Why do people commit Crimes? Theories of Criminology

Positive Theory (Positivism)  Criminals are born not made  This is an example of nature, not nurture  Focused on biological and psychological factors to explain criminal behaviour

Positivist Theorists  Cesare Lombarso (1835 – 1909)  Italian physician and psychiatrist  What did he think/do?  Studied cadavers of executed criminals in an effort to determine scientifically whether criminals were physically any different from non-criminals  He believed that people were born criminals and facial features of criminals included things like enormous jaws and strong canine teeth.

Pictures of murderers that Lambarso believed carried facial features tied to criminal activity.

MurdererSean Penn See any similarities!? Does this mean Sean Penn is a Criminal?

Positivist Theorists cont…  In the 1960s, positivist criminologists argued that criminal behaviour lies in abnormal chromosomes  The XYY theory argued that violent male criminals have an abnormal XYY chromosome (XY is the normal pattern in males)  However, researchers soon found out that this was not true and that criminals had normal chromosomes and that non-criminals also had abnormal chromosomes.  The Positivist theory of criminals being born rather than made died out. There were moral implications with this.

Modern Day Example  Philippe Rushton  University of Western Ontario psychology professor  Rushton's book Race, Evolution, and Behavior (1995)tries to show that East Asians and their descendants average a larger brain size, greater intelligence, more sexual restraint, slower rates of maturation, and greater law abidingness and social organization than do Europeans and their descendants, who average higher scores on these dimensions than Africans and their descendants.

Sociological Perspectives: Theory of Anomie  Sociological Theorist : Emile Durkheim ( )  People who live in cities feel more anonymous and isolated (as compared to rural life).  No longer restrained by the strict norms of society (in rural life) and given the anonymity in a big city certain individuals turned to crime.  Durkheim is also a father of functionalism (i.e., everyone has a role/function in society and that is how society runs/functions.  Durkheim believes that criminals have a role and are needed for society to function  If there were no crime, it would mean that everyone in society was the same and agreed on everything. This is no ideal and society would be too comforting – people need a release.

Anomie cont…  Kitty Genovese  Young woman stabbed to death on a street in New York City  As many as 37 neighbours and bystanders all heard her screams for help.  No one called the police because they all thought someone else would take action.  Sociologists call this Diffusion of Responsibility  Kitty Genovese Article Kitty Genovese Article

Sociology cont… Ecological School  Believed that criminal behaviour was fostered and encouraged in certain environments.  They studied a number of poor neighbourhoods and concluded that communities that suffered from high rates of poverty and social disintegration were more likely to condone criminal activity than more affluent neighbourhoods.

Sociology cont… Social Conflict Theory  Karl Marx and Frederick Engels argued that the capitalist society encouraged crime as people competed for resources and wealth.  Our society protects those with power and property. As a result, people who are economically disadvantaged are more likely to be punished by our justice system. The only way to solve the crime problem is to eliminate the capitalist system.

Social Psychological Perspective  Social psychology is the study of the relations between individuals and people.  They are interested in how ‘regular’ people can commit atrocious crimes.  Stanley Milgram was specifically interested in how Nazi’s were able to commit horrible acts of genocide – he focused on how people could do this just by following orders.  Milgram Experiment Milgram Experiment  Torturing and killing innocent civiliansTorturing and killing innocent civilians

…In relation to torturing article…  Displacement of responsibility and dehumanizing the victim are two categories of moral disengagement  Bandura (1999) states, “People behave in ways they would normally oppose if a legitimate authority accepts responsibility for the consequences of that behavior. Under these conditions, people view their actions as the dictates of authorities rather than their own actions.”  According to reports in the article, the torture and abuse of the civilians was approved and facilitated by the White House  According to Bandura, (1999) person can justify torture by loosing empathy for the victim while convincing himself that the victim lacks human qualities.  Furthermore, once the victim is dehumanized, he is no longer viewed as a person with feelings, concerns or hopes but as a subhuman object that is easily tortured (Bandura, 1999).

Strain Theory (Sociology)  Current societies stress the goals of acquiring wealth, success, and power.  However, the means to achieve these goals require education and economic resources.  These means are frequently denied or unavailable to those who are economically disadvantaged or have little opportunity for formal education.  Example: The Wire, Season 4, Episode 8  Young African American youth yearning for the chance to work on the streets to sell drugs because they know this is the only way they can make money.

Psychoanalytical Theory  Sigmund Freud believed that all humans have criminal tendencies.  It is through socialization that these tendencies are controlled during childhood.  If a child has an identity problem with his/her parent, this problem may cause the child to direct its antisocial tendencies outward and thus become a criminal.  Psychological Human Development also comes into play here

John Wayne Gacy Jr. – How did he grow up to be a murderer?  Theorists consider moral behaviour to be self-regulated through mechanisms of self-evaluation where one can approve or disapprove irresponsible or inhumane behaviour  It clear that Gacy showed a lack of moral behaviour and hence, in the act was not able to disapprove his behaviour adequately to avoid it completely.  Bandura (1977), states that most violent acts and inhumanities are perpetrated by people who, in other areas of their life are quite considerate in their behaviour.  This describes Gacy’s behaviour perfectly as he was very friendly, well liked by the neighbours and was largely involved in the community; no one would assume he was capable of such casualties. Moreover, Gacy illustrated moral disengagement by justifying his murderous acts

Cont…  According to Sigelman and Rider (2009), children who are raised in abusive environments can grow up to become abusers and to learn that violence is an integral part of human relationships.  Hence, it can be argued that Gacy’s immoral, violent and murderous adulthood is rooted in the violence from his childhood. Furthermore, abusers are often insecure individuals with low self-esteem  Furthermore, abusers are often insecure individuals with low self- esteem. Abusers can form negative internal working models of themselves and others, which are most likely rooted in unhappy experiences in insecure relationships with parents and negative experiences in romantic relationships  although his father hurt him physically and emotionally, Gacy desperately sought his father’s approval but was never able to achieve it. This insecurity led him to failed marriages and more interestingly, to his attraction to hiding himself under clown costumes and make-up in order for the children in the community to like him.

John Wayne Gacy Jr.  A&E Biography Part 1 A&E Biography Part 1  A&E Biography Part 2 A&E Biography Part 2  A&E Biography Part 3 A&E Biography Part 3