Criminal Behavior Theories, Typologies, and Criminal Justice J.B. Helfgott Seattle University

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Criminal Behavior Theories, Typologies, and
Criminal JusticeJ.B. HelfgottSeattle University

• CHAPTER 2
• Theories of Criminal Behavior

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Theories of Criminal Behavior
Its, I dont know, maybe a messed up gene
somewhere. -- Alex Baranyi, Quadruple
Murderer
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Myth v. Reality of Crime

• There is an ongoing chatter of incomprehensible
  criminal events in the background of our lives.
  For example
• Girl fatally stabbed before decapitated
  (Associated Press, February 19, 2007). 
• Gunman kills girls execution style at Amish
  school (Reid Baldwin, October 2, 2006).
• Woman rips of husbands testicles with bare
  hands (Clipmarks.com, May 19, 2006). 
• Woman charged with scalping Mohawk-wearing teen
  (Associated Press, July 14, 2005). 
• Woman kills pregnant woman and cuts out fetus
  (Shortnews.com, 2003).
• Most crime is not this extreme and the
  statistical likelihood of falling victim to a
  heinous crime is slim.

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What Causes a Person to Engage in Criminal
Behavior?

• It is impossible to respond to crime without
  asking what causes it to occur.
• Knowing something about the factors associated
  with criminal behavior, the characteristics of
  offender types, and the causes of crime
  provides information with which to
• Pursue and investigate suspects
• Adjudicate defendants, make sentencing
  determinations
• Manage offenders in correctional institutions,
  make parole and reentry decisions, and to design
  crime prevention and crime control strategies.

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Interdisciplinary Criminology

• INTERDISCIPLINARY CRIMINOLOGY involves the
  integration of knowledge from many fields to
  understand crime.
• In recent years there has been recognition among
  criminologists that comprehensive and accurate
  understanding and prediction of criminal behavior
  requires theoretical and disciplinary
  integration.
• Promising integrative models have emerged that
  pull from a range of disciplines.

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Factors that Influence Criminal Behavior

• BIOLOGICAL What are the biological roots of
  criminal behavior?
• PSYCHOLOGICAL What psychological factors
  contributed to this behavior?
• SOCIOLOGICAL What sociological forces
  contributed to this behavior?
• ROUTINE ACTIVITY/ECOLOGICAL What situational,
  contextual, environmental factors provided the
  setting and opportunity for this crime to occur?
• CULTURAL What cultural forces provided the
  context in which this crime could occur?
• PHENOMENOLOGICAL What personal meaning does the
  crime hold for the offender?

These six bodies of knowledge represent unique
ways of looking at crime and offer specific tools
with which to analyze criminal behavior.
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Biological Theories

• Evolution and Genetics
• Brain Chemistry and Function
• Hormones
• Psychophysiology and Other Biological Factors

Biological theories explain crime in terms of the
interaction between biological predisposition and
environmental conditions on behavioral outcomes
-- behaviors, characteristics, and traits
associated with crime are influenced by a range
of biological factors including evolution and
genetics, brain biochemistry and function, brain
injury, hormones, physiology, physical anomalies
and body build, diet and blood sugar levels, and
cognitive deficits.
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Psychological Theories

• Psychodynamic and Personality Theories
• Cognitive Theories
• Behavioral Theories

Psychological theories attribute criminal
behavior to individual differences resulting from
early psychodynamic development, information
processing and cognition, and conditioning
processes. Psychological theories of crime are
micro-level theories that locate the source of
criminality within the individual with the idea
that crime is a symptom of an individuals
internal psychological condition.
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Kernbergs Theory of Borderline Personality
Organization
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Sociological Theories

• Structural Theories
• Cultural Theories
• Interactionist Theories

Sociological theories explain criminal behavior
in terms of social influences such as community
disorganization, stigmatization and labeling,
peer influences, delinquent subcultures, and
social bonds. Sociological theories of crime are
macro-level theories that locate the source of
criminality outside of the individual with the
idea that nurture rather than nature shapes
criminal behavior.
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Routine Activity Theory

• Reduced Temptations
• Increased Controls
• Suitable Target
• Willing Offender
• Audience/Absence of Capable Guardians

The routine activity theory states that crime
occurs as a result of increased temptations and
reduced controls. From this perspective, setting
and opportunity are the most important factors
contributing to criminal behavior. Crime is
considered a normal everyday activity that occurs
when opportunities in the environment support or
discourage criminal behavior and can be
controlled through strategies that harden targets
and alter settings in ways that make crime less
opportune and desirable for offenders.
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Cultural Theories

• Cultural Criminology
• Blacks Aesthetics of Murder
• Penal culture and impact on prisoners

Cultural criminology recognizes criminality and
criminalization as cultural enterprises that must
be studied through a synthesis of divergent
perspectives including social, feminist, and
cultural theories. From this perspective,
criminal behavior (and its control) is
constructed, in part, through media, popular
culture, and the aesthetics dictated by the
authority. Criminal identities are born and
shaped within culture and within criminal
subcultures -- collective criminal aesthetic and
style, symbolism, and meaning are important
factors in understanding the criminality.
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Phenomenological Theories

• Jack Katz Seductions of Crime
• Criminological Verstehen
• Convict Criminology

The phenomenology of offending, grounded in
symbolic interactionism and existentialism,
reflects the unique experience, motivations,
decision-making processes of the offender, and
meaning of the offense in the moment it is
committed .
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Integrating Theories of Crime

• A number of theories have emerged that attempt to
  incorporate multiple theories and perspectives in
  explaining crime including
• A General Theory of Crime (Gottfredson Hirschi,
  1990)
• Developmental (Moffit, 1993) and Life-Course
  Criminology (Farrington, 2003)
• Integrated Systems Theory (Robinson, 2004)
• Control Balance Theory (Tittle, 2003)
• Integrated Theory of Delinquency (Elliot, Ageton,
  Canter, 2003)
• Interdisciplinary Criminology (Barak, 1998)..

