Human Behavior Intro Study Guide Common Explanations to Criminal Behavior 1 Neighborhoods 2 Parents 3 Poverty 4 Peers 5 Culture Dominant Criminological Theories 1 Social Disorganization Theory 2 Social Bonding Theory 3 Social Learning Theory What do all of these theories have in common Focus only on social aspects of crime Criminological Theories They all employ social factors as explanations for human behavior Why Sociology Behavior is changeable Not your fault Biology genetics is dangerous Criminology Thus the study of crime and criminals is guided largely by ideology and disciplinary allegiances But criminology is suppose to be interdisciplinary In practice this is not necessarily true Criminological Theories Social explanations to crime continue to dominate the discipline of criminology Social Bonding Theory Hirschi s theory developed in 1969 is criminologists favorite theory o Why It is supported by research Some support not full It is easy to understand Sociological theories aren t necessarily wrong but in isolation they leave us with an impoverished and incomplete understanding to human behavior Example Heart Disease Is it only due to social factors No The Complexity of Human Behavior In order to understand the causes of behavior we need to move away from a monolithic explanation of behavior and examine a range of different factors including Biology Genetics Environment Word of Caution There is no such thing as a crime gene Biosocial Criminology How environmental and genetic biological factors act in combination to create behaviors Human Behavior Most Criminology theories only examine antisocial behavior in adolescence and young adulthood o Why Official offending peaks o Adolescents are easy to study Empirical Research Based on public research o Publication process o Minimum standard of evidence Human Behavior The Nature of Behavior Study Guide What is Aggression and Crime common social rules A tendency to exploit or bring harm to others and to disobey o Direct Aggression Overt and typically physical Punching hitting inflicting pain Males most likely o Indirect Aggression Covert and typically verbal Females most likely The Nature of Behavior over the Life Course Antisocial Behavior Is it stable or does it change o Doesn t vary based on laws o Drug use alcohol on excess basis relationship problems with everyone not just sporadic financial problems cant hold jobs What is Stability A general pattern of offending that s persists over time A strong linkage among childhood behavioral problems juvenile delinquency and adult criminal behavior What do we mean by Stability Two types of Stability o Absolute Stability will predict how you act tomorrow and 10 years from now Absolutely no change how you act today No difference over time Person 1 3 felonies 18 3 felonies 35 3 felonies 50 Refers to the rank ordering of individuals o Relative Stability correlational analysis We can rank people on some trait or behavior Rank most outgoing to shy 1 is shy 100 being very outgoing Come back 15 years and you fall in the same order as you did before Can have relative stability without absolute stability Number of Felonies committed at different EX Relative Stability Age 18 Age 25 Age 33 A 5 12 4 B 4 10 2 C 1 5 0 Our behavior becomes patterned and routine we are creatures of Individual differences in antisocial behavior emerge early in the life course Some traits are measurable by 6 months of age Behavior is Highly Stable habit What we Know These differences can be VERY stable across the life course However most antisocial children do not grow up to be antisocial Most antisocial adults would most likely have antisocial traits at The most likely people not to change are the ones who lie in the adults childhood extremes o Age 3 is what we will focus on 3 is where the stability begins to show What predicts Stability Variety of antisocial acts hitting lying stealing Extremity of acts killing animals inflicting serious pain Early age of onset the earlier the onset the worse the condition o Typically the cut off is 12 Misbehavior that occurs across contexts home church school What we Know behavior Adult criminal behavior almost requires childhood antisocial Adult criminal behavior is better predicted by childhood aggression anti social behavior than by any other variable including family background and social class Stability Behavior The most antisocial children tend to become the most antisocial adolescents who in turn tend to become the most antisocial adults High degree of stability in behavior and personality from a very young age through adulthood What accounts for stability change There are two general perspectives o State Dependence Sampson Laub 1993 o Population Heterogeneity Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990 State Dependence Stability according to the position is the result of the social consequences that emanate from engaging in crime For example what happens to a person who has been convicted of a felony o Social consequences the loss of social capital Crime therefore tends to have a snowball effect wherein engaging in crime immerses an offender into a criminalistics lifestyle that is very difficult to leave How can you find a good job or a pro social spouse if you are labeled as a convict Keep committing crimes to live and this is all caused b c of my 1st crime stability Crime Consequences More Crime o Once an individual becomes ensnared in a life of crime stability is likely to occur Human Behavior The Nature of Behavior cont State Dependence cont Study Guide However the state dependence perspective recognizes that behavioral change is possible Why factors promote change desistance 1 Individuals who enter high quality marriages with a pro social spouse are much more likely to desist from crime o You now have something to lose a stake in conformity But why Marriage Desistance Sampson and Laub 1993 maintain that entering into a marriage increases social capital thereby promoting desistence Warr 1998 suggests that marriages cut off people from their friends Losing antisocial friends desistence Why factors promote change desistance cont 2 Sampson and Laub 1993 found that the military fosters the desistence process 3 Gaining lawful stable employment has also been linked to desistence Why More to lose from engaging in crime Summary of factors accounting for change It appears that local life circumstances getting job marriage etc are an integral component of change desistance Social factors