81-260-1 Chapter 3

Chapter 3

EXPLAINING DELINQUENCY-BIOLOGICAL AND

PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACHES

Juvenile Justice: An Introduction, 7th ed.

Chapter 3

What You Need to Know• The Classical school of thought believes humans are free-

willed and choose their behavior, while the Positivist school sees behavior as dictated by outside causes beyond the control of the individual. Neoclassicism takes a middle ground where choices can be made from limited options.

• Early theories of behavior relied on biological explanations. Lombroso and others relied on physical features to identify criminals.

• Studies of genetics-inheritance and behavior find that there is some degree of heritability in behavior, although it is small and subject to a great deal of external influence.

• Modern biological theories are best considered as biosociology, which refers to the fact that there are both biological and environmental influences on behavior, and it is necessary to consider the interaction of these factors.

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What You Need to Know (Cont’d)• While psychological theories have a long history, they are limited by three

common features—they focus largely on early life experiences to the exclusion of other variables, they are highly individualistic, and they are most useful in treatment settings.

• Freudian psychoanalysis seeks the cause of behavior in the unconscious/instinctual parts of humankind, particularly in the battle between the id, ego, and superego.

• Developmental explanations argue that everyone develops through certain stages, with each stage contributing to the knowledge a person needs to be a successful conforming member of society. Deviance results when an individual fails to advance successfully through all the stages.

• Attempts to identify antisocial personalities have been common but have not succeeded in being able to assess adequately who will and will not be deviant.

• Low IQ has often been used as an argument for why some people break the law; however, a key unknown is the extent to which IQ is inherited or is a result of one’s environment.

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Theory

• Theory is an attempt to answer the question “Why?” – Why does an individual violate the norms of

society? – Why do certain conditions seem to

accompany deviant behavior? – Why does deviance occur when it does?

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Theory

• Earliest theories were spiritualistic or demonologic explanations. – The belief that deviant acts were the result of the

battle between good and evil—God and the devil.– Individuals who committed crimes were possessed

by the devil.– The solution to deviance involved exorcising the

devil and delivering the individual back to God.

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Theoretical Schools of Thought

Classicism• Roots in the writings of Cesare Bonesana Marchese de

Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham.• Humans are viewed as having free will.• Humans are hedonistic: they seek to maximize pleasure and

minimize pain. • Individuals make a conscious, rational decision to commit

crime based on the expectation of a pleasurable outcome.• The solution to crime requires altering the outcome of the

hedonistic calculation.• There must be a set punishment for each crime that is

sufficient to offset any pleasurable consequence.

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Theoretical Schools of ThoughtPositivism• Behavior is determined (caused) by factors beyond

the control of the individual.• Changing behavior requires identifying and

eliminating the factors that cause the individual to act in a certain way.

• There are multiple causes of behavior.• Follows a medical model: identify what causes an

individual to commit a deviant act and prescribe a tailored response.

• Belief in rehabilitation and treatment.

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Theoretical Schools of Thought

Neoclassicism• Takes the position that an individual exercises some

degree of free will.• Choices are limited by factors both within and

outside of the individual – referred to as soft determinism.

• An individual can make decisions only based on the available choices.

• Compromise gives both the Classicist and Positivist a stake in the criminal and juvenile justice systems.

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Biological and Sociobiological Theories

Physical Appearance• Early biological explanations focused heavily on observable

physical features of offenders.• Lombroso

– Considered the father of modern criminology.– Viewed criminals as throwbacks to an earlier state of human

existence,– Identified atavistic, or ape-like, qualities that generally reflected

physical features of the apes from whom man was a descendant.– “Born criminals”: those who have five or more atavistic traits.– Claimed 40% of incarcerated criminals were born criminals.

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• Critique of Lombroso– Failed to use a control group of non-criminals for

comparison– Subsequent research by Lombroso, including control

groups, revealed great physical similarities between offenders and non-offenders

• Despite criticism of Lombroso, his work was one of the first scientific attempts to explain criminal behavior

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• Sheldon–Work on somatotypes (physical

appearance) and related temperaments–See next slide

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TABLE 3.3 Sheldon’s Physiques and Temperaments

Physique TemperamentEndomorph: Viscerotonic:short, fat, round, soft soft, easygoing, extrovertMesomorph: Somotonic:muscular, large, barrel-chested, thick, hard

dynamic, active, athletic, aggressive, talkative

Ectomorph: Cerebrotonic:bony, thin, skinny, small, delicate

nervous, complainer, introvert

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Biological and Sociobiological Theories• Sheldon (cont).

