Introduction order an absolute discharge if a person doesn’t pose a signifi-

cant threat to public safety, and in 2017, he was discharged

without conditions.
Or consider the case of Russell Williams, an Air Force com-
TV shows and movies that portray violent criminals as men-
mander who, in 2010, was arrested and charged in two murders
tally deranged and physically abnormal play an important part
and other sex-related offences. During a series of more than 80
in our culture. The classic film is Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho,
break-ins, he took photos of himself dressed in women’s under-
and since then, producers have made millions with movies
wear, some of which he took as trophies. Profiled by the OPP as
depicting crazed babysitters (Emilie), frenzied airline passen-
an increasingly aggressive threat, he went on to commit sexual
gers (Turbulence), disturbed roommates (Single White Female),
assaults, as well as two murders. After investigation turned up
psychotic tenants (Pacific Heights), demented secretaries (The
forensic evidence that linked him to the crimes, he was sen-
Temp), unhinged police officers (Maniac Cop), irrational fans
tenced to 2 terms of life imprisonment with no chance of parole
(The Fan, Misery), abnormal girlfriends (Obsessed) and boy-
for 25 years. Was he insane? We’ll never know, as he pled guilty
friends (The Boy Next Door), unstable husbands (Sleeping with
to all charges and was not put on trial.
the Enemy) and wives (Gone Girl), crazy fathers (The Stepfather)
These cases clash significantly with the punishment-
and mothers (Friday the 13th, Part 1), maniacal children (The
based model discussed in Chapter 5, which posits that crime
Good Son), psychotic teenaged admirers (The Crush), and irra-
is rationally chosen; they also show how different treatment
diated ghouls (The Hills Have Eyes). No one is safe when even
might be needed for those who may be suffering from mental
the psychologists and psychiatrists who should be treating
conditions that limit their choice.
these people turn out to be demonic murderers themselves
The view that criminals have physical or mental traits that
(Silence of the Lambs, Dressed to Kill, Never Talk to Strangers). Is
make them abnormal is not new. Since the 19th century, crimi-
it any wonder that we respond to a particularly horrible crime
nologists have been suggesting that biological and psychological
by saying of the perpetrator, “That guy must be crazy,” or “She’s
traits may influence behaviour. For example, low-birthweight
a monster!” Some critics have called for the strict regulation of
babies have been found to perform poorly at school later in
such media, believing them harmful to their mostly adolescent
life. Academic problems have been linked to delinquency and
audience. Does watching all these aggressive, crazed people
drug abuse, so it is possible that a condition present at birth
cause viewers to act violently themselves? Does it violate the
can influence antisocial behaviour during later adolescence.2
very concept of choice and provide an alibi for deviance?
These personal differences might explain why, when faced
Real life can sometimes seem just as bizarre. In 2004, a
with the same life situation, one person commits crimes and
man whom police described as mentally ill loaded his car in
becomes a chronic offender, while another attends school,
New Brunswick with weapons and headed to Toronto. The
church, and neighbourhood functions and obeys the laws of
man, whose name was not released, had 3 rifles with tele-
society. One person reacts to being cut off in traffic with road
scopic lenses, a camouflage balaclava, a .357 magnum and
rage, while another barely notices. All people are aware of the
a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol, 6,000 rounds of ammuni-
law, but some are unable to control their urges and passions
tion, a machete, and other knives. He was unemployed and
because they are impulsive and sensation-seeking.3 The varia-
depressed, with diabetes and a hereditary heart condition.
tions on this view of crime causation are referred to as trait
His plan was to shoot as many people as possible so he would
theories or constitutional theories.
spend the rest of his life in jail. On arrest, he was charged
Trait theorists do not suggest that a single biological or psy-
with weapons-related offences and remanded for psychiatric
chological attribute is adequate to explain all criminality. Rather,
examination. The only reason he didn’t go on his rampage
from one offender to the next, unique explanations account for
was that a dog befriended him when he stopped for a rest in a
criminal behaviour. Some have inherited criminal tendencies,
park. He figured that if there was a nice dog in the area, there
others have neurological problems, some have a blood chem-
must be nice people too.1
istry disorder that heightens their antisocial activity. What we
In 2008, in another bizarre case, one that didn’t end as
want is to understand these influences on behaviour.
well, Vince Li boarded a Greyhound bus in Brandon, Mani-
Trait theorists focus on basic human drives that are linked
toba. While the riders watched Zorro on the television monitor,
to antisocial behaviour—aggression, violence, and impulsive-
he pulled out a hunting knife and killed his seat companion,
ness. They recognize that crime involves personal traits such
Tim McLean. Li had a history of menial jobs and had left his
as intelligence, personality, and chemical and genetic make-up
wife two years before. He often took unexplained bus trips
on the one hand, and environmental factors such as family
and was urged by people who knew him to get help for para-
life, educational attainment, and neighbourhood conditions
noid schizophrenia. When he appeared before the judge to be
on the other. Although some people have a predisposition
remanded for psychiatric evaluation, he said, “Please, kill me.”
He was found not criminally responsible and was placed in
a psychiatric institution without a criminal record, where he
remained for seven years. A 1999 ruling in a separate case by trait theories These approaches look at biological or
the Supreme Court of Canada said that a review board must psychological causes of criminality.

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toward aggression, environmental stimuli can either suppress pain seems to be demonstrated by the readiness with which
or trigger antisocial acts. Physical or mental traits are one part prisoners submit to the operation of tattooing.”5 Enrico Ferri
of a pool of factors that account for criminality. (1856–1929) believed that biological and organic factors
Trait theories have gained prominence because of what cause delinquency and crime and that criminals should not
is known about chronic recidivism and the development of be held personally or morally responsible for their actions
criminal careers. As we have seen, if only a small percentage because those factors are outside their control.6
of all offenders go on to become persistent repeaters, it is pos- Advocates of the inheritance school traced the activities of
sible that what sets them apart from the criminal population is several generations of families believed to have an especially
abnormal biochemistry, brain structure, or genetic make-up.4 large number of criminal members. The most famous study
Even if criminals do “choose crime,” the fact that some repeat- of a “degenerate family” was Richard Dugdale’s The Jukes: A
edly make that choice could well be linked to their physical Study in Crime, Pauperism, Disease, and Heredity (1875), which
and mental make-up. traced a family’s history over 150 years. Dugdale claimed to
This chapter reviews the two major divisions of trait have proved the existence of hereditary criminality, saying:
theory: the biological and the psychological. “Fornication is the backbone of their habits, flanked on one
side by pauperism, on the other by crime. The secondary fea-
tures are prostitution, with its complement of bastardy, and its
resultant neglected and miseducated childhood; exhaustion,
Biological Trait Theory with its complement intemperance and its resultant unbal-
anced minds; and disease with its complement extinction.”7
A later attempt at criminal anthropology was the somato-
type school, developed by William Sheldon, which held that
Development of Biological Theories criminals manifest distinct physiques susceptible to particular
Biological explanations of criminal behaviour first became types of delinquent behaviour (see Exhibit 6.1). Mesomorphs
popular during the mid-19th century, with the introduction have well-developed muscles and are active, aggressive, and
of positivism—the use of the scientific method and empirical the most likely to become criminals. Endomorphs have heavy
analysis to study behaviour (see Chapter 1). Cesare Lombro- builds and are known for lethargic behaviour and crimes of
so’s work on the “born criminal” and identification of primi- gluttony. Ectomorphs are tall, thin, less social, more intellec-
tive atavistic anomalies was based on what he believed to be tual, and thus more likely to commit economic crimes.8
sound empirical research using established scientific methods.
Raffaele Garofalo (1852–1934) also believed that certain phys-
ical characteristics indicated a criminal nature. For example, somatotype A way of categorizing people by their body
among criminals, “a lower degree of sensibility to physical build, based on the work of William Sheldon.

Exhibit 6.1

Sheldon’s Somatotype

In the 1940s, psychologist William Sheldon posited that body mass, seems caught in a predicament of biological over-
types are associated with personality characteristics. After studying exposure, and for such an organism the ordinary circum-
4,000 photographs of college-age men and connecting body type stances of social life may amount to chronic overstimulation.
and temperament, Sheldon identified three categories of human Hebephrenic psychopathy may be one natural response to
bodies: the endomorph, characterized by a preponderance of body such a situation. The 117 is more common in the mental
fat; the mesomorph, characterized by a well-developed muscula- hospitals than in the general population, and his diagnosis is
ture; and the ectomorph, who had neither much muscle tissue nor usually hebephrenic schizophrenia. But also he is encoun-
much body fat. Ectomorphic people tend to be quiet, mesomorphs tered more frequently on college campuses than in the
are energetic, and endomorphic people love to eat. In Sheldon’s general population, and there the diagnosis is sometimes
words, “the somatotype is intended as a kind of identification Phi Beta Kappa.”
tag . . . a rather crude tool fashioned to reflect a basic structural
orderliness which can be perceived in human life.” For example, Sheldon has been criticized for being overly positivistic in terms
consider the following: of the influence of body shapes, but he was highly systematic in
terms of the measurements he made—is it possible that some of
“Somatotype 117—Walking Sticks—Fragile stretched-out his predictions make sense?
creatures with the utmost surface exposure in proportion to
mass . . . This extremely rare somatotype (incidence 2 per Source: William Sheldon, Atlas of Men: A Guide for Somatotyping the
10,000), with his extreme predominance of surface over Adult Male at All Ages (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1954).

Chapter 6 | Trait Theories 173

 Sheldon was a psychologist and physician, and he arrived death. Furthermore, the 19th-century development of crim-
at his finding that a correlation exists between body shape and inal anthropology was based on the idea that criminals were
criminality at a time when sociological approaches dominated less evolved and that the evidence was in their physical fea-
criminology. Sheldon’s work was popular because somato- tures. Lombroso believed that teachers could be trained to
typing was part of the reaction against the dislocations of identify future criminals in children as young as five.
20th-century life. Clearly, criminological ideas can be shaped What is interesting in all of this is the idea that the body
by their social contexts.9 can signal to us what is inside and that through technology we
The work of Lombroso and his contemporaries is regarded can make the body reveal its truth. A polygraph, for example, is
today as faulty because they did not use control groups; also, a machine that can divine the truth hidden inside the body by
many of the traits they assumed to be inherited are not geneti- measuring physiological signals such as heart rate, sweating,
cally determined. Many of the biological features they identi- and blood pressure.
fied in criminals could have been caused by deprivation in New forensic science techniques measure electrical brain-
surroundings and diet or by environmental conditions such wave responses to words, phrases, or pictures presented on a
as poor nutrition or health care. These explanations for crimi- computer screen. The idea is that the brain processes known
nality came into question, and meanwhile, new theories were information differently from the way it processes unknown
being developed. information. Evidence of a guilty mind, so to speak, can be
revealed by an ECG, which detects an electrical response to
Sociobiology In the early 20th century, criminologists
stimuli related to a crime, such as a murder weapon, the vic-
became concerned about the sociological influences on
tim’s face, or knowledge of the internal workings of a terrorist
crime. The work of biocriminologists had been viewed as
cell.14 This technology has reportedly been tested in collabo-
methodologically unsound,10 but this began to change: “What
ration with the FBI and CIA, and has been used in several
seems no longer tenable at this juncture is any theory of
murder trials in the United States.
human behaviour that ignores biology and relies exclusively
on sociocultural learning. . . . Most social scientists have been Modern Biological Theories Sociobiology has helped
wrong in their dogmatic rejection and blissful ignorance of the revive interest in the biological basis of crime. Rather than
biological parameters of our behaviour.”11 view the criminal as a person whose behaviour is controlled by
In the 1970s, Edmund O. Wilson published Sociobiology biological conditions determined at birth, modern biological
and the biological basis for crime again emerged into the lime- trait theorists believe that physical, environmental, and social
light.12 Sociobiology differs from earlier theories of behaviour conditions work together to produce human behaviour. Thus,
by stressing how biological and genetic conditions affect the environmental forces can trigger antisocial behaviour in
perception and learning of social behaviours. Sociobiolo- people biologically predisposed to deviance, or, if conditions
gists view the gene as the ultimate unit of life that controls are right, they can mediate or offset the effects of a biological
all human destiny, with environment and experience viewed predisposition. For example, perhaps chronic offenders suffer
as having an impact on behaviour. Most important, sociobi- from a biological or psychological condition that renders
ology holds that people are controlled by the innate need to them incapable of resisting social pressures, which could be
ensure their own survival and that of others who share their mediated by diet.15
gene pool (relatives, fellow citizens). Even when people are Biological trait theory has several principles.16 First, dif-
altruistic and come to the aid of others, they are motivated by ferent genetic make-ups mean that not all humans are born
the belief that their actions will be reciprocated. with equal potential to learn and achieve—what is called
Sociobiologists view biology, environment, and learning as equipotentiality. Sociological criminologists contend that
interdependent factors. Problems in one area can be altered everyone is born equal and that our behaviour is controlled
by efforts in another. In this view, people are biosocial organ- by social forces such as parents, schools, neighbourhoods, and
isms whose behaviours are influenced by physical as well as friends, whereas biosocial theorists argue that no two people
environmental conditions. For example, psychologists Wilson are alike (with rare exceptions, such as identical twins) and
and Daly at McMaster University look at how the inequitable that the combination of human genetic traits and the environ-
access to goods provokes antisocial behaviour and can help ment produces individual behaviour patterns.
explain homicide rates.13 As well, although physical and social environments affect
Sociobiology has been criticized, but it revived interest in learning, people also learn through a process involving the
finding a biological basis for crime and delinquency. brain and central nervous system.17 Learning is influenced
Interestingly, using the body to determine a criminal’s guilt
or innocence goes far back in time. As discussed in Chapter 2,
in the Middle Ages, the accused would undergo a trial by sociobiology A science of human behaviour seen as
ordeal. Later, during the Inquisition, inquisitors would look motivated by inborn biological urges and drives.
for signs on the bodies of accused witches. Cold spots, areas
insensitive to pain, and other signs were seen as evidence equipotentiality Individuals are seen as equal at birth
of consorting with the devil, a carnal offence punishable by and thereafter are influenced by their environment.

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 by instinctual drives developed over history. Instincts are had affected his behaviour. It is commonly thought that he
inherited and nonlearned dispositions that activate behaviour was acquitted based on this defence, but actually the jury
patterns. For example, a drive to possess and control other found him guilty of the lesser offence of diminished capacity
people means that theft is motivated by the instinctual need to manslaughter rather than first-degree murder. The story was
possess goods. Sex crimes may be linked in part to an instinc- made into the movie Milk in 2008.
tual drive that males have to control females.18 However, such Some important biochemical factors that have been linked
a theory doesn’t explain the cultural factors that also exist. to criminality range from nutrition to hormones.
The following subsections examine some of the more
Nutritional Deficiencies Biocriminologists maintain that
important sub-branches within biological criminology (see
minimum levels of vitamins and minerals are needed for proper
Concept Summary 6.1 at the end of the section for an over-
brain functioning, especially in the early years of life. People
view).19 First, we will review the biochemical factors believed
who are not receiving the appropriate nutrition will suffer from
to affect the learning of proper behaviour patterns. Then we’ll
vitamin deficiency. This results in many physical, mental, and
consider the relationship between brain function and crime,
behavioural problems, including lower intelligence.20 People
as well as current ideas about the association between genetic
addicted to alcohol often suffer from thiamine deficiency
factors and crime. Finally, we will evaluate evolutionary views
because of a poor diet and are susceptible to Korsakoff’s
of crime causation.
syndrome.21
A study of 261 homeless youth in Toronto conducted
by nutritionists at the University of Toronto found that over
Biochemical Conditions and Crime half of the youth had inadequate intakes of folate, vitamins A
and C, magnesium, and zinc. In addition, more than half the
Some trait theorists believe that biochemical conditions—both
females had inadequate intakes of vitamin B12 and iron. Most
those that are genetically predetermined and those acquired
youth got food from more than 1 source over the course of a
through diet and environment—influence antisocial behav-
day: 75 percent purchased food, about 50 percent obtained
iour. This view of crime received national attention in 1979,
food from charitable meal programs, 47 percent to 75 per-
when Dan White killed San Francisco mayor George Moscone
cent received food from strangers or acquaintances, and about
and city councillor Harvey Milk. His defence claimed his
10 percent stole food or took it from the garbage. When
behaviour was caused by depression, as evidenced by life-
researchers compared the homeless youth with a sample of
style changes such as an addiction to sugar-laden junk foods.
114 domiciled youth, both the homeless males and females
However, Milk was the first openly gay councillor in San Fran-
had lower intakes of most nutrients.22
cisco and responsible for the city’s first gay rights ordinance.
White, a former police officer also on city council, opposed
Milk’s political reforms. White’s case involved the “Twinkie instincts Routine actions and behaviour are known
defence,” including psychiatric evidence that hypoglycemia automatically without being learned.

Concept Summary 6.1

Biosocial Theories of Crime

Biochemical Genetic
• Major premise is that crime is a function of diet, vitamins, • Major premise is that criminal traits and predispositions
hormonal imbalance, or food allergies are inherited; the criminality of parents can predict the
• Strengths are that it explains irrational violence and how delinquency of children
environment interacts with personal traits • Strengths are that it explains why only a small percentage of
• Research focuses are diet, hormones, enzymes, environmental youth in high-crime areas become chronic offenders
contaminants, and lead intake • Research focuses are twin behaviour, sibling behaviour, and
parent–child similarities
Neurological
Evolutionary
• Major premise is that delinquents often suffer brain
impairment, which is related to antisocial behaviour • Major premise is that as humanity evolves, traits become
• Strengths are that it explains irrational violence and how ingrained; some of these traits make people aggressive and
environment interacts with personal traits predisposed to commit crime
• Research focuses are attention deficit disorder, learning • Strengths are that it explains high violence rates and
disabilities, brain injuries, and brain chemistry aggregate gender differences in the crime rate
• Research focuses of the theory are gender differences and
understanding human aggression

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 Similarly, a team of psychologists and nutritionists in Diets high in sugar and carbohydrates are also linked to
Calgary were interested in how depression, mood swings, violence and aggression. An experiment with 276 incarcerated
and aggression might be improved by providing nutrient for- youths was conducted to determine whether a change in the
mulas containing vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids. amount of sugar in their diet would have a corresponding
This connection has been reported both in young criminal influence on their behaviour.26 In the experiment, several
offenders and in adults with mood disturbance and other psy- dietary changes were made: Sweet drinks were replaced with
chiatric disorders. The researchers suggested there was a need fruit juices, table sugar was replaced with honey, and breakfast
for broader clinical trials that would administer nutritional cereals high in sugar were eliminated. These changes pro-
supplements to children with these psychiatric symptoms.23 duced a decline of 45 percent in assaults, thefts, fights, and
disobedience. The Focus on Research box addresses some of
Sugar and Crime Another suspected nutritional influence these issues involving the link between diet and crime.
on behaviour is a diet especially high in carbohydrates and Although research linking sugar intake to emotional,
sugar.24 For example, how the brain processes glucose was cognitive, and behavioural performance is impressive, some
related to scores on tests measuring reasoning power.25 High researchers have failed to find a link between sugar and vio-
sugar intake levels have been associated with attention-span lence.27 Careful measurement found little evidence of cogni-
deficiencies. tive or behavioural differences linked to diet. If anything, sugar

A 2003 Finnish study involving 115 out- academic performance of 1.1 million
patients being treated with antidepressants schoolchildren rose 16 percent after their
found that those who responded fully to diets were modified. The number of chil-
Focus on treatment had higher levels of vitamin B12 dren identified as learning disabled fell
in their blood at the beginning of treatment from 125,000 to 74,000 in 1 year. No other
Research and 6 months later. Depression has been changes in school programs for learning-
linked to antisocial activities, and researchers disabled children were initiated that year.
speculated that vitamin B12 deficiency In a similar experiment conducted in a
leads to the accumulation of the amino acid correctional institution, violent and non-
homocysteine, which has been linked to violent antisocial behaviour fell an average
depression. of 48 percent among 8,047 offenders

Diet and Crime: In the United States, Carlos Iribarren and

associates (2004) examined the relation-
after dietary changes were implemented.
In both these studies, the improvements

An International ship between omega-3 intake and hostility.

Using a sample of 3,600 young adults living
in behaviour and academic performance
were attributed to diets containing more
Perspective in urban environments, it was found that a
higher consumption of the omega-3 fatty
vitamins and minerals than previous diets.
The greater amounts of these essential
acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), or of nutrients in the new diets were believed
Some recent experimental studies have omega-3-rich fish in general, was related to to have corrected impaired brain function
shown that diet and crime are linked. significantly lower levels of hostility. caused by poor nutrition.
In Great Britain, Bernard Gesch and his Stephen Schoenthaler, a well-known Schoenthaler conducted 3 randomized
associates studied the behaviour of 231 biocriminologist, has conducted a number controlled studies in which 66 elemen-
inmates at a maximum security prison. Half of studies that indicate a link between diet tary schoolchildren, 62 confined teenage
the group received daily capsules containing and aggressive behaviour. In some cases, delinquents, and 402 confined adult felons
vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids, the relationship is direct; in others, a poor received dietary supplements—the equiva-
such as omega-3 and omega-6, while a diet may compromise individual functioning, lent of a diet providing more fruits, vegeta-
control group took placebo pills. Antisocial which in turn produces aggressive behav- bles, and whole grains. In this double-blind
behaviour among inmates was recorded iour. For example, a poor diet may inhibit study, neither subjects nor researchers
before and during distribution of the dietary school performance, and children who fail knew who was receiving the supplements
supplements. Gesch found that the supple- at school are at risk for delinquent behaviour and who was receiving a placebo. In each
ment group broke prison rules 25 percent and criminality. study, the subjects receiving the dietary
less often than those on the placebo. The supplement demonstrated significantly less
greatest reduction was for serious offences— The Link between Diet and School violent and nonviolent antisocial behaviour
instances of fighting, assaulting guards, or Performance than the control subjects who received pla-
taking hostages dropped 37 percent. There In a study of 803 New York City public cebos. The carefully collected data verified
was no change in the control group. schools, Schoenthaler found that the that a very good diet, as defined by the

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 seemed to have a calming effect on children, for example, when the brain is deprived of blood sugar, it has no alternative
perhaps pointing to situational factors that cause excitement, food supply and its metabolism slows down. Symptoms of
such as a birthday party.28 hypoglycemia include irritability, anxiety, depression, crying
In sum, although some research efforts allege a sugar–­ spells, fatigue, insomnia, nervousness, mood swings, phobias,
violence association in line with the “Twinkie defence,” others temper outbursts, headaches, and confusion.
suggest that many people who maintain diets high in sugar As early as 1943, murder was linked to hypoglycemia.
and carbohydrates are not violent or crime-prone, and in Other studies have related assaults and fatal sexual offences
some cases, sugar intake may actually reduce or curtail vio- to hypoglycemic reactions.31 Hypoglycemia has been con-
lent tendencies.29 nected with brain dysfunction and a syndrome character-
ized by aggressive and assaultive behaviour. A higher than
Hypoglycemia However, research shows that abnormalities
normal prevalence of hypoglycemia has been found in studies
in the way the brain metabolizes glucose (sugar) can be
of prison inmates and habitually violent and impulsive
linked to antisocial behaviours, such as substance abuse.30
offenders.32
Hypoglycemia is a condition that occurs when glucose
in the blood falls below levels necessary for normal brain
functioning. The brain is the only organ that obtains its hypoglycemia A biochemical condition, a deficiency of
energy solely from the combustion of carbohydrates. Thus, sugar, that influences antisocial behaviour.

