Criminal Behavior
Approaches to Understand Criminal Behavior

Psychological Approaches

Sociological Approaches

Biological Approaches

Psychosurgery

Chemical Methods of Control

Imagine yourself having a walk in the premises of your house and a stone come flying through the boundary wall and hits you. As a layman, one might face difficulty in defining this incident. It can be termed as an assault, an act of violence or a criminal offence. This is a layman's term to define this act but in reality it has a way deeper meaning. Before going in the details of criminal behavior, few points must be pondered like why individuals offend, who are the ones who offend and who are the probable victims. Relationship between psychology and the criminal justice system is of great significance in developing an understanding about reasons that could lead to violence which is the consequence of criminal behavior. Many other facts are of importance while investigating the issue like police investigation,….

Sociological theories of criminal behavior do not discount individual-level learning but focus more on the surrounding culture and environment. To explain criminal behavior, sociologists usually center on conflict theories, strain theories, labeling theories, and social control theories. Conflict theories have their roots in Marxist philosophy. They reveal how class conflict can create impetus for deviance and also lead to general anomie. Strain theory similarly suggests that criminal behavior can result from a gap between socially sanctioned goals and an individual's ability to achieve those goals in normative ways. These theories generally explain the greater prevalence of crime among socially disadvantaged groups. Social disorganization theory also takes into account the tendency for criminal behavior to arise in communities that lack structure and cohesion due to anomie. Social control theorists postulate that an individual's acceptance of and commitment to prevailing social institutions will diminish criminal behavior; the desire to conform overrides any….

" These authors purport that although mood and behaviour may constitute a vital part in disorderly outcomes of drinking scenarios, other social factors can equally contribute influences. These factors, according to these authors, can be categorized by the following factors:
the attitude and motivations that young binge drinkers bring to drinking, the social and peer group norms under which they operate, and features relating to the drinking environment.

Reasonable Investigations

In the journal article, Misinformation, Misrepresentation, and Misuse of Human ehavioral Genetics Research, Kaplan (2006) notes: "Researchers interested in understanding either the causes of variation in human behaviors or how human behaviors develop are at a disadvantage compared to researchers interested in answering similar questions associated with nonhuman organisms."

Reasons include:

Ethical restrictions on human experimentation make a number of experiments, standard in other model organisms, impossible to perform on humans.

Human development constitutes a slower process than that of traditional model organisms, such as nematode….

On the other hand, his wife said that they dated for about nine months and then were engaged for about a year before they got married. There was some discrepancy in the Personal and Progress notes of Mr. W pertaining to the involvement of Mr. W in women during his time in high school, however, which does not have much role to play in this case. Mr. W claimed that the reason why he and his wife got divorced was because she was a very dominating woman and she had all the control in their relationship. He also said that she would spend luxuriously and would pressurize him to make more money. Later, he also made a claim that he thinks that he was under a lot of pressure to make a lot of money and that is one of the reasons why he had to indulge in criminal….

Leaders in society understand the need to resist putting unfair labels on people; this has been a positive trend over the recent past.
Feminist Theory: Feminist theories suggest, "…criminal justice decisions reflect male dominance and functioning to support patriarchy"; in short, the system is bias against women (Akers, 1999). This has changed society because women's liberation, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, have made it illegal to discriminate based on race, gender, religious affiliation or age.

Biosocial Theories: The risk entailed in criminal behavior is caused by a combination of environmental and biological dynamics (Vito, et al., 2006). Another aspect of this approach to criminology is to believe that personality traits, which are the result of biological forces inside the individual, can cause crime. Society puts criminals in prisons, but sociologists and psychologists strive to understand how biological and environmental factors factor in when people commit crimes. The change is….

Likewise, full-body tattoos are considered deviant behavior and people who are completely tattooed are ostracized from some elements of society, but that behavior has never been considered illegal. In contrast, most people do not consider jaywalking or speeding to be extremely deviant behavior. On the contrary, most people have probably engaged in these criminal behaviors and may even be habitual offenders, but one would be unlikely to label them as criminals.
Therefore, it becomes clear that deciding what constitutes a crime is about more than deviance; it also requires the consideration of whether the behavior is harmful to anyone other than the actors and if society values those whom the behavior is harming. Looking at the example of homosexuality and tattoos; even if one considers that behavior self-destructive, it is difficult to imagine how the behavior harms anyone other than those involved in the lifestyle. In contrast, speeding and jaywalking,….

05 under Resolving Ethical Issues in corporate situations is apt.
One Research Standard in the "Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research"

The one research standard that stands out as among the most important standards is "accuracy," which, along with "honesty, efficiency and objective" make up the four most fundamental standards from the Office of Research Integrity. In the peer-reviewed journal Criminology, professor John Laub writes that "…facts must come first" when reviewing various approaches to criminology. The point of Laub's essay -- which basically takes Edwin Sutherland to task for Sutherland's analysis of criminology and crime research -- is that Sutherland "…rejected key facts about crime that were contrary to his sociological paradigm" (Laub, 2006, p. 239). In other words, Sutherland took a sociological view of crime and ignored those facts that were not convenient to his theory. That is as troubling as a detective ignoring facts in a murder case….

Whereas terrorists, are focused on achieving idealistic goals that are concentrating on creating destruction, severely weakening their adversaries and making the general public fearful about conducting routine activities. (Kane, 2005) ("Terrorist Links to Other Crimes," 2007)
The rationale behind white collar crimes is based upon self-interest and greed. While terrorists, are more ideological and want to create some kind of lasting change through a campaign of violence. As a result, while collar criminals want to maintain the status quo in order to continue to reap these benefits. However, the terrorists want to create radical changes to the system or the policies of various governmental entities. (Kane, 2005) ("Terrorist Links to Other Crimes," 2007)

Describe possible conclusions which can be drawn based upon this comparison.