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Applying the Theories The Baranyi and Anderson
Case

• Interdisciplinary criminology can be thought of
  as a criminological tool box -- different
  theories and knowledge bases can be thought of as
  distinct tools that can explain converging parts
  of the whole story.

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Key Elements of Byranyi and Anderson murder of
the Wilson Family

• Murders were committed by two individuals.
• Victims were acquaintances.
• Murder weapons were baseball bats, knives, and
  swords.
• Baseball bats, knives, and swords were seized
  from Andersons home.
• Offenders and one of the victims (Kimberly
  Wilson) were part of a group who hung out
  together at a local Dennys who were considered
  Goths who dressed in black and glorified death.
• Anderson)had previously dated Kimberly Wilson and
  owed her 350.00 which she tried to collect
  shortly before the murders.
• Forensic evidence (DNA analysis of blood on
  Baranyis shoelaces and Andersons shoes)
  supported convictions.
• Witnesses testified that Baranyi and Anderson
  were inseparable.
• Baranyi had been arrested 10 months prior to the
  murders for a domestic dispute with a female
  friend.

• Anderson had no prior record but had been
  previously investigated for property damage, a
  hit-and-run. accident, attempted arson, and grand
  theft in the disappearance of a cash-machine card
  from his parents house.
• Anderson was reported as a runaway in 1995 and
  wasnt accepted back home by his parents.
• Baranyi refused to rat on his friend as part of
  his confession.
• Witnesses testified that Baranyi and Anderson had
  spoken about plans to commit a range of crimes
  including specific statements about murdering the
  Wilson family and stealing items in their home.
• Baranyi was a devoted fan of the TV show
  Highlander. He wore his hair long and in a
  ponytail like the shows main character and
  collected swords and knives. A witness testified
  that in the context of role-playing games,
  Baranyi believed he was a demigod named Slice
  or Thunderclap and that he had concocted a
  make-believe love interest for his character
  named Rose.

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Key Elements of Byranyi and Anderson murder of
the Wilson Family

• Baranyi and Anderson were involved in role
  playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons.
• Baranyi and Anderson played computer games
  including Streetfighter and Supernintendo.
• Items from the Wilsons home were found in
  Baranyis apartment.
• Baranyis attorneys argued that he was bipolar.
• The Prosecutors in both Baranyis and Andersons
  cases argued that they had Antisocial Personality
  Disorder and felt no remorse for the murders.
• Baranyi confessed that he committed the murders
  because he was bored, in a rut, and in danger
  of becoming decadent. He said he had wanted to
  kill someone for years to experience something
  truly phenomenal.
• Baranyis writings included a to-do list of
  crimes with the an entry about reading obituaries
  and robbing the families homes while at the
  funeral.
• Witnesses indicated that Baranyi got too involved
  in role playing games and was generally calm
  except while playing computer games.
• Baranyi and Anderson were both living away from
  home at the time of the offense.

• Baranyis parents divorced when he was 8 yrs old
  at which time he was shuffled back and forth
  between his parents who lived in Washington and
  Pennsylvania.
• Baranyi and Anderson attended an alternative high
  school and dropped out before the murders.
• Anderson was described by witnesses as a charming
  ladies man with a mean streak while Baranyi
  was described as a sullen aloof follower who
  fumbled with women and shrunk around large
  groups of teenagers.
• Baranyi indicated that he had no motivation for
  committing the murders except that he thought
  Kimberly Wilson was selfish because she didnt
  share her cigarettes.
• Witnesses testified that Anderson had expressed
  anger at Kimberly Wilson because she asked him to
  pay her back money he owed her and he felt
  insulted by this.
• After being convicted and sent to the Washington
  State Penitentiary, Anderson paid 80 to set up a
  website in which he proclaimed his innocence and
  solicited female companionship

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Discussion Questions

• What theories best explain Baranyi Andersons
  criminal behavior?
• What factors converged to produce the behavior in
  this case?
• How can information/analysis of this case be used
  to predict and/or prevent future crimes of this
  nature?

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Summary

• To respond to crime we have to know what it is,
  who commits it, and why -- It is impossible to
  respond to crime without asking, What causes a
  person to engage in criminal behavior?
• Disciplinary perspectives and criminology
  knowledge bases can be broken down into six
  general areas and related research questions
  Biological, psychological, sociological, routine
  activity, cultural, phenomenological.
• Each perspective has something to offer in terms
  of understanding criminal behavior.
• Some crimes may be better explained by one or
  another of the perspectives, but integration of
  all of the perspectives is necessary to fully
  understand and unravel complexities of criminal
  behavior.