Unit 2 Assignment
By Michelle Hoffmann
Kaplan University
CJ499: Bachelors Capstone in Criminal Justice
Prof: Terry Campbell
April 29, 2014
There are many reasons why a person will commit a crime. Many
psychologists, sociologists and other scientists have attempted to come
up with a single reason or unified theory for why all crimes are
committed. However, the impetus for the commissions of crimes cannot be that easily defined. The
reality is that there are a multitude of reasons that people commit
crimes, be it upbringing, the society that they live in, psychological
reasons or even a combination of several or more factors.
Biological Theory of Crime Causation
According
to the biological theory of crime causation, "the brain is the organ of
behavior..." and the basic determinants of human behavior are basically
genetically based and may be passed from generation to generation,
therefore it stands to reason that a tendency towards the commission of
crime may be inherited (Pearson Prentice Hall, 1995-2010).
One
study, done at the University of Texas in Dallas, "analyzed the genetic
and environmental influences on criminal traits of 4,000 people. The
researchers discovered a strong link between genes and criminality"
(Searles, 2012). The study determined that for
those criminals who were life-long offenders, the criminal behavior was
influenced more by their genes than their environment. One
journal, Criminology, suggests that "genes play a key role in
determining who leads a life of crime and who stays on the straight and
narrow" (Searles, 2012).
The case of Scottish cannibal, Alexander “Sawney” Bean, and his crazy incestuous family is a perfect example of this theory. The
family would ambush unsuspecting passers-by at night and rob and murder
them. After committing the murders, the victims were taken back to the
cave where the family hid, dismembered and cannibalized them, removing
all evidence of the crime. It has been said that the Bean family even
started robbing fresh graves for ‘food’ (Ronnie, 2010).
Sociological Theory of Crime Causation
The
sociological theory of crime causation tends to make the assumption
that the criminal acquires his interest, ability, and means of
self-justification in crime through his network of acquaintances and
associates, i.e. his friends, family or pseudo-family, the society and
culture in which he is brought up (Giasr, 1958).
A perfect example of this theory of crime causation would be any gang. Take MS-13, for example. MS-13,
otherwise known as Mara Salvatrucha 13, has been called one of the most
violently dangerous and most organized gangs in the United States (Top
Documentary Films, 2005).
Gangs
are made up of a hierarchy of individuals who have their minions (the
members in the lower echelons of the organization) do their dirty work
for them in order to prove their loyalty. In
return for their obedience, the leaders of the gang give their subjects
drugs, status or money; enhancing their prestige within the group. Children
who are either recruited into the gang at a young age, or who are born
into the gang, are raised to become future members and committing crimes
is simply the way of life for them. It is this society which acts as a pseudo-family for them that inducts them into this way of life from early on.
Psychological Theory of Crime Causation
According
to the psychological theory of crime causation, the reason people
commit crimes is because of personality imbalances that have been
developed early in childhood. These people may be
suffering from some sort of disease or may not have had the type of
upbringing that society deems "normal" and their responses to different
situations seem inappropriate or abnormal to the rest of society.
Sigmund Freud is possibly the most noted of psychologists who subscribed to a psychological theory of crime causation. "He
believed that every individual carries [the] residue of the most
significant emotional attachments of our childhood, which then guides
our future interpersonal relationships” (Siegel, 2005). Although
his theories have been subsequently later questioned, they remain the
basis for many other theories also attempting to explain the reasons
behind why people may commit crimes.
Probably the most famous case involving the psychological theory of crime causation would be the Patty Hearst kidnapping case. In
this case, 19 year old Patty Hearst was abducted by the Symbionese
Liberation Army (SLA) in an attempt to "incite a guerilla war against
the U.S. government and destroy what [the SLA] called the 'capitalist
state'" (FBI, 2014). The SLA also began
brainwashing Patty Hearst in the hopes of turning their captive into the
"poster child for their coming revolution (FBI, 2014). “
The brainwashing resulted in what is more commonly known as Stockholm syndrome. A condition where a captive identifies with their captors and builds an empathic relationship. In
this case, the Stockholm syndrome caused Hearst to change from a sweet,
upper echelon young woman into one of the gun toting, bank robbing
members of the SLA, demonstrating the Stockholm syndrome in action where
the victims begins to sympathize with their kidnappers; becoming
emotionally attached to their captors and beginning to have positive
feelings toward them.
Whichever
of the preceding theories a person may subscribe to, one thing can be
said about criminals and why they commit crimes... it is complicated. One
case may have the markers of one type of crime causation, but if you
search hard enough into the reaches of the criminal's mind and history,
you will most likely be surprised to find that perhaps there are a
multitude of possible reasons why they committed their crime, while
another case may appear to be cut and dry and describe a certain theory
to a "T".
References
FBI. (2014). The Patty Hearst Kidnapping. Taken from http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/patty-hearst-kidnapping.
Giasr, Danin. (1958).The Sociological Approach to Crime and Correction. Retrieved from http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2773&context=lcp.
Pearson Prentice Hall. (1995-2010). Major Principles of Biological Theories. Retrieved from http://wps.prenhall.com/chet_schmalleger_crimtoday_3/13/3544/907274.cw/index.html.
Ronnie. (2010). Scottish cannibal, Alexander “Sawney” Bean, and his crazy incestuous family. Midnight Showing. Retrieved from http://midnightshowing.com/2010/03/scottish-cannibal-alexander-sawney-bean-and-his-crazy-incestous-family/.
Searles, Rebecca. (2012). Genes, Criminal Behavior Linked In University Of Texas Study. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/26/genes-criminal-behavior-linked_n_1234423.html.
Siegel, Larry J. (2005). Criminology. California: Thomson Wadsworth.
Top Documentary Films. (2005). MS13: World's most Dangerous Gang. Retrieved from http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/ms13-worlds-most-dangerous-gang/.
