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The Psychology of Criminal Conduct

01 Jan 1994-
TL;DR: For instance, the authors investigates the relationship between the beginning and maintenance of criminal activity and diverse risk predictors (singular and social, static and dynamic) in the development of criminal behaviour.
Abstract: Throughout the last decades the so-called Psychology of criminal conduct, which agglutinates scientific knowledge surrounding criminal phenomena, has been taking shape. We can find among the principal fields of interests an explanation for antisocial behaviour where learning theories, analyses of individual characteristics, strain-agression hypotheses, studies on social vinculation and crime, and the analyses of criminal careers are relevant. This last sector, also denominated ‘developmental criminology’, investigates the relationship between the beginning and maintenance of criminal activity and diverse risk predictors (singular and social, static and dynamic). Their results have had great relevance in the creation of crime prevention and treatment programs. Psychological treatments of offenders are aimed at the modification of those risk factors, known as ‘criminogenic needs’, which are considered to be directly related to their criminal activity. In particular, treatment programs attempt to provide criminals (whether juveniles, abusers, sexual aggressors, etc.) with new repertoires of prosocial behaviour, develop their thinking, regulate their choleric emotions, and prevent relapses or recidivisms in crime. Lastly, nowadays the Psychology of criminal conduct places special emphasis on the prediction and management of the risk for violent and antisocial behaviour, a field which will be addressed in a subsequent paper of this same monograph.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a five-year follow-up study of 572 male graduates of a boot camp in the South was conducted to determine what elements of life-course theory discriminated between four outcomes: (1) non-recidivists, (2) recidivist with felonies, (3) technical parole violators, and (4) parole violator due to drugs.

31 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A study examined the interaction of demographic, clinical, affective and behavioural characteristics with the function of aggressive behaviour and revealed several statistically significant relationships.
Abstract: Aggression occurs regularly on many psychiatric wards; its assessment, prevention and management are fundamental aspects of contemporary psychiatric inpatient treatment. In response to the need to understand aggression in this context a considerable body of research has accumulated, clarifying the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients that contribute to an increased propensity for aggressive behaviour. Concurrent research has identified a range of situational demands, antecedent interactions, functions and precipitants to aggressive behaviour. Rarely has research attempted to understand how these predisposing characteristics sensitise a patient to environmental events, or predispose a patient to act aggressively for particular purposes. This article describes the results of a study that examined the interaction of demographic, clinical, affective and behavioural characteristics with the function of aggressive behaviour. Results revealed several statistically significant relationships. In these instances, the individual characteristics evidently predisposed patients to an increased risk of aggression that satisfied or attempted to satisfy certain functions. Awareness of these associations might assist in the delineation of methods for managing a patient during hospitalisation; patients could be assisted to satisfy psychological needs and staff may be able to provide psychiatric treatment in a manner that reduces the likelihood of aggression.

31 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the foundational considerations, populations of concern, psychological needs, and historical lessons concerning offender rehabilitation have been discussed in the field of offender rehabilitation over the past 25 years.
Abstract: As the articles in the special issue make clear, significant advances have been made in the field of offender rehabilitation over the past 25 years. Reflecting on the contributions in the this special issue, this article discusses the foundational considerations, populations of concern, psychological needs, and historical lessons concerning offender rehabilitation.

31 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The most problematic group of newly incarcerated male juvenile delinquents consisted of juveniles with multiple psychopathology, including antisocial traits, personality pathology, higher scores on the Psychopathy Checklist, as well as multiple substance abuse.
Abstract: The current study investigated the prevalence of mental disorders among incarcerated juvenile offenders in Germany and sought to identify clinically relevant subgroups. In sum, 149 newly incarcerated male juvenile delinquents (M age = 19 years) were included. Diagnostic tools included the German version of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV and the Psychopathy Checklist-Screening Version. The most prevalent diagnoses in the sample included conduct disorders (81%), Cluster B personality disorders (up to 62%), and substance-related disorders (up to 60%). Moreover, psychopathic features were found among 21% of the participants. Cluster analysis distinguished three subgroups among this group of young offenders. The most problematic consisted of juveniles with multiple psychopathology, including antisocial traits, personality pathology, higher scores on the Psychopathy Checklist, as well as multiple substance abuse. Study outcomes are discussed in light of their implications for the development of effective treatment for juvenile offenders.