World Health Organization, has significant evidence that low levels adversely affect levels of violence, drug-taking, and self-
behavioural benefits beyond its health brain function, academic performance, harm. The author of the project questions
effects. intelligence, and conduct. When attempting the legal assumption that criminal behaviour
Schoenthaler and his associates have to improve IQ or conduct, it is critical to is entirely a matter of free will.
also evaluated the relationship between assess all these nutrients and correct defi-
nutrition and intelligence. These studies ciencies as needed. If blood nutrient con- Critical Thinking
involved 1,753 children and young adults centrations are consistently in the normal If this research is correct, should schools
in California, Arizona, Oklahoma, Missouri, range, physicians and parents should con- be required to provide a proper lunch for
England, Wales, Scotland, and Belgium. In sider looking elsewhere for the cause of a all children as a crime prevention strategy?
each study, subjects who were poorly nour- child’s difficulties. And would it make sense to provide those
ished and who were given dietary supple- Schoenthaler finds evidence that vita- programs in some areas more than others?
ments showed a greater increase in IQ—an mins, minerals, chemicals, and other nutri-
average of 16 points—than did those in the ents from a diet rich in fruits, vegetables,
Sources: Jukka Hintikka, Tommi Tolmunen,
placebo group. The differences in IQ could and whole grains can improve brain func- Antti Tanskanen, and Heimo Viinamäki,
be attributed to about 20 percent of the chil- tion, basic intelligence, and academic per- “High Vitamin B12 Level and Good Treatment
formance, which are all variables that have Outcome May Be Associated in Major
dren who were presumably inadequately
Depressive Disorder,” BMC Psychiatry 3
nourished prior to supplementation. The IQ been linked to antisocial behaviour.
(2003): 17–18; C. Iribarren, J.H. Markovitz,
research was expanded to include academic D.R. Jacobs, Jr., P.J. Schreiner, M. Daviglus,
performance in 2 studies of more than 300 Recent Initiatives to Use Diet to Fight and J.R. Hibbeln, “Dietary Intake of Omega-3,
Criminality Omega-6 Fatty Acids and Fish: Relationship
schoolchildren aged 6 to 14 years in Arizona with Hostility in Young Adults—The CARDIA
and California. In both studies, children In 2008, researchers at the University of Study,” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
who received daily supplements at school Oxford announced a study to be conducted 58 (2004): 24–31; C. Bernard Gesch, Sean
for three months achieved significantly M. Hammond, Sarah E. Hampson, Anita
whereby young male inmates would be given
Eves, and Martin J. Crowder, “Influence
higher gains in grade level compared to the vitamin supplements to see whether it would of Supplementary Vitamins, Minerals, and
matched control group taking placebos. The make them less impulsive. In controlled Essential Fatty Acids on the Antisocial
children taking a supplement improved aca- studies in Britain and Denmark, nutrition Behaviour of Young Adult Prisoners:
Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial,”
demically at twice the rate of the children supplements were found to reduce assaults, British Journal of Psychiatry 181 (2002):
who took placebos. thefts, and other offences among inmates in 22–28; Stephen Schoenthaler, “Intelligence,
Schoenthaler concludes that parents young offender institutions. Some inmates Academic Performance, and Brain Function,”
of a child who behaves badly, or who does were given a placebo while others received California State University, Stanislaus, 2000;
see also S. Schoenthaler and I. Bier, “The
poorly in school, may benefit from having a daily dose of more than 30 vitamins and Effect of Vitamin–Mineral Supplementation
the child’s blood tested to determine minerals, plus a dose of omega-3 fatty on Juvenile Delinquency among American
whether concentrations of certain nutri- acids, which other studies have claimed can Schoolchildren: A Randomized Double-
Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial,” Journal of
ents are below the recommended norms. help reduce aggression and mood swings.
Alternative and Complementary Medicine:
If so, a dietary supplement may correct the The researchers monitored whether those Research on Paradigm, Practice, and Policy 6
child’s conduct and performance. There is receiving the supplements showed reduced (2000): 7–18.

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 Hormonal Influences Criminologist James Q. Wilson, in
The Moral Sense, concludes that hormones, enzymes, and
neurotransmitters are the keys to understanding human
behaviour and that they explain gender differences in the crime
rate. Males are biologically and naturally more aggressive than
females, while women are more nurturing of the young and
more important for survival of the species.33 Hormone levels
also explain the aging-out process because as male hormones
decline during the life cycle, violence decreases.34
Biosocial theorists evaluating the association between
violent behaviour episodes and hormone levels have found
that abnormal levels of male sex hormones (androgens) pro-
duce aggressive behaviour.35 Links among hormonal changes,
mood, and behaviour may explain why adolescents experi-
ence more intense mood swings, anxiety, and restlessness

BearFotos/Shutterstock.com
than do their elders.36 Both hormonal activity and antisocial
behaviour peak in adolescence,37 and researchers believe that
prepubertal development is a significant factor in peer-to-peer
sexual harassment.38
Testosterone is the most abundant androgen, and research
has found that prenatal exposure to unnaturally high levels
permanently alters behaviour. Girls who were unintentionally Testosterone is a male hormone that can alter behaviour. Some physical
exposed to elevated androgen levels during fetal development reactions produced by hormones are linked to violence, but there is
display a high long-term tendency toward aggression; boys controversy surrounding the relationship between testosterone and
prenatally exposed to steroids that decrease androgens dis- aggression.
played decreased aggressiveness.39 In contrast, inmate studies
indicate that testosterone levels are higher in men who com- greater exposure to stressful life events and that these events
mitted violent crimes.40 In 2001, the science journal Nature have a greater impact on their lives. Because this relationship
reported on a study showing that fish that watched two other between SES and health begins early in life, they performed
male fish attack each other had higher levels of testosterone a study of 217 children and 139 mothers. The researchers
than fish that didn’t watch the fighting. This finding indicates measured cortisol levels and cognitive function in the chil-
that the body’s biology reacts to social behaviour and influ- dren and used phone interviews with the mothers to mea-
ences individual behaviour. sure the children’s symptoms of stress and depression. They
In animals, the relationship between testosterone and found that children with low SES had higher cortisol levels,
aggression is well-established, but in humans, it is more indicating stress hormones; these were also associated with
controversial, given that culture, experience,41 and time42 are their mother’s extent of depressive symptoms. The researchers
also influences. Hormone levels influence violent behaviour concluded that there was a neurobiological determinant to
because they affect the brain’s sensitivity to environmental the association between socio-economic status and health that
stimuli. Males who possess high androgen levels are more begins early in life.46
likely to need excess stimulation and are more willing to Other researchers have looked at female adolescent anti-
tolerate pain in their quest for thrills. Androgens are linked, social behaviour. Cortisol levels in adolescent girls with con-
under stressful conditions, to emotional volatility. Some other duct disorder (CD) were found to be lower, suggesting that
reactions produced by hormones that have been linked to antisocial behaviour was due to the lack of an inhibiting effect
violence include the need to seek unusually high levels of of the hormone.47
environmental stimulation and impulsive emotional responses
to stressful environmental encounters.43 Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) The onset of the menstrual
Male sex offenders are sometimes treated with drugs that cycle triggers excessive amounts of the female sex hormones,
decrease testosterone,44 such as the female hormones estrogen which are thought to cause antisocial, aggressive behaviour.
and progesterone.45 In some countries (but not Canada), During the 19th century, “disordered menstruation” was often
chemical or surgical castration is used on sex offenders. A
problem with sex offenders is that most also have a substance-
abuse disorder, an antisocial personality disorder, a mood dis- androgens Male sex hormones, which have been linked
order, or psychological problems. The identification of the to criminality.
problem is not simple.
Researchers in Montreal were interested in the fact that testosterone A male hormone that controls secondary
individuals with lower socio-economic status (SES) report sex characteristics and can alter behaviour.

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 introduced as a factor when women were being defended continued to release contaminants into the environment until
on serious charges, such as arson or homicide. Today, it was shut down in 1976. Health effects continue 50 years
this is commonly referred to as premenstrual syndrome later due to the suspected burying of drums of toxic waste.
(PMS),48 a term popularized by Katharina Dalton, whose The Crime, Conflict, and Disorder feature looks at how envi-
studies indicated that females are more likely to commit a ronmental factors like these have become a common concern.
crime, commit suicide, or be aggressive just before or during Lead ingestion has also been linked to aggressive behav-
menstruation.49 iours at the micro and macro levels. For example, areas with
However, debate continues regarding whether there is any the highest concentrations of lead in the air also reported the
link between PMS and aggression.50 Diana Fishbein, an expert highest levels of homicide.60 Studies have linked lead to con-
on biosocial theory, says that an association exists between duct problems and antisocial behaviour in hyperactive chil-
elevated levels of female aggression and menstruation. She dren.61 Needleman tracked 300 boys from ages 7 to 11 and
says that a significant number of incarcerated females com- found that those who had high lead concentrations in their
mitted their crimes during the premenstrual phase.51 bones were much more likely to report attention problems,
However, only a few criminal trials in Canada, Britain, and delinquency, aggressiveness, and poor language skills.62
the United States have successfully used PMS as a mitigating High lead ingestion is also related to lower IQ scores,
factor in a woman’s defence. The usual result has been that which in turn are linked to aggressive behaviour,63 attention
the defendant is required to receive hormone injections as a deficit disorder, and antisocial activities such as bullying, van-
condition of the sentence.52 dalism, truancy, and shoplifting. Some research indicates a
The overwhelming majority of females who suffer anxiety link between decreased crime rates and the removal of lead
and hostility before and during menstruation do not actually from gasoline.
engage in violent criminal behaviour.53
Allergies Allergies are excessive reactions of the body to
foreign substances.54 For example, hay fever is an allergic Neurophysiological Conditions and Crime
reaction caused when pollen cells enter the body and are Some criminologists, looking at brain activity (neurophysi-
fought or neutralized by the body’s natural defences. The ology), believe that abnormalities acquired as early as the fetal
result is itching, red eyes, and active sinuses. stage may control behaviour throughout life.64
Neuroallergies are believed to produce enzymes that cause The relationship between neurological dysfunction and
swelling of the brain and sensitivity in the central nervous crime received a great deal of attention in 1968, when Charles
system; this has been linked to mental, emotional, and behav- Whitman killed his wife and his mother, barricaded himself in
ioural problems. Research indicates a connection between a tower at the University of Texas with a high-powered rifle,
these allergies and hyperemotionality, depression, aggressive- then killed 14 people and wounded 24 others before he was
ness, and violent behaviour.55 killed by police. An autopsy revealed that Whitman suffered
Neuroallergy and cerebral allergy problems have been from a malignant brain tumour and had sought psychiatric
linked to hyperactivity in children. The foods most commonly treatment because he had experienced urges to kill.65
involved in producing such allergies are cow’s milk, wheat, A traumatic brain injury can be devastating to an indi-
corn, chocolate, citrus, and eggs. Corn is a suspected cerebral vidual. Impaired brain function can lead to loss of abstract
allergen and has been linked to cross-national homicide rates reasoning and problem-solving skills as well as aggressive
in various countries.56 behaviour.66 These effects can even be transgenerational
Environmental Contaminants Dangerous quantities because environmental strain affects the developing brain. In
of copper, cadmium, mercury, and inorganic gases such as such cases, the brain creates a physical barrier against the
chlorine and nitrogen dioxide in the ecosystem influence uptake of the stress hormone glucorticoid, placing the indi-
behaviour and have been linked to emotional and behavioural vidual in a permanent elevated state of stress. This effect is
disorders, severe illness, and death.57 The ingestion of food then passed down through generations, thus illustrating the
dyes and artificial colours and flavours has been linked to effect of epigenetics, which relates to how genes are expressed
hostile, impulsive, and antisocial behaviour in youths. 58 and made “available” through life conditions.
Radiation from artificial lighting, such as fluorescent tubes
and television sets, may be another important environmental
influence on antisocial behaviour.59 premenstrual syndrome (PMS) Females undergo
In a notorious Canadian case, Minimata disease affected hormonal changes during menstruation that effect
the Grassy Narrows First Nation in northwestern Ontario. The criminality.
disease was named after fishing village in Japan that had suf- neurophysiology The study of abnormalities acquired
fered a severe case of mercury poisoning. The poisoning of during the fetal stage that control behaviour.
Grassy Narrows was the result of the illegal dumping of indus-
trial chemical waste in 1970. Dryden Chemical Company epigenetics The study of the modification of gene
was using the mercury in a chlorine bleaching process, and it expression over time, based on life conditions.

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 in the workforce, and thus an increased risk inadequate health care, and to suffer trauma
of deviance. What happens when all of this at the hands of the police. New agreements
Crime, is extrapolated to populations living in mar- to address mercury pollution are now in place
Conflict, ginalized areas—for example, some African at the Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong
Americans in sub/urban parts of the US? Independent First Nations.
and What happens when we change the issue
Critical Thinking
Disorder to mercury in the water, as has been the
case with so many Indigenous communities Could environmental contamination be part
living downriver from pulp paper plants and of a defense to certain crimes?
hydroelectric dams in Canada? The result is
something resembling Minimata disease, a Sources: Martha Troian, “Neurological and
birth defects haunt Wabaseemoong First
Environmental neurological disorder first identified in Japan
and then at Grassy Narrows in Ontario, which
Nation, decades after mercury dumping,”
CBC News, September 20, 2016, https://
Factors Implicated can lead to developmental difficulties. In the
Muskrat Falls hydroelectric dam develop-
www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/wabaseemoong-
birth-defects-mercury-dumping-1.3764315;

in Crime ment, for example, construction released

selenium in the soil, which then polluted a
Wabaseemong Independent Nations,
News Release, “Government of Canada
supports a Mercury Wellness Centre
salmon fishery. These issues are intergen- and other community health needs in
It has long been known that lead in the erational and effect entire communities. Wabaseemoong Independent Nations,”
environment causes impairments in brain July 26, 2021, https://wabaseemoong.ca/
Indigenous communities less likely to have
government-of-canada-supports-a-mercury-
activity; those impairments lead to under- running water, as well as more likely to live wellness-centre-and-other-community-health-
performance in school, decreased chances near dumps and toxic waste sites, to have needs-in-wabaseemoong-independent-nations.

Neurological Impairments and Crime Neurological has been voiced about whether the condition is adequately
functioning is measured in many ways, including visual recognized by the courts.74
awareness tests, short-term auditory memory tests, and verbal Indigenous youths are overrepresented in the criminal
IQ tests.67 justice system and are more likely to have background his-
For example, the electroencephalograph (EEG) records tories of fetal alcohol disorders, substance abuse, childhood
the electrical impulses given off by brain waves recorded by victimization, academic difficulties, and instability in the
electrodes placed on the scalp.68 Studies have found that vio- living environment.75 These conditions now can be detailed
lent criminals have higher levels of abnormal EEG record- in a Gladue report prior to sentencing and considered as
ings than noncriminals.69 In a study of a randomly selected mitigating factors (see Chapter 2). However, this guideline
group of 335 violent delinquents, 65 percent of the habitu- is not always followed because it is an expensive cost borne
ally aggressive offenders had abnormal EEG recordings; only by the defence.
24 percent of the 1-time offenders had abnormal recordings.
Minimal Brain Dysfunction Minimal brain dysfunction,
Five to 15 percent of the population have abnormal EEG
sometimes referred to as MBD, is related to an abnormality
readings; 50 to 60 percent of adolescents with known behav-
in cerebral structure. In its most serious form, MBD has been
iour disorders display abnormal recordings.70 Those disorders
linked to serious antisocial acts and an imbalance in the
include poor impulse control, inadequate social adaptation,
brain’s urge-control mechanisms. It can also lead to dyslexia,
hostility, temper tantrums, and destructiveness.71 Studies of
visual perception problems, hyperactivity, poor attention
murderers have found that a disproportionate number of
span, temper tantrums, and aggressiveness. One type of
them manifest abnormal EEG recordings.72
minimal brain dysfunction takes the form of episodic periods
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Fetal alcohol syndrome disorder
(FASD) happens when a fetus is exposed to alcohol; the
resulting children experience developmental delays and
crime-related behaviour. They are more likely to engage in electroencephalograph (EEG) A device for
disruptive behaviours at school; half of them are diagnosed recording electronic impulses given off by the brain
with ADHD. Common cognitive and behavioural problems are called brain waves.
learning difficulties, poor impulse control, speech problems,
and inability to foresee consequences. Half of young offenders minimal brain dysfunction (MBD) A cerebral
appearing in provincial or territorial courts are there because abnormality that results in maladaptive behaviour,
their mothers drank during pregnancy. 73 Some concern antisocial acts, and depleted urge control.

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 of explosive rage and is an important cause of spousal abuse,

Dr. Alan Zametkin/Clinical Brain Imaging, courtesy of

child abuse, suicide, aggressiveness, and motiveless homicide.
Some studies of offender populations have found that up
to 60 percent exhibit MBD.76 Researchers using brain-wave
data have predicted with 95 percent accuracy the recidivism

Office of Scientific Information/NIMH

of violent criminals.77
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Many parents
have noticed that their children do not pay attention to them—
they run around and do things in their own way. Sometimes
this inattention is a function of age; in other instances, it
is a symptom of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD), in which a child shows impulsivity, hyperactivity,
and a developmentally inappropriate lack of attention. The
various symptoms of ADHD are described in Table 6.1. This scan compares the brain of someone who has ADHD (right)
with that of someone who does not (left). Areas of orange and white
Research shows that about 5 percent of school-aged chil- demonstrate a higher rate of metabolism; areas of blue and green
dren, usually boys, have ADHD.78 It is the most common represent an abnormally low metabolic rate. Why is ADHD so prevalent
reason children are referred to mental health clinics. However, today? Some experts believe that our immigrant forebears, risk-takers
it is probably underdiagnosed because it presents as inatten- who impulsively left their homelands for life in the New World, may have
brought with them a genetic predisposition for ADHD.
tiveness in girls as opposed to hyperactivity in boys.79 ADHD
is associated with poor school performance, placement in spe-
cial needs classes, bullying, difficulties in relationships, and vulnerable to chronic and persistent delinquency.81 The rela-
conduct disorders.80 Suspected causes include neurological tionship between chronic delinquency and attention disorders
damage, prenatal stress, and food additive and chemical aller- may be mediated by school failure: kids who are poor readers
gies. There may be a genetic link. are the most prone to antisocial behaviour, and many poor
Research now links ADHD, hyperactivity, and below- readers also have attention problems.82
average written and verbal cognitive abilities to the onset ADHD is a lifelong disorder that affects between 2 and
of a delinquent career. Youths who have both ADHD and 6 percent of adults.83 ADHD has a high likelihood of being
MBD and who grow up in a dysfunctional family are most inherited and is associated with high levels of substance
abuse.84 Early diagnosis and treatment, with doses of stimu-
lants such as Ritalin and Dexedrine, help control emotional
Table 6.1  Symptoms of Attention Deficit and behavioural outbursts.
Hyperactivity Disorder
Other Brain Dysfunctions Persistent criminality has been
Lack of Attention linked to dysfunction in the frontal and temporal regions of
Frequently fails to finish projects the brain, which regulate and inhibit human behaviour.85
Does not seem to pay attention Brain lesions in the neurological system can have permanent
Does not sustain interest in play activities effects on behaviour. Clinical evaluation of depressed and
Cannot sustain concentration on schoolwork or related tasks aggressive psychopathic subjects found that 75 percent had
Is easily distracted dysfunction of the temporal and frontal regions of the brain.86
Impulsivity Sex offenders, such as adult onset pedophiles, often have
Frequently acts without thinking suffered a brain injury. And in an analysis of uxoricide (wife
Often “calls out” in class homicide), Dutton found that most offenders had experienced
Does not want to wait their turn in lines or games traumatic childhoods and personality disorders.87
Shifts from activity to activity
Tumours, Injury, and Disease Brain tumours have been
Cannot organize tasks or work
linked to psychological problems, including personality
Requires constant supervision
changes, hallucinations and psychotic episodes, depression,
Hyperactivity
irritability, temper outbursts, and even homicidal attacks.
Constantly runs around and climbs on things
Previously docile people may undergo behaviour changes so
Shows excessive motor activity while asleep
great that they attempt to harm their families and friends;
Cannot sit still; is constantly fidgeting
Does not remain in their seat in class
Is constantly on the go like a “motor”

Source: Adapted from American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. (Washington, D.C.:
American Psychiatric Press, 1994); also online at http://web.cs.mun. (ADHD) Developmentally inappropriate lack of
ca/~jamie/dsm4.html. attention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity.

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 when the tumour is removed, their behaviour returns to environmental insults, such as abuse, and help explain why
normal.88 In addition, head injuries caused by accidents have not all victims of abuse grow up to victimize others.96
been linked to personality reversals marked by outbursts of Because of this linkage, violence-prone people are treated
antisocial and violent behaviour.89 with antipsychotic drugs that help control levels of neu-
A variety of central nervous system diseases, such as cere- rotransmitters, sometimes referred to as chemical straitjackets.
bral arteriosclerosis, epilepsy, senile dementia, Korsakoff’s syn- The brain can also produce natural opiates, chemically similar
drome, and Huntington’s chorea, have also been associated to narcotics like opium and morphine, resulting in an elevated
with emotional disturbances dominated by rage and increased mood state that can act as a positive reinforcer to crime.97 That
irritability.90 is, the brain can produce its own natural high as a reward for
In a study of the interaction between obstetrical compli- risk-taking behaviour. Some people achieve this high by rock-
cations and early family adversity, researchers looked at 849 climbing or skydiving; others engage in crimes of violence.
boys from low socio-economic neighbourhoods of Montreal. See the Focus on Research box on this topic.
They found that such complications as preeclampsia and
Arousal Theory If obtaining thrills is a motivator of crime,
umbilical cord prolapse, coupled with the psychosocial fac-
adolescents may engage in shoplifting and vandalism simply
tors of an adverse family environment, increased the risk of
because these acts offer the attraction of “getting away with it.”98
violence in the boys when they reached 16 to 17 years of age.
According to arousal theory, people’s brains function
It seems that neuropsychological deficits leading to behav-
differently in response to environmental stimuli. People
ioural problems are generated by fetal brain damage, which
generally seek to maintain a preferred level of arousal. Too
essentially rewires the brain.91
much stimulation leaves them anxious; too little makes
Brain Chemistry and Crime Neurotransmitters are them feel bored. The way people’s brains process sensory
chemical compounds that influence or activate brain input, however, varies. Some nearly always feel comfortable
functions. Abnormal levels of some neurotransmitters, such as with little stimulation, while others require a high degree
androgens, dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, monoamine of environmental input to feel comfortable. The sensation-
oxidase, and GABA, have been linked with aggression. Studies seekers seek out stimulating activities, which may include
of habitually violent criminals in Finland indicate that low aggressive, violent behaviour patterns such as dangerous
serotonin levels are associated with poor impulse control driving or road rage. 99 Jack Katz has written about how
and hyperactivity. Prozac, which is commonly prescribed some people may be drawn into crime because it produces
for depression, is a serotonin enhancer. Low levels of certain the natural high they crave. This “seduction of crime” was
chemicals in the brain are also linked to increased irritability, discussed in Chapter 5.
sensation-seeking, and depression.92 The factors that determine a person’s optimal level of
Since the 1990s, doctors have prescribed selective sero- arousal include brain chemistry (serotonin levels) and brain
tonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) to children with major structure. For instance, some people’s brains have many more
depressive disorders. Possible side effects include an increased nerve cells with receptor sites for neurotransmitters.
risk of suicide, aggression, conduct problems, and hostility.93
Prenatal exposure of the brain to high levels of androgens
can result in a brain structure that is less sensitive to envi- Genetics and Crime
ronmental inputs. Affected individuals seek more intense and
Early biological theorists, believing that criminality ran in
varied stimulation and are willing to tolerate more adverse
families, conducted research on deviant families such as the
consequences.94 Such exposure results in a rightward shift in
Jukes and the Kallikaks. Modern biosocial theorists are still
brain functioning and a lessening of cognitive and emotional
interested in genetics and how heredity influences antisocial
tendencies, with left-handers disproportionately represented
tendencies. Animals bred to have aggressive traits include
in the criminal population.
certain dogs, bulls, and roosters. Genetic factors associated
Individuals with a low supply of the enzyme monoamine
with human behaviour include extroversion, openness, agree-
oxidase (MAO) engage in behaviours such as defiance of
ableness, and conscientiousness.100 Human personality traits
punishment, impulsivity, hyperactivity, poor academic per-
associated with criminality that may be heritable include
formance, sensation-seeking and risk-taking, and recreational
aggression (psychopathy, impulsivity, neuroticism) and psy-
drug use. Females have higher levels of MAO than males,
chopathology (such as schizophrenia).101
which may explain gender differences in the crime rate.95
Richard Speck, the convicted killer of eight nurses in Chi-
A deficiency of a subtype of MAO in abused children,
cago, was said to have inherited an abnormal XYY chromo-
especially boys, is a good predictor of future violence and
somal structure (XY is the normal sex chromosome pattern in
criminality. A study of 442 males in New Zealand found that
37 percent had low levels of MAO. Abused children with low
MAO activity (12% of the study) accounted for 44 percent
of the violent crime connections. The researchers concluded arousal theory A high arousal level is often associated
that genetic characteristics moderate children’s sensitivity to with violence, aggression, and sociopathy.

