Download presentation
1
Intelligence and IQ
2
Current Controversy - Delinquency, Race, IQ
What does IQ really measure? Innate factors? Learned factors? Academic achievement, reading ability, test-wiseness? Is IQ culturally biased? If there are innate differences, are they caused by genetics or the environment?
3
IQ and Crime Mental deficiencies crime
IQ expresses numerical differences in “mental abilities” Early 1900’s, Simon and Binet, France Large number of everyday tasks, by difficulty Age levels assigned to tasks “Mental age” based on tasks that test-takers can complete IQ = Mental age/chronological age X 100 For example: Test taker is 9-years old, can complete tasks for a 9-year old, IQ=100 Smarter 9-year olds, higher IQ; duller, lower IQ Binet felt that persons could raise their IQ through training
4
IQ Testing in America Unlike Binet, Americans felt that IQ was fixed (inborn) Early purpose to sort people into appropriate roles IQ’s above 115 appropriate for the professions Identify the subnormal, institutionalize them to prevent reproduction Goddard For an adult, a mental age 13 is the lower limit of normalcy, mental age 12 is “feeble-minded” In one study 70 percent of incarcerated inmates were found to be feeble-minded Goddard - feeble-minded persons are potential criminals, should be institutionalized & not reproduce
5
Studies in America WWI, military used age 12 & below as disqualifying for service 37% of whites and 89% of blacks were disqualified, meaning that nearly half the population was “feeble-minded” Goddard’s reaction He changed his mind Cannot equate IQ tests with native abilities Feeble-mindedness can be remedied by education Later studies No difference in IQ scores for prisoners & draftees Cannot conclude that most criminals are feeble-minded
6
1967 - William Shockley IQ measures a “fundamental social capacity”
Differences between Afro-Americans and Euro-Americans due to genetic differences Differences in IQ explain differences in poverty and in crime rates
7
After Shockley 1969 article by Arthur Jensen
IQ measures a factor important in Western industrialized societies 80 percent of differences due to genetics, rather than the environment 1976, 1987 articles by Robert Gordon Variations in delinquency rates best explained by IQ Social class does not explain away the relationship (IQ a better predictor of delinquency than social class) 1977 article by Hirschi and Hindelang IQ as important as race & social class in predicting delinquency IQ has been ignored because of bias against it
8
“Verbal” -v- “Performance” IQ
For most, the scores are similar Delinquents have large gaps, with poor verbal but “basically” normal performance IQ’s Poor verbal ability Delinquency Yes but there’s an intervening variable Poor verbal ability school problems delinquency Poor verbal ability poor problem-solving abilities delinquency No - it’s a spurious relationship. The actual cause is... Scholastic underachievement delinquency Social conditions delinquency
9
Three competing concepts of what IQ really measures
Abstract reasoning/problem-solving ability, largely inherited (nature) May be affected by environmental factors Low IQ parents may poorly rear children, holding back their IQ’s Qualities related to the dominant culture (cultural bias) General abilities, largely determined by environment (nurture) Performance may be affected in low-income areas Ineffective child-rearing Poor schooling Weak family supports
10
Personality
11
What is “personality”? Individual emotional and behavioral attributes and qualities (other than intellectual ability) that remain relatively constant Aggressiveness Impulsivity Introversion/extroversion Friendly/hostile Cooperative/uncooperative
12
Personality studies 1950 – Gluecks
Compared 500 delinquent and 500 non-delinquent boys Mix of characteristics was different Delinquents more extroverted, impulsive, hostile Delinquents less fearful of failure, less deferential to authority Predictors of delinquency Social background Character traits (Roscharch test) Personality traits (psychiatric interview) MMPI demonstrates similar results 550 statements used for psychiatric diagnoses Scale 4 used to predict delinquency. Has been criticized because... Some items are delinquency (“when I was young I stole things”) Other items are non-delinquency (“I like school”) Ignores environment
13
Antisocial Personality Disorder (psychopathy)
APA DSM defines (doesn’t explain) criminal and delinquent behavior APA DSM-4 - Antisocial personality disorder (APD): “pervasive pattern of disregard and violation of the rights of others that begins in childhood and continues to adulthood”. At least 3 characteristics: repeated lawbreaking, repeated lying and deceit, impulsivity, repeated physical fights, repeated failure to work, lack of remorse Characteristics must be: inflexible, maladaptive, persistent, cause significant functional impairment or personal distress Adult antisocial behavior (criminal behavior in absence of APD) Some gang researchers see “core” gang members as sociopaths who use the mob to act out their own aggression Mc Cord - recidivism rates of delinquents diagnosed as psychopaths only slightly worse than those for others
14
Psychiatric prediction of future dangerousness
10-year study by Kozol, Boucher and Garofalo of high-risk offenders being released from prison Psychiatric evaluation failed to predict two-thirds of subsequent violent offending Two-thirds of those predicted to become violent did not Monahan – clinical prediction difficult, requires that individual’s general situation not change Compare context of past offending with new circumstances Time since, severity and frequency of past violence Yields probability for persons of like demographic characteristics
15
“Actuarial” prediction of crime and delinquency
Move away from predicting whether individuals will commit violence Actuarial prediction: what factors are associated with an increased likelihood of future offending? Best predictor of future delinquency is early childhood behavior Disruptive classroom behavior, aggressiveness, lying, dishonesty (tautology problem) May be affected by personality characteristics not measured by testing Other predictors of future delinquency Poor parental supervision Separation from parents Offending by parents and siblings Low intelligence and educational attainment Optimism about the possibility of intervention
16
Impulsivity and crime Definition
High level of activity, impatience for rewards, seek immediate gratification, easily distracted Wilson & Herrnstein : Impulsivity Conscience Crime Crime is naturally rewarding We must be restrained by internal inhibitions (conscience), developed in early childhood through family rearing Key factor: considering long-term rather than just the short-term consequences of one’s actions Contributing factors Poor child-rearing produces weak inhibitions Membership in deviant subcultures Mass media (modeling), learning one is a “victim” Economic system/legitimate opportunities to gain rewards Schools
17
Impulsivity and persistence of criminal behavior
Walters – “lifestyle criminals” Irresponsibility, self-indulgence, chronic violation of social rules Feelings of entitlement, being a “victim” Power orientation – “dog-eat-dog world” Superoptimism – feeling of invulnerability Cognitive indolence – not paying attention to life details Discontinuity – failing to set goals, carry out commitments Moffitt – “life-course persistent offenders” - engaging in anti-social behavior at every stage of life Early neurophysiological problems: nutrition, mother’s drug use, birth complications, Home situation: child abuse, lack of affection & supervision Disrupts schooling, less ability for legitimate rewards Caspi, Moffitt et al study of “crime-proneness” Children who experience excessive anger, anxiety, irritability may be “quicker on the draw” (more impulsive)
18
Policy implications Impulsivity seems to be best psychological candidate as a cause of crime and delinquency (author’s favorite) Some theories (e.g., Moffitt) specify causes of behavior (e.g., early psych. problems, poor parenting) & suggesting interventions Clinical Parenting classes Special education Author downplays psychological causes IQ differences & school achievement can supposedly be explained by environment alone Methodological problems – attaching personality labels simply because of differences in rates of offending “Crime” is a societal definition, while “behavior” is the end result of a complex individual process Difficulty in using personality to explain crime in general
Similar presentations
© 2025 SlidePlayer.com. Inc.
All rights reserved.