Modern English II

Stacy Wen
5/16/16
The focus of criminal behavior study is to understand the offender
better and try to figure out the reasons behind their crime. The basic study
to learn about criminal behavior includes defining criminal behavior,
understanding theories of crime behavior and knowing how to predict crime
in the near future.
First of all, there are three ways of defining criminal behavior. The most
common approach equates it with criminality and delinquency. Criminality is
defined as any activities that result in criminal prosecution or incarceration.
Delinquency is defined as engagement in unlawful activities while under the
age of 18. Information on these types of criminal behavior can be collected
either through police and court records of criminal offences or via
anonymous self-reports of participation in activities that would be considered
criminal. The second approach is to use diagnostic criteria for various
personality disorders that are associated with an increased risk of criminal
behavior. For example, antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) is characterized
by a persistent disregard for the rights of others. It can only be diagnosed in
individuals over the age of 18. There are also some childhood disorders like
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Conduct Disorder (CD) and
Oppositional Defiant Disorder (CDD), which are distinguished by frequent

inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity. These disorders also have been

identified as risk factors for development of ASPD. A third approach to
criminal behavior has been to investigate personality traits. It recently
became essential in the diagnosis of individuals with antisocial or criminal
behavior (Jones). Aggressiveness and impulsivity are the most heavily
researched traits that may be risk factors for engaging in criminal behavior.
They are usually assessed by personality questionnaires. Adults
hyperactivity, which is often appearing as ADHD, may also be one of the
interests because individuals who exhibit both antisocial and hyperactive
behavior are more likely to be a criminal (Chakraborty).
Many theories have also been appeared since the beginning of the
study of criminal behavior. Biological theories support that criminal behavior
is caused by some flaw in individuals biological makeup. Some people
believe that the causes are the heredity, neurotransmitter dysfunction and
brain abnormalities. Others support that personality of offenders is iddominated, which means that when they lose control of the ago, their idea of
instant gratification takes over. There are also several types of crime control
that are involved with artificial interference in human biology such as
Psychosurgery, chemical methods of control and brain stimulation. The
sociological approach studies criminal behavior from a sociological point of
view. The majority of sociological theories believe that criminal behavior
mainly is influenced by combination of social surrounding, political and
economic factors. Instead of viewing the offenders as bad people, the

theories tend to look at social context of a persons situation such as

education, intelligence, family, neighborhood, job and income level to
determine why does he or she become a criminal. There are many different
theories in this area such as Social Structure Theory, Social Control Theory
and Theory of Anomie. Psychological theories can be applied across all the
other two theories. The fundamental assumption is that personality drives
behavior within individuals, because it is the major motivational element.
Theories support that criminal behavior may be caused by a variety of
factors like disease mind, the emulation of inappropriate role models and
adjustment to inner conflicts. Crime control policy based on those theories
targets individuals and tries to prevent criminal behavior from this point
(Chakraborty).
The study to predict criminal behavior has been long interest for a lot
of scientists. Offender profiling is an investigative tool that was created to
identify likely suspects. It is a method of identifying the most likely type of
people that could have committed a crime. It is based on the evidence and
information found at the crime scene along with specific characteristics of
the crime itself. The key idea is instead of finding the specific person who
committed the crime, the offender profiling describes the type of person that
most likely committed the crime (Andrews). Personality psychologist Eysenck
creates a model to predict criminality. The model is based on three factors
known as psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism. psychoticism is
associated with the traits of aggressive, impersonal, cold and antisocial.

Extraversion is correlated with the traits of sociable, lively, active and

dominant. Finally, neuroticism is associated with anxious, depressed,
emotional and self-esteem. Eysenck believes this can be used as predictors
of the difference between criminals and non-criminals too, because
extraversion is a better predictor for young individuals, while neuroticism is
better for older individuals (Dees). In addition, Raine, who works as a prison
psychologist, believes that understanding the connections between brain
abnormalities and antisocial or criminal behavior is important for prediction
of criminal behavior. Such a plan will rely on early detection of children who
are at risk. The brain plays some role in an individuals personality, decisionmaking and ability to interact with others. Therefore, if a developmental
disorder will cause a child to have more difficulty controlling aggressive
impulses as an adult, society can try to take measures to help alleviate this
disadvantage (Lerner).
In conclusion, the three basic studies of criminal behavior can be
stated as the defining what is criminal behavior, understanding theories
behind crime and knowing how to predict criminality in the future. It takes
the right factors to create an individual with antisocial or criminal behavior,
society should take more focus on the treatments and rehabilitation of those
individuals in need.