Psychology and criminal offender behavior analysis

¶ … real, biological causes of crime in the criminal mind. It gave me insight into the many different genetic and biological problems that can lead to criminality. I also learned that there are many more causes than I had thought, such as vitamin deficiencies, excess hormones, hypoglycemia, fetal alcohol syndrome, and a host of others that make sense when I read them but were startling when I saw them in print. I also learned that these biological causes of crime have been slow to catch on in criminology circles, but they are becoming more accepted with time and research.

.Most of this information was new to me -- there was not a lot that I knew before reading this chapter. I knew about natural selection and Darwin's ideas on aggression, but did not put them together with this information. It was understandable that many of these theories have not been tested, as it is quite difficult to pin down brain function and causality. I had heard of the "Twinkie Defense" for Dan White, which uses the theory that foods can change body chemicals and thus cause crimes, and this makes some sense to me, too. I have known hypoglycemics, and have seen how they change due to sugar imbalances.

It was surprising to me that so many criminologists are against this causation of crime. It seems that it is valid in many cases, and that some people are just habitual criminals with little or no redeeming qualities. I have seen television shows where aggressive dogs are deemed unsuitable for adoption because they are simply too aggressive and cannot be retrained, so why is it not the same with humans? It seems that some are just unredeemable, like Robert Moormann. It makes sense that biological problems in the brain can cause crime, because biological problems in the brain can cause many other abnormal behaviors. I was also surprised that these theories have existed for so long, but are still not really accepted by so many people. I wonder what it will take for them to accept or at least open themselves to these theories. I was also surprised that some studies point to certain physical characteristics of criminals. I think that is going too far, and to say a criminal has longer arms or "pouches in the cheeks" is just taking this theory one step too far.

The information in this chapter affected not only my reasoning but my common sense. The section that said we are all aggressive and don't have any way to express it seems very real to me. Perhaps that is why we have so many more reports of road rages, and other aggressive behaviors. We are basically aggressive beings, and we no longer have acceptable ways of "blowing it off," and so we turn to behaviors that are unacceptable but relieve our aggressive natures for a time. It also explained in detail how so many things can influence crime, from weather to testosterone levels, and I think much more study has to be done before we truly understand just how these different biological causes effect crime.

I think I will look at crime differently now, along with some of the ways we try to prevent crime. If a person is inherently violent or aggressive because of biological factors, it is clear that prison time or attempts to "redeem" the person will not work. The text's use of Robert Moormann is an excellent example. It seems there are some people who are simply too aggressive and criminal in their minds to ever change, and our system of prison and hope for change will never change these people.