15. Personality theories

This chapter discusses the term ‘personality’, which is used to describe an individual’s temperamental and emotional attributes that are relatively consistent and that will influence behaviour, and considers the extent to which the leading psychological explanations of personality development can be related to criminal behaviour. Psychologists use different classifications—some might include considerations of biological factors or aspects of mental disorder such as psychopathy within the category of personality—and refer to a persistent or stable personality characteristic as a trait. For many years they have devised tests aimed at measuring personality traits in an attempt to test the hypothesis that people who are prone to act in an antisocial way are distinguishable from ‘normal’ people.

9. Conflict, Marxist and radical theories of crime

This chapter discusses the two contrasting views of society that have been repeatedly put forward through history. First is the consensus view, whereby it is claimed that society is based on a general consensus of values and that the state is operated in such a way as to protect this. Labelling theorists, such as Howard Becker, raised as a central issue the question ‘Who makes the rules and why?’ This reflected a contrasting, conflict view of society which recognises that society includes groups with competing values and interests. Unlike the consensus view, a conflict approach claims that the state does not uphold the interests of society as a whole, but only those of the groups that are powerful enough to control it. The best-known conflict theorist was Karl Marx, who argued that, in capitalist societies, the state is controlled by those who own the means of production.

8. Interactionism and phenomenology

This chapter focuses on two alternative hypotheses regarding crime and criminal behaviour. The first, based on interactionism, is that crime is not an objective entity, but a consequence of social processes that occur in societies made up of different value systems, and in which particular individuals are able to influence both the actual and perceived status of others. As the name suggests, interactionism refers to the processes by which people come to react to their own self-image, their view of others, and their perception of how others see them, as well as the settings in which they meet or interact with others. The second, based on phenomenology, is that it is impossible to impose meaning on the behaviour of others and that the only function of a ‘scientific’ researcher can be to provide an adequate account of the meaning of behaviour for the actors themselves. Phenomenology is a German philosophy developed during the 1950s by Harold Garfinkel.

7. Subcultural theories

This chapter discusses Robert Merton’s anomie theory, which indicated several possible forms of reaction by individuals who had suffered from the strain of being unable to attain society’s ultimate goal by the institutionalised means made available to them: typically, regular, productive work. For some, the reaction could involve engaging in deviant or criminal behaviour. Merton’s approach was adopted and modified by other sociologists and criminologists who were interested in studying the behaviour of groups—usually of young people—within a society, which deviate from or totally reject the views of the majority. Such groups are referred to by sociologists as subcultures. The use of the term ‘subculture’ has largely centred on juvenile delinquent gangs. This restriction is unfortunate because subculture is a sociological concept that has a wide application, and the relationship with the emotive topic of gangs has, in many ways, proved to be counterproductive.

6. Poverty, anomie and strain

This chapter discusses the common and understandable belief that poverty can be a significant factor underlying offending. It considers first the research evidence connecting crime with poverty and unemployment, and then takes a wider view of the ways in which the structuring of society can create pressures on individuals to break the law. From the earliest times, people have sought to equate crime with poverty. If this belief is correct, there should be more crime in areas where more poor people live and at times when overall levels of poverty are higher. It was not until the development of national crime statistics in the nineteenth century that any evaluation could be made of this widely held view.

3. The media and ‘law and order’

This chapter presents that fact that, in Britain, most of the information that people receive about crime is second-hand. As relatively few people are victims of serious crime, the offending images that are formed in the minds of the majority largely come from reports and discussions in the mass media. Indeed, with growing urbanisation, it is increasingly necessary to rely on the media to find out what has been happening in one’s own neighbourhood. The chapter considers whether the mass media’s reporting of crime has a significant impact on people’s daily lives and their attitudes to ‘law and order’ issues. There is also a body of research evidence suggesting that media portrayals of violent crime may inspire some people to engage in ‘copycat’ incidents.

Introduction—Criminology: its origins and research methods

This chapter discusses the origins of the term ‘criminology’, which emerged at the end of the nineteenth century because a group of theorists laid claim to systematic knowledge as to the nature of criminal behaviour, its causes and solutions. Prior to this, commentaries on crime largely arose out of other enterprises. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the administration of criminal justice in most European countries had been influenced by the views of several writers whose approach, although differing in certain respects, has come to be referred to as ‘classicism’. The basic view as to the organisation of society adopted by the classicists was influenced by the social contract theories of Hobbes and Rousseau. Individuals agree to join together to form a society, and there is a consensus within the society for the private ownership of property and the protection of its members from harm.

5. Crime and the environment

This chapter discusses the first significant efforts to study both the environments in which crimes occurred and the areas in which the criminals lived. This type of study was to establish a tradition that began to take hold throughout Europe before entering its best-known period in the hands of the Chicago Ecologists. The ills of society, including crime and disorder, were perceived as emanating from the ‘dangerous’ classes. They were considered as vicious and depraved, and, after the writings of Charles Darwin, it became easier even for educated opinion to portray them as a race apart. Any defects in morality were also attributed to the appalling conditions in which one had to live.

1. Crime: definitions and conflicting images

This chapter describes the subject matter of criminology as self-evident. Both etymologically and in the largely unquestioning view of early positivists, criminology concerns the content and application of the criminal law of whatever society is under consideration. Such a definition has the advantage of precision: criminologists do not have to worry about the scope of their subject, as the legislature and, in some countries, the judiciary, has fixed it for them. Yet, such a definition is ultimately unsatisfactory for a number of reasons. Inevitably, there are differing views about what should amount to a criminal offence among individuals in the same society. This is where positivists usually draw the line and insist on confining themselves to the legal definitions, although even they must concede that this divergence indicates that the content of the criminal law is not set in stone.

14. Intelligence, mental disorder and crime

This chapter presents the concept of mental disorder in contrast with the possible physiological influences in criminal behaviour. The idea behind the concept is that the underlying causes are not physical in nature, but are due to the workings of the ‘mind’. The chapter begins with a consideration of whether differences in individuals’ cognitive capacity-or, as it is usually called, intelligence-can have any bearing on the likelihood of their acting in an antisocial manner. It also discusses the definition of ‘learning disability’, a legal classification defined as a state of arrested or incomplete development of the mind, which includes significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning.