criminal
behavior
psychology
, characteristics of criminal behaviour
Why crime is difficult to define
- Many different crimes bound to the laws of many different societies
- Laws and definitions change over time
- Criminality is different in different time frames, cultures etc.
- Crime is a social construct
- Criminal intent needs to be present and offender needs to know what they're doing
- The behaviour needs to be harmful or have detrimental effect on victim
Fraudsters
Against individuals: risk taking, the need to achieve, locusts of control, over optimistic and desire for
autonomy
Against organisations: predominantly male, employed by the company, executive/director level positions,
motivated by personal gain/greed
Murderers type 1: below average IQ, live alone and lack sexual relationships, unskilled workers/labourers,
harsh/ inconsistent discipline in childhood, generally socially inadequate, low birth order
Murderers type 2: above average IQ, live with a partner/sexually competent, socially adequate, harsh
discipline in childhood, high birth order, aggressive, lack empathy emotion & guilt
Terrorists: non-combative civilians acting on a perceived wrong/injustice, motivated by political/economic
issues, feel the world is unfair, often come from underprivileged area’s, possible psychological defects
Sex offenders: engage in sexual contact with young children/adolescence, use force to engage in sexual
2 contact with others, like to participate in/watch acts of physical violence against others, like exposing
themselves in public settings
, Inherited criminality biological explanation 1
Genetic factors
Suggests that genes predispose a person to criminal behaviour
Raine 1993 – reviewed research on the delinquent behaviour of twins and found 52% concordance for MZ twins and 21% for DZ twins
Ishiwaka & Raine 2002 – found a concordance rate of criminality of 44% for MZ twins and 21.6% for DZ twins
Both studies suggest that even if twins are brought up in similar environments there is a genetic link with criminal behaviour
Osborne and West 1979- reported on survey of over 300 males aged 24-25 and their fathers in their 40s found that 40% of sons who had
a criminal father also had a criminal record compared to 13% of sons with non criminal fathers
Farrington 2002- found that if the father had been arrested then there's a high chance the son would also be arrested.
Specific genes
MAOA – monoamine oxidase A – involved in the breakdown of serotonin. Seo et al 2008 suggested high serotonin levels may predispose
individuals to impulsive and aggressive behaviour. Brunner et al 1993 studied 28 men from Dutch family involved in repeated aggressive
criminal behaviour including rape & attempted murder. They all inherited low activity variant of MAOA and showed corresponding
deficiencies in the brain causing increased serotonin.
CDH-13 – cadherin -13 – identified as a risk factor for ADHD, depression and other comorbid neurodevelopmental conditions i.e.
Substance abuse or violent behaviour.
Tiihonen et al 2015 studied 900 offenders and found that 5-10% of all violent crime in Finland is attributable to abnormalities in the
MAOA and CDH-13 genes
Diathesis stress & epigenetics
A persons traits of criminal behaviour is due to a genetic predisposition. Geneticists suggest that criminal behaviour isn't caused by
specific genes present at birth rather that we inherit a combination of genes that are ‘switched on or off’ by epigenomes (chemicals that
tell us what to do) where the genomes themselves are effected by environmental factors.
Epigenetics refers to how genes are ‘switched on or off’ by environmental factors.
Caspi et al 2002 used data from longitudinal Dunedin study following approximately 1000 people from babies in the 70’s. Assessed
antisocial behaviour at age 26 and found that 12% of men with low MAOA gene had experienced maltreatment in childhood but were
responsible for 44% of the violent convictions
3
behavior
psychology
, characteristics of criminal behaviour
Why crime is difficult to define
- Many different crimes bound to the laws of many different societies
- Laws and definitions change over time
- Criminality is different in different time frames, cultures etc.
- Crime is a social construct
- Criminal intent needs to be present and offender needs to know what they're doing
- The behaviour needs to be harmful or have detrimental effect on victim
Fraudsters
Against individuals: risk taking, the need to achieve, locusts of control, over optimistic and desire for
autonomy
Against organisations: predominantly male, employed by the company, executive/director level positions,
motivated by personal gain/greed
Murderers type 1: below average IQ, live alone and lack sexual relationships, unskilled workers/labourers,
harsh/ inconsistent discipline in childhood, generally socially inadequate, low birth order
Murderers type 2: above average IQ, live with a partner/sexually competent, socially adequate, harsh
discipline in childhood, high birth order, aggressive, lack empathy emotion & guilt
Terrorists: non-combative civilians acting on a perceived wrong/injustice, motivated by political/economic
issues, feel the world is unfair, often come from underprivileged area’s, possible psychological defects
Sex offenders: engage in sexual contact with young children/adolescence, use force to engage in sexual
2 contact with others, like to participate in/watch acts of physical violence against others, like exposing
themselves in public settings
, Inherited criminality biological explanation 1
Genetic factors
Suggests that genes predispose a person to criminal behaviour
Raine 1993 – reviewed research on the delinquent behaviour of twins and found 52% concordance for MZ twins and 21% for DZ twins
Ishiwaka & Raine 2002 – found a concordance rate of criminality of 44% for MZ twins and 21.6% for DZ twins
Both studies suggest that even if twins are brought up in similar environments there is a genetic link with criminal behaviour
Osborne and West 1979- reported on survey of over 300 males aged 24-25 and their fathers in their 40s found that 40% of sons who had
a criminal father also had a criminal record compared to 13% of sons with non criminal fathers
Farrington 2002- found that if the father had been arrested then there's a high chance the son would also be arrested.
Specific genes
MAOA – monoamine oxidase A – involved in the breakdown of serotonin. Seo et al 2008 suggested high serotonin levels may predispose
individuals to impulsive and aggressive behaviour. Brunner et al 1993 studied 28 men from Dutch family involved in repeated aggressive
criminal behaviour including rape & attempted murder. They all inherited low activity variant of MAOA and showed corresponding
deficiencies in the brain causing increased serotonin.
CDH-13 – cadherin -13 – identified as a risk factor for ADHD, depression and other comorbid neurodevelopmental conditions i.e.
Substance abuse or violent behaviour.
Tiihonen et al 2015 studied 900 offenders and found that 5-10% of all violent crime in Finland is attributable to abnormalities in the
MAOA and CDH-13 genes
Diathesis stress & epigenetics
A persons traits of criminal behaviour is due to a genetic predisposition. Geneticists suggest that criminal behaviour isn't caused by
specific genes present at birth rather that we inherit a combination of genes that are ‘switched on or off’ by epigenomes (chemicals that
tell us what to do) where the genomes themselves are effected by environmental factors.
Epigenetics refers to how genes are ‘switched on or off’ by environmental factors.
Caspi et al 2002 used data from longitudinal Dunedin study following approximately 1000 people from babies in the 70’s. Assessed
antisocial behaviour at age 26 and found that 12% of men with low MAOA gene had experienced maltreatment in childhood but were
responsible for 44% of the violent convictions
3
