Trait Theory
(Biological and Psychological
Theories of Crime)
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Biology, Psychology, and Crime
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Criminological Classifications
Early Trait Theories (Foundations)
Demise of Biological Explanations
Contemporary Trait Theories
1.
2.
3.
Causes for re-emergence
Core Principles
Subranches
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Foundations of Biological Trait
Theory
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Biological explanation of criminal behavior
first became popular during the middle
part of the 19th Century with the
introduction of positivism.
Early positivists included:
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Lombroso (belief in certain physical
characteristics indicate a criminal nature)
Ferri (belief in biological, social and organic
factors as a cause of crime and delinquency)
Sheldon (belief in body type)
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Theories
Lombroso
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DEVIATION IN HEAD SIZE AND SHAPE FROM TYPE
COMMON TO RACE AND REGION FROM WHICH THE
CRIMINAL CAME
ASYMMETRY OF THE FACE
EYE DEFECTS AND PECULIARITIES
EXCESSIVE DIMENSIONS OF THE JAW AND CHEEK BONES
EARS OF UNUSUAL SIZE, OR OCCASIONALLY VERY SMALL,
OR STANDING OUT FROM THE HEAD AS DO THOSE OF THE
CHIMPANZEE
NOSE TWISTED, UPTURNED, OR FLATTENED IN THIEVES,
OR AQUILINE OR BEAK-LIKE IN MURDERERS, OR WITH A
TIP RISING LIKE A PEAK FROM SWOLLEN NOSTRILS.
LIPS FLESHY, SWOLLEN, & PROTRUDING
ABUNDANCE, VARIETY, AND PRECOCITY OF WRINKLES
INVERSION OF SEX CHARACTERS IN THE PELVIC ORGANS
EXCESSIVE LENGTH OF ARMS
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Foundations of Trait Theory
Sheldon
 The
view that criminals have
physical or mental traits that
make them different or
abnormal
• Somatotype (body-build) makes people
susceptible to delinquent behavior
• Mesomorphs – muscular/athletic (aggression)
• Ectomorphs – tall/thin (intellectual)
• Endomorphs – heavy/slow (fences)
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Sheldon (Somatotype Theory)
Endomorphic
Ectomorphic
Mesomorphic
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Debunking Early Positivist
Theories
The research of
the earliest
positivists
(who were
biologists) was
plagued by
poor:
Methodology
Testing
Biophobia
Lack of attention to
sociological constructs
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Foundations of Trait
Theory
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Impact of Sociobiology
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Sociobiology reemerged in the 1970s
• Edmund O. Wilson
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Sociobiologists view the gene as the ultimate unit of
human destiny
Ensuring of survival
• reciprocal altruism
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Contemporary Biological Perspectives
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Core Principles
1.
2.
3.
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Equipotentiality
Correlates
Operationalization
Sub-branches
1.
2.
3.
4.
Biochemical
Neurophysiological
Genetics
Biosocial/Evolutionary
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Biochemical Perspective
CAUSE
Crime, especially
violence, is a function
of diet, vitamin intake,
hormonal imbalance,
or food allergies.
STRENGTHS
Explains irrational
violence. Shows how
the environment
interacts with personal
traits to influence
behavior.
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Neurophysiological Perspective
CAUSE
Criminals and
delinquents often suffer
brain impairment, as
measured by the EEG,
Attention deficit
disorder and minimum
brain dysfunction are
related to antisocial
behavior.
STRENGTHS
Explains irrational
violence. Shows how
the environment
interacts with
personal traits to
influence behavior.
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Genetic Perspective
CAUSE
Criminal traits and
predispositions are
inherited. The
criminality of parents
can predict the
delinquency of
children.
STRENGTHS
Explains why only a
small percentage of
youth in a high-crime
area become chronic
offenders.
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Evolutionary Perspective
CAUSE
As the human race
evolved, traits and
characteristics have
become ingrained.
Some of these make
people aggressive and
predisposed to
commit crime.
STRENGTHS
Explains high
violence rates and
aggregate gender
differences in the
crime rate.
