Criminal behavior refers to the antisocial actions which place the offender at risk of facing the criminal justice system. Some people tend to have a high-risk factor for criminality compared to others. A risk factor refers to anything in a person's family history or psychology that is likely to increase the chances that one will be involved in criminal acts at a certain point in their life. Some of the risk factors for criminal activities are poor interpersonal relations, psychopathology, antisocial associations that encourage crime, poor personal temperament, family origin, and poor parenting.
Social theorists insinuate that people learn to engage in crime through their interactions with others. For instance, they can learn to engage in criminal activities if their acts are reinforced, emulate criminal models or understand some beliefs that are favorable to particular crimes (JRank Organization, 2021). Therefore, through the association with other people, children may start viewing criminal activities as desirable. Social learning theory explains that people learn to take part in various criminal activities from intimate groups such as peers and family members. Poor parental discipline is a risk factor for criminality among children. In this case, a child learns to engage in crime through the differential reinforcement of criminal activity. For instance, if a parent frequently reinforces and infrequently punishes a behavior, there is a high probability that it will be repeated.
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The differential reinforcement is responsible for elevated personal assault crimes, among children outside their homes. Additionally, some parents less deliberately reinforce crimes such as theft among their children if they are embarrassed by their behaviors. JRank Organization (2021) states that children are likely to engage in activities when they are in situations that are similar to the ones they were reinforced by an individual they care about. On the other hand, adolescents are likely to engage in crimes that result in a large amount of reinforcement. In this case, peers can engage in burglary as an approach to seek social approval from their friends. Therefore, in social theories of criminality, fear of rejection and poor parental discipline are the major risk factors for various criminal activities.
Psychological theories try to explain factors such as lack of universal feelings such as guilt, empathy shame, or remorse as the reasons for criminal behaviors. One of the conditions increasing the rates of crime examined by the psychological theorists is Antisocial Personality Disorder (Diamond, 2012). People with this particular disorder tend to violate the rights of other people. Another characteristic of these persons is the failure to follow the social norms as they repeatedly engage in deceitful acts and disregard their safety as well as those of others. These people lack remorse, which they portray as they rationalize, having mistreated, hurt, or stolen from other people. Thus, if one witnesses criminal acts such as robbery, theft, or personal assault, in which the people involved lack remorse as well as an appropriate affect, these persons are exhibiting antisocial traits. These persons on most occasions are dissociated from their humanity such that they never understand how other people perceive their selfish acts. Psychological theorists also argue that sociopaths are made, from the various anger disorders that result from the repression of rage and chronic denial since early childhood (Diamond, 2012). Thus major risk factor of criminal activities among psychology theorists is the inability of children to react well to certain troubling situations during their daily activities.
Biological theorists try to explain the influence of genetics on an individual’s character. They explain that a person’s genetic disposition is crucial because it lays a framework, which could guide an individual in particular courses of action (Udel, n.d.). Biological theorists explain how an individual born with a below-average intelligence is likely to pursue other things to compensate for their incapability in the area. According to Udel (n.d.), school achievements tend to be predictive of behaviors that uphold the moral values of society. High school achievement is evident among children born with a high IQ. Biological theorists insinuate that academic achievement is positively correlated with an individual's self-esteem, financial success, as well as self-control. Thus, children with a high IQ tend to have a low rate of criminal behavior compared to those with a low level of IQ. Children with low IQ are likely to engage in theft because they have low financial success compared to those with a high IQ.
Most risk factors to criminality can be divided through the various levels of childhood development. For instance, in early childhood, a coercive relationship between the child and the parent increases the child's risk factor to criminality (Psychology Campus, 2008). Other risk factors in early childhood are lack of monitoring, poor parental discipline, and increased lead exposure (Science Daily 2017). Underachievement and rejection by peers is a risk factor for criminality among middle-aged children. During the early adolescent stage, persons are concerned about fitting in certain peer groups, thus committing to a certain rebel group, a risk factor for criminality. On the other hand, individual factors such as hormonal imbalances, learning disabilities, and impulsivity greatly contribute to their increased risk of engaging in criminal acts.
Comparing the three theories, the social model tends to be the main contributor to all criminal activities. People's associations with others tend to influence most of their criminal acts. Analyzing the risk factors through the levels of childhood development, the social theorists tend to provide a more significant explanation of what happens to increase one's probability of engaging in criminal activities. The psychological theorist argues that sociopaths are made. This point means that sociopaths' interactions with other people, including their parents and peers could have resulted in the behavior they exhibit. On the other hand, biological theorists ascertain that high academic achievement is positively correlated with self-esteem. However, these theorists fail to explain how low IQ results in low self-esteem. Thus, social theorists are clear on parents' coercive correctional approaches to a child's behavior which could negatively affect their self-esteem. Therefore, social theory tends to be the primary contributor to criminal activity among people.
References
Diamond, S. (2012). Joran, Casey and Psychopathic Narcissism: A Forensic Commentary . Psychology Today. Retrieved 7 July 2021, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evil-deeds/201201/joran-casey-and-psychopathic-narcissism-forensic-commentary
JRANK Organization. (2021). Crime Causation: Sociological Theories . JRANK Organization. Retrieved 7 July 2021, from https://law.jrank.org/pages/815/Crime-Causation-Sociological-Theories-Social-learning-theory.html.
Psychology Campus. (2008). Forensic and Criminal Psychology. Psychology Campus. Com. Retrieved 7 July 2021, from http://www.psychologycampus.com/forensic-criminal/
Science Daily. (2017). Decrease in Lead Exposure in Early Childhood Significantly Responsible for Drop-in Crime Rate. Science Daily. Com. Retrieved 7 July 2021 from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170628172143.htm
Udel Edu. Sociological and Environmental Factors of Criminal Behavior. Udel.Edu. Retrieved July 2021 from http://www1.udel.edu/chem/C465/senior/fall00/GeneticTesting/enviro.htm