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 mature adult. In other words, there really is illness or aggression problems. While being
a big difference between teenage and adult scanned by a brain-imaging machine, both
brains! sets of teenagers were asked to perform tasks
Focus on Brain Structure and Aggression
that involved reacting to age-appropriate,
fear-inducing images. The tasks also tested
Research One area of teen brain functioning that has the teenagers’ impulsivity. The brains of
piqued the interest of neuroscientists is RADI teenagers exhibited greater activity in
aggression, which can be divided into two the amygdala and lesser activity in the frontal
types: proactive and reactive. Proactive lobe in response to the images than the
aggressors plan how they’re going to hurt brains of the teenagers in the control group.
and bully others. Reactive aggression is not Guido’s research helps explain what

Teenage Behaviour: premeditated but occurs in response to the

environment.
goes on in the brains of some teenage boys
who respond with inappropriate anger and

Is It the Brain? Research psychiatrist Frank Guido finds

that aggressive teen behaviour may be linked
aggression to perceived threats. It is pos-
sible that rather than having a social or even
to the amygdala, an area of the brain that environmental basis, antisocial behaviour
Teenagers and adults often don’t see eye-to- processes information regarding threats is a function of how the brain influences
eye, and new brain research is now shedding and fear. Aggressive behaviour may also be ­decision-making and impulse control.
light on some of the reasons why so much associated with a lessening of activity in the
conflict exists. Although adolescence is often frontal lobe, a brain region linked to d
­ ecision- Critical Thinking
characterized by increased independence making and impulse control. Reactively If teen aggression is linked to brain chemistry
and a desire for knowledge and exploration, aggressive adolescents, most commonly and structure, what is the purpose of such
it also is a time when the brain matures at dif- boys, frequently misinterpret their surround- crime-reducing policies as providing summer
ferent rates, and the resulting instability can ings, feel threatened, and act inappropriately jobs for at-risk kids or providing counselling
result in high-risk behaviours, vulnerability to aggressive. They tend to strike back when for those who have already violated the law?
substance abuse, and mental distress. being teased, blame others when getting into
Recent imaging studies in humans show a fight, and overreact to accidents. Sources: Society for Neuroscience News
Release, November 5, 2007, “Studies Identify
that brain development and connectivity are Their behaviour is defensive, and impul-
Brain Areas and Chemicals Involved in
not complete until the late teens or early sive. To find out why, Guido and his colleagues Aggression: May Speed Development of Better
20s. It is becoming clear that the status of recruited two groups of male adolescents: Treatment; Society for Neuroscience News
brain chemical systems and connectivity one group diagnosed with “reactive-affective- Release.” “New Research Sheds Light on Brain
Differences in Adolescents. Understanding
between brain regions make teenagers dif- defensive-impulsive” (RADI) behaviour and Their Impulsive, Risk-Taking Behavior.”
ferent from both the young child and the fully the other group without any history of mental November 6, 2007.

males), raising concern that all XYYs were potential killers and fraternal dizygotic (DZ) twins of the same sex. MZ twins are
should be closely controlled.102 However, when it was found genetically identical, while DZ twins have only half their genes
that neither Speck nor most violent offenders actually had an in common. If heredity does determine criminal behaviour,
extra Y chromosome, interest in the XYY theory dissipated. the MZ twins should be much more similar in their antisocial
Is it possible that the tendency for crime and aggression activities than are the DZ twins.
is inherited? Since the Speck case, researchers have care- Early studies on the behaviour of twins found that
fully explored the heritability of criminal tendencies using a 60 percent of MZ twins shared criminal behaviour patterns (if
variety of techniques, the most common being twin studies 1 twin was criminal, so was the other), while only 30 percent
and adoption studies. of DZ twins were similarly related. This finding was viewed
as evidence of a genetic basis for criminality.
Twin Studies If inherited traits cause criminal behaviours, Christiansen studied 3,586 male twin pairs and found a
twins should be quite similar in their antisocial activities. 52 percent similarity for MZ pairs but only 22 percent for
However, because twins are usually brought up in the DZ pairs, suggesting that MZ twins share a genetic character-
same household and are exposed to the same set of social istic that increases the risk of their engaging in criminality.103
conditions, determining whether their behaviour is a result Genetic effects have been found to be a significant predictor
of biological, sociological, or psychological conditions is of problem behaviours in children as young as 3 years old.104
difficult. Trait theorists have tried to overcome this dilemma Although the behaviour of some twin pairs seems to be influ-
by comparing identical monozygotic (MZ) twins with enced by their environment, others displayed behaviour

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 disturbances that could only be explained by their genetic with warm relationships are more likely to behave similarly;
similarity.105 siblings who maintain a close relationship also have similar
However, the controversy over the heritability of crime rates of drug abuse and delinquency.115
persists, as not all research efforts have found that MZ twin These findings can be interpreted in a number of ways:
pairs are more closely related in their criminal behaviour than ■ Siblings in the same environment are influenced by
are DZ or ordinary sibling pairs.106 Also, some experts have
similar factors.
concluded that individuals who share genes are alike in per- ■ Deviant siblings may grow closer because of shared
sonality regardless of how they are reared, with the environ-
interests.
ment inducing little personality resemblance in twin pairs.107 ■ Younger siblings may imitate the elder’s behaviour.
Adoption Studies If the behaviour of adopted children
Contagion may explain the higher concordance of deviant
were more similar to that of their biological parents than to
behaviours found in identical twins as compared to fraternal
that of their adoptive parents, then the idea of a genetic basis
twins or mere siblings. Accordingly, the contagion effect may
for criminality would be supported. If, however, adoptees
also explain why the behaviour of twins is more similar in
were more similar to their adoptive parents than to their
adulthood than in adolescence. Youthful misbehaviour is
biological parents, then an environmental basis for crime
influenced by friends and peer group relationships. The influ-
would seem more valid.
ence of peers may wane as people become adults, marry, and
Several studies indicate a relationship between biolog-
find employment. In contrast, twin influence is everlasting; if
ical parents’ behaviour and the behaviour of their children,
one twin is antisocial, it legitimizes and supports the criminal
even with infrequent contact. 108 In the most significant
behaviour in the co-twin. This effect may grow even stronger
study in this area, 1,145 male adoptees born in Copen-
in adulthood because twin relations are more enduring than
hagen, Denmark, between 1927 and 1941 were examined;
any other. What seems to be a genetic effect may actually be
of these, 185 had criminal records.109 After following up
the result of sibling interaction with a brother or sister who
on 143 of the criminal adoptees and matching them with
engages in antisocial activity.
a control group of 143 noncriminal adoptees, Hutchings
and Mednick found that the criminality of the biological
father was a strong predictor of the child’s criminal behav-
iour. When the biological and the adoptive fathers were Evolutionary Views of Crime
both criminal, the probability that the youth would engage
Recent biosocial research has focused on evolutionary factors
in criminal behaviour greatly expanded: 25 percent of the
in criminality.116 As human beings have evolved, certain traits
boys whose adoptive and biological fathers were criminals
have become ingrained and responsible for some crime pat-
had been convicted of a criminal law violation; only 14
terns. For example, perhaps jealousy developed as a way to
percent of those whose biological and adoptive fathers were
keep families intact. Aggression is also favoured in evolution,
not criminals had similar conviction records.110
especially for men, who benefit from being pro-risk; women,
A more recent analysis of Swedish adoptees found that
by contrast, benefit from being risk-averse, as observed in
genetic factors were highly significant. Boys who had crim-
both humans and chimpanzees.117
inal parents were significantly more likely to violate the law;
Gender differences in the violence rate have been
environmental influences were significantly less important.
explained as a function of how mammalian mating patterns
Nonetheless, having a positive environment, such as being
evolved. Hypothetically, to ensure the survival of the gene
adopted into a more affluent home, helped inhibit a genetic
pool, a male benefits from mating with as many suitable
predisposition.111
females as possible. In contrast, because of the long gestation
Evaluating Genetic Research The findings of the early period, females require a secure home and a stable nurturing
twin and adoption studies gave some support to a genetic partner to ensure their survival. Unclear, however, is how the
basis for criminality. However, newer, better-designed research offspring survive despite the lack of a stable, nurturing father.
provides less support.112 Nonetheless, perhaps the descendants of these aggressive
The apparent genetic effect may actually be the effect of males now account for the disproportionate amount of male
sibling influence on criminality, referred to as the contagion aggression and violence.118
effect: genetic predispositions and early experiences make Two general evolutionary theories of crime are r/K theory
some people, including twins, susceptible to the deviant and cheater theory.119
behaviour displayed by antisocial siblings in the house-
hold.113 In a case in 2015 in the United States, an 18-year-
old and his 16-year-old brother murdered their parents and
3 younger siblings in their home. The younger brother’s
defence argued that the older brother coerced his younger r/K theory An evolutionary theory differentiating
brother into helping him commit the killings.114 Sibling pairs cooperative people from deceptive ones.

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 r/K Selection Theory This theory holds that all organisms Evaluation of the Biological Branch
can be located along a continuum that is based on their
reproductive drives in relation to their environment. Those
of Trait Theory
along one end (r-selection individuals) reproduce whenever Biosocial perspectives on crime raise some challenging ques-
they can and invest little in their offspring, while those along tions for criminology. If biology can explain the cause of street
the other end (K-selection individuals) reproduce slowly and crime or suite crime, and if people who are poor or who are
take care in raising their offspring. K-oriented people are more rich commit a disproportionate number of such acts, then
cooperative and sensitive to others, while r-oriented people by implication, members of these groups are biologically dif-
are more cunning and deceptive. People who commit violent ferent, or flawed.
crimes seem to exhibit r-selection traits, such as a premature Biological explanations for patterns in the crime rate are
birth, early and frequent sexual activity, neglect as a child, and problematic because they seem to neglect social and class
a short life expectancy. factors. However, biosocial theorists counter that their views
This theory is based on the idea that natural selection are not deterministic, that some people are born criminals
favours different sets of adaptations. In environments with but some people carry the potential to be violent or anti-
excess resources, rapid growth and early reproduction are social, and that environmental conditions can trigger their
favoured at the expense of competitive ability. In an environ- antisocial responses.120 This theory would explain why some
ment with limited resources, competitive ability is important, otherwise law-abiding citizens engage in a single antiso-
even if the trade-off is slower growth and delayed reproduc- cial act and why some people with long criminal careers
tion. Populations subjected to the first set of forces of boom often engage in conventional behaviour. It also explains
and bust are called opportunistic populations, in contrast to the why geographic and temporal patterns occur in the crime
more stable equilibrium populations that occur in more constant rate: People who are predisposed to crime may simply have
environments. more opportunities to commit illegal acts in the summer
in Vancouver and Toronto than in the winter in Gander,
Cheater Theory Cheater theory suggests that a subpopulation
Newfoundland.
of men has evolved with genes that incline them toward
According to the biosocial view, behaviour is a product
extremely low parental involvement. Sexually aggressive, they
of interacting biological and environmental events.121 For
use cunning to secure sexual conquests with as many females
example, girls who reach physical maturity at an early age
as possible. Because females would not willingly choose them
are more likely to engage in delinquency, suggesting a rela-
as mates, these men use stealth, mimicking the behaviour of
tionship between biological traits (hormonal activity) and
more stable males. Their deceptive tactics spill over into areas
crime. However, the association may also have an envi-
where their talent for irresponsible, opportunistic behaviour
ronmental basis. Physically mature girls are the ones most
supports their antisocial activities. Deception in reproductive
likely to have prolonged contact with a crime-prone group:
strategies is thus linked to a deceitful lifestyle.
older adolescent boys.122 Here, the combination of biological
Cheater males may be especially attractive to younger, less
change, social relationships, and routine opportunities pre-
intelligent women, who begin having children at an early age.
dicts crime rates.
State-sponsored social assistance removes the need for potential
The most significant criticism of biosocial theory has
mates to have the resources needed to be stable providers. The
been the lack of adequate empirical testing, for example in
fleeting courtships that ensue produce children with low IQs,
using small, nonrepresentative samples, such as adjudicated
aggressive personalities, and little chance of proper socialization
offenders in clinical treatment settings. Methodological prob-
in father-absent families. Over time, their offspring will supply
lems make it impossible to determine whether findings apply
an ever-expanding supply of cheaters who are both antisocial
only to offenders who have been convicted of crimes and
and sexually aggressive. Needless to say, such evolutionary
placed in treatment or to the population of criminals as a
theories are controversial because they appear to suggest that
whole.123
traditional sex roles are biological rather than cultural.

Connections
Connections
Biosocial theory also focuses on the violent crimes of the
Researchers studying the relationship between evolu- lower classes while ignoring the white-collar crimes of
tionary factors and crime propose that social organiza- the upper and middle classes. That is, although it seems
tions interact with biological traits to influence criminal logical to believe that aggression and violence have a bio-
strategies. See the sections on latent trait theories in logical basis, it is more difficult to explain how insider
Chapter 8 for more discussion on the integration of bio- trading and fraud are biologically related. For a discus-
logical and environmental factors. sion on the causes of white-collar crime, see Chapter 12.

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 Psychological Trait Theories Concept Summary 6.2
Psychological Trait Theories
The second branch of trait theory focuses on the mental
aspects of crime, including the associations among intelli- Psychodynamic
gence, personality, learning, and criminal behaviour. • Development of the unconscious personality in childhood
In The English Convict, Charles Goring (1870–1919) used affects lifetime behaviour.
his biometric method to study 3,000 English convicts. He • Criminals have weak egos and damaged personalities.
found little difference in the physical characteristics of crimi- • This explains the onset of crime and why crime and drug
nals and noncriminals but uncovered a relationship between abuse cut across class lines.
• Research focuses on mental disorders, personality
crime and a condition he called defective intelligence. Goring development, and unconscious drives.
believed that criminal behaviour was inherited and could be
controlled by regulating the reproduction of families exhib- Behavioural
iting such traits as “feeblemindedness, epilepsy, insanity, and • People commit crime when they model their behaviour after
defective social instinct.”124 others being rewarded.
Gabriel Tarde (1843–1904), the forerunner of modern- • Behaviour is reinforced by rewards and extinguished by
day learning theorists, took a different psychological punishment.
approach.125 Unlike Goring, who viewed criminals as having • This explains the role of significant others in the crime process.
• This shows how the media can influence crime and violence.
a mental impairment, Tarde believed that people learn from • Research focuses on the effects of media on violence and
one another through a process of imitation. First, individuals the effects of child abuse.
in close and intimate contact tend to imitate one another’s
behaviour. Second, imitation spreads from the top down; con- Cognitive
sequently, youngsters imitate older individuals. Crime among • The major premise is that individual reasoning processes
young, poor, or low-status people is really their effort to imi- influence behaviour.
tate wealthy, older, high-status people. Third, new acts and • Reasoning is influenced by the way people perceive their
behaviours are superimposed on old ones and either reinforce environment.
• Criminal behaviour changes over time as people mature.
or discourage previous customs. For example, drug-taking • The development of reasoning powers may explain the
may be a popular fad among university students who previ- aging-out process.
ously used alcohol. However, students may find that a com- • The research focuses of the theory are perception and cognition.
bination of the two provides even greater stimulation, causing
the use of both drugs and alcohol to increase. Tarde’s ideas
are similar to those of modern followers of social learning
theory, who believe that criminality can be influenced by Connections
both interpersonal and observed behaviour, such as watching Chapter 1 discusses how some of the early founders
a movie or television. of psychiatry tried to develop an understanding of the
The next section is organized along the lines of the pre- criminal mind. Later theories suggested that mental ill-
dominant psychological views most closely associated with ness and insanity were inherited and that deviants were
the causes of criminal behaviour. A summary is outlined in inherently mentally damaged by reason of their inferior
Concept Summary 6.2 at the end of the section. Some psy- genetic makeup.
chologists view antisocial behaviour from a psychoanalytic
perspective, focusing on early childhood experiences and
their effects on personality. In contrast, behaviourists stress preconscious mind contains elements of experiences that are
social learning and modelling as the keys to criminality. Cog- out of awareness but can be brought back to consciousness
nitive theorists analyze human thought and perception and at any time—memories, experiences. The unconscious part
how these affect behaviour. Other psychologists are con- of the mind contains biological desires and urges that cannot
cerned about the influence of personality on behaviour. readily be experienced as thoughts. Part of the unconscious

Psychodynamic Perspective
social learning theory Behaviour is modelled on direct
Psychodynamic psychology was originated by Sigmund and indirect observation of rewards and punishments.
Freud (1856–1939). According to psychodynamic theory,
also called psychoanalytic theory, the human mind performs psychodynamic (psychoanalytic) theory Personality
three separate functions. The conscious mind is the aspect is controlled by unconscious mental processes developed
that people are most aware of—everyday thoughts. The early in childhood.

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 contains feelings about sex and hostility, which people keep People who have paranoid schizophrenia also suffer com-
below the surface of consciousness through a process called plex delusions involving wrongdoing or persecution and think
repression. everyone is out to get them. In a study of 50 stalkers, almost
Psychodynamic theory also says that human personality three quarters of those who stalked strangers and acquain-
has a three-part structure. The id represents unconscious bio- tances had a psychotic illness, while only 20 percent of those
logical drives for sex and food and follows the pleasure prin- who were former sexual intimates were psychotic. However,
ciple, requiring instant gratification without concern for the former intimates were almost 80 percent likely to be violent.
rights of others. The ego develops early in life, when a child Although no relationship was found between serious violence
learns that wants cannot be instantly gratified. The ego com- and psychosis, the strong relationship between violence and
pensates for the demands of the id by helping the individual former sexual intimacy is troubling.126 This research was in
guide their actions to remain within the boundaries of social its infancy in 2000 and added scholarly credence to a dis-
convention. The superego develops as a result of incorpo- cussion begun only in the 1990s around stalking and sexual
rating within the personality the moral standards and values harassment.
of parents, community, and significant others. In 1994, Ralph Tortorici, brandishing a high-calibre rifle,
walked into a classroom at the State University of New York
Human Development The most basic human drive present and held the class hostage. He was clearly delusional and psy-
at birth is eros, the instinct to preserve and create life, which is chotic and should have been treated in a hospital, but he was
expressed in the seeking of pleasure through the body. During committed to jail, where he eventually committed suicide.
the first year, a child attains pleasure by sucking and biting: Today, prisons are still criticized for not treating the mentally
the oral stage. During the second and third years, the focus ill, just incarcerating them.
of sexual attention is on the elimination of bodily wastes: Canadian medical research shows that schizophrenia is
the anal stage. The phallic stage occurs during ages 4 and also related to urban living: birth cohort studies indicate that
5, as children focus their attention on their genitals. Males the incidence of schizophrenia is twice as high in cities than
begin to have sexual feelings for their mothers (the Oedipus anywhere else, and the incidence increases with city size.
complex) and girls for their fathers (the Electra complex). The Fully 35 percent of schizophrenia cases would be prevented
latency stage begins at age 6, and during this period, feelings if people were not brought up in cities, compared with 5 per-
of sexuality are repressed until the genital stage begins at cent of cases that would be prevented if people did not have
puberty, which marks the beginning of adult sexuality. parents or siblings who had the illness.127
If conflicts are encountered during any of these psycho- See the Profile of a Crime box for an example of automa-
sexual stages of development, a person can become fixated. tism and the Key Court Case box later in this chapter for an
For example, an infant who does not receive enough oral interesting case of criminality and paranoid schizophrenia.
gratification during the first year of life is likely as an adult to
engage in smoking, drinking, or drug abuse, or to be clinging Psychosis and Crime Freud did not theorize much about
and dependent in personal relationships. Thus, from this per- crime, but he linked criminality to the unconscious sense
spective, the root of adult behaviour problems can be traced to of guilt a person retains because of an Oedipus or Electra
psychological problems developed in the earliest years of life. complex. He believed that in criminals, especially youthful
ones, the guilt a criminal feels is not the result of a crime
Psychodynamics of Abnormal Behaviour According to the but rather its motive, as if the person is relieved to be able to
psychodynamic perspective, people who experience feelings of fasten the unconscious sense of guilt onto something real and
mental anguish and are afraid they are losing control of their immediate.128
personalities have a neurosis. Those people who have lost Psychologists have used psychoanalytic concepts to link
total control suffer from psychosis, with behaviour marked by criminality to abnormal mental states produced by early
bizarre episodes, hallucinations, and inappropriate responses. childhood trauma. Alfred Adler (1870–1937), the founder of
The most serious types of antisocial behaviour, such as murder,
might be motivated by psychosis, while neurotic feelings would
be responsible for less serious delinquent acts and status
offences, such as petty theft and truancy. repression A process in which the unconscious mind
Psychosis takes many forms. The most common is schizo- contains feelings about sex and hostility.
phrenia, in which persons exhibit illogical and incoherent
thought processes and a lack of insight into their behaviour. neurosis When people have mental anguish and are
They may experience delusions and hallucinate, for example, afraid of losing control of their personalities.
seeing themselves as agents of the devil, avenging angels, or psychosis When people are dominated by their id, have
the recipients of messages from animals and plants. David hallucinations, and act inappropriately.
Berkowitz, the Son of Sam, exhibited these traits when he
claimed that his killing spree began when he received mes- schizophrenia Psychosis with bizarre behaviour,
sages from a neighbour’s dog. hallucinations, and inappropriate emotional responses.

