1. Criminology 8th edition Larry J. Siegel
Chapter 6 Trait Theory
Criminology 8th edition
Larry J. Siegel
© 2003 Wadsworth Publishing Co.

2. QUESTION
Do you think that people who commit crime are physically or mentally abnormal?

3. TRAIT THEORIES
Trait theories are made up of biosocial and psychological theories.
The primary focus of trait theories is human behavior and the link to anti-social behavior, i.e., aggression, violence, and criminality.

4. Biological and Psychological Traits
Both biological and psychological traits have been linked to criminal behavior, but not as causal linkages.
It is the “multiple factor” approach or the interaction of mental and physical traits with environmental and social factors that either suppress or trigger criminal behavior.
The focus is generally on persistent or chronic offenders.

5. Foundations of Biological Trait Theory
Biological explanation of criminal behavior first became popular during the middle part of the 19th Century with the introduction of positivism.
What is positivism?

6. Positivism Positivism rejects the concept of free will.
Crime can only be understood if it is studied by the scientific method.
Human behavior is a function of internal and external forces, i.e., social, biological, psychological, or economic forces.

7. Early Positivists Early positivists included:
Lombroso (belief that certain physical characteristics indicate a criminal nature).
Garofalo (certain physical characteristics and psychological characteristics indicate criminal nature).
Ferri (belief in biological, social and organic factors as a cause of crime and delinquency).
Sheldon (belief in body types which were susceptible to certain types of delinquent behavior).

8. Problems With Early Positivist Theories
The research of the earliest positivists (who were biologists) was plagued by poor:
Methodology
Testing
Logic

9. Biosocial Trait Theories
Biochemical Conditions and Crime
Neurophysiological Conditions and Crime
Genetics and Crime
Evolutionary Views and Crime

10. Principles of Biosocial Trait Theories
Genetic makeup contributes significantly to human behavior.
Not all humans are born with equal potential to learn and achieve.
This combination produces individual human behavior patterns.

11. How does a biosocial theorists
QUESTION
How does a biosocial theorists
explain learning?

12. Biosocial Theory: Biochemical Perspective
Crime, especially
violence, is a function
of diet, vitamin intake,
hormonal imbalance,
or food allergies.
CAUSE
Explains irrational
violence. Shows how
the environment
interacts with personal
traits to influence
behavior.
STRENGTHS

13. QUESTION
Is there a link between sugar and antisocial behavior? Is there a link between hormones and antisocial behavior?

14. Biochemical Considerations
Aggression and criminal behavior have been linked to diet. Some believe sugar intake is one culprit. If this is true, to what extent is behavior voluntarily induced by these foods?

15. delinquents often suffer
Biosocial Theory: Neurological Perspective
Criminals and
delinquents often suffer
brain impairment, as
measured by the EEG.
Attention deficit
disorder and minimum
brain dysfunction are
related to antisocial
behavior.
CAUSE
Explains irrational
violence. Shows how
the environment
interacts with
personal traits to
influence behavior.
STRENGTHS

16. Neurological Impairment
If the medical community tells us that neurological impairment was related to violent crime can the offender be held accountable?
If research in the community finds similar impairments in non-offenders, does this change the issue of culpability among offenders who have the impairment?

17. criminality of parents
Biosocial Theory: Genetic Perspective
Criminal traits and
predispositions are
inherited. The
criminality of parents
can predict the
delinquency of
children.
CAUSE
Explains why only a
small percentage of
youth in a high-crime
area become chronic
offenders.
STRENGTHS

18. Biosocial Theory: Evolutionary Perspective
As the human race
evolved, traits and
characteristics have
become ingrained.
Some of these make
people aggressive and
predisposed to
commit crime.
CAUSE
Explains high
violence rates and
aggregate gender
differences in the
crime rate.
STRENGTHS

19. QUESTION
It there is a biological basis to violence and aggression – then how would a biosocial theorist explain white collar crime?

20. Evaluation of Biosocial Trait Theory
Response
Rather than suggest that there are born criminals and non-criminals, proponents maintain that some people carry the potential to be violent or antisocial and that environmental conditions can sometimes trigger antisocial responses
Criticisms
If there are biological explanations for street crimes then by implication biological theory says that member of groups are biologically different, flawed or inferior

21. PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAIT THEORIES
Psychodynamic
Behavioral
Cognitive
Social Learning
Mental Illness and crime
Personality and Crime
Intelligence and Crime

22. Psychological Theory: Psychodynamic Perspective
Major Premise…..
The development of the unconscious personality early in childhood influence behavior for the rest of a person’s life. Criminals have weak egos and damaged personalities i.e., anger, sexuality, tendencies. Created by Sigmund Freud.
Strengths….
Explains the onset of crime and why crime and drug abuse cut across class lines.

23. Psychological Theory: Behavioral Perspective
Major Premise…..
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, i.e., learning processes.
Strengths….
Explains the role of significant others in the crime process. Shows how family life and media can influence crime and violence.

24. Social Learning Theory (Life Experiences)
An event
that heightens
arousal
Behavior and
values become
consistent
Factors that
help produce
violence and
aggression.
Learned
aggressive
skills
Expected
outcomes -
rewards

25. Psychological Theory: Cognitive Theory
Major Premise…..
Individual reasoning processes influence behavior. Reasoning is influenced by the way people perceive their environment and by their moral and intellectual development, i.e., thinking, memory, ethical values.
Strengths….
Shows why criminal behavior patterns change over time as people mature and develop their moral reasoning. May explain aging-out process.

26. Crime and Mental Illness
A great deal of early research efforts found that many offenders who engage in serious, violent crimes suffer from some sort of mental disturbance. However, empirical evidence has contradicted this.
Research shows that upon release, prisoners who had prior histories of hospitalization for mental disorders were less likely to be rearrested than those who had never been hospitalized.
Mentally disordered inmates who do recidivate upon release appear to do so for the same reasons as the mentally sound.

27. Personality and Crime - Trait
Personality can be defined as the reasonably stable patterns of behavior, including thoughts and emotions that distinguish one person from another. Personality reflects a characteristic way of adapting to life’s demands and problems.
Psychopaths
Sociopaths
Anti-Social Personalities I
Abnormal Affect

28. Intelligence and Crime
What is the difference between nature theory and nurture theory?
Do you think IQ and crime are linked?
If so, why are there more male than female criminals? Or, Why does “aging out” occur?