CHAPTER THREE

Biological and Psychological Explanations of Delinquency

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1.      To know the difference between theories which were developed within the classical school and those in the positive school.

2.      To understand that theories differ in the extent to which they recognize that people have free will, and the extent to which they recognize that there is intergroup conflict in society.

3.      To be familiar with the major psychological theories which have been and continue to be used as a basis for delinquency control programs.

4.      To know which biological and psychological theories are best supported by empirical research.

5.      To be aware of the differences in psychological theories generally used by police, court, and correctional personnel.

CHAPTER OUTLINE:

·        Before the last half of the nineteenth century, little scientific research was done to investigate the many factors that contribute to delinquency and crime.

·        With the onset of the discipline of sociology, academic courses that dealt with crime and criminality began to appear; the major discipline concerned with criminality and delinquency is the field of sociology.

Classical and Positive Criminology

·        The classical school of thought, developed by Cesare Becaria, conceived of people as free agents, pursuing hedonistic aims, and able to rationally decide on all or most courses of action.

·        The positive school of criminology, founded by Cesare Lombroso, emphasized the criminal offender’s personal and background characteristics rather than just rational thought process and “free will.”

·        Lombroso emphasized biological differences through scientific investigations.

·        Gabriel Tarde refuted Lombroso’s biological emphasis by focusing on social determinism; he maintained that criminal behavior was the result of factors in the environment of the offender and not due to his or her biological makeup.

Contemporary Theories of Criminality: An Overview

·        Albert Cohen emphasized that sociological explanations of criminality do not oppose psychological explanations in that they are not rival answers to the same question, but they answer different questions about the same sort of behavior.

·        Psychologists take a more individualistic, specific view of human behavior and the personal internal factors that contribute to criminality; sociologists take a more general view, looking at the external environment in which the individual lives.

Determinism and Modern Theory

·        Modern crime causation theory is essentially deterministic insofar as it posits a statistical relationship among an individual, the environment, and deviant activity.

Conflict and Order

·        Conflict-oriented theorists emphasize discrimination in the enforcement of laws, disagreement over what behavior should be illegal, and the tendency for people in power to have laws enacted to protect their own interests.

·        Some theorists stress order within society; they assume that most Americans hold the same values and are equally accepting of the legitimacy of most laws.

Deterrence Theory

·        Punishment can have the effect of either absolute deterrence, which is preventing future offenses completely, or restrictive deterrence, which is reducing the frequency and seriousness of illegal behavior so as to avoid detection.

·        Raymond Paternoster’s study revealed that perceived severity of punishment did not explain either involvement or frequency of involvement in minor forms of delinquency.

·        There are various problems associated with deterrence theory: First, it is not so much the objective level of punishment, but the youth’s perception of the speed, certainty, and severity of punishment that is most likely related to breaking the law; second, accurately measuring the deterrent effect is problematic.

Biological Theories

·        There are two key ways in which recent research has considered the effect of biology on delinquency: a) youth may inherit genetic predispositions that make them prone to delinquency, and b) neurological deficits can play a part in delinquency causation.

·        Adoption studies may be the best way to separate hereditary from environmental effects; however, existing studies are not conclusive to the link between hereditary and subsequent criminal behavior.

·        There is mounting research evidence that serotonin, a chemical stored in the brain, with other brain chemicals, is related to communication among brain cells and impulse control which both are related to delinquency.

Major Psychological Theories

·        At present there is no single psychological theory that has been tested empirically and totally explains juvenile delinquency and criminality.

Psychoanalytic Theory-Sigmund Freud

·        Originally developed by Sigmund Freud, psychoanalytic theory asserts that all relevant personality formation is concluded from very early in childhood.

·        A three-part personality structure forms as the child develops: the primitive instincts (id), the sense of self (ego), and the conscience (superego).

·        When drives to satisfy sexual desires are repressed or the level of control over them is abnormally low, various behavior disorders develop such as social aggression or passiveness.

·        August Aichhorn was an early theorist to apply the basic ideas of psychoanalytic theory in his comprehensive study and practice with juvenile delinquents.

·        Since Aichhorn, there have been several adaptations of Freudian theory to delinquency such as Erik Erickson’s emphasis on adolescents’ need to achieve ego identity, David Abrahamsen’s focus on the influence of conflict between ego and superego, and Seymour Halleck’s emphasis on youths’ feelings of oppression and powerlessness as the root cause of delinquency.

·        There have been various criticisms concerning this perspective, for instance, the difficulty to demonstrate that the family’s effect is through an influence on unconscious motives is not subject to scientific measurement and the problems associated with emphasizing biological motivation, early childhood experiences, sexual drives, and the subsequent deemphasis of both social factors and conscious motivations to break the law.

Multifactor Approach-Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck

·        The Cluecks attempted to select all those factors that they felt explained some part of criminal behavior regardless of whether the principles originated from psychology or sociology.

·        Although the multifactor approach can make a valuable contribution to the understanding of criminal behavior, it is generally acknowledged that no one body of knowledge can be considered a theoretical base for this approach.

Operant Conditioning-Hans Esenck

·        Eysenck explains delinquency as a product of the interaction of a person’s biological makeup and training.

·        Biological makeup is influenced by three aspects of personality: a) extroversion or introversion, b) neuroticism or stability, and c) psychoticism.

·        Training involves giving rewards for desired behavior and punishment for undesired behavior as well as people to act as models whose behavior can be imitated.

Modeling-Albert Bandura and Richard Walters

·        Bandura and Walters stress the importance of modeling in their social learning theory of delinquency.

·        They emphasized aggression and discovered a tendency to copy aggressive behavior from models who are rewarded when they are aggressive and from those who are not punished.

·        There is considerable research support for the idea that modeling is the key to the learning of delinquent behaviors.

Cognitive Developmental Theory-Jean Piaget

·        This perspective is less often discussed than the previous perspectives because its conceptualization has not been refined as an explanation of delinquency.

·        Cognitive developmental theory proposes that the human organism develops from conception in an orderly, sequential manner.

·        Jean Piaget described intellectual development and both Piaget and Kohlberg presented an explanation of moral development.

·        The theory suggests that child development is predictive, normative, and positive in a normal environment or one in which the child’s developmental needs are generally met.  If the child’s developmental needs are met, the youth is able to accomplish specific developmental tasks.

·        More research needs to be done to clarify this developmental approach to understanding youth deviance.

Advances in Psychological Theory

·        There have been some attempts to integrate the best-supported ideas from psychology and sociology.

·        Psychoanalytic theories building on Freud’s work and social learning theory as exemplified by Bandura and Walter’s work continue to have considerable influence on delinquency programs.

Females-The Psychological Theories

·        There have been several psychological theories that have focused on female crime. 

·        Examples of early psychological explanations of female crime include Thomas, Freud, Pollak, and Lombroso.

·        Social learning theorists explain sex-related differences in delinquency as a result of different socialization of boys and girls.

CLASSROOM DISCUSSION:

1.      How did the different theorists influence each other’s thinking about delinquency?  For example, trace the influence of Freud’s psychoanalytic approach on Aichhorn’s work, and on explanations of females’ delinquency.

2.      Which theories best explain official rates of delinquency, and which best explain self-reported delinquency?

3.      Which theories are best supported by empirical evidence?