Criminal behaviour
Characteristics of criminal behaviour:
● Crimes are defined as ‘acts attracting legal punishment and offences
against the community’.
● Criminal behaviours are a social construct as they rely on different laws
in each society and these often change over time and place.
Characteristics of serial killers:
● Holmes and Holmes reported that many serial killers were white, male,
and between the ages 25-34.
● They’re intelligent, charismatic, and charming.
● There are different subtypes of serial killers.
Visionary serial killers:
● They’re motivated to kill by voices or visions and can lose touch with reality.
● They usually kill quickly and don’t stay at the crime scene.
● They are usually declared insane.
Power control serial killers:
● Derive sexual gratification from dominating and controlling the life of another.
● They have a strong compulsion to strangle their victims.
● They gain gratification by prolonging crimes.
● They may be a sociopath and choose to live by their own rules, but
they’re aware of societal norms.
Mission serial killers:
● Believe they have a calling to eliminate a certain group of people.
● They’re in touch with reality apart from their self-imposed need to
eradicate groups of people.
● They may stalk potential victims.
Characteristics of fraudsters:
● They use trickery to gain a dishonest advantage over others.
● The National Fraud Authority noted that many fraudsters
demonstrated characteristics similar to entrepreneurs, specifically risk
taking and over-optimism.
, ● KPMG found from a survey on 750 fraudsters that characteristics of
fraudsters included:
○ Between ages 36-55
○ Predominantly male
○ Holds executive or director level position
○ Regarded as friendly
○ Motivated by personal gain and greed
INHERITED CRIMINALITY EXPLANATION
Genetic factors:
● Hollin believes that individuals inherit a biological predisposition for
criminal behaviours linked to a personality type.
● Individuals may inherit a gene that makes them more aggressive.
Farrington:
● Farrington found that if the father had been arrested, there was a high
chance the son would’ve been arrested as well.
Genes:
● The gene MAOA helps recycle serotonin.
● Seo et al proposed that low levels of serotonin may predispose individuals
to impulsive and aggressive behaviour.
● Brunner et al studied a Dutch family, many of whom were aggressive. The
aggressive behaviour was linked to a mutation in the MAOA gene,
meaning they had low levels of serotonin.
Adoption studies:
● Crowe found that where the biological mother had a criminal record, the
child had 50% of acquiring one by the age of 18, compared with 5% of those
who didn’t have a biological mother with a criminal record.
Twin studies:
● Rosanoff et al found that the concordance rate for criminal behaviour
was 67% for MZ and 13% for DZ twins.
, Supporting evidence:
● Crowe found that adopted children with a biological mother with a criminal
record had a 38% risk of developing a criminal record by 18, compared to
6% of those whose biological mother didn’t have a criminal record.
● This allows us to see the effect of the inheritance of criminality in
isolation from environmental factors, allowing a cause-and-effect
relationship to be established between inherited genes and criminal
behaviour.
● It’s backed by research which shows that inherited genes are a
significant factor in predisposing criminal behaviour.
Unethical - physical and psychological harm:
● It’s been used to create a therapy which is forcefully used.
● Many US states have used enforced sterilisation on many undesirable
groups, including criminals.
● Sterilisation can cause a lot of pain and can lead to infections, so it isn’t
a procedure which should be carried out without consent.
Doesn’t consider free will:
● It suggests that people may have no control over their own criminal
behaviour due to it being caused by genes.
● If people are seen to have no control over the crimes they commit,
nobody can be seen as guilty, which may be used to reduce the
sentences of criminals wrongfully.
● A negative social implication of this explanation is that it can be used
to remove the responsibility of a criminal for their actions.
Refuting research - twin studies:
● Dalgard and Kringlen found no statistically significant difference in
the concordance rates between MZ and DZ twins.
● Unlike what other research has stated, there is no significant impact
of inherited genes on the development of criminal behaviour.
● A limitation of the explanation is that it can’t be backed by all research,
suggesting that there may be other factors more involved in the
development of criminal behaviour.
Diathesis stress model is better:
● Genes are switched on or off by epigenetics, which are affected
by environmental factors such as maltreatment in childhood.
● Considers nature and nurture so offers a more complete explanation.