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Biological Trait Theories
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Evaluation of the Biological Branch
of Trait Theory
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Critics charge biological theories are racist and
dysfunctional
Biological explanations do not account for
geographical variations in crime
Lack of empirical testing
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Contemporary Psychological
Perspectives
Contemporary Psychological Perspectives
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Core Principles
- Psychological Traits Matter
- Learning Process (Imitation and Modeling)
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Operationalization
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Sub-branches
- Controlling the Feebleminded
- Psychodynamic/Freudian psychology
- Cognitive
- Behavioral
- Social Learning
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Psychological Trait
Theories
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Defective intelligence
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Charles Goring
Crime could be controlled by regulating reproduction
of the feebleminded
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Psychological Theory:
Psychodynamic Perspective
Major Premise…..
Strengths….
The development of the
Explains the onset of
unconscious personality
crime and why crime
early in childhood
and drug abuse cut
influence behavior for
across class lines.
the rest of a person’s life.
Criminals have weak
egos and damaged
personalities.
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Psychological Trait
Theories
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Psychodynamic:
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Freud  suggested people carry the residue of
childhood attachments that guide future
interpersonal relationships
ID (pleasure principal): unconscious biological urges
for food, sex and other life-sustaining necessities
Ego (reality principal): helps guide the actions of the
Id within boundaries of social convention
Superego (conscience): the moral aspect of one’s
personality
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Psychological Trait
Theories
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Psychodynamic:
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Freud (Cont.)
Eros:
• The most basic drive present at birth
• Conflicts during psychosexual stages of development
• May lead to “fixations”
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Psychological Trait
Theories
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Psychodynamics of Abnormal
Behavior
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Inferiority complex:
• Adler  People with a drive for superiority
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Bipolar disorder:
• Moods alternate between depression and elation
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Disruptive Behavior Disorder:
• DBD includes Oppositional Defiant Disorder
• ODD: Defiance toward authority figures
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Conduct Disorder:
• CD is more serious
• Viewed as severely anti-social
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Psychological Trait
Theories
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Crime and Mental Illness
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Personality disorders are referred to as psychosis
Paranoid Schizophrenia:
• Delusions of wrongdoing and persecution
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Despite evidence of mental illness
• Recidivism among mentally disordered is less than the
general population
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Psychological Theory:
Cognitive Perspective
Major Premise…..
Strengths….
Individual reasoning
processes influence
behavior. Reasoning is
influenced by the way
people perceive their
environment and by
their moral and
intellectual
development.
Shows why criminal
behavior patterns
change over time as
people mature and
develop their moral
reasoning. May explain
aging-out process.
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Psychological Trait
Theories
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Cognitive Theory
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Focuses on  how people perceive and mentally
represent the world around them and solve problems
Moral development (6 stages):
• Jean Piaget
• People obey the law to avoid punishment
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Humanistic psychology:
• Self-awareness approach, getting in touch with feelings
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Information Processing:
• How people process, store, encode, retrieve, and
manipulate information
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Cognitive Theory cont’d
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Information Processing (3)
Encode information
 Search for proper response and decide
on next action
 Act on decision
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So, why do some folks commit crime
and others do not? Scripts and use of
cues can make a difference!
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Psychological Theory:
Behavioral Perspective
Major Premise…..
Strengths….
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 family life and
media can influence
crime and violence.
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Psychological Trait
Theories
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Bobo Dolls Experiment
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Behavioral Theory
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Human actions are developed through learning
experiences
Social Learning Theory:
• People learn aggression through life experiences
• Violence is learned via behavior modeling
• Examples  family interactions, environmental
experiences, and mass media
• An event that heightens arousal
• Aggressive skills
• Expected outcomes
• Consistency of behavior with values
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Social Learning Theory
An event
that heightens
arousal
Behavior and
values become
consistent
Factors that
help produce
violence and
aggression.
Expected
outcomes rewards
Learned
aggressive
skills
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Psychological Theories Summary
(Concept summary 5.2)
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Psychodynamic, Behavioral,
Cognitive
Major Premise?
 Strengths?
 Research focus?
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Psychological Traits and
Characteristics
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Personality and Crime
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Personality:
• The reasonably stable patterns of behavior, thoughts,
and emotions that distinguish one person from another.
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Research has identified personality traits
• Eysenck  extroversion/introversion and
stability/instability scales
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Psychological Traits and
Characteristics
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Personality and Crime
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Antisocial personality (unique set of characteristics):
• Psychopath
• Sociopathy
• Antisocial persons suffering defects or aberrations
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Research on personality:
• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
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Psychological Traits and
Characteristics
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