Forensic Psychology For Dummies (15 page)
Read Forensic Psychology For Dummies Online
Authors: David Canter
Criminal characteristics
Criminals are a varied bunch of people, but research shows that there are some general characteristics typical of the average criminal, no matter what the crime:
They’re most often men (about 80 per cent for most crime types).
Of course, plenty of convicted criminals don’t have these characteristics (and they sometimes write their autobiographies just to show how capable and misunderstood they are). People from good family backgrounds can end up as murderers or major fraudsters, but they’re the exception rather than the rule.
Without doubt, social, economic, political and cultural influences affect the prevalence of crime, but, hey, I’m a forensic psychologist and want you to get to know about the factors relating to characteristics of individuals. To find out more about criminals and crimes check out
Criminology For Dummies
by Stephen Briggs (Wiley).
Committing a Crime: What Leads Someone to Break the Law
Stephen Sondheim’s tongue-in-cheek lyric from that great musical
West Side Story
and used to such brilliant effect, seeks to boldly shift any blame for the seriously bad behaviour of the youthful hooligans and delinquents squarely onto society (the full lyrics are available atwww.westsidestory.com/lyrics_krupke.php).
Sondheim enjoys sending up the argument so often put forward for excusing criminal behaviour. But as with all explanations for crime, the fact that plenty of people from similar circumstances never become criminals exposes its flaws. In this section, I take a look at several of the suggested causes for crime and try to find out what gives rise to a person becoming a habitual criminal, committing one sort of crime after another, over a few hours, days or a number of years.
You may notice in the section ‘Defining Criminals and Crimes’, that I didn’t get round to discussing what causes a person to become a criminal (or not). In fact, almost anyone is capable of committing a crime in a given situation – and probably everyone does from time to time, like filching the coloured paper from the office stationery cupboard to make party hats, or driving over the speed limit.
Most people, most of the time, avoid doing anything seriously criminal. Even in very difficult circumstances, when survival may depend on breaking the law, many people resist.
It’s suprising how people act in an emergency, such as being caught in a building on fire. I’ve seen people put their lives in danger so as not to break the law. For example, when a fire alarm sounds in shops or a restaurant, and even with smoke visible, many people queue up or wait to pay their bill rather than just running for the exit.
Giving birth to criminals?
Under the heading ‘Defining Criminals and Crimes’, I talk about how different legal systems define crime differently and the many different sorts of crimes that exist, from impulsive and violent crimes to crimes requiring intelligent planning so as to avoid violence. Some criminals may work alone and some criminals operate in a group. Therefore, stating a general cause for criminality that holds true around the world and that gives rise to the many different types of crime is impossible.
Perhaps you’re thinking, ‘that’s all very well, but what causes a person to commit a crime . . . is it nature or nurture . . . is somebody born a criminal or does he become that way through having the skills, experience and opportunity?’
The causes of crime lie partly in inherited characteristics and partly in upbringing and circumstances. Both aspects of a person can combine together to produce an offender. For example, consider someone with little intellectual ability, for whom school is one big turn-off, who finds more interest and excitement in mixing with his older brothers who’re already committing crimes. Is it nature or nurture that makes him a criminal?
More likely, some general personality characteristics – such as the desire for excitement, impulsivity and low intelligence – open up the social pathways that can lead to becoming a criminal. But of course tendencies such as seeking excitement can also be channelled into more productive activities such as sports (although sporting activities also need self-discipline, hard work and so on). Similarly, plenty of capable, resourceful people grow up in a criminal culture and become gang bosses, when in a different situation and having alternatives they may well have become politicians (assuming you accept the wide difference between the two occupations!).Wanting money can play a part in someone being drawn into criminal activities. Crimes involving financial gain, especially theft, can be caused by a real financial need. However, the average burglar generally makes little money from a burglary (what he makes from selling stolen goods is invariably only a fraction of the real value of the items). Many thieves see burglary as an exciting opportunity and not a carefully considered way of making money.
Calculating the actual financial rewards of burglary is difficult. The opportunity exists for insurance claims being distorted by the victim of a burglary exaggerating their claim (crime feeding on crime).