Characteristics of criminal behaviour:
● Crimes are defined as ‘acts attracting legal punishment and offences
against the community’.
● Criminal behaviours are a social construct as they rely on different laws
in each society and these often change over time and place.
Characteristics of serial killers:
● Holmes and Holmes reported that many serial killers were white, male,
and between the ages 25-34.
● They’re intelligent, charismatic, and charming.
● There are different subtypes of serial killers.
Visionary serial killers:
● They’re motivated to kill by voices or visions and can lose touch with reality.
● They usually kill quickly and don’t stay at the crime scene.
● They are usually declared insane.
Power control serial killers:
● Derive sexual gratification from dominating and controlling the life of another.
● They have a strong compulsion to strangle their victims.
● They gain gratification by prolonging crimes.
● They may be a sociopath and choose to live by their own rules, but
they’re aware of societal norms.
Mission serial killers:
● Believe they have a calling to eliminate a certain group of people.
● They’re in touch with reality apart from their self-imposed need to
eradicate groups of people.
● They may stalk potential victims.
Characteristics of fraudsters:
● They use trickery to gain a dishonest advantage over others.
● The National Fraud Authority noted that many fraudsters
demonstrated characteristics similar to entrepreneurs, specifically risk
taking and over-optimism.
, ● KPMG found from a survey on 750 fraudsters that characteristics of
fraudsters included:
○ Between ages 36-55
○ Predominantly male
○ Holds executive or director level position
○ Regarded as friendly
○ Motivated by personal gain and greed
INHERITED CRIMINALITY EXPLANATION
Genetic factors:
● Hollin believes that individuals inherit a biological predisposition for
criminal behaviours linked to a personality type.
● Individuals may inherit a gene that makes them more aggressive.
Farrington:
● Farrington found that if the father had been arrested, there was a high
chance the son would’ve been arrested as well.
Genes:
● The gene MAOA helps recycle serotonin.
● Seo et al proposed that low levels of serotonin may predispose individuals
to impulsive and aggressive behaviour.
● Brunner et al studied a Dutch family, many of whom were aggressive. The
aggressive behaviour was linked to a mutation in the MAOA gene,
meaning they had low levels of serotonin.
Adoption studies:
● Crowe found that where the biological mother had a criminal record, the
child had 50% of acquiring one by the age of 18, compared with 5% of those
who didn’t have a biological mother with a criminal record.
Twin studies:
● Rosanoff et al found that the concordance rate for criminal behaviour
was 67% for MZ and 13% for DZ twins.
, Supporting evidence:
● Crowe found that adopted children with a biological mother with a criminal
record had a 38% risk of developing a criminal record by 18, compared to
6% of those whose biological mother didn’t have a criminal record.
● This allows us to see the effect of the inheritance of criminality in
isolation from environmental factors, allowing a cause-and-effect
relationship to be established between inherited genes and criminal
behaviour.
● It’s backed by research which shows that inherited genes are a
significant factor in predisposing criminal behaviour.
Unethical - physical and psychological harm:
● It’s been used to create a therapy which is forcefully used.
● Many US states have used enforced sterilisation on many undesirable
groups, including criminals.
● Sterilisation can cause a lot of pain and can lead to infections, so it isn’t
a procedure which should be carried out without consent.
Doesn’t consider free will:
● It suggests that people may have no control over their own criminal
behaviour due to it being caused by genes.
● If people are seen to have no control over the crimes they commit,
nobody can be seen as guilty, which may be used to reduce the
sentences of criminals wrongfully.
● A negative social implication of this explanation is that it can be used
to remove the responsibility of a criminal for their actions.
Refuting research - twin studies:
● Dalgard and Kringlen found no statistically significant difference in
the concordance rates between MZ and DZ twins.
● Unlike what other research has stated, there is no significant impact
of inherited genes on the development of criminal behaviour.
● A limitation of the explanation is that it can’t be backed by all research,
suggesting that there may be other factors more involved in the
development of criminal behaviour.
Diathesis stress model is better:
● Genes are switched on or off by epigenetics, which are affected
by environmental factors such as maltreatment in childhood.
● Considers nature and nurture so offers a more complete explanation.
