Criminological theories Typical explanations to criminal behave neighborhoods parents poverty peers culture Dominant criminological theories social disorganization social bonding social learning all have to do with society and individual Social factors as explanation for human behavior why sociology discipline behavior is changeable can be shaped by society not your fault society or parents blame bio genetics is considered dangerous Study of crime and criminals is ideology and disciplinary allegiances but criminology is supposed to be interdisciplinary but not always true Social explanations crime continued to dominate discipline of criminology social bonding theory Hirsch s theory Sociological theories aren t wrong but are incomplete example diabetes is it only due to social factors Watch tv all day etc To understand causes of behavior we need o explore and examine a range of different factors including bio genetics environment bio factors interact with environmental factors Equation of understanding genes bio environment phenotype trait or outcome Most criminologist ignore of equation Much of the variance in criminal behav is left unexplained when using sociological theories Human Behavior biogenetic factors do not relate to criminality or human behav in general however ADHD Depression most effective treatment w e drugs biochemistry brain injuries change behavior personality drastically Examine bio and genetics compared to behavior Word of caution no such thing as crime gene how environment and genetic factors act in combination to create behaviors biosocial criminology Track an offenders life course from conception to adulthood Most criminology theories only examine antisocial behav in adolescence and young adulthood why offending peaks during this time easy sample to obtain and measure methodological issues data exists primarily at this age group Discuss risk factors during fetal development exposure to drugs early childhood and late adulthood some example of how environment effects behav Probabilistic approach rare to have a 1 to 1 relationships between variables doesn t exist in terms of behav risk factors not determinate factors speak in terms of probabilities based on analyses of groups of individuals statistical probabilities likelihoods and not certainties Aggression and Crime spatially and temporally relevant example gay same behave will be punished throughout time Aggression tendency to exploit or bring harm to others often in a way that counters common social rules Two types Direct Agression overt and typically physical example punching hitting inflicting pain Indirect Aggression covert and typically verbal Aggression doesn t not equal Crime aggressive tendencies can increase the likelihood of engaging in antisocial behave stability is a general pattern of behav that persists over time strong linkage among childhood behavioral problems juv Delinquent and adult criminal behav Two types of stability Absolute stability no difference overtime example person 1 3 felonies at age 18 3 felonies at age 35 3 felonies at age 50 can assume it s a man but constancy is not entire story Relative stability rank ordering of individual on some trait or behav example age 18 age 25 age 33 A 5 12 4 B 4 10 2 C 1 5 0 despite change in behav tendencies remain stable to commit crime or ASB antisocial behav Is behav stable YES Meta analyses studies of studies illustrate that behav Has a high degree of stability our behav Becomes patterned and routine creatures of habit not a clich environment reinforces behav Stability of behave What we know empirically Individual differences in antisocial behave emerge early in life course These differences are stable across the life course However antisocial A S kids do not grow up to be antisocial adults but antisocial adults could have been antisocial kids What predicts stability Variety of A S acts example hitting lying stealing Extremity of acts example killing animals inflicting serious pain Early age of onset earlier the onset the worse the condition Misbehavior that occurs across contexts example home church and school Outliers are most stable why Two general perspectives 1 Stable dependence Stability is result of social consequences that emanate from engaging in AS Criminal behav interactive process between individual committing crime and society Social consequences of being convicted of a felony legal punishment criminal record loss of social capital mating opportunities Crime tends to have a damaging snowball effect Cumulative disadvantage that leads to more crime eventually offender is immersed in criminal lifestyle that s difficult to leave example criminal behave becomes normative Crime Consequences More Crime Stability is more likely to occur however behave change is possible example desistence Transition points turning points military marriage employment both decrease desistence process reduce time and opportunity in criminal behave more to lose from engaging in crime with prosocial partner are more likely to desist entering marriage increases social capital and promotes desistance it cuts off influence of delinquent peers and desistance results Social life circumstances appear to be the key factors influencing stability or change Do bio genetic factors contribute to behave stability change yes but not incorporated into state dependence perspective Testosterone related to competitive behave marriage decrease in men increase during divorce in men Can be testosterone levels that drives relationships between marriage and desistance Neurotransmitters fluctuate over life course example serotonin dopamine not taken into social development perspective Assorative mating nonrandom mating systematic factors antisocial people tend to marry other antisocial indiv increase likelihood of antisocial offspring who socialize with other antisocial youth due to social homophile Bio render the associate between social factors and desistence as spurious a constant cannot explain a variable if all kids are exposed to same social factors how can seminal exposure explain phenotype differences 2 Population Heterogeneity people are different in population behav stability is result of underlying latent trait that doesnt change over time best exemplified by Gottfredson and Hirschis theory of low self control example low self control impulsivity traits are thought to cause criminal offending as well as analogous behaviors example smoking excessive drinking risky sex