Individualist Theories

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Individualist Theories
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Individualist Theories

• I discuss individualist theories first (unlike
  the book) because
• they are less systematic
• not as successful at explaining delinquent
  involvement
• Americans favor individualist explanations for
  delinquency.
• Individualist Reasons typically involve
• morality
• personal responsibility
• calculating criminals
• increasingly include medical model of individual
  sickness

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Individualist Theories

• Traits
• Agnew (chapter 13) does a good job listing traits
  associated with delinquency, and discussing why
  they, through social processes, lead to
  delinquency.
• But many trait theorists completely leave out and
  ignore the social dynamic, saying that traits
  represent biological distinctions or result from
  early childhood experiences.
• Some apparent traits represent the psychologizing
  of social systems, and it is very difficult to
  argue that they are inherent traits. In fact,
  they are quite obviously products of interactions.

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Individualist Theories

• Traits
• Traits Associated with Delinquency
• Low Verbal IQ
• Learning Disabilities
• Hyperactivity Attention Deficit Disorder
• Sensation Seeking
• Reduced ability to learn from Punishment
• Irritability
• Insensitivity to others/Low empathy
• Flawed Interpersonal Problem-Solving
  Skills/Social Skills
• Flawed Moral Reasoning and Moral Beliefs

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Individualist Theories

• Traits
• Why not put in the list?
• being born black
• being born with a penis
• being born young
• Certainly these are biological realities...
• economic disadvantitis
• high density disorder

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Individualist Theories

• Equipotentiality
• Trait theorists dismiss equipotentiality
• the idea that all humans are born with equal
  potential to learn and achieve.
• Sociologists typically see biological
  equipotentiality, but argue that humans are not
  born with social equality of circumstances.

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Individualist Theories

• Trait theorists too often note differences in the
  physical or mental manifestations of outcasts
  (delinquents) and assume that it was these
  characteristics that made the kid delinquent.
• They often believe the dualistic fallacy
• -that conformists and deviants are mutually
  exclusive categories.
• Many people think this way even though we know
  most people break laws in some way (recall that
  we were all juvenile delinquents).

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Individualist Theories

• Fun Historical Information
• Lombrosos Criminal Atavism
• Determined by measuring features of criminals in
  Italy. They were more pre-historic looking
• (We might have some in class)
• What would the physical profile of a criminal be
  today?

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Individualist Theories

• Fun Historical Information
• Sheldon's Somatotype School is fun
• Mesomorphs (muscular people)
• Endomorphs (fat people)
• Ectomorphs (skinny people)
• Which is more likely to commit computer crimes?

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Individualist Theories

• Dog Breeds
• Trait theories are like popular conceptions of
  dog breeds (perhaps these ideas are misapplied to
  humans)
• Many attribute personality and skills to breeds
  of dogs, typecasting on appearances.
• We now have much breed-specific legislation.
  Many animal shelters put pit bulls down.
• Pit bulls are said to be very aggressive,
  tenacious and dangerous. Yet, this occurs only
  with maltreatment.

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Individualist Theories

• Pit bulls are not the baddest dog on record.
  Rottweilers are worse according to statistics.
• In a 20-year period, 238 people in the US were
  killed by 25 different breeds. Pit Bull types
  and Rottweilers were involved in half. Most were
  by unrestrained dogs.
• This all shows that how we treat dogs because of
  their traits may be more important than the
  behaviors the traits are said to produce.

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Individualist Theories

• Modern Trait Theories
• Often escape the simplicity of previous theories,
  but suffer similar problems ignoring social
  conditions and methodological flaws in research.
• For example, Biochemical Factors in Delinquency
• Sugar is actually not linked to problem behavior
  chemically. What about socially?
• Diet is socially determined. Southerners eat
  differently from northerners who eat differently
  from westerners. Rich eat differently from
  poor.
• Main Point Few human phenomena are independent
  of social experience.

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Individualist Theories

• Another Issue Sampling on the Dependent
  Variable
• Many studies point to neurological or mental
  problems of delinquents, but these often
• Lack of Controls common in criminological
  research
• Make misleading comparisons
• E.G. Often compare problems in prison to
  problems in general population when efforts to
  identify problems are more intense in
  institutions (Diagnosis occurs once in the
  system and persons are evaluated. Law abiders
  are undiagnosed.)
• They need to focus on whether large numbers of
  problem people in the general population
  actually commit crime. (E.g., being black is
  linked to crime, but overwhelming majority of
  blacks are not criminal.)
• What social conditions might lead to increased
  arrest of problem people?
• Stay in seat at school?
• Stable home?
• Skill at handling authority (self presentation)?

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Individualist Theories
Sample from Mobile, AL. IQ scores are centered
on 100, meaning this sample has low IQ. Mean
83, SD is 13.
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Individualist Theories

• But we cannot ignore traits...
• We must have biological capacities before we can
  do anything social.
• For example, we must have
• capacity for language to speak
• arms to hold a child
• legs to walk
• we cannot fly without machines
• Misfiring neurons can make you socially awkward
• However, it is not biology that determines what
  we value, or the choices we make.
• Place kicker vs. Ass-kicker