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 someone; I’ve just killed two people; my God, he presented a defence of automatism. The
I’ve just killed two people with my hands; my testimony of five expert witnesses called by the
God, I’ve just killed two people. My hands; defence was not contradicted by the Crown.
Profile I just killed two people. I killed them; I just This evidence was that Parks was sleep-
killed two people; I’ve just killed my mother- walking, and that sleepwalking is not a neu-
of a Crime and father-in-law. I stabbed and beat them to rological, psychiatric, or other illness. At issue
death. It’s all my fault.” was whether sleepwalking should be classified
He claimed to have been sleepwalking as noninsane automatism, which would result
during the crime. He had always been a deep in an acquittal, or as a “disease of the mind”
sleeper and had a great deal of trouble waking (insane automatism), leading to a special ver-
up. Several members of his family also suf- dict of not guilty by reason of insanity. The trial

Kenneth Parks, fered from sleep problems, such as sleep-

walking, nightmares, and sleeptalking. The
judge presented only the defence of automa-
tism to the jury, who acquitted Parks of first-

Sleepwalker year before the incident had been particu-

larly stressful. He had worked 10 hours a day
degree murder and then of second-degree
murder. The judge then acquitted Parks of
as a project coordinator for Revere ­Electric. attempted murder. Two subsequent appeals
In the early morning hours of May 24, 1987, In addition, he had lost money betting on upheld his acquittals.
23-year-old Kenneth Parks drove 23 kilo- horse racing. When he stole $30,000 from
metres and attacked his parents-in-law with his employer, he was dismissed and charged. Critical Thinking
a kitchen knife as they lay sleeping. His His personal life suffered. His ­parents-in-law, This case posed a special challenge to the crim-
mother-in-law was killed and his father-in- with whom he got on well, were aware of the inal justice system, suggesting that a person
law seriously injured. Immediately after the situation and supported him. could be responsible for their actions but also
incident, Parks went to the police station Kenneth Parks was charged with the first- be excused. Are there other ways we have seen
and told the police, “I just killed someone degree murder of Barbara Ann Woods and the that mitigating circumstances beyond the per-
with my bare hands. Oh, my God, I just killed attempted murder of Denis Woods. At the trial, son’s control could make the difference?

individual psychology, used the term inferiority complex to suffer from weak or damaged egos that make them unable
describe the sense of inadequacy held by people who com- to cope with conventional society. Weak egos are associated
pensate by controlling others. Erik Erikson (1902–1984) with immaturity, poor social skills, excessive dependence on
identified the identity crisis—a period of serious personal others, and being easily led by antisocial peers into crime and
questioning that young people undertake in an effort to drug abuse. Some offenders have undeveloped superegos and
determine their own values and sense of direction. Ado- so commit crimes because they have difficulty understanding
lescents undergoing an identity crisis may exhibit out-of- their actions are wrong.131
control behaviour and experiment with drugs and other forms Personality conflict or underdevelopment may result in
of deviance. neurotic or psychotic behaviour patterns.132 Offenders clas-
The psychoanalyst most closely associated with crimi- sified as neurotics have an unconscious desire to be pun-
nality is August Aichorn.129 After examining many delin- ished for prior sins, and they may violate the law to gain
quents, he concluded that societal stress could not result in attention or punishment from their parents. Imagine the
a life of crime unless a predisposition existed that prepared politician, for example, who repeatedly texts explicit sexual
youths psychologically for antisocial acts. This mental state, pictures to female acquaintances—is that a desire for public
called latent delinquency, is found in young people whose humiliation?
personality requires them (1) to seek immediate gratification
(to act impulsively), (2) to consider satisfying their personal
needs as more important than relating to others, and (3) to
satisfy instinctive urges without consideration of right and inferiority complex The sense of inadequacy held by
wrong (that is, they lack guilt). people who compensate by controlling others.
Psychodynamics of Criminal Behaviour Since this
identity crisis A psychological state in which youths
early work, psychoanalysts have viewed the criminal as
face inner turmoil and uncertainty about life roles.
an id-dominated person who suffers from the inability to
control impulsive, pleasure-seeking drives.130 Perhaps because latent delinquency The idea that a mental
criminals suffered unhappy experiences in childhood or had predisposition prepares youths psychologically for
families that could not provide proper love and care, they antisocial acts.

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 Criminality in its most extreme form is viewed as a form of acceptable behaviour, especially for heroes who never face
psychosis that prevents offenders from appreciating the feel- legal consequences for their actions. For example, David
ings of victims or controlling their own impulsive needs for Phillips found that the homicide rate increases significantly
gratification. immediately after a heavyweight championship prizefight,
Crime is a manifestation of feelings of oppression com- which models the acceptability of violent behaviour.134 And
bined with an inability to develop the proper defence mech- that research was years ahead of violent video games, which
anisms to keep those feelings under control. Criminality some believe serve as a model for violent behaviour for
actually allows troubled people to survive by producing posi- children.
tive psychic results: it helps them feel free and independent, What triggers violent acts? One idea is that a direct,
offers them excitement and the chance to use their skills and pain-producing physical assault will usually trigger a violent
imagination, provides them with positive gain, and allows response. Yet the relationship between painful attacks and
them to blame others for their predicament and rationalize aggressive responses is inconsistent. Whether people coun-
their sense of failure (“If I hadn’t gotten into trouble, I could terattack in the face of physical attack depends in part on their
have been a success”). fighting skill but also on their perception of their attacker’s
The psychodynamic model of the criminal offender strength (see Chapter 4 on victimology).
depicts an aggressive, frustrated person dominated by events Verbal taunts and insults are also linked to aggressive
that occurred early in childhood. responses: people who are predisposed to aggression by their
learning experiences are likely to view insults from others as
a challenge to their social status. Another violence-triggering
Behavioural Theories mechanism is a perceived reduction in life conditions, which
can trigger riots and demonstrations in poverty-stricken
Behaviour theory maintains that human actions are devel- areas. Discontent produces aggression in members of lower-
oped through learning experiences. Instead of focusing on class groups who have been falsely led to believe they can
unconscious personality traits or biological predispositions, succeed. This relationship is complex. Some individuals, no
behaviour theorists are concerned with how people alter matter how deprived they are, will not resort to violence.
their behaviour according to the reactions they receive from People’s different perceptions of their position have differing
others—rewards and punishments.
Social learning theorists, such as Albert Bandura, say that
people are not born with the ability to act violently; rather,
they learn through experiences to be aggressive.133 These
experiences include personally observing others acting aggres-
sively to achieve some goal or watching stories in the media
that show people being rewarded for their violent acts. People
learn to act aggressively when, as children, they model their

Godong/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

behaviour after the violent acts of adults. The boy who sees
his father repeatedly strike his mother is more likely to grow
up to become a battering parent and husband.
Although mental or physical traits may predispose a
person to violence, the activation of a person’s violent tenden-
cies is achieved by environmental factors. The specific forms
that aggressive behaviour takes, its frequency, the situations
in which it is displayed, and the specific targets selected for
attack are largely determined by social learning. An adolescent
who spends a weekend in jail for drunk driving may learn a
Does playing video games cause kids to act aggressively? Although
lesson about not drinking and driving; another may find it an laboratory observations suggest a media–violence link, there is less
exciting experience to brag about to his friends. evidence that such an association occurs in the real world. Millions of
This process of learning is called behaviour modelling. kids play video games every day, yet few become violent criminals. It
Studies of family life show that children who use aggres- is possible, however, that playing violent video games can reinforce a
predisposition to aggressive behaviour.
sive tactics tend to have parents who use similar behaviours
when dealing with others. A second influence on the social
learning of violence is provided by environmental experi-
ences. People who live in areas where violence is a daily
behaviour theory Human actions are developed
occurrence are more likely to act violently than those who
through a learning experiences over the lifetime.
dwell in low-crime areas where conventional behaviour is
the norm. A third source of behaviour modelling is mass behaviour modelling Learning aggression from family
media, which commonly depict violence graphically and as members, environmental experiences, and mass media.

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 effects on their aggressive responses. To put this in historical 2. Aggressive skills learned from observing others, either
context, consider the following Key Court Case on women personally or through the media
and insanity. 3. Expected outcomes, or the belief that aggression will
In summary, social learning theorists have said that the be rewarded, either in money, reduced tension or
following four factors help produce violence and aggression: anger, enhanced self-esteem, or the praise of others
4. Consistency of behaviour with values, or the belief
1. An event that heightens arousal, such as being
that aggression is justified and appropriate, given the
provoked through physical assault or verbal
circumstances at hand
abuse

slim, but they could only ever be released if nudity and then transferred to the psychiatric
they demonstrated recovery. institution in 1935. This arrest occurred at
The women were assumed to be suf- a time when the Doukhobors were rebelling
Key Court fering from biological and inherited ten- against compulsory schooling, military ser-
dencies that defined their criminality. Most vice, and government registration. She was
Case of the women they studied came from the eventually released through the intervention
working class and ethnic minorities. Many of her husband. Others were not so lucky.
had children and few had committed vio- Felicity Austen, a clairvoyant admitted in
lent offences. In comparison, men who were 1896, died after being injected with ether.
institutionalized tended to be childless and Bertha Tailing, an Indigenous woman from
had been incarcerated for crimes of vio- northern British Columbia, was sexually

Women and lence. The women were more likely to be

diagnosed with mood disorders, while the
sterilized in 1935 for infanticide. Edith Olm-
stead, incarcerated for vagrancy, was given

Insanity in men were more likely to be diagnosed with

paranoid schizophrenia.
nitrous oxide, insulin, electroshock therapy,
Largactil, and Ritalin. Adele Ross was admin-
Canadian Society Furthermore, even though the women
were less likely than men to have a history
istered insulin daily for two months to induce
comas that lasted for hours.
of prior incarceration, they were institution- It is obvious that the psychiatric profes-
“In Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood chronicles alized for terms as long as men’s, were four sion benefited from the incarceration of the
the life of Grace Marks, who, at sixteen times more likely to be administered drugs, criminally insane and perpetuated its power
years of age was accused along with James and were twice as likely to be given electro- through decisions over whether or not to
McDermott of murdering her employer and shock therapy. release the inmates. Many of these women
his lover. They were convicted in 1843, Who were these women? had committed crimes for which institution-
James was hung and Grace was confined Olga Braun, a Doukhobor woman, was alization was not the best solution, because
to the Kingston Penitentiary. For a brief time convicted of negligence in the death of her poverty, abuse, and lack of education were
she also received treatment at the Toronto son, who was killed by a train in 1941. She the underlying problems.
Asylum.” spent 34 years in hospital and was eventually
So begins an essay by Dorothy Chunn lobotomized. Jenny Albright, who killed her Critical Thinking
and Robert Menzies on the institutionaliza- daughter in the course of a psychotic epi- How was women’s criminality seen through
tion of criminally insane women in British sode in 1902, effectively served a life sen- the lens of a patriarchal society, in which
Columbia’s mental hospitals between 1888 tence in hospital. Irma Wilinsky was arrested prostitution and public drunkenness were
and 1973. They looked at the first 38 women on vagrancy in 1946, and authorities wrote deviant (women’s) crimes? And if their
to be transferred from judicial to psychiatric that she would likely remain institutionalized crimes were perceived as an indication of
settings and how gender norms informed the forever. their moral inferiority, caused by biological
ways in which these women were treated. Pauline Boone, an Indigenous woman weaknesses, how did this justify invasive
Confined for offences ranging from alco- from Prince Rupert, British Columbia, was treatment? How was it an age of moral con-
holism to vagrancy, from killing their babies committed for attempted suicide in the trol in the guise of scientific experimentation?
to killing their husbands, they were subject 1940s. She escaped but was brought back,
to abuse, hard work, poor diet, and indeter- contracted tuberculosis on the wards, and Source: Based on Dorothy Chunn and Robert
minate incarceration. They were treated with died. Her death certificate recorded her as Menzies, “Out of Mind, Out of Law: The
an imbecile. Regulation of ‘Criminally Insane’ Women inside
electroshock therapy, induced insulin comas,
British Columbia’s Public Mental Hospitals,
and lobotomy. Separated from their homes Louise Hamelin, a Doukhobor woman 1888–1973,” Canadian Journal of Women and
and families, their hopes of recovery were and mother of five, was arrested for public the Law 10, 2 (1998): 306–337.

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 Cognitive Theory the reactions of family and friends, and those at the highest
stages believe in a duty to others and universal rights.138
Another area of psychology that has received increasing recog- Krebs and Denton of Simon Fraser University advance
nition has been the cognitive school, which focuses on how Kohlberg’s model with a new approach that is more attentive
people perceive the world and solve problems. Pioneers of this to how people make moral judgments to induce themselves
school were Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920), Edward Titchener and others to uphold systems of cooperative exchange that
(1867–1927), and William James (1842–1920). Today, the help them achieve their goals and advance their interests.139
cognitive school has several subareas. For example, the moral Moral development theory suggests that people who obey
development branch is concerned with how people morally the law simply to avoid punishment or who have outlooks
reason about the world, while the information-processing mainly characterized by self-interest are more likely to commit
branch focuses on how people process, store, encode, retrieve, crimes than are those who view the law as benefiting all of
and manipulate ideas to make decisions and solve problems. society and who sympathize with the rights of others. Higher
Moral and Intellectual Development Theory This branch stages of moral reasoning are associated with conventional
of cognitive psychology is identified with Jean Piaget (1896– behaviours, such as honesty, generosity, and nonviolence.
1980), who hypothesized that people’s reasoning processes Information Processing When cognitive theorists explain
develop in an orderly fashion, beginning from birth.135 At antisocial behaviour, they do so in terms of perception and
first, during the sensorimotor stage, children respond to the analysis of data. When people make decisions, they engage
environment in a simple manner, seeking interesting objects in a sequence of thought processes. They first encode
and developing their reflexes. By the fourth and final stage, information so that it can be interpreted, then search for a
the formal operations stage, they have developed into mature proper response, and then decide on the most appropriate
adults who can use logic and abstract thought. action; finally, they act on their decision.140
Lawrence Kohlberg applied the concept of moral develop- Accordingly, violence-prone people may be using infor-
ment to criminology.136 He found that people travel through mation incorrectly when they make decisions, relying on
stages of moral development, during which decisions on mental scripts learned in childhood that tell them how to
issues of right and wrong are based on different reasoning, interpret events, what to expect, how they should react, and
with serious offenders’ moral orientation differing from that the likely outcome of the interaction.141 Hostile children may
of law-abiding citizens. The following are Kohlberg’s stages of have learned improper scripts by observing how others react
development: to events and by acting out their own parents’ aggressive and
Stage 1: Obedience to power and avoidance of punishment inappropriate behaviour. Violence becomes a stable behaviour
Stage 2: Taking responsibility for self, meeting own needs, because the scripts that emphasize aggressive responses are
leaving to others responsibility for them repeatedly rehearsed as the child matures.
The deterrent effect of informal sanctions and feelings of
Stage 3: Having good motives and concern for others,
shame discussed in Chapter 5 may hinge on the level of a
putting self in the other person’s shoes
person’s moral development. The lower the person’s state of
Stage 4: Maintaining the rules of society and serving the moral development, the less impact informal sanctions may
welfare of the group or society have. If moral development increases, informal sanctions may
Stage 5: Recognizing individual rights within a society with be better able to control crime.
agreed-on rules—a social contract Violence-prone kids see people as more aggressive than
Stage 6: Assuming principles that apply to all humankind— they actually are. As these children mature, they use fewer
justice, equality, and respect for human life cues than do most people to process information. Some use
violence in a calculating fashion as a means of getting what
As we can see, a person is classified at different levels of
they want; others react in an overly volatile fashion to the
increasing abstraction, extending personal rights to others
slightest provocation. Aggressors are more likely to be vigi-
and then to all society. Kohlberg found criminals to be sig-
lant, on edge, or suspicious. When they attack victims, they
nificantly lower in their moral judgment development than
may believe they are defending themselves, even though they
were noncriminals of the same social background.137 Since
are misreading the situation.142
Kohlberg’s pioneering efforts, researchers have continued to
Recent research on cognitive processes in sexual assault
show that criminal offenders are more likely to be classified at
has found that rapists lack empathy toward their victims. This
the lowest levels of moral reasoning (Stages 1 and 2), whereas
works as a refusal to recognize the harm they are inflicting.143
noncriminals are more likely to have reached a higher stage
of moral development.
Research indicates that the decision not to commit crimes
may be influenced by a person’s stage of moral development. cognitive school (perspective) Studies our perceptions
People at the lowest levels report that they are deterred from of reality and the mental processes used to understand the
crime by their fear of sanctions, those in the middle consider world.

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 Sexually violent males believe that when their dates say no toward others.151 Prisoners who had prior histories of hospi-
to sexual advances, the women are really playing games and talization for mental disorders were less likely to be rearrested
actually want to be taken forcefully.144 This type of attitude is than were those who had never been hospitalized.152 A 2001
self-justifying, of course. study found that about 3 percent of violent offences could be
Treatment that is based on information processing attributed to individuals who had a disorder not related to
acknowledges that people are more likely to respond aggres- substance use.153 Raymond Corrado at Simon Fraser Univer-
sively to a provocation when thoughts intensify the insult or sity found that 65 percent of offenders suffered from antisocial
otherwise stir feelings of anger. Cognitive therapists teach personality disorder, but only 5 percent from schizophrenia.154
explosive people to control their aggressive impulses by This research gives some support to the proposition that
viewing social provocations as problems demanding a solu- mental illness can be an underlying cause of violent crime, as
tion rather than as insults requiring retaliation. Problem- certain symptoms of mental illness are connected to violence.
solving skills may include listening, following instructions, This includes the feeling that others are wishing the person
joining in, and using self-control. Treatment interventions that harm, that one’s mind is dominated by forces beyond one’s
are based on learning social skills are relatively new, but this control, and that thoughts are being put into one’s head by
approach can have long-term benefits for reducing criminal others.155 People with other psychological disorders, such as
behaviour. substance abuse, psychopathy, and neuroticism, are most at
risk for chronic criminality.156
People with mental illnesses are more likely to reside in
deteriorated, high-crime neighbourhoods that are linked to
Mental Illness and Crime violence.157 Their living in a stress-filled urban environment
Each school of psychology has a unique approach to the con- may produce both symptoms of mental illness and crime.158
cept of mental abnormality. Psychoanalysts view mental ill- A lack of resources may inhibit people who are mentally ill
ness as a retreat from unbearable stress and conflict; cognitive from obtaining the treatment that would result in reduced
psychologists link it to thought disorders and overstimulation; criminality. For example, in one study, treatment significantly
behavioural theorists might look to environmental influences, reduced the probability of arrest (12% versus 45%).159
such as early family experiences and social rejection. Regard- As a case in point, consider the case of Andre Dallaire in
less of the cause of mental illness, is there a link between it Exhibit 6.2.
and crime?
A recent survey of more than 6,000 adults in 14 coun-
tries found that mental ailments affect more than 10 percent Personality and Crime
of people in more than half the countries surveyed. Treat-
ment rates ranged from 64 percent in developed countries Personality can be defined as the reasonably stable patterns
to only 15 percent in developing countries. In Canada, 20 of behaviour, thoughts, and emotions that distinguish one
percent of children experience emotional problems requiring person from another. The way people behave is a function of
treatment, such as anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress how their personality enables them to interpret life events and
disorders. Recent research suggests that more than 30 percent make appropriate behavioural choices. The issue of whether
of university students have anxiety and/or depression. Many crime can be linked to personality has always generated sig-
of these people are easily treated. If severe mental illness is nificant debate.160 In their early work, the Gluecks identified
left untreated, the criminal justice system often becomes the the following personality traits as characterizing antisocial
substitute for the health system.145 youth:161
Early research found that many offenders who engage in self-assertiveness sadism
serious violent crimes suffer from some sort of mental distur-
defiance lack of concern for others
bance. A study of juvenile murderers found that many homi-
extroversion feelings of being unappreciated
cidal youths were hostile, explosive, anxious, and depressed.146
Likewise, in a study of 45 males accused of murder, 75 per- ambivalence distrust of authority
cent could be classified as having some form of mental ill- impulsiveness poor personal skills
ness, including schizophrenia.147 Abusive mothers have been narcissism mental instability
found to have mood and personality disorders and a history suspicion hostility
of psychiatric diagnoses.148 Substance abuse is significantly destructiveness resentment
higher among people with mental illnesses than among the
general population.149 Furthermore, people with diagnosed
mental illnesses appear in arrest and court statistics at a rate
disproportionate to their presence in the population.150
However, people with mental illnesses may be more likely personality Patterns of behaviour, thoughts, and
to withdraw or harm themselves than to act aggressively emotions that distinguish one person from another.

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 Exhibit 6.2

The Case of André Dallaire

The tale of André Dallaire’s dramatic encounter with former prime job two days after the narrow separatist loss. In his statements to
minister Jean Chrétien began early one November morning in police, Dallaire described Jean Chrétien as a traitor to Quebeckers
1995. His wife, Aline Chrétien, found a knife-wielding intruder in and remarked that he would have acquired hero status for slaying
an upstairs hallway at 24 Sussex Drive. After retreating to the bed- the prime minister. Following a preliminary psychiatric evaluation,
room, she locked the door, and her husband armed himself with Dallaire was deemed fit to stand trial. However, acknowledging the
a soapstone carving until RCMP officers arrested the trespasser. defendant’s history of mental health issues, a judge released Dal-
The security breach shocked and embarrassed the Mounties. laire into the care of the Royal Ottawa Hospital while awaiting trial.
Dallaire had roamed the government property and its perimeter He was transferred to a group home when his condition stabilized.
for more than three hours, undetected by security. Although he At Dallaire’s trial, a psychiatrist testified that Dallaire had been
likened himself to James Bond, this 34-year-old Montreal con- in a paranoid schizophrenic state and that his obsession with the
venience store clerk’s not-so-stealthy tactics included tripping referendum was delusional. Furthermore, the judge was assured
alarms, waving at surveillance cameras, and hurling rocks at win- that medication had absolved any threat Dallaire posed. The defen-
dows. Dallaire only paused in his mission when Aline Chrétien dant expressed remorse in court and apologized to the Chrétien
locked him out of the couple’s bedroom. He then laid his knife on family. Although the Crown did not contest Dallaire’s diagnosis,
the floor and sat down to wait for the RCMP. the prosecution did argue that a conviction for attempted murder
Dallaire was charged with break and enter, being unlawfully in was warranted, because the accused had purchased a knife and
a dwelling, possession of a weapon, and attempted murder. The explored the crime scene in advance. The judge agreed with the
motives of this would-be assassin were initially thought to be polit- Crown, staying the charge of being unlawfully in a dwelling house
ical. A sovereignty referendum had been held in Quebec just a week and finding Dallaire guilty but not criminally responsible for his
before the incident, and Dallaire had vanished from his home and actions on the remaining three counts.

Several other research efforts have attempted to identify Other personality deficits in criminals include hyperac-
criminal personality traits, such as impulsivity, hostility, and tivity, impulsiveness, short attention spans, conduct disorders,
aggressiveness.162 163 Hans Eysenck identified two personality anxiety disorders, and depression. These traits make crimi-
traits associated with antisocial behaviour: extroversion– nals prone to problems ranging from psychopathology and
introversion and stability–instability. Extreme introverts are drug abuse to sexual promiscuity and violence.166 As a group,
overaroused and avoid sources of stimulation, while extreme people who share these traits have a character defect referred
extroverts are unaroused and seek sensation. Introverts are to as the antisocial, sociopathic, or psychopathic personality.
slow to learn and be conditioned; extroverts are impulsive and Although these terms are often used interchangeably, socio-
lack the ability to examine their own motives and behaviours. paths are a product of a destructive home environment, while
Those with neuroticism are anxious, tense, and emotionally psychopaths are a product of a defect within themselves.167
unstable.164 People who are both neurotic and extroverted lack
The Antisocial Personality Some, but not all, serious
self-insight, are impulsive and emotionally unstable, and are
violent offenders have a disturbed character structure
unlikely to make reasoned judgments of life events. Whereas
commonly referred to psychopathy, sociopathy, or antisocial
extrovert neurotics may act self-destructively—for example,
personality. These all overlap, and sometimes the terms are
by abusing drugs—more stable people will be able to reason
used interchangeably. Psychopaths have a low level of guilt
that such behaviour is ultimately harmful and life-threatening.
and anxiety and persistently violate the rights of others. They
As well, antisocial behaviours seem to be closely related
may exhibit superficial charm and above-average intelligence,
to a lack of agreeableness and conscientiousness. Agreeable-
but they are incapable of forming enduring relationships with
ness has to do with the ability to use appropriate interper-
others. The Glueck research is representative of the view that
sonal strategies when dealing with others; conscientiousness
has to do with a person’s ability to control impulses, carry
out plans and tasks, and follow an internal moral code. Per-
sonality researchers now link antisocial behaviours to such psychopathy A mental disorder, used interchangeably
traits as hostility, self-centredness, spitefulness, jealousy, and with sociopathy, antisocial personality disorder.
indifference to others. Law violators tend to lack ambition, sociopathy A mental disorder with lack of affection,
motivation, and perseverance, have difficulty controlling their inappropriate responses, and inability to learn.
impulses, and hold unconventional values and beliefs. For
example, people low in conscientiousness will have poor edu- antisocial personality The inability to learn from
cational and occupational histories, which limits their oppor- punishment, and violent reactions to nonthreatening
tunity for advancement and makes them crime-prone.165 events.

