CRIMINOLOGY TODAY. Chapter 6 Psychological and Psychiatric Foundations of Criminal Behavior. By FRANK SCHMALLEGER. Pearson Education, Inc.

Transcription

1 CRIMINOLOGY TODAY AN INTEGRATIVE INTRODUCTION sixth edition By FRANK SCHMALLEGER Chapter 6 Psychological and Psychiatric Foundations of Criminal Behavior Pearson Education, Inc.

2 Key Terms Forensic psychology: The application of the science and profession of psychology to questions and issues relating to law and the legal system (also called criminal psychology) Forensic psychiatry: A medical subspeciality applying psychiatry to the needs of crime prevention and solution, criminal rehabilitation, and issues of the criminal law 1

3 Major Principles of Psychological Theories The individual is the primary unit of analysis Personality is the major motivational element Crimes result from abnormal, dysfunctional, or inappropriate mental processes within the personality 2

4 Major Principles of Psychological Theories Criminal behavior may be purposeful for the individual insofar as it addresses certain felt needs Normality is generally defined by social consensus Defective, or abnormal, mental processes may have a variety of causes 3

5 Early Psychological Theories Two main threads: Behavioral conditioning The frequency of a behavior can be increased or decreased through reward, punishment or association with other stimuli Personality disturbances and diseases of the mind Psychopathy and mental disease 4

6 The Psychopath Psychopathy: A personality disorder characterized by antisocial behavior and lack of affect Psychopath/sociopath: An individual who has a personality disorder, especially one manifested in aggressively antisocial behavior and who is lacking in empathy 5

7 The Mask of Sanity (1941) Hervey M. Cleckley developed the concept of a psychopathic personality Psychopath as moral idiot Poverty of affect inability to accurately imagine how others think and feel 6

8 Psychopathic Characteristics Superficial charm and good intelligence Absence of delusions Absence of nervousness Inability to feel guilt or shame Unreliability Chronic lying Ongoing antisocial behavior Poor judgment Self-centeredness and inability to love Social unresponsiveness Poorly integrated sex life Failure to follow a life plan 7

9 The Psychopath Psychopathy Checklist (PCL) modern measure of psychopathy Recent research suggests psychopaths do know the difference between right and wrong Recent study of adolescent psychopaths found treatment was linked to reduced violent recidivism 8

10 Antisocial Personality Disorder Antisocial/asocial personality Individuals who are basically unsocialized and whose behavior pattern brings them into repeated conflicts with society Individuals who exhibit an antisocial personality are said to be suffering from antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) Individuals with ASPD characteristics are likely to run afoul of the law 9

11 Causes of ASPD Somatic causes - based on physiological features Malfunction of CNS Psychogenic causes rooted in early interpersonal experiences Inability to form attachments early in life Sudden separation from mother early in life Other forms of early insecurity 10

12 Early Psychiatric Theories Psychiatric criminology Also called forensic psychiatry Envisions a complex set of drives and motives that operate from within the personality to determine behavior Crime is caused by biological and psychological urges mediated through consciousness Little emphasis on the role of the external environment Psychiatric theories are derived from the medical sciences Focus on the individual as the unit of analysis 11

13 The Psychoanalytic Perspective Sigmund Freud Psychoanalysis: Criminal behavior is maladaptive, the result of inadequacies inherent in the personality of the offender Psychotherapy: The attempt to relieve patients of their mental disorders through the application of psychoanalytic principles and techniques 12

14 Psychoanalytic Structure of Personality 13

15 The Psychoanalytic Perspective Sublimation: A process in which one item of consciousness is symbolically substituted for another Improper sublimation may lead to crime Thanatos a death instinct or death wish Neurosis: Individuals are in touch with reality but may be anxious or fearful of certain situations Most neuroses do not lead to crime but some may 14

16 The Psychotic Offender Psychosis: mental illness characterized by a lack of contact with reality Characteristics of psychotic individuals A grossly distorted conception of reality Inappropriate moods and mood swings Marked inefficiency in getting along with others and caring for oneself Schizophrenics and paranoid schizophrenics 15

17 The Link Between Frustration and Aggression Freud: Aggression is a natural response to frustrating limits Frustration-aggression theory Direct aggression toward others is the most likely consequence of frustration Aggression can be manifested in socially acceptable ways or engaged in vicariously by watching others act aggressively 16

18 Crime as Adaptive Behavior Crime fulfills a certain aim or purpose for the offender The need to be punished Adaptation to life s stresses Provide a sense of power and purpose Types of adaptation Alloplastic adaptation: Crime reduces stresses that the individual faces by producing changes in the environment (empowerment) Autoplastic adaptation: Crime leads to stress reduction as a result of internal changes in beliefs and value systems Stress as a causative agent in crime commission Stress may lead to aggression towards others and oneself Societal stress levels heighten levels of aggression 17

