environment
• Shows why criminal behavior patterns change
over time as people mature and develop their
reasoning powers
• May explain the aging-out process
Major Contributions of
Psychological Trait Theories
• Unconscious motivations developed early in
childhood propel some people into illegal
behavior
• Aggression is viewed as a learned behavior
• Learning may be either direct and experiential or
observational
Sociology
Sociobiology
• Biology, environment, and learning are viewed
as mutually interdependent factors
• Stresses that biological and genetic conditions
influence how social behaviors are learned
• Suggests that both animal and human behavior
is determined in part by the need to ensure
survival of offspring and replenishment of the
gene pool
Economics and Crime
• Social structure theorists suggest that
social and economic forces operating in
deteriorated lower class areas push many
of their residents into criminal behavior
patterns
• A disadvantaged economic class position
is a primary cause of crime
Social Structure Theories
• Social disorganization theory
• Strain theory
• Cultural deviance theory
Social Disorganization Theory
• Branch of social structure theory that focuses on
the breakdown of institutions such as the family,
school, and employment in inner-city
neighborhoods
• Types of social disorganization theory:
• Shaw and McKay’s concentric zones theory
• Social ecology theory
Concentric Zones Theory
• Crime is a product of transitional
neighborhoods that manifest social
disorganization and value conflict
• Identifies why crime rates are highest in
inner-city areas
• Points out the factors that produce crime
• Suggests programs to help reduce crime
Social Ecology Theory
• The conflicts and problems of urban social
life and communities, including fear,
unemployment, deterioration, and siege
mentality, influence crime rates
• Accounts for urban crime rates and trends
Strain Theory
• Branch of social structure theory that sees crime
as a function of the conflict between people’s
goals and the means available to obtain these
goals
• Types of strain theory include:
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anomie theory
institutional anomie theory
relative deprivation theory
general strain theory
Anomie Theory
• People who adopt the goals of society but
lack the means to attain them seek
alternatives such as crime
• Points out how competition for success
creates conflict and crime
• Suggests that social conditions, not
personality, can account for crime
• Explains high lower class crime rates
Institutional Anomie Theory
• Material goods pervade all aspects of
American life
• Explains why crime rates are so high in
American culture
How Social Institutions are
Undermined
• Non-economic functions and roles have
been devalued
• During conflict, non-economic roles
become subordinate and accommodate
economic roles
• Economic language, standards, and
norms penetrate non-economic realms
Relative Deprivation Theory
• Crime occurs when the wealthy and poor
live close to one another
• Explains high crime rates in deteriorated
inner-city areas located near more affluent
neighborhoods
General Strain Theory
• Strain has a variety of sources and causes crime
in the absence of adequate coping mechanisms
• Identifies the complexities of strain in modern
society
• Expands on anomie theory
• Shows the influence of social events on behavior
over the life course
• Explains middle-class crimes
Sources of Strain
• Failure to achieve positively valued goals
• Disjunction of expectations and
achievements
• Removal of positively valued stimuli
• Presentation of negative stimuli
Cultural Deviance Theory
• Branch of social structure theory that sees strain
and social disorganization together resulting in a
unique lower class culture that conflicts with
conventional social norms
• Types of cultural deviance theory:
• Focal concern theory
• Theory of delinquent subcultures
• Theory of opportunity
Focal Concern Theory
• Citizens who obey the street rules of lower
class life (focal concerns) find themselves
in conflict with the dominant culture
• Identifies the core values of lower class
culture and shows their association to
crime
Theory of Delinquent
Subcultures
• Status frustration of lower class boys,
created by their failure to achieve middleclass success, causes them to engage in
delinquency
• Shows how the conditions of lower class
life produce crime
• Identifies conflict of lower class with the
middle class
Theory of Opportunity
• Blockage of conventional opportunities
causes lower class youths to join criminal,
conflict, or retreatist gangs
• Shows that even illegal opportunities are
structured in society
• Indicates why people become involved in
a particular type of criminal activity
• Presents a way of preventing crime
Social Structure Theories and
Public Policy
• Crime rates decrease when families
receive supplemental income through
public assistance programs
• Crime reduction through the improvement
of community structure
Summary
We discussed the differences between
latent or trait theories verses sociological
theories.
Questions