– Observed delinquents in a residential facility.– Found that mesomorphic characteristics were most prevalent and

ectomorphic features were the least common.– Concluded that mesomorphic individuals were more likely to commit

delinquent acts.

• Sheldon critique– Subjective determinations of body type.– Does not consider changes in body type as the youths grow older.– Ignore the possibility that mesomorphic youths are more often

recruited into delinquency because of their physical build, rather than having a natural propensity to commit delinquent acts.

– Determination that mesomorphs were somotonic (aggressive, active, etc.) rests on the fact that many delinquents are mesomorphs and delinquent behavior is considered aggressive.

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Biological and Sociobiological TheoriesGenetic-Inheritance Studies• Looks at whether behavior is inherited. • Twin Studies

– Investigate whether there is greater concordance, or similarity, in behavior for Monozygotic (identical) twins than for Dizygotic (fraternal) twins or common siblings.

– Studies of twins claim to find a genetic component to behavior.

– Most of the observed relationships are small and insignificant.

– Most studies lack control over any environmental influences impacting on the individuals.

– Despite problems, there is a consistent finding of at least a minimal genetic component.

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Biological and Sociobiological Theories• Adoption Studies

– Assume that any similarity between the adopted offspring and the biological parent must be due to the genetic similarity between the subjects because the child has been raised in a different environment from the parent.

– Studies provide support similar to that found in twin studies.

– Assume that the adoption is enough to guarantee that the environment of the biological parents is being controlled.

– Overall results suggest at least some genetic contribution to behavior.

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• Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder– Children with ADHD are persistently

disruptive, act impulsively, are easily frustrated, experience wide mood swings, and act inappropriately.

– Strong genetic basis for ADHD demonstrated in a number of studies.

– ADHD is neither necessary nor sufficient for deviant behavior.

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• Genetic Summary– Genetic research is still in its infancy.– Lack of strong support for genetic

arguments.– Problem of separating the environmental

influences from a genetic component remains a serious concern.

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Biosocial Approaches• Biosociology, or sociobiology, refers to the

idea that the biological makeup of the organism and the surrounding environment are intimately related.

• Deviance occurs when specific biological conditions coincide with appropriate sociological or environmental factors.

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• Hormones and Aggression– Attention has focused on reproductive hormones

and their relation to aggression.– Studies have found a relation between higher

testosterone levels and aggression and more serious offending.

– Evidence is not totally convincing.– Testosterone levels vary over time periods and are

affected by diet, stress, exercise, and social factors.

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• Orthomolecular Factors– Refers to chemicals that are introduced to the body or

altered through diet or other influences.– One commonly discussed potential problem is the

influence of sugar on behavior.• Reactive hypoglycemia refers to changes in the blood sugar level,

both higher and lower, as a result of dietary intake.• Reactive hypoglycemia is considered a minor cause of deviance.

– Alcohol and other drugs• Linked to deviant behavior.• Psychopharmacological perspective is that drugs have a direct

causal impact on crime by inducing the user to act out in a certain way.

• Systemic explanation involves the deviance resulting from the need to purchase drugs in uncontrolled settings.

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• The Central Nervous System– Look at brain abnormalities and functioning and deviance.– Evidence relating brain functioning–especially frontal and

temporal lobe problems–to deviant activity.– Neurotransmitters (chemicals involved in the transmission

of electrical impulses through the nervous system).• Capable of altering an individual’s behavior.• Examples are serotonin and dopamine.• Changes in the body’s ability to process information and

communicate in the brain.• It is possible to alter various neurotransmitters, both purposefully

with drugs and inadvertently through the use of alcohol and other substances, to alter social behavior.

– Research still in its infancy, although there are promising results.

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Biological and Sociobiological Theories• Objections to Biosocial Explanations and ResponsesBiological Theories are Deterministic and Socially Dangerous

• Ignores fact that those espousing biology recognize the interplay of biology and the environment.

• Does not assume single cause.Because Crime is Socially Constructed, There Cannot Be any Genes for Crime

• No claim of a gene for crime but genes do play a role in traits and subsequent behavior.

If a Problem is Considered Biological, Therapeutic Nihilism will Ensue• You can alter and influence biological factors that contribute to behavior.• Biological treatments are not enough in themselves.

Crime Cannot Have a Biological Basis Because Crime Rates Change Rapidly While Changes in Genes Require Many Generations

• Environment influences change in rate, but individual factors influence when and who will start and stop offending.

Biological Theories Tend to be Insensitive to People’s Feelings• If we find results that suggest one group or condition is more predisposed to

certain behavior, should we ignore it just to be politically correct?