19 Modeling Theory The role of imitation and modeling in shaping behavior Gabriel Tarde s three laws of imitation and suggestion: People in close contact tend to imitate each other s behavior Imitation moves from the top down New acts and behaviors either reinforce or replace old ones 18

20 Modeling Theory Albert Bandura Everyone is capable of aggression but must learn how to behave aggressively Social learning factors determine what forms aggressive behavior takes, its frequency, the situations in which it is displayed, and the targets selected for attack People learn to act by observing others 19

21 Modeling Theory Aggression can be activated or provoked in various ways Disengagement: people who devalue aggression may engage in it by constructing rationalizations to overcome internal inhibitions Attributing blame to the victim Dehumanization Vindication of aggression by legitimate authorities Desensitization from repeated exposure Theory has been criticized for lacking comprehensive explanatory power 20

22 Behavior Theory Behavior is determined by the environmental consequences produced Rewards increase the frequency of approved behavior Positive rewards add something desirable Negative rewards remove something distressful Punishments decrease the frequency of unwanted behavior Positive punishments add something undesirable Negative punishments remove something desirable B.F. Skinner focused on patterns of responses to external stimuli Behavior theory has been criticized for ignoring the role of cognition in human behavior 21

23 Attachment Theory Healthy personality development requires that children have a warm, intimate, and continuous relationship with their mothers Forms of attachment: Secure attachment (a healthy form) Anxious-avoidant attachment Anxious-resistant attachment 22

24 Self-Control Theory Self control: A person s ability to alter his or her own states and responses Four types of self control Impulse control Control over the contents of the mind Control over emotional and mood states Performance control 23

25 Self-Control Theory Gottfredson and Hirschi general theory of crime Low self-control is the primary individual-level cause of crime Self control: the degree to which a person is vulnerable to temptations of the moment Stability theory: The argument that self-control develops early in childhood and persists over time The link between self-control and crime is probabilistic and depends upon criminal opportunity 24

26 Self-Control Theory Grasmick identified characteristics of individuals with low self-control Impulsive; lack diligence, tenacity, persistence Want money without work, sex without courtship, revenge without court delays Research supports the thesis that self-control plays a key role in crime Hayslett-McCall and Bernard suggest the gender/crime relationship is related to low selfcontrol among males, which results from gendered differences in attachment disruptions 25

27 Insanity and the Law Insanity is a legal concept has no direct counterpart in psychology/psychiatry Insanity (legal): A legally established inability to understand right from wrong or to conform one s behavior to the requirements of the law Insanity (psychological): Persistent mental disorder or derangement 26

28 Insanity and the Law Foucha v. Louisiana (1992) Recognized divergence between law and psychiatry 1984 Insanity Defense Reform Act (IDRA) Defined insanity Burden of proving insanity placed on defendant Not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) 27

29 Insanity and the Law M Naughten Rule: Individuals cannot be held criminally responsible if they did not know what they were doing or did not know that what they were doing was wrong Irresistible-Impulse Test Defendant is not guilty if by virtue of his/her mental state s/he was unable to resist committing the action Durham Rule Accused is not criminally responsible if the unlawful act was the product of a mental disease or defect Substantial-Capacity Test Insanity is present when a person lacks the mental capacity to understand the wrongfulness of his act or to conform his behavior to the law Brawner Rule Delegates responsibility to the jury 28

30 Guilty But Mentally Ill (GBMI) Individual may be held responsible for a criminal act, even though a degree of mental incompetence is present Requirements for verdict Every statutory element necessary for conviction proven beyond a reasonable doubt Defendant found to have been mentally ill at the time of the crime Defendant not found to have been legally insane at the time of the crime Offenders found guilty, sent to psychiatric hospital for treatment if cured may be transferred to prison to serve rest of sentence 29

31 Confinement of Individuals Found NGRI Mandatory psychological/psychiatric examination and hearing Individual committed if release creates risk to persons or property due to present mental disease or defect Individual discharged when facility director determines s/he has recovered from mental disease or defect 30

32 Social Policy and Forensic Psychology Psychological theories continue to evolve Focus on using past behavior to predict future behavior Assessment of dangerousness Identification of personal characteristics to predict future dangerousness 31

33 Social Policy and Forensic Psychology Selective incapacitation Policy based on the notion of career criminality Seeks to protect society by incarcerating individuals deemed the most dangerous 1984 Comprehensive Crime Control Act targeted career offenders Correctional psychology Diagnosis and classification, treatment, and rehabilitation of offenders 32

34 Social Policy and the Psychology of Criminal Conduct Donald Andrews and James Bonta Practical synthesis of psychological approaches to criminal behavior Not a new behavioral theory, a call for the application of what we understand We know something about what works, now we need to make use of that knowledge 33

35 Criminal Psychological Profiling Psychological profiling: The attempt to categorize, understand, and predict the behavior of certain types of offenders based on behavioral clues they provide Based on the belief that conscious behavior is symptomatic of personality Offender s specific activities help clarify his/her personal characteristics, motivations, likely future behavior 34