Possible conclusions which can be drawn are that both kinds of activities will utilize the same kinds of tools and tactics. This is a part of a larger….

Video Game Violence
Criminal behavior

Criminal behavior literature review: Video game violence

One of the most controversial contentions in the recent debate over the causes of violence in American society is that violent video games give rise to violent behavior. After the recent shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the Arizona Sun reported that local organizers in the community of Southington, Arizona held a violent video game buy-back, much in the same way that other communities had buy-backs of firearms. "Although the organizers are careful to note there's no evidence violent games contributed to the Sandy Hook shooting, the implication is nonetheless clear. So too, the organizers claim that research links video games with other aggressive acts and desensitization" (Ferguson 2013). The head of the National ifle Association (NA) likewise made a link between criminality and video game violence -- but not the presence of guns in American society -- in a much-maligned….

This requires identification of the barriers to the readiness of the offender to change as well as the strengths of the offender that will enable their making those changes. Latessa relates that the failure of researchers and scholars to "bridge the gap among theory, research and practice" is striking and that suggestions for how promotion of change by academics and researchers include those of:
(1) leave the office -- be willing to attend and present at nonacademic conferences, conduct workshops for local professionals, testify at legislative hearings, and in general be willing to led the expertise and knowledge they posses;

(2) Make research understandable

(3) Include measures of program integrity and quality in research.

(4) Do a better job of preparing students:

(a) teach them the knowledge base;

(b) provide them better skills and competencies; and (c) expose them to other relevant disciplines. (Latessa, 2004)

Latessa (2004) states that he visited several state correctional systems and….

Criminology is not an abstract discipline. It is designed to have real world, real-life implications and thus must be undertaken with care. However, human beings' behavior cannot be perfectly controlled, and no experiment conducted in the field can be isolated from variables that may potentially affect the results, even with the inclusion of a control group. A faulty experiment could have far-reaching effects.
Beyond the ethics of studying crime, there are also methodological questions. What branch of the social sciences does criminology encompass? Psychology? The natural sciences? Sociology? History? This question influences the assumptions, patterns, and standards of evidence to which research is held. It has been said that the "paradigm for criminology should not be tied to any particular discipline" because of its multidisciplinary nature (Laub 2006: 240). However, this means that creating a universally agreed-upon body of ethical standards can be extremely difficult. The standards of falsifiability and….

Background and Biographical Data The case of Jesse Norman Imeson reveals the possible connections between childhood upbringing, childhood trauma, and psychological characteristics on criminal behavior. While childhood experiences can never be used to condone violence or criminality, understanding the correlation between these factors may help identify early warning signs or risk factors that can then be used in crime prevention strategies. The story of Jesse Imeson gripped Canada because it involved the heinous killing of three individuals in the summer of 2007. Imeson was apprehended at age 22, pled guilty to all three counts of second-degree murder in 2008, and was sentenced to life in prison.
Jesse was the oldest of three children in the Imeson family. Until the first known traumatic event that occurred in Imeson’s early life, he was described by babysitters and friends as being “likeable,” “adventurous,” “happy,” and “wide-eyed...always smiling” boy who just wanted “to have fun,” (“LFP….

Criminal Acts and Offender Behavior
Theoretical Dimensions of Criminal Behavior

Laws exist to maintain order and peace and provide for the safety and well-being of all members of society. Acts that disrupt and threaten this system of order are deemed criminal in nature and are therefore punishable by law. The psychology of criminal behavior addresses the thought processes that result in deviant acts and the motivations that drive them. It is believed that criminal types operate from a self-centered framework that shows little, if any regard, for the safety and well-being of others (Merton, 1968).

There are generally three broad theoretical models of criminal behavior: biological, psychological, and sociological. Most theoretical models overlap in their analysis and point to the genetic predisposition of some individuals toward criminal behavior, as well as environmental influences (Morley & Hall, 2003). Most commonly both play a part in developing a person's tendency to engage in criminal activity.….

What seems clear is that while not all criminality is stable, those people who begin offending at relatively young ages are generally those who are lifelong offenders. In this way, it can be said that some criminality is stable over time.
The stability of criminal behavior can have a significant impact on criminal justice policy. When rehabilitation efforts proved largely unsuccessful, there was a conservative swing back towards incarceration to drive down crime rates. While incarceration does not have the blanket effect of reducing crime rates, it does reduce crime rates when high-rate offenders are incarcerated. "Moreover, the incarceration of high-rate offend-ers is cost-effective, meaning that the financial cost of keeping them locked up off-sets the costs of the crimes they would commit if free. The same cannot be said of locking up low-rate offenders" (Wright et al., 2008). There is the idea that understanding the stability of criminal behavior….

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Foundation and Focus The foundation for the Classical Theory to crime focused less on the criminal and targeted more on securing a rational, fair system for controlling and putting punishments in order. Little concern was given to causes of criminal behaviors. Significant words/definitions related to this theory include:

Classicism - The Enlightenment view of crime that stresses free will and rationality and the corresponding rationality of the justice system....

Free will - According to the classical school, people possess reason. This means that they can calculate the course of action that is in their self-interest. This in turn gives them a degree of freedom....

Just deserts - A justification for punishment which insists that offenders should be punished only as severely as they deserve. It was a reaction against the unfair excesses of rehabilitation and the 'get tough' drive from conservatives during the 1970s." (Carrabine, Iganski, Lee, Plummer & South, 2004, p.….