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 antisocial people maintain a distinct set of personal traits that Research on Personality Because a deviant personality
make them particularly sensitive to environmental stimuli (see has been related to crime and delinquency, many attempts
Chapter 8’s section on life-course theories). have been made to determine whether measures of personality
From an early age, the psychopath’s home life is filled can predict antisocial behaviour. Two types of standardized
with frustrations, bitterness, and quarrelling. Consequently, personality tests have been constructed. The first are
throughout life they are unreliable, unstable, demanding, and projective techniques, such as the Rorschach inkblot test and
egocentric. Psychopaths have been described as grandiose, the Thematic Apperception Test, which require a subject to
egocentric, manipulative, and cold-hearted, with a inability react to an ambiguous picture or shape by describing what it
to feel remorse, empathy for others, or anxiety over their mis- represents or by telling a story about it. Clinicians interpret
deeds. They are also able to rationalize their behaviour so that the responses and categorize them according to established
it appears warranted, reasonable, and justified. behavioural patterns. Although these tests have not been not
Considering these personality traits, psychopaths are more used extensively, some early research found that delinquents
prone to a criminal life and continue long after other offenders and nondelinquents could be separated on the basis of their
burn out or age out of crime. As many as 30 percent of all personality profiles.168
inmates may be classifiable as psychopaths or sociopaths, but The second frequently used method of psychological
a more realistic figure is probably 10 percent; not all psycho- testing is the personality inventory, such as the Minnesota
paths become criminals, and conversely, most criminals are Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). 169 This test
not psychopaths. requires subjects to agree or disagree with groups of questions
Interestingly, as many as 10 percent of the general popula- in a self-administered survey. In one study, the MMPI was
tion may have psychopathic tendencies, but those tendencies given to a sample of boys and girls in Grade 9 in Minneapolis;
have been sublimated by their work and lifestyles. Estimates the scores had a significant relationship to later delinquent
are that 20 or 30 percent of corporate executives have psycho- involvement.170
pathic tendencies, and they are in a position to act out those The MMPI and other scales used to predict crime and
traits. This fact is disturbing when we see the amount of harm delinquency have proved inconclusive.171 The Hare Psychop-
corporations can cause compared to individuals, especially athy Checklist has been used for diagnosing psychopathy.
against the environment. Although some law violators may suffer from an abnormal per-
sonality structure, many more offenders have personalities that
What Causes Psychopathy? Psychologists think that
are indistinguishable from the norm. Efforts to improve the
a variety of factors contribute to the development of a
MMPI have resulted in a new scale with, it is hoped, improved
psychopathic or sociopathic personality: an unstable parent,
validity.172 Interestingly, one problem with attempting to treat
rejection, lack of love during childhood, and inconsistent
psychopaths is that they become better manipulators.
discipline. Early childhood experiences seem important.
Children who lack the opportunity to form an attachment
Are Some People Crime-Prone? Because the most commonly
to a mother figure in the first three years of life, who suffer
used scales have not been very successful in predicting
sudden separation from the mother figure, or who see changes
criminality, psychologists have turned to other measures,
in the mother figure are the children most likely to develop
including the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire
sociopathic personalities.
(MPQ), to assess such personality traits as control, aggression,
Psychopathy may also be related to personal traits, such
alienation, and well-being. Such scales can show how
as ineffective coping mechanisms for dealing with negative
personality is linked to delinquency. These measures are valid
stimuli. When facing the prospect of committing a criminal
across genders, races, and cultures.173 Adolescent offenders who
act, nonpsychopaths may become anxious and afraid, whereas
are crime-prone feel stressed and harassed and are adversarial,
psychopaths feel no such fear. These reduced anxiety levels
experiencing anger, anxiety, and irritability. Because they are
result in impulsive and inappropriate behaviour. Psychologists
both impulsive and aggressive, crime-prone people are quick
have attempted to treat patients diagnosed as psychopaths by
to take action against perceived threats.
giving them adrenaline, which increases their arousal levels.
In research on the link between stalking and domestic
Antisocial Personality and Chronic Offending The violence, researchers found that both stalkers and abusers
antisocial personality concept jibes with what is known about possessed traits such as emotional volatility, attachment
chronic offending. As many as 80 percent of chronic offenders dysfunction, substance abuse, and early childhood trauma.
exhibit sociopathic behaviour. Sociopathic chronic offenders Other research has found a high correspondence between
comprise about 4 percent of the male population and less than crime-prone individuals and risk-taking, low self-control, and
1 percent of the female population, yet they are responsible offending behaviour.174
for half of all the serious felony offences committed annually. Evidence that personality traits predict crime and vio-
Not all high-rate chronic offenders are sociopaths, but enough lence is important because it suggests that the root cause of
are to support a strong link between personality dysfunction crime is found in the forces that influence human develop-
and long-term criminal careers. Exhibit 6.3 details the case of ment at an early stage of life. For example, Donald Dutton,
a real-life sociopath, Richard Kuklinski. a psychologist at the University of British Columbia, looked

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 Exhibit 6.3

The Iceman: A True Sociopath?

Richard Kuklinski’s early life was punctuated by savage abuse from Was Kuklinski a true sociopath? The evidence is mixed. His
his father, who beat his wife and children so badly that one son, murderous behaviour seems to have been a product of his dis-
Florian, died. Fearing for their lives, the family covered up the crime. turbed, violent childhood. He exhibited a great deal of superficial
Richard, Grade 8 dropout, worked out his hatred of his father by charm and had above-average intelligence, positive traits that often
killing his neighbours’ pets, soon progressing to people. His first mask a disturbed personality that continually involves sociopaths in
victim, whom he killed when he was just 14, was a young boy who deviant behaviours such as violence, risk-taking, substance abuse,
had bullied him at school. Kuklinski dumped his victim’s body off a and impulsivity. Kuklinski was also a chronic offender, beginning
bridge in South Jersey after removing his teeth and chopping off his in childhood and continuing until he was caught and imprisoned
fingertips to prevent identification. Kuklinski routinely made trips to as an adult.
New York City looking for victims to beat and kill. As many as 80 percent of high-end chronic offenders exhibit
At 6-foot-5, 300 pounds, Kuklinski soon became known to sociopathic behavior patterns. Though comprising about 4 percent
organized crime families in New Jersey looking for a cold-blooded of the total male population and less than 1 percent of the total
enforcer. He soon became one of the top enforcers for the Gam- female population, they are responsible for half of all serious felony
bino family. He killed his victims with guns, ice picks, crossbows, offences committed annually. Not all high-rate chronic offenders
and chainsaws. In one case, he attached a bomb to a remote- are sociopaths, but enough are to support a strong link between
control toy car. Richard’s favorite weapon was cyanide solution personality dysfunction and a long-term criminal career.
administered from a nasal-spray bottle in the victim’s face. He Despite this evidence, one factor remains puzzling: Kuklinski
earned his nickname by his practice of freezing corpses to disguise had a long-lasting marriage and was a loving father; sociopaths
the time of death and confound authorities. are believed to be incapable of forming enduring relationships with
During his career, he killed between 100 and 200 people; even- others.
tually, he was convicted of 5 murders and given consecutive life
sentences. While in prison, he confessed to killing Peter Calabro, Critical Thinking
a New York City police detective, and got another 30 years tacked Should people diagnosed as sociopaths be separated from society
on to his life sentence. and treated even if they have not yet committed a crime? And
Never shy or remorseful, Kuklinski gave many interviews and should those who cannot control their behaviour be spared the
appeared in 2 HBO documentaries before he died in prison in death penalty?
2006 at age 70.
Kuklinski’s adult home life was not what you would expect from
Sources: Douglas Martin, “Richard Kuklinski, 70, a Killer of Many
a mass killer. He married in 1961, lived a suburban, relatively People and Many Ways, Dies,” New York Times, March 9, 2006,
affluent lifestyle, and had three kids. His wife called them “the all- www.nytimes.com/2006/03/09/nyregion/09kuklinski.html (accessed
American family.” And while he occasionally struck his wife, the May 2016); Philip Carlo, The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract
Iceman would never harm a child, including his own. Killer (New York: Macmillan, 2009)

at the psychological profile for uxoricide (wife murder). He Because social scientists had a captive group of subjects
found that most perpetrators had traumatic childhoods and in juvenile training schools and penal institutions, they
current personality disorders. The killing of the wife occurred measured the correlation between IQ and crime by testing
when she tried to abandon the relationship and was char- offenders. These inmates were used as a test group on which
acterized by extreme violence and disorganized behaviour numerous theories about intelligence were built; from this
by the perpetrator. Dutton suggests that because the area of arose the nature-versus-nurture controversy that continues
the brain involved in control of aggressive impulses matures to this day.
during early development, improper attachment during this
period may interfere with critical development. This results Nature Theory If intelligence is determined genetically,
in a specific rage response to abandonment and spousal low intelligence as determined by an IQ score will be linked
homicide.175 to criminal behaviour. When IQ tests were administered to
inmates of prisons and juvenile training schools in the first
decades of the 20th century, the nature position gained
support because a large proportion of the inmates scored low
Intelligence and Crime on the tests. Henry Goddard concluded during his studies in
Early criminologists maintained that delinquents and crimi- 1920 that many institutionalized persons were “feebleminded”
nals have below-average intelligence. It was thought that if and that at least half of all juvenile delinquents were “mental
authorities could determine which individuals had low IQs, defectives.”176
they might identify potential criminals before they could In 1926, Healy and Bronner tested groups of delinquent
commit socially harmful acts. boys in Chicago and Boston and found 37 percent were below

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 normal; they concluded that delinquents were 5 to 10 times became an important area of study once again when Hirschi
more likely to have mental deficiencies than were nondelin- and Hindelang re-examined existing data and concluded that
quent boys.177 Criminologists accepted the idea that individ- “the weight of evidence is that IQ is more important than
uals with low IQs were predisposed to delinquency because race and social class” for predicting criminal and delinquent
IQ tests were believed to measure the inborn genetic make-up involvement.181 Rejecting the notion that IQ tests are simply
of individuals. race- and class-biased, they concluded that major differences
exist between criminals and noncriminals within similar
Nurture Theory The rise of cultural explanations for
racial and socio-economic class categories. Low IQ increases
human behaviour in the 1930s led to the nurture school
the likelihood of criminal behaviour through its effect on
of intelligence. Here, intelligence was viewed as primarily
school performance because youths with low IQs do poorly
sociological. Nurture theorists discredited the notion that
in school, and school failure is highly related to delinquency
persons commit crimes because they have low IQs. 178
and later to adult criminality. In this way, the effect of IQ
Environmental stimulation from parents, schools, and peer
is moderated by social structures and processes, factors
groups could improve a child’s IQ level, and low IQs could
considered in Chapters 7 and 8.
be the result of an environment that encouraged delinquent
Research conducted by international scholars182 has found
and criminal behaviour.
a direct IQ–delinquency link among samples of adolescent
Studies challenging the IQ–crime assumption began to
boys.183 When Alex Piquero examined violent behaviour
appear as early as the 1920s. Slawson studied 1,543 delin-
among groups of children in Philadelphia, he found that
quent boys in New York institutions, comparing them to a
scores on intelligence tests were the best predictors of violent
control group.179 Although 80 percent had lower scores in
behaviour and could be used to distinguish between groups
abstract verbal intelligence, they were normal in mechan-
of violent and nonviolent offenders.184
ical aptitude and nonverbal intelligence. He found no rela-
Other research supports these conclusions.185 In Crime and
tionship between IQ and number of arrests and types of
Human Nature, James Q. Wilson and Richard Herrnstein also
offences.
said low intelligence leads to poor school performance, which
In 1931, Edwin Sutherland evaluated IQ studies of
increases the chances of criminality.186
criminals and delinquents and noted discrepancies in testing
An evaluation of existing knowledge conducted by the
methods rather than differences in mental ability.180 Suther-
American Psychological Association concluded that the
land’s research all but put an end to the belief that crime is
strength of an IQ–crime link is “very low.”187 By contrast,
caused by low intelligence, and the IQ–crime link was all
The Bell Curve comes down firmly on the side of an IQ–
but forgotten in the criminological literature. That research,
crime link, showing that people with low IQs are more
however, didn’t bring an end to coercive practices, as we can
likely to commit crime, get caught, and be sent to prison.
see in Exhibit 6.4 on eugenics below.
Conversely, at-risk kids with higher IQs seem to be pro-
Rediscovering IQ and Criminality Although the IQ–crime tected from becoming criminals. The authors conclude that
link had been dismissed by mainstream criminologists, it criminal offenders have an average IQ of 92, about 8 points

Exhibit 6.4

Canada’s Experiment with Eugenics

In the 1920s, acting on the idea that IQ is related to delinquency, males had vasectomies or were castrated. In 1965, Leilana Muir
several provincial governments passed laws in an attempt to weed sued the Alberta government for her involuntary sterilization in 1959
out undesirable characteristics, a practice known as negative and for falsely using this law to categorize her as a “moron.” She
eugenics. Alberta passed its Sexual Sterilization Act and created had been physically abused by her mother and abandoned at the
a Provincial Eugenics Board in 1928. This law was in force until Provincial Training School for Mental Defectives at the age of 11.
1972. British Columbia’s law existed from 1933 to 1973. Faced The Eugenics Board had acted arbitrarily and falsely—who can
with opposition from the Roman Catholic Church, Ontario and imagine approving such procedures for children? In 1997, when
Quebec only narrowly missed passing such laws. Muir sued again, she was awarded $750,000 in compensation, but
The government of British Columbia sterilized at least 200 the Alberta government refused to compensate the other victims.
people, and Alberta’s government sterilized almost 3,000 whom they Finally, in 1999, it agreed to an $82 million settlement for 247
believed had “mental defects.” In total, almost 5,000 Canadians with victims. The belief that mental illness, mental disability, and crimi-
disabilities were approved for sterilization. Female youths underwent nality were inherited was born from poorly constructed evolutionist
tubal ligations or hysterectomies for “menstrual management,” while thinking and has since been discounted.

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 below the mean; chronic offenders score even lower than the
“average” criminal. And it is not only low-IQ criminals who
get caught; data show little difference in IQ scores between
self-reported and official criminals.188
This debate will not be settled soon. Measurement is beset
by many methodological problems. The criticism that IQ tests
are race- and class-biased would certainly influence the testing

Manny DaCunha/Shutterstock.com
of the criminal population, who are inundated with a multi-
tude of socio-economic problems. Even if known offenders
have lower IQs than the general population, it is difficult to
explain many patterns in the crime rate: Why are males more
criminal than females? Why do crime rates vary by region,
time of year, and even weather patterns? Why does aging out
occur? IQ does not increase with age, so why should crime
rates fall with age? Such an approach has critical theoretical Is it nature or nurture? Even if some aspects of intelligence are
problems as well: Various issues that are ignored, including inherited, if children are raised in an environment that lacks economic
the role of the police in enforcing the law, their use of discre- resources and parental support, they will fail to maximize their
tion, the ability of the law to reinforce social inequality, and intellectual potential. Is it the responsibility of society to provide
resources sufficient to enable all youth to achieve their rightful share of
the inability of those with cognitive deficits to understand intellectual development?
legal issues and defend themselves. Many of these issues are
discussed in Chapter 9.

allergies, and so on.190 More controversial has been the use

Social Policy Implications of mood-altering chemicals, such as lithium and benzodiaz-
epines, and the use of brain surgery, to control the behaviour
of antisocial individuals.191
For most of the 19th, 20th, and early 21st centuries, bio- The law recognizes the psychological aspects of crime
logical and psychological views of criminality have had an when it permits a plea of not criminally responsible on
important influence on crime control and prevention policy. account of mental disorder (NCRMD) as an excuse for crim-
These views can be seen in primary prevention programs inal liability or when it allows trial delay because of mental
that treat personal problems before they manifest them- incompetence. See Chapter 2 for more about the NCRMD
selves as crime: family therapy organizations, substance defence.
abuse clinics, and mental health associations. Referrals to Some criminologists view biologically oriented treatments
these resources are made by teachers, employers, courts, as a key to solving the problem of the chronic offender. They
and social service agencies. If a person’s problems can be argue that inherited physical traits that cause disease have
treated before they become overwhelming, then future been successfully treated with medication after their genetic
crimes might be prevented. Secondary prevention programs code has been broken; why not, then, a genetic solution to
provide psychological counselling to youths and adults after crime?192
they have violated the law. Attendance in such programs Such biological treatment is a relatively new phenom-
may be a mandatory requirement of a probation order, part enon. Since the 1970s, meanwhile, pretrial programs have
of a diversionary sentence, or aftercare at the end of a prison sought to divert offenders into nonpunitive rehabilitative
sentence. programs designed to treat rather than to punish. Based
Comparative research shows that therapeutic and pre- on some type of counselling regime, diversion programs
ventive treatment works. However, people with mental disor- are commonly used with first offenders and nonviolent
ders continue to be incarcerated in correctional institutions. offenders. At the trial stage, judges often order psychological
The long-term trend in Canada has been to deinstitution- profiles of convicted offenders so that a treatment program
alize people who have mental illnesses, to increase the use can be planned. Should offenders be kept in the community?
of medication, and to treat them in community clinics. The Do they need a more secure confinement to deal with their
Supreme Court itself has reviewed how the better use of con- problems? If correctional confinement is called for, inmates
ditional sentencing can make health care a better solution are commonly evaluated at a correctional centre to measure
than incarceration.189 their personality traits or disorders. Then inmates can par-
Biologically oriented therapy is also being used in the ticipate in some form of psychological therapy, such as group
criminal justice system. Programs have altered diet, changed therapy, individual analysis, or transactional analysis. Parole
lighting, compensated for learning disabilities, treated decisions may be influenced by the prison psychologist’s

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 Exhibit 6.5

Trait Theory and Crime Prevention

Criminologists have called for treatment programs to consider demonstrated links among cognitive deficits, brain functioning,
biological and psychological traits and conditions. One reason and crime, it is perhaps not surprising that nutrition can help
is that there is growing evidence that elements of psychological prevent antisocial behavior. Family/parenting programs focus
dysfunction, such as depression and poor self-control, among on nutrition and healthy development, relying on evidence that
other conditions, are significantly associated with the onset nutritional supplements may have a large impact on behaviour
of adolescent misbehaviour. Criminologists Michael Rocque, through cognitive functioning. Finally, a very relevant crime pre-
Brandon Welsh, and Adrian Raine have argued that this model vention strategy is developmental. Recognizing the interaction
might work because effective crime prevention strategies start between the person and the environment, this approach tends to
from the premise that responding to crime after it happens is a focus on identifying risk factors for children or families and seeks
missed opportunity; treatment and prevention must take place to improve environmental conditions in order to facilitate healthy
before a crime occurs. Crime prevention, in their view, can be development of the child. Some programs focus on helping at-
crafted using much the same process that doctors use to avert risk kids very early in life in order to foster healthy brain devel-
public health problems. Rather than identify and treat a problem opment. There is evidence that early prevention programs can
after it occurs, they use their knowledge of risk factors to provide improve cognitive functioning in a cumulative fashion. In cases
guidance to those at risk so that they can avoid illness. Treat- where risk factors are heritable or genetic, programs can prevent
ments based on psychological and biological traits identify at-risk crime by identifying environmental triggers that may increase
people and design plans to prevent future bouts of antisocial criminal behaviour. In the future, it is reasonable to assume, more
behaviour. programs or strategies concentrating on biological risk factors
One approach has been parenting programs aimed at will emerge.
treating neuropsychological or cognitive deficits along with a Research suggests that the earlier the intervention, the better.
host of other risk factors, such as impulsivity. One technique is It is possible that one day, treatment will begin during pregnancy
to teach mothers to avoid the hazards of smoking or ingesting and run through the first two years of life, as technology can now
narcotics during pregnancy, in an attempt to reduce neuropsy- measure growth and maturation of cognitive functions during this
chological impairment of the infant. Some programs take place period. Research has found that trauma during this period can be
in a school setting. Enriched preschool programs are designed especially impactful, affecting brain development into adulthood.
to provide economically disadvantaged children with stimuli Early intervention is vital to addressing the psychological and bio-
to help them develop cognitively as well as to offer them with logical causes of crime.
enriching experiences that their parents are unlikely to provide
at home. The goal here is to develop improved cognitive skills, Critical Thinking
enhance school readiness, and encourage social and emotional
If intervention is justified, which approach would be most effective
development.
in curbing antisocial behaviours? Should the focus be on helping
Other programs are aimed at preventing serious mental ill-
at the individual level or on dealing with social problems such as
nesses or disorders. There is strong evidence that a variety of
unemployment and family functioning?
illnesses, ranging from psychosis to anxiety disorders, can be
successfully treated before their effects have an overtly negative
impact. This suggests that programs designed to reduce mental Source: Michael Rocque, Brandon C. Welsh, and Adrian Raine,
illness, such as a schizotypal personality, can help prevent “Biosocial Criminology and Modern Crime Prevention,” Journal of
crime. Rocque and his colleagues suggest that, considering the Criminal Justice 40 (2012): 306–12.

evaluation of the offender’s adjustment. Exhibit 6.5 on trait every culture in human history has had its iconographic
theory and crime prevention gets at some more of these violent criminals who defy explanation and are all the more
issues. terrifying because of that.
The earliest positivist criminologists were biologists,
such as Cesare Lombroso, who believed that some people
manifested primitive traits that made them born crimi-
nals. They didn’t choose who they were so much as act out
Summary what they were. Their actions were the result not simply
of rational choice but of underlying conditions they could
not control. Biological views fell somewhat out of favour
Names like Paul Bernardo, Luke Magnotta, Russell Wil- in the early 20th century with the rise of sociology, but
liams, and others became household names in the late 20th in the 1970s, criminologists returned to studying the bio-
and early 21st centuries. A century before, perhaps, it was logical basis of criminality. After all, “we live in bodies, not
Jack the Ripper, or even earlier, Vlad the Impaler. Probably in trees,” as the saying goes. For the most part, the effort

198 Section 2 | Theories of Crime Causation

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 has focused on the causes of violent crime, as we have come level to threats posed by the virus, perhaps by becoming more
to realize how multifaceted the issues are. However, they defensive and willing to accept authoritarianism.
all come down to the physiology of the body and the psy- Psychological attempts to explain criminal behaviour no
chology of the mind, and how those interact within a social longer suggest that all criminals are insane or have mental
and physical environment. damage. Today, there are three main psychological perspec-
Interest has been revived in several areas: (1) biochemical tives. The psychodynamic theorists say that aggressive behav-
factors, such as diet, allergies, hormonal imbalances, and envi- iour is linked to personality conflicts developed in childhood.
ronmental contaminants (e.g., lead, mercury, and selenium); However, behavioural and social learning theorists believe
(2) neurophysiological factors, such as brain disorders, EEG that criminality is a learned behaviour: children who are
abnormalities, tumours, and head injuries; and (3) genetic exposed to violence and see it rewarded may become violent
factors, such as XYY syndrome and inherited traits. An evolu- as adults.
tionary perspective holds that changes in the human condi- In contrast, cognitive psychologists concern themselves
tion that have taken thousands of years to evolve may help with human development and how people perceive the
explain crime rate differences. world. They see criminality as a function of improper infor-
Concept Summary 6.3 reviews the biological and psycho- mation processing or moral development. Interestingly, the
logical theories of criminal behaviour. Some of these symptoms COVID-19 pandemic has been an important illustration of
are bound to increase during the time of COVID-19, specifically how people’s views of the world change. As mentioned earlier,
anxiety and depression, and to be linked to increased drug use. a survey of criminology students indicated heightened anxiety
As research advances, we are sure to notice other repercussions over the indeterminate character of social change. And at the
of COVID-19, reflecting how people respond at the genetic other end of the spectrum, prison suicides were up in the

Concept Summary 6.3

Biological and Psychological Theories

Theory Major Premise Strengths

Biological
Biochemical Crime, especially violence, is a function of diet, vitamin Explains irrational violence. Shows how the environment
intake, hormonal imbalance, or food allergies. interacts with personal traits to influence behaviour
Neurological Criminals and delinquents often suffer brain impairment, Explains irrational violence by pinpointing the medical
as measured by the EEG. Attention deficit hyperactivity and physiological bases for behaviour
disorder (ADHD) and minimum brain dysfunction are
related to antisocial behaviour.
Genetic Criminal traits and predispositions are inherited. The Explains why only a small percentage of youth in a high-
criminality of parents can predict the delinquency of crime area become chronic offenders
children.
Evolutionary As the human race evolved, traits and characteristics Explains high violence rates and aggregate gender
became ingrained. Some of these traits make people differences in the crime rate
aggressive and predisposed to commit crime.
Psychological
Psychodynamic The development of the unconscious personality early Explains the onset of crime and why crime and drug
in childhood influences behaviour for the rest of a abuse cut across class lines
person’s life. Criminals have weak egos and damaged
personalities.
Behavioural People commit crime when they model their behaviour Explains the role of significant others in the crime
after others they see being rewarded for the same acts. process. Shows how family life and media can influence
Behaviour is reinforced by rewards and extinguished by crime and violence
punishment.
Cognitive Individual reasoning processes influence behaviour. Shows why criminal behaviour patterns change over time
Reasoning is influenced by the way people perceive as people mature and develop their moral reasoning. May
their environment and by their moral and intellectual explain the aging-out process
development.

