Unit Three Seminar Development of a Delinquent

Trait Sociology

Introduction

We will discuss the differences between latent or trait theories verses sociological theories.

Trait Theory

Trait Theory

• The view that criminality is a product of abnormal biological or psychological traits

• The view began with Lombroso and then fell out of favor in the early 20th century, only to re-emerge in the early 1970s

Contemporary Trait Theory

• There is no single biological or psychological attribute to explain criminality

• Focus is on basic human behavior and drives that are linked to antisocial behavior patterns

• Crime-producing interactions involve personal traits and environmental factors

Biological Trait Theories

• Focus on the biological conditions that control human behavior

Sub-areas within Biological Trait Theories

• Biochemical conditions• Neurophysiological conditions• Genetics • Evolutionary views

Biochemical

• The major premise of the theory is that crime is a function of diet, vitamin intake, hormonal imbalance, or food allergies

• The strengths are that the theory explains irrational violence and shows how the environment interacts with personal traits to influence behavior

Neurological

• The major premise of the theory is that criminals often suffer brain impairment

• The strengths are the theory explains irrational violence and shows how the environment interacts with personal traits to influence behavior

Genetic

• The major premise of the theory is that criminal traits and predispositions are inherited, and therefore, the criminality of parents can predict the delinquency of children

• The strengths are that the theory explains why only a small percentage of youth in high-crime areas become chronic offenders

Evolutionary

• The major premise of the theory is that as the human race evolved, traits and characteristics have become ingrained, and some of these traits make people aggressive and predisposed to commit crime

• The strengths are that the theory explains high-violence rates and aggregate gender differences in the crime rate

Major Contributions of Biological Trait Theories

• Brain chemistry and hormonal differences are related to aggression and violence

• There is no relationship between sugar intake and crime

• The male hormone testosterone is linked to criminality

• Neurological impairments have been linked to crime

• Violence-producing traits are passed from one generation to the next

Critiques of Biological Trait Theories

• Some scholars suggest these theories are racist and dysfunctional

• Biological explanations cannot account for the geographic, social, and temporal patterns in the crime rate

• Lack of adequate empirical testing

Psychological Trait Theories

• Focus on the psychological aspects of crime, including the associations among intelligence, personality, learning, and criminal behavior

Sub-areas within Psychological Trait Theory

• Psychodynamic perspectives• Behavioral perspectives• Cognitive theories• Personality • Intelligence

Psychodynamic

• The development of the unconscious personality early in childhood influences behavior for the rest of a person’s life

• Criminals have weak egos and damaged personalities

• Explains the onset of crime and why crime and drug abuse cut across class lines

Behavioral

• People commit crime when they model their behavior after others they see being rewarded for the same acts

• Behavior is reinforced by rewards and extinguished by punishment

• Explains the role of significant others in the crime process

• Shows how media can influence crime and violence

Cognitive

• Individual reasoning processes influence behavior

• Reasoning is influenced by the way people perceive their environment

• Shows why criminal behavior patterns change over time as people mature and develop their reasoning powers

• May explain the aging-out process

Major Contributions of Psychological Trait Theories

• Unconscious motivations developed early in childhood propel some people into illegal behavior

• Aggression is viewed as a learned behavior• Learning may be either direct and experiential or

observational

Sociology

Sociobiology

• Biology, environment, and learning are viewed as mutually interdependent factors

• Stresses that biological and genetic conditions influence how social behaviors are learned

• Suggests that both animal and human behavior is determined in part by the need to ensure survival of offspring and replenishment of the gene pool

Economics and Crime

• Social structure theorists suggest that social and economic forces operating in deteriorated lower class areas push many of their residents into criminal behavior patterns

• A disadvantaged economic class position is a primary cause of crime

Social Structure Theories

• Social disorganization theory

• Strain theory

• Cultural deviance theory

Social Disorganization Theory

• Branch of social structure theory that focuses on the breakdown of institutions such as the family, school, and employment in inner-city neighborhoods

• Types of social disorganization theory:• Shaw and McKay’s concentric zones theory• Social ecology theory

Concentric Zones Theory

• Crime is a product of transitional neighborhoods that manifest social disorganization and value conflict

• Identifies why crime rates are highest in inner-city areas

• Points out the factors that produce crime

• Suggests programs to help reduce crime

Social Ecology Theory

• The conflicts and problems of urban social life and communities, including fear, unemployment, deterioration, and siege mentality, influence crime rates

• Accounts for urban crime rates and trends

Strain Theory

• Branch of social structure theory that sees crime as a function of the conflict between people’s goals and the means available to obtain these goals

• Types of strain theory include:• anomie theory• institutional anomie theory• relative deprivation theory• general strain theory

Anomie Theory

• People who adopt the goals of society but lack the means to attain them seek alternatives such as crime

• Points out how competition for success creates conflict and crime

• Suggests that social conditions, not personality, can account for crime

• Explains high lower class crime rates

Institutional Anomie Theory

• Material goods pervade all aspects of American life

• Explains why crime rates are so high in American culture

How Social Institutions are Undermined

• Non-economic functions and roles have been devalued

• During conflict, non-economic roles become subordinate and accommodate economic roles

• Economic language, standards, and norms penetrate non-economic realms

Relative Deprivation Theory

• Crime occurs when the wealthy and poor live close to one another

• Explains high crime rates in deteriorated inner-city areas located near more affluent neighborhoods

General Strain Theory

• Strain has a variety of sources and causes crime in the absence of adequate coping mechanisms

• Identifies the complexities of strain in modern society

• Expands on anomie theory• Shows the influence of social events on

behavior over the life course• Explains middle-class crimes

Sources of Strain

• Failure to achieve positively valued goals

• Disjunction of expectations and achievements

• Removal of positively valued stimuli

• Presentation of negative stimuli

Cultural Deviance Theory

• Branch of social structure theory that sees strain and social disorganization together resulting in a unique lower class culture that conflicts with conventional social norms

• Types of cultural deviance theory:• Focal concern theory• Theory of delinquent subcultures• Theory of opportunity

Focal Concern Theory

• Citizens who obey the street rules of lower class life (focal concerns) find themselves in conflict with the dominant culture

• Identifies the core values of lower class culture and shows their association to crime

Theory of Delinquent Subcultures

• Status frustration of lower class boys, created by their failure to achieve middle-class success, causes them to engage in delinquency

• Shows how the conditions of lower class life produce crime

• Identifies conflict of lower class with the middle class

Theory of Opportunity

• Blockage of conventional opportunities causes lower class youths to join criminal, conflict, or retreatist gangs

• Shows that even illegal opportunities are structured in society

• Indicates why people become involved in a particular type of criminal activity

• Presents a way of preventing crime

Social Structure Theories and

Public Policy• Crime rates decrease when families

receive supplemental income through public assistance programs

• Crime reduction through the improvement of community structure

Summary

We discussed the differences between latent or trait theories verses sociological theories.

Questions