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Implications for Juvenile Justice• Chemical and surgical castration have been employed

to reduce testosterone levels in convicted sex offenders

• Orthomolecular problems can be altered or modified by changes in diet or drug therapy

• Caution must be taken when implementing programs based on biosocial research– Actions may also bring about more harm than good– Altering a diet to do away with “problem” foods may

inadvertently damage an otherwise good diet

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Psychological Explanations

• Take a variety of forms and include a wide range of factors.

• Early base in biological/physical factors.• Distinctive characteristics.

– Generally view problems as arising out of early life experiences.

– Explanations are highly individualistic (i.e., different explanations or factors may be at work for each person).

– Lend themselves to a treatment orientation.

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Psychoanalytic Explanations• Major premise of psychoanalysis is that unconscious,

and perhaps instinctual, factors account for much of the behavior displayed by individuals.

• Deviance is the result of unconscious desires and drives being manifested in behavior.

• Freudian psychoanalysis: – Three distinct parts to the personality. 1. Id reflects the unconscious desires, drives, and instincts.2. Superego entails learned values, form the moral character

of the individual, and help dictate what the person considers acceptable or unacceptable behavior.

3. Ego is the social identity that is exhibited through behavior.

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• Freudian psychoanalysis (cont.)– seeks to uncover the causes of behavior by bringing the

unconscious conflict between the id and the superego to consciousness

– often undertaken only when an individual develops criminally deviant behavior

– conflict between id and the superego will not always appear as deviance

• eight possible “defense mechanisms” • deviance may appear in some mechanisms (such as repression,

rationalization, or displacement), while other mechanisms may lead to socially acceptable behaviors

Chapter 3REPRESSION

An active attempt to push desires and thoughts out of one’s consciousness or to keep material from reaching consciousness. Example: You forget that you owned a pet that was run over by a car when you were a child.DISPLACEMENTA change in the primary object of a feeling or desire to a secondary one that is less threatening. Example: You are angry at your boss but you yell at your husband or wife instead.SUBLIMATIONHere the displacement is more long-term and the object chosen is socially acceptable. Example: You want to hit and hurt your father, but you become a professional boxer or football player.DENIALThe truth of certain facts or experiences is denied, rather than forgotten as in repression. Example: Your daughter dies but you act as if she is alive, keeping a bed made up for her.REACTION FORMATIONA desire is changed or transformed into the opposite feeling or desire. Example: You hate or deeply resent your father, but you tell everyone how much you love him and act toward him in a loving manner.PROJECTIONYou have an unconscious desire or thought, but you attribute it to someone else instead of acknowledging it in yourself. Example: You no longer love someone, but instead accuse him or her of no longer loving you.RATIONALIZATIONThe process of finding an acceptable reason for doing something unacceptable. Example: You punish your child harshly, but say “I’m doing this for your own good.”REGRESSIONYou replace your desires or thoughts with those from an earlier stage of your development. Example: You are under stress and get angry at someone who works for you, so you throw a temper tantrum.

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• Criticisms of Psychoanalytic Explanations– Hard to undertake empirical tests of the theory.

• No clear method for measuring the id, ego, or superego.

– Totally retrospective and is useful only for looking at what has already happened.

– Emphasizes early childhood and assumes that little change occurs after adolescence.

– Ignores social-structural factors in the determination of behavior.

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Developmental Approaches• The source of deviance is interrupted or arrested

development.• Assumes that individuals develop through a number

of stages.• Failure of an individual to complete any one of these

stages or steps successfully may lead to some form of socially unacceptable behavior.

• Interpersonal Maturity Levels (I- Levels)– Continuum from the most basic stage of development

through the most advanced stage (7 levels).– Most delinquency and deviance occurs in Levels 2, 3, and 4.

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I-LevelsLevel 1:• The individual learns to discriminate between themselves and others.Level 2:• The individual starts to separate things into persons and objects, partly on the basis of their own

needs and what they can control.Level 3:• At this level the individual begins to learn rules and can start to manipulate the environment for

their own benefit.Level 4:• The individual begins to perceive things from the standpoint of others. He/she sees conflicts

between expectations of others and their own needs.Level 5:• Here the individual becomes aware of patterns of behavior and relationships. There becomes an

awareness of distinctions made between events, objects, and roles in society.Level 6:• The individual is able to distinguish between himself/herself and the roles they play. These are

not one and the same and can accommodate one another.Level 7:• At this level, the individual begins to perceive a variety of methods for dealing with the world

and makes choices based on his/her and other’s past experiences and for the benefit of everyone.

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• Moral Development (Kohlberg)– Individuals progress through six stages of “moral

development,” which are arranged into three levels.– Deviant individuals typically fail to display the same level

of moral development as non-criminals with the same or similar characteristics.