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 United States during COVID-19, an observation that raises
Applying Criminology the problem of strain, discussed in the next chapter.
In our culture, we believe that people should not be blamed for Psychological traits, such as personality and intelligence,
actions that are beyond their control. We think that a person have been linked to criminality, for example, to the psycho-
cannot be legally responsible if they cannot meet certain tests. path, a person who lacks emotion and concern for others.
An obvious test of competence is cognitive; that is, whether The controversial issue of the relationship between IQ and
the offender had criminal intent. Thus, the M’Naghten rule criminality has been resurrected once again with studies
(1843) says that every person is to be presumed sane and that showing that criminals have lower IQs than noncriminals.
to establish a defence of not criminally responsible on account Psychologists have developed standardized tests to measure
of mental disorder, it must be proved that at the time of com- personality traits to see whether criminals and noncriminals
mitting the act, the accused was suffering from a disease of manifest any differences in their responses to test items. The
the mind that meant they did not know the nature of the act method of treatment then depends on the identification of the
being committed; or, if they did know the nature of the act, that underlying problem. The challenge for criminology is to see
they had no knowledge that it was wrong. Used in this way, the the interaction of body, mind, and environment, especially in
definition seems overly restrictive and psychiatric. As a crimi- times of change. In the next chapter, we put all this in a larger
nologist with expertise in trait theories of crime, do you think this sociological context.
description goes far enough in explaining aberrant behaviour?
Questions to consider could include whether such descriptions
explain or excuse behaviour, which then has implications for
whether they are responsible.

1. Is a defence of automatism, for example, actually an Connections

excuse for not being responsible?
2. If a person doesn’t fit the test for insanity, does that mean In contrast to the stress on choice in rational theory, and
they are criminally responsible? the influence of the psychology in trait theory, the next
3. Is a mitigating factor like a blackout sufficient to mitigate chapter focuses more in depth on the structures within
the serious of a crime? which people are born and in which they live.

Key Terms

androgens p. 178 identity crisis p. 188 psychopathy p. 193

antisocial personality p. 193 inferiority complex p. 188 psychosis p. 187
arousal theory p. 182 instincts p. 175 r/K theory p. 184
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder latent delinquency p. 188 repression p. 187
(ADHD) p. 181 minimal brain dysfunction schizophrenia p. 187
behaviour modelling p. 189 (MBD) p. 180 social learning theory p. 186
behaviour theory p. 189 neurophysiology p. 179 sociobiology p. 174
cognitive school (perspective) p. 191 neurosis p. 187 sociopathy p. 193
electroencephalograph (EEG) p. 180 personality p. 192 somatotype p. 173
epigenetics p. 179 premenstrual syndrome (PMS) p. 179 testosterone p. 178
equipotentiality p. 174 psychodynamic (psychoanalytic) trait theories p. 172
hypoglycemia p. 177 theory p. 186

Review Questions

1. Describe the sub-branches of 3. Outline the different perspectives 5. If there is a psychological

biological trait theory. of psychological trait theory. issue, does it excuse criminal
2. What are some biochemical 4. What are some social policy responsibility?
conditions that theorists believe implications of trait theory?
influence crime?

200 Section 2 | Theories of Crime Causation

 Boesky, Ivan, 386 Canadian Urban Victimization Survey punishment in, 136
Bonger, Willem, 11, 288 (CUVS), 102–103 strict liability crime and, 41
boosters, 358 Canadian Victims Bill of Rights (2015), Chauvin, Derek, 298
Boucher, Maurice (Mom), 3 120, 123 cheater theory, 184–185
Boudreau, Penny, 333 cannabis cheque fraud, 367
bourgeoisie, 287 characteristics of, 426 Cherbonneau, Michael, 144
conflict criminology and, 11 criminalization of, 434–435 Chesney-Lind, Meda, 306
Boushie, Colten, 96, 285, 295 legalization of, 5–6, 32, 47, 49, Chicago Area Project, 216
Bow Street Runners, 352 442–443 Chicago School, 11, 208, 209
Boyd, Edwin Alonzo, 138 morality debates over, 416, 419 chicken industry, false claims in, 391
brain chemistry, crime and, 182–183 Cannabis Act, 49 child abuse, 68
brain dysfunction, criminality and, 181 capable guardians, 140 antisocial personality and, 195
brain tumours, criminality and, capitalism causes of, 338–339
181–182 environmental destruction and, 287 cycle of violence and, 102
Braithwaite, John, 158–159, 398–399 instrumental Marxism, 298–299 effects of, 100
brank, 159 Marxist ideology, 287–288 institutional, 110
Brantingham, Patricia, 148 normalization and, 300 MAO deficiency and, 182
Brantingham, Paul, 148 productive forces and relations, 287–288 poverty and, 105
Braun, Olga, 190 sexual assault and, 305 social control theory and, 259–261
break and enter, 369–370 Capitalism, Patriarchy and Crime social process theory and, 247–248
Bre-X scandal, 388 (Messerschmidt), 304 statistics on, 337–339
bribery, 387 capital punishment, 153–154, 331 victimization and, 104r–105
Bridges, Stephen, 324 Cardinal, Cynthia, 212 violent crime linked to, 322–323
British Crime Survey (BCS), 216 carding, 153 ChildFind, 126
broken-windows approach, 152–153 career criminals, 86–89, 215 child pornography
brothels, 420 burglary, 370–371 internet and, 466
Brown, Michael, 273, 333 labelling and, 266 legislation against, 7
Bruckert, Chris, 23 life-course theory, 269, 271–272 children
brutalization effect, 153–154, 323 strain and, 228–229 homicide by, 333
The Buffalo News, 3 carjacking, 143, 363 pornography rings using, 423
Bulger, James, 333 Carrier’s case (1473), 39 in poverty, 209
Buller, Marion, 212 Carter, Therland, 331 sex trade in, 421
Bundy, Ted, 335 Carter v. Canada, 439 shaming as deterrence in, 159
Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI) cartographic school of criminology, 10 China, People’s Republic of, 383–384
(Quebec), 98 case linkage systems, 337 Chinese immigrants, opium and, 425
Burgess, Ernest W., 11 Castile, Philando, 333 chiselling, 385–386
Burglars on the Job (Wright & Decker), 370 catfishing, 464 chivalry hypothesis, 85
burglary, 143–144, 369–370 Catholic Church, common law and, 30 choice theory
careers in, 370–371 CAVEAT (Canadians Against Violence evolution of, 135–143
Burnt Church fishing controversy, 44 Everywhere Advocating Its policy implications of, 162–163
Bushell’s case (1670), 30 Termination), 121 rational choice concepts, 137–138
business, influence peddling in, 387 CBS Records, 34 Chrétien, Aline, 193
Butler decision, 423 CCTV Chrétien, Jean, 193
auto theft prevention, 363 chronic offenders, 87–89
Calabro, 195 crime prevention and, 148 antisocial personality in, 194–195
call girls, 420 deterrence debate and, 155–157 selective incapacitation for, 162
calls for service (CFS), mapping by police cell phones, surveillance and, 156 Chunn, Dorothy, 190
and, 142 Center for Constitutional Rights, 229 churning, securities fraud, 386
Campbell Collaboration Crime and Justice Center for Research on Women, 304–305 Circle of Courage, 250
Group, 149 central nervous system diseases, criminality Circles of Support, 221
Canadian Campus Survey, 64 and, 182 civil law
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics Centre for Addiction and Mental classification of, 33–34
(CCJS), 19, 49, 62–63, 249, 322 Health, 64 drug enforcement and, 437
Canadian Court System, 31 Cesaroni, Carla, 221 white-collar crime and, 400
Canadian Human Rights Commission, Chambliss, William, 297, 299 claimsmakers, 433
sexual assault and harassment claims Chan, David, 38 Clarke, Ronald, 148
and, 111 Chan, Wendy, 104 class. See social class
Canadian Incidence Study (CIS) of Reported Charter of Rights and Freedoms classical criminology, 8, 135–137
Child Abuse and Neglect, 105, 337 assisted suicide and, 439–440 cleared crimes rate, 58–61
Canadian Research Institute for Law and the criminal law and, 44–45, 47 client fraud, 389
Family, 235 deterrence and, 160 climate and crime ecology, 79–80
Canadian Senate expenses scandal, freedom of expression in, 7 climate change, criminal law and, 51
385–386 legal rights and, 48 cocaine, 427

488 Index

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 Code of Hammurabi, 28 Constitution Act, 1982, 44–45, 47 Cressey, Donald, 4–5, 16
cognitive school, 191–192 constructionist theory, substance abuse crime
Cohen, Albert, 232–233 and, 433 common law and, 32
Cohen Commission, 112 constructive intent, 40 costs of, 99–103, 137
cohort research constructive possession, 357 criminologists’ view of, 15–18
criminology, 18–19 containment theory, 257–258 custom and, 29–30
delinquency, 87 continuity of crime theory, 88 definitions of, 16–18
collective efficacy, 220–221 control theory, 251 deviance and, 5–6
Columbine school shooting, 342–343 Cook, Kimberley, 293 displacement, 125
Commission on Systemic Racism, 67, Cooley, Charles Horton, 16, 261 drugs and, 433–435
69–70, 292 coping strategies, general strain, 228 elimination of, 146
commissions of inquiry, crime data from, 67 copyright infringement, 458 intelligence and, 23, 195–197
Commission to Examine and Report on Cormier, Raymond, 285 interactionist view of, 16–17
Systemic Causes of Violence, 212 corporal punishment, 158 legal definition of, 40–41
commitment corporate crime. See also economic crime, Marxist ideology and, 288–295, 300
to conformity, 257 white-collar crime mental illness and, 192
social bond and, 258 cases of, 390 outdated Canadian crimes, 33
commodities, defined, 351 characteristics of, 389–391 personality and, 192–195
common law costs of, 382 politics of, 18
origins of, 29–31 homicide, 51, 332 public fear of, 4
statutory law and, 31–32 industrial espionage, 452 rational choice crime, 143–146
community change, 220 patterns of, 351 seductions of, 145–146
community deterioration, 216–217 policing of, 400–401 social conflict theory of, 288
sources of strain in, 227 punishment uncertainty in, 152 social reality of, 290–291
community fear, 217 workplace violence, 342 structure of, 139
community notification, sex offender corporate culture theory, 398–399 unreported crime, reasons for, 124–125
registration, 50–51 Corrado, Raymond, 192 Crime and Human Nature (Wilson &
community organization correctionalist criminology, 297, 300 Herrnstein), 196
drug abuse and, 437 Correctional Services Canada, crime crime data
victim care and, 126 patterns research, 88 aggregate data research, 19
community policing, 237–238 Corrections and Conditional Release Act, 120 alternative sources, 67
community profiling, 229 corroboration, rape and, 330 attrition data, 59
compensation, in common law, 29–30 corruption compatibility of crime statistics, 66
compliance, white-collar crime and, in criminal justice system, 387 incident-based, 57
400–401 in government, 383–384 self-report surveys, 63–66
computer fraud, 367–368 costs of crime, 99–103, 137 tertiary sources, 78–79
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), 464 auto theft, 362–363 UCR data, 56–63
Comte, Auguste, 8 corporate crime, 382 crime discouragers, 150–151
concentration effect, 220 cybercrime, 465–466 crime displacement, 138
concentric zone theory, 214–216 fraud, 364 crime funnel, 59
The Condition of the Working Class in England identity theft, 365–367 crime-mapping, 78–79
in 1844 (Marx), 288 shoplifting, 358–359 crime patterns, 79–89
conduct norms, 231 white-collar crime, 350 mapping and, 142–143
confidence games, 364–365 costs of gambling, 441 crime pays paradigm, 137
conflict criminology, 11, 16, 289–291 court services, for crime victims, 121 crime prevention. See also deterrence
conflict gangs, 234 COVID-19 pandemic auto theft, 363
conflict-linked crime, 154, 325 anomie and, 222 basic approaches, 141–142
conflict theory, 285–286 carjacking during, 363 incapacitation strategies, 161–162
analysis, 295 crime and, 4, 105–106 shoplifting, 360
criminology and, 289–295 crime patterns and, 57 situational prevention, 146–151
modern theories, 288–295 fraud increase and, 381 specific crime targeting, 149–151
research, 291–295 gambling and, 440–441 strategies for, 148–149
white-collar crime and, 399–400 incarceration and, 162 trait theory and, 198
conformity, 223 property crime and, 351–352 Crime Prevention through Environmental
commitment to, 257 public order crimes, 416 Design, 148
Confucius, 28 violent crime and, 319 crime rates
Conger, Rand, 247 crack cocaine, 427 calculation of, 58
Conley, Shannon, 475 crackdowns (police), 152–153 Canadian changes in, 20
Conn, Tyrone William, 261 Craigslist robberies, 320 conflict theory on, 292
conscientiousness, 193 Crawford, John Martin, 267 crime classification and, 56
consensus view of crime, 16 Cream, Thomas Neill, 22 drugs and, 74–76
consent, sexual assault and, 329–330 Creba, Jane, 4 law enforcement impact on, 61
consent no defence, 41 credit card fraud, 368 legal definitions and, 61–62

Index 489

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 crime rates (Continued) criminality cultural deviance theory, 214, 231–235
media coverage and, 62–63 decline in, 268 conduct norms, 231
punishment and, 151–153 early victimization and, 102 delinquent subculture theory,
relative deprivation theory and, 226 immorality vs., 418 232–234
robbery, 340–341 structure of, 139 differential opportunity theory,
self-report surveys and, 63–66 Criminalization and Punishment Education 233–235
crime-related violence, 325 Project, 162 focal concerns, 231–232
Crime Severity Index, 58–59 criminal justice system cultural transmission, 215
compatibility with other data, 66 corruption, 387 culture
hate crime statistics, 114 defined, 3 conflict, 231
youth crime, 66 deviance and, 6 corporate culture theory, 398–399
Crime Stoppers, 126 drug courts, 436 crime rates and, 73
Crime Survey for England and flowchart for, 36 public surveillance and, 155
Wales, 60 Indigenous people and, 290–291 violent crime and, 323
crime trends, 20, 68–70, 72–76 women and, 305–307 Culture Conflict and Crime (Sellin), 231
age and, 68–69, 81–84 criminal law culture of poverty, 210
future trends, 76 Canadian development of, 32–33 cyberattacks, 458, 465
race and, 69–71 changes in, 47, 49–51 cyberbullying, 463–464
social malaise and, 72–73 classification of, 33–35 cybercrime, 381, 452–459
criminal anthropology, 174 defined, 28 costs of, 465–466
establishment of, 9–10, 12 early crime and punishment and, 29 enforcement, 467
criminal behaviour functions, 35–39 stages, 455
political criminals, 451 indictable and summary offences, cyberdeviance, 459–460
psychodynamics of, 188–189 34–35 cyberespionage, 465
substance abuse and, 428–430 origins of, 28–33 Cyber Lollita, 424
criminal behaviour systems, 14 criminal responsibility, mental illness cyberspying, 464
deterrence and, 37, 39 and, 42 cyberstalking, 50, 462
criminal careers, 86–89, 215 criminal statistics, 12–13 cyberterrorism, 454, 465, 474–475
burglary, 370–371 compatibility of, 66 cybertheft, 453, 455–459
labelling and, 266 politics of, 71 cybervandalism, 374–375, 453, 459–462
life-course theory, 269, 271–272 criminal terrorism, 471 cyberwarfare, 454, 465
strain and, 228–229 criminogenic influencers, 271 cycle of addiction, 434
Criminal Code of Canada (CCC) criminological enterprise, 12–13 cycle of violence, 102, 338–339
anti-prostitution provisions in, criminologists
13–14 defined, 4–5 Dahmer, Jeffrey, 335
corporate crime and, 296–297 profession of, 12–13 Dahrendorf, Ralf, 11
faint hope clause, 3 view of crime by, 15–18 Dakota Access pipeline protests, 236, 396
punishment in, 136 criminology D’Alessio, Stewart, 153
section 2, 42 Chicago and McGill schools, 11 Dalkon Shield IUD scandal, 400
section 24, 32 classical criminology, 8 Dallaire, André, 193
section 43, 337 conflict criminology, 11 Dalton, Katharina, 179
section 163, 33, 423 criminal justice and, 5–6 Dalton, Ronald, 46
section 163.1, 7 current trends in, 11–12 Daly, Kathleen, 68
section 207, 440–441 defined, 4–5 Dangerfield, George, 47
section 213, 420 ethical issues, 21, 23 dangerous classes, 292
section 264, 50 history of, 7–12 dangerous offender classification, 50–51
section 265.4, 329–330 Marxist theory and, 288–302 Dann, Robert, 153
section 273.1, 330 policy analysis, 21 D’Aquino, Iva Ikuko Toguri (Tokyo
section 276.1, 329–330 positivism and, 8–9 Rose), 451
section 312, 408 research methods, 18–21 Dark Commerce: How a New Illicit Economy Is
section 322, 359 sociological, 10 Threatening Our Future (Shelley), 454
section 348, 369 theory construction and, 14 Darwin, Charles, 9
section 354.1, 356 crisis intervention, for victims, 123 data breaches, 460
section 433, 373 critical criminology, 302–310 data-mining, 78, 156
section 462.2, 419 left realism, 303 date rape, 328
section 462.37, 437 restorative justice and, 308–309 Davis, Carol Ruby, 212–213
section 625.1, 35 Critical Criminology, 297 Davis, Lori, 212–213
sections 717–718, 309 cross-cultural research, 295 Dawson, Carl, 11, 218–219
victims care in, 120 cross-sectional research, criminology, 18 DeAngelo, Joseph, 3337
criminal defences, 41–44 Cruz, Nikolas, 343 Decker, Scott, 341, 370
criminal gangs, 234 Cryptologic, 442 Declaration of the Rights of Man, 136
criminal harassment, 111 cult killings, 335 decolonization movement (Canada), 16
criminal intent, 40 cult terrorism, 471–472 deconstructionism, 307–308

490 Index

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 decriminalization, 6 differential social control, 265–266 economics
of cannabis, 5–6, 32 diffusion of benefits, 151 of auto theft, 362–363
of drug use, 438 direct conditioning, 254 conflict theory of crime and, 292
of homosexuality, 39, 417 direct heredity, 10 crime trends and, 70, 72, 209–211
Deepwater Horizon oil spill, 392, 394 discouragement, crime prevention and, 151 surplus value and, 298
Deese, Chynna, 333 displacement of crime, 125 economic sanctions, white-collar crime, 401
defences. See criminal defences The Division of Labor in Society ectomorphs, 173
defensible space, 147 (Durkheim), 10 education, social process theory and,
deferred prosecutions, white-collar divorce, social process theory and, 247 248–249
crime, 400 DNA profiling, 293, 337 egalitarianism, families, 306
definition-sensitive crimes, 56 Dominion Police, 33 elder abuse, 106, 109
degradation of offenders, 159 Doob, Anthony, 100, 124, 152, 259 elder homicide, 334
De Guzman, Mike, 388 Douglas, William O., 418 election fraud, 451
Delgamuukw v. British Columbia, 394–396 Doukhoor community, 190 electroencephalography (EEG), 174, 180
delinquency, cohort studies of, 87 Doutroux, Marc, 419 Elizabeth Fry Society, 442
Delinquency and Opportunity (Cloward & dramatization of evil, 264 Ellard, Kelly, 82
Ohlin), 234–235 drift, neutralization theory, 255 Elliot’s integrated theory, 270–271
Delinquency in a Birth Cohort (Wolfgang, Driskell, James, 47 embezzlement, 368–369, 387–389, 398
Figlio & Sellin), 87 drug courts, 436 Emery, Marc, 416
delinquent subculture theory, 232–234 drug enforcement, crime rate and, 61 emotional abuse, 339–340
demographics, crime rates and, 84 drug industry, false claims and employee fraud, 387–389
denial-of-service attacks, 457–458 advertising, 390 employee theft, 383
Depew, Robert, 309 drug laws, 32 employment opportunities, crime rates
depression drug offenses, rate of, 74–76 and, 217
crime and, 175 drug testing programs, 437 endomorphs, 173
diet and, 176 drug trafficking, 403–404 Engels, Friedrich, 287
designer drugs, 428 law enforcement, 436–437 English common law, 29–31
desistance, 268 source control, 435–436 Canadian law and, 8
crime rates and, 81–82 drug use criminal law and, 33
Desjarlais, Juanita, 213 AIDS and, 430–431 The English Convict (Goring), 186
De Sousa, Anastasia, 98 common drugs, 426 Enron, 385
deterrence control strategies, 435–438 enterprise crimes, 381–382
criminal law and, 37, 39 cycle of addiction, 434 entrapment defence, 41, 44
debate over effects of, 160–161 history of, 425 environment
general, 151–157 internet distribution, 457 capitalism and, 287
pre-emptive, 303 law and, 434–435 crime and, 179–180
specific, 157–160 legalization, 438 eco-terrorism, 470–471
white-collar crime, 401 rational choice and, 145 green criminology and, 381, 391–398
developmental criminology, 268 self-report surveys on, 64 law enforcement and, 397
deviant behaviour testing programs, 437 protests, arson and vandalism and, 374
aging out of, 84 violent crime and, 324 environmental design, for crime prevention,
criminology and, 5–6 Drummond, Edward, 42 141–142, 148
cyberdeviance, 459–460 Dryden Chemical Company, 179 environmental justice, 394
decriminalization of, 5–6 Dugdale, Richard, 173 epigenetics, 179–180
defined, 5 dumping, as green-collar crime, 397 Epstein, Jeffrey, 422
general theory of deviance, 265 duress defence, 41, 43 equipotentiality, 174
Marxist theory of, 300 Durkheim, Emile, 10, 12, 222 equivalent group hypothesis, victimology
primary and secondary deviance, Dyck, Leonard, 333 and, 115–116
264–265 Erikson, Erik, 188
deviant place hypothesis, victimology Eagleson, Alan, 398 Erikson, Kai, 262
and, 116 early onset criminality, 82 eros, 323
deviant subcultures, 233 early onset delinquency, 271 Escobar, Pablo, 435
Devlin, Patrick, 418 Earth Liberation Front (ELF), 470–471 espionage, 451–452
Dharendorf, Ralf, 288 Eastern Europe organized crime cyberespionage, 465
Diefenbaker, John, 417 groups, 404 etailing fraud, 459
diet, crime and, 176–177 Easton, Stephen, 438 ethics, in criminology, 21, 23
differential anticipation theory, 269 ecological approach to criminology, 11, ethnicity
differential association theory, 251, 79–80 crime and, 82–83
253–254 concentric zone theory and, 214–216 victimization and, 105
differential opportunity theory, 232, robbery, 340–341 eugenics, Canadian experiment with, 196
234–235 economic crime. See also financial crime European Union, victims’ rights in, 124
differential reinforcement theory, basic patterns, 350–352 euthanasia, 13, 439–440
254–255 defined, 350 everyday life, crime and, 117

Index 491

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 evolutionary views of crime, 184–185 TransCanada pipeline protests and, gangs and, 235
sexual assault, 328–329 394–396 general strain theory and, 230–231
violent crime, 323 unmarked burials at residential schools relative deprivation and, 226
excuse defenses, 41 for, 15 risk perceptions of crime and, 100–101
experimental research, criminology, 19–21 fishing, illegal fishing, 397 of victims, 103–104
expressive crimes, 80, 325 fitness to stand trial, 42 violence and, 321, 327
extinction, crime prevention and, 151 flash houses, 352 general deterrence, 37, 39, 151–157, 160
Exxon Valdez oil spill, 392, 397 flashover (arson), 373 General Social Survey (GSS), 65–66, 102–
Eyolfson, Brian, 212 Floyd, George, 34, 273, 298, 333 109, 353
Eysenck, Hans, 193 FLQ movement, 289 general strain theory (GST), 227–231
focal concerns, 231–232 genetics
Fairy Creek protest, 350–3561 folkways, 35, 39 crime and, 182–183
fake product fraud, 364 Fontaine, Tina, 285 substance abuse and, 431
false advertising, 390 forgery, 367 genocide, 471–472
false claims, 390 founded crimes, 57 Gesch, Bernard, 176
false pretences, 363–365 Fowler, Bonnie, 212 The Ghetto (Wirth), 11
family relations Fowler, Lucas, 333 Gibson, Timothy, 368
deviance and, 247 Frame Breaking Act, 32 Gill, Kimveer, 321
paternalism and, 306 fraud, 363–365 Gill, Nirmal Singh, 112
social disorganization and, 220 body-shop fraud, 363 Gladue, Jamie, 121, 180, 293
social process theory and, 246–247 cheque fraud, 367 Glazer, Daniel, 269
family violence chiselling, 385–386 Global Economic and Fraud Survey, 381
adoption studies and, 184 client fraud, 389 Global Economic and Fraud Survey, 383
antisocial personality and, 194–195 computer fraud, 367–368 globalization, crime and, 453–454
child abuse, 337–339 credit cards, 368 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, 2020
criminal violence linked to, 322 election fraud, 451 (UN), 406
cycle of violence and, 102 employee fraud, 387–389 Glowatski, Warren, 82
social process theory and, 247–248 etailing fraud, 459 glowing iron, judgment of, 29
spousal abuse, 339–340 health care fraud, 389 Glueck, Eleanor, 192, 271–272
statistics on, 319 identity theft, 365–367 Glueck, Sheldon, 192, 271–272
victimization in, 104–105 internet fraud, 456–457 Goddard, Henry, 195
Family Violence in Canada (CCJS), 49–50 securities fraud, 386 Godfather (film), 401
far-right groups, criminal gangs and, 89 white-collar crime, 385–391 Goffman, Alice, 354–355
Farrington, David, 148–149, 155 Freagarrach Project, 83 Gold Coast and Slum (Zorbaugh), 11
Fattah, Ezzat, 110 French, Kristen, 3, 22 Golden State Killer, 337
Faulkner, Benjamin, 423 French Inquisition, 8 Goodman, Sam, 356
fear of crime, 100–101 Freud, Sigmund, 186–187, 323 Goring, Charles, 186
community fear, 217 Friedland, Robert, 393 Gotti, John, 408
female circumcision, 418 frontier justice, 32–33 Gould, Jon, 293
Female Refugees Act, 306 government
The Female Offender (Lombroso), 84 gabapentin, 428 cyberspying, 464
feminism Gall, Franz Joseph, 9 exploitation in, 387
gender and crime patterns and, 86 gambling, 439–442 influence-peddling and bribery of, 387
Marxist feminism, 304 gangs state-corporate crimes, 383–384
radical feminism, 304–307 differential opportunity theory and, Grassy Narrows First Nation, 179–180
sex work and, 422 234–235 Gravano, Sammy (The Bull), 408
fences, 350, 355–357 homicide and, 335 Great Britain, extra-legal justice in, 38
fentanyl, 428, 432 Indigenous gangs, 405 Greater Vancouver Victimization
Ferri, Enrico, 173 motorcycle gangs, 405 Survey, 118
fetal alcohol syndrome disorder (FASD), 180 neighbourhood deterioration and, 217 Great Pretenders: Pursuits, and Careers of
Fielding, Henry, 352 organized crime and, 403 Persistent Thieves (Shover), 357
financial crime, 381 power relations and, 307–308 green criminology, 381
swindles, 385 violent crime and, 323 categories of, 394–398
firearms The Gang (Thrasher), 11 environmental crime and, 391–394
crime rates and, 73–74 Garfinkel, Harold, 159 forms of crime, 395–398
self-protection and, 126 Garner, Eric, 273 harms perspective, 390–391, 394–395
violent crime and, 324–325 Garofalo, Raffaele, 173 Green River Killer, 335
Firestone, Philip, 332 Gartner, Rosemary, 100, 124 guaranteed income experiments, 237
Firman, John, 293 Gault, Howard, 138 Guerry, André-Michel, 10
first-hand criminal observation, 21 gender Guido, Frank, 183
First Nations people child abuse and, 337–339 gun control, 324
fishing rights cases, 44 crime and, 68–69, 84–86 Gunn, Christopher, 462
lobster fisheries dispute, 52 evolutionary views of crime and, 184–185 guns. See firearms

492 Index

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 Hagan’s Varieties of Deviance, 5–6 Homolka, Tammy, 22 indirect heredity, 10
hallucinogens, 426–427 homosexuality industrial capitalism
Hamas, 473 moral debate over, 417 exploitation in, 387
Hamelin, Louise, 190 victimology studies of, 115 sociological criminology and, 10
Hamilton, Jamie Lee, 213 honour killing, 335 industrial espionage, 452
Hamilton, Thomas, 336 hormonal influences, criminal behaviour inequality
Hanemaayer, Anthony, 47 and, 178 crime and, 209–211
Hanssen, Robert, 451–452 HSBC money laundering scandal, 263 growth in, 209
harms perspective, 390–391, 394–395 Huberty, James, 336 infanticide, 190, 224, 332–333
Harris, Eric, 342 Hudson, Eishia, 333 inferiority complex, 188
Harrison Narcotics Act, 434–435 Hudson’s Bay Company, 32 influence peddling, 387
Hartwell, Martin, 43 human development, psychodynamic informal sanctions, deterrence and,
Harvey, Donald, 335 theory and, 187 154–155
hate crimes human mapping, police use of, 229 information processing, 191–192
causes of, 114 Human Rights Tribunal (Canada), 19–20 information technology, 453
incidence of, 114 human trafficking, 406, 408 Innocence Project, 293
research on, 111–114 hypoglycemia, crime and, 175–188 innovation, 223
statistics on, 112–113 insanity defence, 41–42
victims of, 100 identity crisis, 188 insider trading, 386
Hatewatch.org, 111 identity theft, 365–367, 458–459 instincts, 175
hay fever, 179 Idle No More, 285 institutional anomie theory, 224–225, 231
Head Start program, 273–274 ignorance defence, 41 institutional involvement and belief, social
health care fraud, 389 illegal restraint of trade, 390 process theories and, 250, 260
heiress stealing, 326 ImClone Systems, 386 instrumental crimes, 80, 145, 325
Hells Angels, 405 immorality, criminality vs., 418 instrumental Marxism, 298–299
Nomads chapter of, 3 impact of race and cultural assessments Insurance Bureau of Canada, 99
Trudeau and, 22 (IRCAs), 293–294 insurance industry
Henry II (King of England), 30 incapacitation strategies, 161–162 auto theft claims, 362–363
heredity incarceration fraudulent claims and, 365
criminal anthropology and, 9–10 Canadian statistics on, 161 insurgents, terrorism and, 469
criminality and, 173, 183–184 crime rates and, 161–162 integrated structural Marxist theory, 271
heroin, 427–428, 432 Indigenous rates of, 263 integrated theory
Herrnstein, Richard, 84, 196 unemployment linked to, 211, 300–301 current trends, 267–268
high-tech crime, 452–455 of women, 190 overview, 269–271
Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), 363 inchoate crime, 32 intellectual development theory, 191
Hillside Stranglers, 335 incidence, of crimes, 57 intellectual property crime, 473
Himmel, Susan, 13 incident-based crime data, 57 intelligence
Hinduja, Sameer, 196, 259–260, 463–464 income inequality, 220 criminal behaviour and, 23, 195–197
Hirschi, Travis, 196, 259–260 conflict theory and, 292 positivist view of, 9
HIV/AIDS, drug use and, 430–431 gambling and, 441–442 interactionist criminology, 16–17
The Hobo (Anderson), 11 Indian Act (Canada), 16 interactive effects, motivated offenders and,
Hogeveen, Bryan, 62, 292 indictable offence, 34–35 140–141
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 37 Indigenous people intergenerational abuse, 339–340
home invasion, 363 Canadian criminal justice system, 290 International Center for the Prevention of
homelessness, 210, 225 conflict theory and, 292 Crime, 155–156
strain theory and, 233–234 crime-mapping used by, 79 International Convention on the Rights of
victimology studies of, 115 crime trends and, 70, 72 the Child, 68
homicide. See also serial killings economic crime and, 350–351 International Crime Victimization
defined, 330 environmental activism, 287 Survey, 361
degrees of, 330–333 fetal alcohol syndrome disorder international white-collar crime, 383–384
gender and, 68–69 prevalence in, 180 International Youth Survey, 64
hate crimes, 112–114 incarceration rates, 263 internet
income inequality and, 220 inequality for, 210–211 cyberterrorism, 474–475
networks, 334 land defenders, 236 drug distribution, 457
rate of, 58, 73–74, 322 legal codes and traditions of, 28–29 fraud, 456–457
rates by country, 65 missing and murdered Indigenous gambling and, 441–442, 458
relationships of victim and offender, women, 67, 79, 212–213 pornography and, 422–424, 457–458
105–107, 332–334 NWMP and, 33 securities fraud, 386
statistics, 321, 332 organized crime and, 405 sex trade on, 421–422
stranger homicide, 333–334 physical and sexual assault of Indigenous website defacement, 460–461
victims of, 106–107 women, 67 INTERPOL, 362
by women, 332–333 police violence against, 333 intimate violence, prevalence of, 3
Homolka, Karla, 3–4, 22 victimization among, 105 intimidation, 451

Index 493

47827_bm_indx_hr_487-504.indd 493 03/02/23 4:56 PM

 intoxication, as defence, 43 differential enforcement, 262–263 LGBTQ people
involuntary manslaughter, 330, 332 research, 266 cyberbullying, 463–464
involvement, social bond and, 258, 260 social policy, 274 queer criminology and, 307
IQ scores, criminal behaviour and, 23, validity of, 266–267 Li, Vince, 172, 321
196–197 Ladue case, 41 liability
Iribarren, Carlos, 176 Lafond, Jordan, 285 of corporations, 51
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant LaGrange, Teresa, 228 strict liability, 41
(ISIL), 475 Landslide Productions, 424 liberal feminist theory, gender and crime
Italian-based organized crime, 404 Langlois case, 43 patterns and, 86
Lanza, Adam, 342 life-course persisters, 87
Jackson, Willie “Tough Lennie,” 138 Lapointe-Edward, Suzanne, 321 life-course theory, 269, 271–272
Jacobs, Bruce, 144 larceny, 357 lifestyle theories
James, William, 191 latent delinquency, 188 routine activities and, 118–119
Japan, crime rates in, 73 latent traits, 269 victimology, 114–116
Jeffery, C. Ray, 148 Lavallee, Angelique Lyn, 44, 106–109, 339 Linden, Rick, 361–362
Jenkins, Philip, 336–337, 403–404 Lavater, J. K., 9 Lindh, John Walker, 451
John Howard Society, 381 law linkage blindness, 335
johns, 422 Canadian development of, 32–33 Livent entertainment scandal, 398
Johnson, Ben, 428 classification of, 33–35 Lizotte, Alan, 300
Johnson, Clayton, 46 common law, 29–31 lobster fisheries dispute, 52
Jones, Holly, 51 drug use and, 434–435 logging, protests against, 350–351, 396
joyriding, 361–362 early crime and punishment and, 29 logic bombs, 460
Judas Priest (band), 34 early legal codes, 28–29 LoJack system, 363
The Jukes: A Study in Crime, Pauperism, environmental law enforcement, 397 Lombroso, Cesare, 9–10, 84, 173–174
Disease, and Heredity (Dugdale), 173 morality and, 416–419 London, Ontario, van attack, 320
Juristat series (CCJS), 62–63 origins of, 28–33 longitudinal research, criminology, 18–19
just desert justice theory, 163 pornography and, 423–424 long-term offenders, crime patterns of,
justice, extra-legal act on behalf of, 38 sexual assault and, 329–330 86–89
Justice for Our Stolen Children sociology of, 13–14 Lorenz, Konrad, 323
protest, 285 Law, Order and Power (Chambliss & Los Frailes mine spill, 392
justification defence, 41 Seidman), 289 loss and suffering of crime victims,
juvenile crime. See youth crime rates law enforcement 99–103
Juvenile Delinquents Act, 305 crime rates and, 75–76 Lost Boy case, 466
cybercrime, 467 lotteries, 439–442
Kaglik, Herman, 47 drug use and, 436–437 Lowman, John, 420
Kamloops Indian Residential School, organized crime, 408 Lucas, Arthur, 331
unmarked burials at, 16, 68 predictive policing, 78 Ludd, Ned, 32, 287
Kaplan, Howard, 265 UCR statistics and reporting by, Ludwig, Wiebo, 374
Kelling, George, 152 60–61 Lycurgus, 28
Kellough, Gail, 292 white-collar crime, 400–401 Lynch, Michael, 299, 395
Kennedy, Leslie, 124 Lawyers Rights Watch Canada, 395
Kesler, Stephen, 38 Lay, Ken, 385 Macdonald, John A., 16
Kevorkian, Jack, 13, 49 lead ingestion, aggression and, Macdonald, Nancy, 263
Kinder Morgan companny, 394 179–180 Mackenzie King, William Lyon, 425
King, Rodney, 298 League for Human Rights of B’nai macro perspective, routine activities theory,
Klebold, Dylan, 342 B’rith, 112 139–140
Klenowski, Paul, 256 Lebed, Jonathan, 386 madams, 420
Klippert, Everett, 39, 417 Lebrun, Pierre, 341–342 Madoff, Bernie, 399
Klippert v. The Queen, 39 LeDain Commission, 51 Mafia, 403–404, 408–409
Klondike (Berton), 33 Lee, Shirley, 307 Magnotta, Luka, 23
Knapp Commission, 387 left realism, 303 Mahaffy, Leslie, 3, 22
known group self-report surveys, 64 legal definitions, crime rate and, 61–62 mala in se, 35, 416
substance abuse, 433–434 legalist green crime, 394 mala prohibitum, 35, 416
Kohlberg, Lawrence, 191 Legere, Allan, 22 malware, 460
Krieger, Grant, 47 legitimate enterprise, organized crime management fraud, 388
Krisberg, Barry, 299 and, 403 manie sans délire (mania without delusion),
Kuklinski, Richard, 195 Lemert, Edwin, 264, 367 9
Lepine, Marc, 321 Manners, Jordan, 114
labelling theory, 251, 261–267 Lev, Aharon, 368 manslaughter, 330
basic principles of, 261–262 Levi, Rodney, 98, 333 mapping, rational choice crime and,
causes of labelling, 264 Levinson, Jill, 21 142–143
consequences of, 264 Levitt, Steven, 68 Mapplethorpe, Robert, 423
crime and, 262 lex talionis (eye for an eye), 28 marginalization, 310

494 Index

47827_bm_indx_hr_487-504.indd 494 03/02/23 4:56 PM

 Marijuana Tax Act, 434–435 micro perspective motorcycle gangs, 405
marine ports, organized crime in, 405 labelling theory, 263 Mount Cashel Orphanage Inquiry, 67–68
marital exemption, 328 routine activities theory, 139–140 Mubarak, Hosni, 469
marital rape, 328 Middle Ages Muhammad, 28
market manipulation, 386 rape in, 326 Muir, Leilana, 196
Marshall, Donald Jr., 46, 52, 273 theft in, 352 Mullins, Christopher, 371
Marx, Karl, 11, 287–295. See also witchcraft in, 7–8 Mullins-Johnson, William, 47
instrumental Marxism middle-class measuring rods, 233 Mulroney, Brian, 387
Marxist criminology, 296–302 Milgaard, David, 46 Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire
critique of, 301–302 military, sexual assault in, 326 (MPQ), 194
instrumental Marxism, 298–299 Milk (film), 175 multifactor theories, 269
research on, 300–301 Milk, Harvey, 175 multisystemic therapy (MST), 83, 273
structural Marxism, 299–300 Milken, Michael, 386 Murakami, Haruki, 473–474
Marxist feminism, 304 Miller, Walter, 231–232 murder. See also homicide
Masculinities and Crime (Messerschmidt), Miller Inquiry, 68 common law definition of, 31
304 Million Marijuana March, 5 defined, 330
masculinity hypothesis, 85 Minassian, Alek, 56, 321 second-degree, 330
sexual violence and, 329 miners’ meeting, 38 typology of, 334–335
massage parlours, 420 minimal brain dysfunction (MBD), 180–181 Murphy, Emily, 425
mass murder, 336 Minimata disease, 179–180 Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project, 236
mass shootings, 324–325, 342–343 mining waste and accidents, 392–393
master status, labelling theory and, 264 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality N2H2 web filtering company, 423–424
Maudsley, Henry, 9 Inventory (MMPI), 194 Najdowski, Cynthia, 424
Maxwell, Ghislaine, 422 misrule violations, 38 Napoleonic Code, Quebec law and, 8
May, Elizabeth, 394 missing and murdered Indigenous women narcotics, 427–428
Maynard, Steven, 68 and girls (MMIWG), victim research source control, 435–436
McArthur, Bruce, 3, 22, 77, 115 and, 97 Nash, Frederick, 331
McCabe, Marie, 224 mistake defence, 41 National Crime Prevention Strategy
McGill School, 11, 218–219 mitigating factor, hate crimes, 111 (NCPS), 120
McGray, Michael Wayne, 22 M’Naghten, Robert, 42 National Crime Victimization Survey (US),
McKendy, John, 100 M’Naghten Rule, 42 60, 137
McLachlin, Beverley, 422 Monaghan, Jeffrey, 395 National Deviancy Conference (NDC), 297
McLean, Tim, 172 money laundering, 437 National DNA Databank, 51
McLeod, Kam, 333 monied police, 352 National Inquiry into Missing and
McMullan, John, 140, 441 monoamine oxidase (MAO), 182 Murdered Indigenous Women and
MDMA (ecstasy), 428 Montreal Longitudinal-Experimental Girls, 67, 79, 212–213
Mead, George Herbert, 16, 261 Study, 19 nationalistic terrorism, 469–470
Media Awarness Network, 111 Montreal Main and Atlantic (MMA) National Longitudinal Survey of Children
media coverage Railway, 394 and Youth (NLSCY), 18–19, 102, 322
of crime and criminal justice, 3–4 Montreal Massacre, 98 social process theory and, 249
crime rate, 62–63 Moore, Chantel, 98, 289, 333 National Night Out, 126
of homicide, 332 Moore, Dawn, 162 National Registry of Exonerations, 293
risk perceptions of crime and, 100–101 Moores, Frank, 387 National Strategy to Combat Human
media-sensitive crimes, 56 moral crusades, 418–419 Trafficking, 406
mediation programs, 309 moral development theory, 191 National Survey on Violence Against
medical assistance in dying (MAID), 13, 49, moral entrepreneurs, 17, 262, 419 Women, 339
146, 439–440 moral guardianship, crime and, 117–118 natural areas for crime, 208
Meier, Megan, 464 morality nature theory, 195–196
men criminal law and, 37 necessity defence, 41, 43
effects of crime on, 100 debate over, 417–419 needle use, HIV/AIDS and, 430–431
as victims, 104 law and, 416–419 negative affective states, 227–228
mens rea, 40–41 pornography and, 422–424 neighbourhood hustlers, 356
mental illness moral panic, 418 Neighbourhood Watch programs, 140, 148
crime and, 192 mores, 35, 39 Nemiquino, Nemonte, 287
insanity defence and, 41–42 Morgentaler, Henry (Dr.), 41, 226, 416 Neufeld, Peter, 293
prevention programs for, 198 Morin, Guy, 46–47 neurological impairment, crime and, 180
Menzies, Robert, 190 Mormon communities, morality and, 439 neurophysiological conditions, crime and,
Merton, Robert, 222–225 Morris case, 44 179–180
mesomorphs, 173 Mosaic Code, 28 neurosis, 187
meta-analysis of crime data, 78 Moscone, George, 175 neurotransmitters, crime and, 182
methamphetamine, 426, 435–436 Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), 435 neutralization theory, 255–257, 350
Métis, 302 motivated offenders, 140 Never Talk to Strangers (film), 102
#MeToo movement, 20 predatory crime, 117 new female criminal, emergence of, 86

Index 495

47827_bm_indx_hr_487-504.indd 495 03/02/23 4:56 PM

 Newman, Carol, 331 Owen, Cei William, 457 as homicide victims, 324
Newman, Oscar, 147–148, 158 OxyContin, 428 monied police, 352
The New Criminology, 297 private police, 360
Niemann, Albert, 427 Palestine Liberation Organization racial profiling, 296
nonpolitical terrorism, 470 (PLO), 469 Police of Canada Act, 33, 98
non-professional crime, fencing, 356–357 palo mayombe (black magic), 335 police violence, 98
nonspousal violent victimization, Panopticon prison design, 135 policing-sensitive crimes, 56
104–105 Papin, Georgina, 212 political crime
Noriega, Manuel, 435 paraphilia, 419 defined, 450
Norman Conquest, 30 Parent, Colette, 23 nature of, 450–452
norm resistance, 291 parental efficacy, 247, 259–260 as property crime, 351
North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), 33, child abuse and, 338–340 state-corporate crimes, 383
38, 301 parenting programs, crime prevention typology, 451–452
not criminal responsible on account of and, 198 political terrorism, 469
mental disorder (NCRMD) defence, 197 Park, Robert Ezra, 11 politics
not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) Parkland school shooting, 343 of crime, 18
defence, 41–42 Parks, Kenneth, 188 of criminal statistics, 71
NOW Magazine, 420, 423 Parsons, Gregory, 46 pollution, as green crime, 381, 397–398
Nunn Commission, 49, 67 passive precipitation, 111 Poltras, Marilyn, 212
nurture theory, 196 Patchin, Justin, 463–464 polygraph, 174
nutritional deficiencies, crime linked to, paternalism, 306 popular justice, 297
175–176 patriarchy, 304 population density, crime and, 80
Nygard, Peter, 326 Patterns in Criminal Homicide (Wolfgang), 14 population turnover, crime and, 219
Peace and Friendship Treaties (1760), 52 pornography, 422–424
Oakes, Connie, 47 peacemaking criminology, 309–310 internet and, 422–424, 457–458
oath-helpers, 29 Peel, Robert, 42 positivism, 8–9
obscenity, 423 peer relations, 249–250 positivist criminology, 9, 136
occasional criminals, 353 social control theory and, 259 Post, Jerrold M., 473
occupational crime, 383–384 Pelletier, Josephine, 333 postpartum depression, 333
Occupational Health and Safety Act, 401 Pemberton, John Styth, 427 post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in
offence-specific crime, 138–139 Penn, William, 30 crime victims, 99–100
offender-specific crime, 138–139 penology, defined, 14 poverty
Ogden, Russel, 23 percentage change, of crimes, 57–58 auto theft and, 362
Ohlin, Lloyd, 234–235 perceptual deterrence, 154 child abuse and, 338
oil spills and pipeline projects, 392, 394 Percy, Robert, 218–219 childhood poverty, 209
Oland, Dennis, 332 Perry, Roy, 138 concentration, 220
Oland, Richard, 332 Persky, Aaron, 242 culture of, 210
Olmstead, Edith, 190 personality sexual violence and, 329
Olson, Clifford Robert, 22 crime and, 192–195 undeserving poor trope and, 211
Omai gold mine disaster, 392–393 violence and, 322 victimization and, 105
omega-3 intake, hostility and, 176 perverse effect of incapacitation, 162 power
Ontario Tobacco Control Act, 146 Peter, Tracy, 228 conflict theory and, 289–290
Operation Hurricane, 3 Petrunik, Michael, 162 deconstructionism and, 307–308
opioid crisis, 432 Pfeiffer, Troy, 120 labelling theory and, 263
rational choice and, 143 Phillip, Stewart (Grand Chief), 212 relative deprivation and, 226
opium, 427–428 phishing, 366–367, 455–456, 459 power-control theory, 306
history of, 425 Phone Busters, 365, 367 power rape, 327
Order of the Solar Temple cult, 335 phrenology, 9 precedent, in law, 30
organized crime, 381, 384 Piaget, Jean, 191 predatory crime, volume and distribution
activities of, 402–403 Pickton, Robert, 3–4, 22, 212, 335–336, 420 of, 116–117
characteristics, 402 pigeon drop, 364 predictive policing, 78
control of, 408 pilferage, 388 pre-emptive deterrence, 303
defined, 402 pimps, 421–422 premeditation, 330
future of, 408–409 Pinel, Philippe, 9 premenstrual dysmorphic disorder
legitimate enterprise and, 403 Piquero, Alex, 196 (PMDD), 307
specific groups, 404–405 poaching, 396–397 premenstrual syndrome (PMS),
structure of, 403–404 police 178–179, 307
transnational crime, 405–408 community policing, 237–238 Preventing Crime (Welsh & Farrington), 149
Organized Crime Control Act (US), 408 community profiling by, 229 Prevention of Youth Tobacco Use Act, 146
Ostrowski, Frank, 47 corruption, 387 price-fixing, 390
Otis case, 43 crime prevention and, 152–153 primary deviance, 264–265
Ouimet, Marc, 220 drug enforcement and, 435 prisons, as new residential schools, 263
The Outsiders (Becker), 262 homicide by, 333 Prison Transparency Project, 162