– Deviance is a result of interrupted or incomplete development.

– Preconventional Level is characteristic of young children, while most adults fall into the Conventional Level.

– Only a small proportion of adults reach the Postconventional or Principled Level.

Chapter 3Kohlberg’s Moral Development

Level I. Preconventional LevelStage 1 Right is obedience to authority and rules, and avoiding punishment. There is

clear concern for one’s own physical well-being.Stage 2 Right corresponds to seeing one’s own needs, taking responsibility for one’s

self, and allowing others to do the same. At issue is a fair exchange with others.

Level II. Conventional LevelStage 3 Right is avoiding the disapproval of others, having good intentions and

motives, and being concerned for others. Individuals are aware of others and their needs.

Stage 4 Right is doing one’s duty to society and others, and upholding the social order. The individual is capable of looking at things from society’s viewpoint.

Level III. Postconventional or Principled LevelStage 5 Right is based on upholding the rules and values agreed upon by society.

The individual feels obligated to society. There is a recognized social contract between the individual and society that outlines acceptable behavior.Stage 6 Right is a reflection of universal ethical principles. The individual recognizes

the moral rightness of behavior and acts accordingly.

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• Learning Theories– Emphasis is on how an individual learns and what factors

are effective in promoting learning.– Modeling is perhaps the simplest form of learning.

• Most modeling follows the behavior of significant others, particularly parents, siblings, peers, and other individuals close to the child.

• Not limited to the people around the youth.– Operant conditioning: a classical psychological learning

theory. • Deals with the reinforcement of behavior through a complex

system of rewards.• Subsequent behavior as a consequence of past responses to

behavior.• Actions that result in a pleasurable response (positive reinforcer)

or that eliminate painful or unpleasant situations (negative reinforcer) will be repeated.

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Personality and Delinquency• Proposes that certain personality characteristics can

be used to explain deviant and criminal behavior.• Wide array of personality classifications and

measures. • Glueck and Glueck (1956)

– Attempt to distinguish delinquents from nondelinquents using personality factors.

– “Delinquents are more extroverted, vivacious, impulsive, ... less self-controlled . . . are more hostile, resentful, defiant, suspicious, . . . destructive . . . and are less fearful of failure or defeat than the nondelinquents.”

– Widely cited and referenced.

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• Critique of Glueck and Glueck– Not all the traits associated with the delinquents

are undesirable.– Assumes that the individuals had these traits

before they exhibited delinquent behavior.– The individuals who evaluated the youths were

aware of which youths were delinquent and which were not delinquent.

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• Antisocial Personality Disorder – “A long-term pattern of manipulating, exploiting,

or violating the rights of others” (NCBI, 2010).– A combination of genetic and environmental

factors probably contribute to the condition.– Typically not identified until early adulthood.

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• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) – Standardized method for uncovering

personality traits. – Inventory of more than 500 true/false

questions that are designed to tap 10 personality dimensions.

– Based on past clinical analyses – Institutionalized populations


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• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) — Concerns:

• If prior clinical evaluations are in error, poorly conceived, or invalid, the MMPI results also are questionable.

• Useful primarily in the treatment of offenders, and not for predicting or explaining deviance prior to its occurrence.

• May reflect factors related to institutional life and experiences, rather than a deviant personality since it was developed on institutionalized populations.


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Mental Deficiency and Delinquency• Low intelligence has been offered as a prime cause of

deviant behavior.• IQ, or intelligence quotient

– IQ = (mental age/chronological age) × 100– Assumption that IQ is related to crime is not surprising

given that most incarcerated offenders tend to be less educated and display below-average scores on academic achievement tests.

• Question of whether IQ is due to nature or nurture.


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• Nature–Nurture Controversy – Question of whether intelligence is inherited (nature) or

whether it is an outcome of environmental influences (nurture).

– Nature argument views IQ as set at birth and not subject to outside influences.

– Nurture argument is that IQ is the outcome of complex interactions between the genetic makeup of the person and the environment, thus IQ can be altered through education and other environmental interventions.

– Argument is not fully resolved.


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Summary

• Have greatest impact on the correctional end of the juvenile justice system.

• Emphasis on identifying the cause of an individual’s behavior fits the general treatment orientation of juvenile justice.

• Juvenile corrections places heavy emphasis on counseling, education, and other rehabilitative methods.

• Will more than likely remain primarily a correctional tool in juvenile justice until such time that more precise methods of evaluation are generated or the predictive ability of psychological findings are enhanced.


81-260-1 Chapter 3

Education

early theories of behavior

cause of behavior

toaccompany deviant

multiple causes of behavior

modern biological theories

positivist schoolsees

biological explanations

psychological theories