496 Index

47827_bm_indx_hr_487-504.indd 496 03/02/23 4:56 PM

 privacy punishment. See also deterrence repeat burglary, 371
drug testing and, 437 certainty of, 151–152 repeat victimization, 106
public surveillance and, 156–157 informal sanctions, 154–155 reported crimes, victims’ reluctance
Privacy Rights Clearing House, 367 objectives of, 136 concerning, 124–125
private justice, shoplifting, 360 recidivism and, 158 Report of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry, 67
privilege, 299 severity of, 153–154 Report of the Inquiry into the Shooting
problem behaviour syndrome (PBS), 433 white-collar crime, 401 Death of Leo LaChance, 67
productive forces and relations, 287–288 Purdue Pharma, 428 Report of the Task Force on the Criminal
professional criminals Justice System and Its Impact on the
burglers, 370–371 Qaiser, Saba, 335 Indian and Métis People of Alberta, 67
chiselling, 385–386 queer criminology, 307 report-sensitive crimes, 56
fences, 355–356 Quetelet, Adolphe, 10, 12 repression, 187
theft by, 353–355 Quinney, Richard, 290–291, 297 reproductive rights, relative deprivation
The Professional Thief (Sutherland), 354 and, 226
profiling, communities, 229 race residential schools for Indigenous children
Prohibition, 403, 425–426, 438 changing perceptions of, 273 Canada’s prisons as, 263
Project Houston, 77 conflict theory and, 292–296 physical and emotional abuse at, 110
proletariat crime trends and, 69–71 unmarked burials at, 15–16, 68
capitalism and, 287 police violence and, 98 restorative justice, 308–309
conflict criminology and, 11 poverty concentration and, 220 retreatism, 223
property crime. See also economic crime racial profiling, 296 gangs, 234–235
arson and vandalism, 372–375 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization retrospective cohort study, 19
basic patterns, 350–352 Act (RICO) (US), 408 retrospective reading, 265
break and enter, 369–370 radical criminology, 297 revenge, discouragement of, 37
defined, 350 radical feminism, 304–307 revenge porn, 330
embezzlement, 368–369 radio frequency identification (RFID) revolution, 451, 469
fraud, 363–365 chips, 157 Rex v. Scofield, 32
incidence of, 58, 72 Raine, Adrian, 198 Richard, Peter, 152
prevention, 148 Ramos, Howard, 291 Riel, Louis, 302
statistics on, 351–352 ransomware, 458 ritualism, 223
target hardening, 125 rape r/K selection theory, 184–185
theft, 352–357 active precipitation and, 110–111 robbery
pro-social bonds, 270 defined, 325–326 attractions of, 146
prostitution. See also sex work history of, 326 carjacking as, 143, 363
child prostitution, 421 typology of, 327–328 classification of, 340–341
defined, 419–420 rational choice theory defined, 15
law and, 416–419 auto theft and, 362–363 firearms and, 324
legal status in Canada of, 13–14, crime and, 137–139 prevention, 74–75
421–422, 442 crime control strategies and, 148 Roberts, Julian, 120–121
victimology studies of, 115 substance abuse and, 433 Robinson, Qajaq, 212
Protection of Communities and Exploited rational deterrence, 125 Rock, Allan, 47
Persons Act, 319 Rayner, Shannon, 224 Rocque, Michael, 198
proximity hypothesis, victimology and, 116 reaction formation, 233 Rodriguez, Sue, 13, 49, 418, 439–440
psychodynamic (psychoanalytic theory) reactive-affective-defensive-impulsive Rolling, Danny Harold, 322
crime and, 186–189 (RADI) behaviour, 183 romance scam, 364
sexual assault, 328–329 Realist Criminology: Crime Control and Roman law, 28
substance abuse and, 431 Policing in the 1990s (Lowman & Rorschach inkblot test, 194
psychological trait theory, 186–197 MacLean), 303 Ross, Adele, 190
cognitive theory, 191–192 rebellion, 223 routine activities theory
psychodynamic (psychoanalytic theory), recidivism, deterrence and, 158 rational choice and, 139–140
186–189 reflected appraisal, 266 victimology and, 116–119
psychopathic personality, 9, 193–195 reflective role-taking, 265 Royal Canadian Mounted Pollice (RCMP),
psychopharmacological effect, violent crime Regina v. Dudley and Stephens, 43 33, 193, 385–387, 400
and, 324 regional crime patterns, 80 Royal Commission on Aboriginal
psychosis, 187 property crime, 351–352 Poeple, 292
public education programs violent crime, 323–324 Royal Commission on the Wrongful
cost of crime, 155 reintegrative shaming, 158–160 Incarceration of Donald Marshall
victim assistance projects, 121 relationships Jr., 67
public opinion, criminal law and, 37 homicide and, 332–334 Rush, Benjamin, 9
public order crimes spousal abuse, 339–340 Russia, organized crime in, 402, 404
assisted suicide, 13 victimization and, 105–107 R. v. Askov, 48
defined, 416 relative deprivation theory, 225–227 R. v. Bedford, 422, 442
public welfare offences, 41 religious swindles, 385 R. v. Clay, 49

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 R. v. Dersch, 160 semiotics, 307–308 Snider, Laureen, 297
R. v. Ewanchuk, 110 September 11, 2001, attacks, 469 snitches, 358
R. v. Gladue, 48, 294 serial killings, 335–337 Snowden, Edward, 450, 453
R. v. Hart, 48 antisocial personality and, 195 social adaptation, 223
R. v. Keegstra, 112 in Canada, 22, 77 social altruism, 221–222
R. v. Kokesch, 160 case studies, 267 social bonds
R. v. Labaye, 422 Serran, Geris, 332 pro-social bonds, 270
R. v. Lavallee, 43–44, 106–108 sexism social control and, 258–260
R. v. Lloyd, 161 crime patterns and, 85–86 social capital, crime trends and, 73
R. v. Morgentaler, 416 sexual assault and, 329–330 social class
R. v. Oakes, 48 sex offenders corporate crime and, 399–400
R. v. Ryan, 43 hormonal influences and, 178 crime and, 80–81, 178
R. V. Sharpe (2001), 7 incapacitation of, 161–162 dangerous classes, 292
R. v. Stinchcombe, 48 registration, 50–51 delinquent subculture theory, 232–234
R. v. Swain, 41–42, 48 sex tourism, 421 focal concerns and, 231–232
R. v. Wong, 160 sexual abuse of children, 337–339 living conditions and, 210
Ryerson, Egerton, 15 sexual assault, 325–329 lottery purchases and, 441–442
active precipitation and, 110–111 Marxist criminology, 298–302
Sacco, Vincent, 221, 259 capitalism and, 305 privilege, 299
sadistic rape, 327 causes, 328–329 productive forces and relations, 287–288
safecracking, 357–358 differential association and, 252 property crime and, 351
Safe Streets and Communities Act, 161 gender and risk of, 101, 104 relative deprivation and, 226
The Saints and the Roughnecks incidence of, 326–327 social cohesion, 220–221
(Chambliss), 297 law and, 329–330 crime rates and, 105
Sandy Hook school shooting, 342–343 military and, 326 social conflict theory
savings and loan scandal, 388–389 reports on, 20 branches, 286
Schafer, Stephen, 14, 109 sexual identity, vicitimization rate linked development of, 288
Scheck, Barry, 293 to, 104 evolution of, 285–286
Schissel, Bernard, 304 sexuality, deviant categories of, 419–424 social control
schizophrenia, 187, 323 Sexual Sterilization Act, 196 absence of, 220
Schmegelsky, Bryer, 333 sex work. See also prostitution criminal law and, 35, 37, 39
Schoenthaler, Stephen, 176–177 history of, 419–420 differential social control, 265–266
school performance incidence of, 420 theories, 257–261
diet and, 176–177 legalization of, 422 social development model (SDM),
social process theory and, 248–249 legal status of, 13–14, 442 269–270
school violence, 342–343 morality debates over, 416 social deviance, labelling of, 262
Schreiber, Franz, 387 motivations for, 421 social disorganization theory, 213–222
Schure, Edwin, 262 rational choice in, 143 concentric zone theory, 214–216
scientific method, 9 sex-for-profit industry, 424 social ecology school and, 216–222
scofflaws, 152 types of, 420–422 social distance, labelling theory, 264
scold’s bridle, 159 victimization in, 115 social ecology school
Scottish Crime Survey, 60 Sex Workers United Against Violence, 442 social disorganization and, 216–222
seasonality, theft and, 353 Shadowcrew, 366 victimization and, 103–109
secondary deviance, 264–265 shaming, 158–160 social embeddedness, 211
secret life, of professional criminals, corporate crime and, 399 social injustice, 220
354–355 deterrence and, 154–155 socialization
securities fraud, 386 Sharpe, John Robin, 7 gender differences in crime and, 86
selective incapacitation, 162 Sheldon, William, 173–174 sexual assault, 328–329
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors Shelley, Louise, 454 social process theories and, 246
(SSRIs), 182 shield laws, 330 social learning theory, 186, 189, 251, 257
self-concept, social control theories, 257 shoplifting, 358–360 sexual assault, 328–329
self-control perspective, corporate crime shoplisting, 459 substance abuse and, 431, 433
and, 399 Shover, Neal, 357 social malaise, crime trends and, 72–73
self-defence, 41, 44 siege mentality, 217–219 social media, community cohesion and
self-protection by victims, 124–126 Silverman, Robert, 228 crime prevention, 140
self-rejection, 257 Sipekne’katik First Nation, 52 social policy
self-report surveys, 63–66 situational crime prevention, 146–151 social process theories, 272–274
accuracy, 64 auto theft, 363 social structure theory and, 237–238
differential association theory and, 254 Situational Crime Prevention, 148 trait theory and, 197–198
focus of, 63–64 situational inducement, 353 social process theories
missing cases issue, 64 slut-shaming, 304 branches of, 250–257
victim surveys, 65–66 smuggling, of drugs, 429–430 crime and, 246–250
Sellin, Thorsten, 231 SNC Lavalin scandal, 263 defined, 246

498 Index

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 evaluation of, 272 storylines, general strain theory and, 230 swindling, 385
labelling theory, 261–267 strain theory, 213–214, 222–231 symbolic interaction theory, 261
social control theories, 257–261 anomie and, 222–225 Symons, Gladys, 307
social policy and, 272–274 general, 227–231 syndicated child pornography rings, 423
social reality of crime, 290–291 Marxism and, 298 synthetic drugs, 426, 435–436
social status, victimization and, 105 street youth and, 233–234 systematic review of crime data, 78
social structure theories stranger-related crime, 103
cultural deviance theory, 231–235 homicide, 333–334 Tailing, Bertha, 190
evaluation of, 236 rape, 328 Tannenbaum, Frank, 264
evolution of, 212–214 Street Corner Society (Whyte), 21 Tarde, Gabriel, 251
social policy and, 237–238 street crime, 143, 350 target hardening, 125
strain theory, 222–231 street lighting, crime prevention and, 148 shoplifting, 360
sociobiology, 174 street racing, 158 target reduction strategies, crime
Sociobiology (Wilson), 174 street stops, 293–294 prevention, 150
socioeconomic status (SES), criminal street youth, strain and, 233–234 tax evasion, 389
behaviour and, 80–81, 178 stress techniques of neutralization, 255–256
sociological criminology, 10, 208–209 child abuse and, 338 telemarketing scams, 365
sociology family relations and, 247 temperance movement, 425–426
crime and, 10 multiple sources of, 227–228 temperature, crime and, 80
law and, 13–14 strict liability, 41 terror cells, 472–473
sociopathy, 193–195 structural Marxism, 299–300 terrorism, 467–476
soft drugs, decriminalization of, 5 structural perspective, criminology cyberterror, 474–475
Solomon, 28 and, 12 extent of, 475–476
somatotypes, 173–174 subcultures forms of, 469–472
Sophonow, Thomas, 46–47 corporate crime and, 398–399 funding of, 473
Sorenson, Jon, 153 delinquent subculture theory, 232–234 historical perspective, 468–469
Sorenson and Brost Ponzi scheme, 398 deviant subcultures, 233 motivations, 473–474
source control, drug trafficking and, substance abuse and, 431 organization of, 472–473
435–436 of violence, 323 terrorist networks, 473
spams, 460 substance abuse, 424–433. See also alcohol; tertiary crime data, 78–79
Special Committee on Pornography and drug abuse testosterone, 178
Prostitution, 420 causes of, 431–433 thanatos, 323
specific deterrence, 37, 39, 157–160 control strategies, 435–438 theft. See also auto theft
Speck, Richard, 182–183 crime and, 433–435 classifications, 357–369
Spitzer, Stephen, 300 extent of, 428–430 cybertheft, 453, 455–459
spousal abuse history of, 425 employee theft, 383
history of, 339–340 law and, 434–435 history of, 352–357
homicide, 332–333 research methodology, 433–435 identity theft, 365–367, 458–459
violent victimization, 104–105 statistics on, 424–425 modern theft, 352–353
Sprott, Jane, 102, 249, 259 testing programs, 437 occasional criminals, 353
Spurzheim, Johann, 9 violent crime and, 324 patterns of, 353–355+
spyware, 464 subterranean values, 255 statistics on, 352, 358–359
Stack, Steve, 154 Suchan, Steve, 138 Thematic Apperception Test, 194
stalking, 49–50 sugar, crime and, 176–177 thief-takers, 352
antisocial personality and, 194–195 suicide Thinking about Crime (Wilson), 137
cyberstalking, 462 legally assisted suicide, 13, 49 Thomas, W. I., 16
gender and risk of, 104 rational choice and, 146 Thompson, Robert, 333
Stanley, Gerald, 96, 285 suitable targets Thrasher, Frederic, 11
stare decisis, 30 predatory crime, 117 three strikes and you’re out laws, 162
state-corporate crimes, 383–384 rational choice theory and, 140 thrill killings, 334
state political crimes, 452 Sullivan, Dennis, 297, 308–309 Tifft, Larry, 297, 308–309
state-sponsored terrorism, 471 summary offence, 34–35 Titchener, Edward, 191
status frustration, 232–233 surplus value, 298 Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, 15
statutory law, 31–32 surveillance To Catch a Predator (television show), 21
steroids, 428 crime prevention and, 148 Tolson case, 41
stigmatization, 159 deterrence and, 155–157 Tong, Edmund, 138
social process theory and, 249 new developments in, 155–157 tort law, 33–35
Stingray device, 156 public surveillance, 155–157 Tortorici, Ralph, 187
stings, 385 survey research, criminology, 18 Tougher Penalties for Child Predators Act and
Stockholm cohort project, 88 Sutherland, Edwin, 4–5, 14, 16, 251–254, the Protecting Canadians from Online
stolen property, fencing of, 355–356 353–355, 371, 382 Crime Act, 319
Stolzenberg, Lisa, 153 Swaggi, Vincent, 355–356 Trade, Gabriel, 186
stop and frisk policies, 153, 229 swatting, 459 train robbery, 357–358

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 trait theories ViCLAS (Violent Crime Linkage Analysis violent crime clearance rate, 59–60
biological, 173–185 System), 337 Violent Criminal Apprehension Program, 337
defined, 172 victim advocacy, restorative justice and, 309 Virk, Reena, 82
latent traits, 269 victim-blaming, 99–100 viruses, 460–461
psychological, 186–197 sexual assault and, 110–111 vishing, 459
social policy implications, 197–198 victim characteristics, 103–107 volatile liquids, 426
violence and, 322 victim compensation, 121 Vold, George, 11, 288, 408
tranquilizers, 426 victim impact statements, 120–121 voluntary manslaughter, 330
TransCanada pipeline, 394–396 victimless crime, 100
transferred intent, 40 drug use, 424–425 Waksal, Samuel, 386
transitional neighbourhoods, 215 moral debate over, 417–418 Walsh, Erin, 47
transition child pornography rings, 423 prostitution as, 416–419 Walton, Taylor, 297
Trans-Mountain pipeline, 236 victim–offender reconciliation war
transnational organized crime, 405–408, 450 programs, 123 as crime, 452
transnational terrorism, 468 victimology cyberwar, 454
traumatic brain injury, criminality and, antisocial behaviour of victims, 102 rape in, 326
181–182 caring for victims, 118, 120–124 warez, 458
treason, 451 defined, 14–15 Washington Post, 3
treatment programs, social process theory, evolution of, 97–99 wealth distribution, growing inequality in,
271–273 fighting back, 125–126 209–211
trial by ordeal, 7–8 government response to victims, 120 website defacement, 460–461
Tri-West Investment, 386 lifestyle theories, 114–116 WE Charity, 383
Trojan horses, 460 loss and suffering of crime victims, wellness checks, 333
Trudeau, Pierre, 417 99–103 Welsh, Brandon, 148–149, 155, 198
Trudeau, Yves Apache, 22 repeat victimization, 106 Welsh, Sandy, 111
Truscott, Steven, 47 risk perceptions of victimization, wergild, 29
Truth and Reconciliation Commission 100–101 Westervelt, Saundra, 293
(TRC), 16, 19–20 routine activities theory, 116–118 Westray bill, 51, 332, 342, 393–394
Tunnell, Kenneth, 140 self-protection and, 124–126 Wet’suwet’en pipeline protest, 394–396
Turk, Austin, 291, 476 social ecology of victimization, Wettlaufer, Elizabeth, 336
Turner, Brock, 252 103–109 What Is to Be Done about Law and Order?
Turpin, Ronald, 331 theories of, 109–118 (Lea & Young), 303
Twinkie defence, 175 wrongful conviction impact, 122 White, Dan, 175
Twins, Joey, 47 victim precipitation theory, 109–114 white-collar crime, 263. See also economic
twin studies, 183–184 Victim Services Survey, 121 crime
Victims of Crime Initiative, 120–121 causes, 398–399
UN Convention on International Trade in victims’ rights, 123–124 characteristics of, 382–385
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and victim surveys, 65–66, 102–103 client fraud, 389
Flora (CITES), 397 vigilantism, 38, 418–419 components of, 384–385
underclass, 210, 354 Villanueva, Fredy, 217, 273 control of, 399–401
undeserving poor trope, 211 violence costs of, 350
unemployment evolving forms of, 341–343 defined, 14, 381, 383
crime and, 211, 230 rational choice and, 145 embezzlement and employee fraud,
incarceration and masking of, 300–301 roots of, 321–325 387–389
Unger, Kyle, 47 school violence, 342–343 individual exploitation, 386–387
Uniform Crime Report (UCR), 19, 56–63 violence against women, statistics on, influence peddling and bribery, 387
accuracy of, 60–63 105–107 international crime, 383–384
collection methods, 57–60 violent corporal punishment, 158 law enforcement and, 400
compatibility with other data, 66 violent crime typology of, 385–391
methodological problems, 63 assault, 110–111, 337–340 white-collar neutralization, 256
reporting practices, 60 cultural values, 323 Whyte, William, 21
victim data in, 105–106 evolutionary factors, 323 Widom, Cathy Spatz, 102
Union Carbide disaster, 381 evolving forms of, 341–343 WikiLeaks, 450, 458
United Kingdom, CCTV in, 155 family violence and, 322–323 Wild, Jack, 352
UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol, 406 personal traits, 322 wildlife exports, as green crime,
user surveys, substance abuse, 433 regional values, 323–324 396–397
utilitarianism, 8, 135–136 robbery, 340–341 Wilinsky, Irma, 190
roots of, 321–325 Wilkes, Rima, 291
vagrancy, 37 school violence, 342–343 Williams, David Russell, 3
value conflict, 215 sexual assault, 20, 67, 307 Williams, Linda, 335
vandalism, 372–375 statistics on, 319 Williams, Russell, 172
Venables, Jon, 333 substance abuse and, 324 Willingham, Cameron Todd, 373
vicarious deterrence, 161 terrorism, 467–476 Willot, Sara, 399

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 Wilson, Edmund O., 174 shaming as deterrence for, 155 Yebes, Tomas, 373
Wilson, James Q., 84, 137, 196 spousal violence and, 332–333 Young Offenders Act, 49, 62, 308
Winnipeg General Store, 288 as victims, 104 Young v. Bella, 34
Wirth, Louis, 11 white-collar crime and, 398 youth crime
witchcraft, 418 workplace violence and, 342 arson, 372
in Middle Ages, 7–8 Wong, Siu Kwong, 220 clearance status and, 62, 66
Witness Protection Program Act, 408 workplace violence cybervandalism, 374–375
Wolfendon Report, 417 homicide, 332 rates and statistics, 81–84
Wolfgang, Marvin, 14, 19, 87, 109 increase in, 341–343 substance abuse and, 428–430
women WorldCom accounting scandal, 398 theft, 353
burglary by, 371 worms (cybervandalism), 460 Youth Crime Security Index, 84
child abuse among, 337–339 Wortley, Scott, 293 Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), 49, 62,
effects of crime on, 99–100 Wortman, Gabriel, 321, 336 123, 273, 292, 308
in gangs, 235 Wright, Richard, 341, 370–371 youth justice, changes in, 49
infanticide by, 224 wrongful convictions, 46–47, 293–295 youth victims, 104–105
insanity in Canadian society and, 190 arson, 373–374
justice system and, 305–307 capital punishment and, 154 Zgoba, Kristen, 21
missing and murdered Indigenous crime victims and impact of, 122 Zimmerman, George, 273
women, 67, 79, 212–213 Wundt, Wilhelm, 191 Zorbaugh, Harvey, 11
relative deprivation and, 226
as serial killers, 336 XYY theory, 182–183

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