31 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Andrews' psychology of criminal conduct (PCC) as discussed by the authors has become commonplace in the lexicon of corrections and criminal justice agencies and their practitioners by changing the manner by which they worked with offenders and by translating theory and research to policy and practice.
Abstract: Donald Andrews’ overarching goal in the field of criminal justice was to assist offenders in changing their antisocial behavior His means of doing so was to assist criminal justice agencies and their practitioners by changing the manner by which they worked with offenders Beginning with the principles of differential association and social learning theory, Andrews crafted his own version of the psychology of criminal conduct (PCC) As a result of PCC, terms like “criminogenic needs” and “risk-need-responsivity” (RNR), which he coined and then researched extensively, have become commonplace in the lexicon of corrections But that is only the beginning of his legacy Translating theory to practice and then implementing it in countless criminal justice agencies represents his second monumental contribution to correctional and forensic psychology The tools he developed were vital to his linking assessment with intervention and his translating theory and research to policy and practice He also insisted tha

31 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is suggested that delinquency conceals 2 distinct categories of individuals, each with a unique natural history and etiology: a small group engages in antisocial behavior of 1 sort or another at every life stage, whereas a larger group is antisocial only during adolescence.
Abstract: This chapter suggests that delinquency conceals two distinct categories of individuals, each with a unique natural history and etiology: A small group engages in antisocial behavior of one sort or another at every life stage, whereas a larger group is antisocial only during adolescence. According to the theory of life-course-persistent antisocial behavior, children's neuropsychological problems interact cumulatively with their criminogenic environments across development, culminating m a pathological personality. According to the theory of adolescence-limited antisocial behavior, a contemporary maturity gap encourages teens to mimic antisocial behavior in ways that are normative and adjustive. There are marked individual differences in the stability of antisocial behavior. The chapter reviews the mysterious relationship between age and antisocial behavior. Some youths who refrain from antisocial behavior may, for some reason, not sense the maturity gap and therefore lack the hypothesized motivation for experimenting with crime.

9,425 citations

BookDOI
28 Jul 2017
TL;DR: In Causes of Delinquency, Hirschi attempts to state and test a theory of delinquency, seeing in the delinquent a person relatively free of the intimate attachments, the aspirations, and the moral beliefs that bind most people to a life within the law.
Abstract: In Causes of Delinquency, Hirschi attempts to state and test a theory of delinquency, seeing in the delinquent a person relatively free of the intimate attachments, the aspirations, and the moral beliefs that bind most people to a life within the law. In prominent alternative theories, the delinquent appears either as a frustrated striver forced into delinquency by his acceptance of the goals common to us all, or as an innocent foreigner attempting to obey the rules of a society that is not in position to make the law or define conduct as good or evil. Hirschi analyzes a large body of data on delinquency collected in Western Contra Costa County, California, contrasting throughout the assumptions of the strain, control, and cultural deviance theories. He outlines the assumptions of these theories and discusses the logical and empirical difficulties attributed to each of them. Then draws from sources an outline of social control theory, the theory that informs the subsequent analysis and which is advocated here. Often listed as a "Citation Classic," Causes of Delinquency retains its force and cogency with age. It is an important volume and a necessary addition to the libraries of sociologists, criminologists, scholars and students in the area of delinquency.

3,690 citations

Book
01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: Haug, Sorensen, Gruber, Song, Relapse Prevention for Opioid Dependence, and Wheeler, George, Stoner, Enhancing the Relapse prevention model for Sex Offenders: Adding Recidivism Risk Reduction Therapy to Target Offenders' Dynamic Risk Needs.
Abstract: Marlatt, Witkiewitz, Relapse Prevention for Alcohol and Drug Problems. Blume, de la Cruz, Relapse Prevention among Diverse Populations. Kadden, Cooney, Treating Alcohol Problems. Shiffman, Kassel, Gwaltney, McChargue, Relapse Prevention for Smoking. Carroll, Rawson, Relapse Prevention for Stimulant Dependence. Haug, Sorensen, Gruber, Song, Relapse Prevention for Opioid Dependence. Roffman, Stephens, Relapse Prevention for Cannabis Abuse and Dependence. Kilmer, Cronce, Palmer, Relapse Prevention for Abuse of Club Drugs, Hallucinogens, Inhalants, and Steroids. Collins, Relapse Prevention for Eating Disorders and Obesity. Shaffer, LaPlante, Treatment of Gambling Disorders. Wheeler, George, Stoner, Enhancing the Relapse Prevention Model for Sex Offenders: Adding Recidivism Risk Reduction Therapy to Target Offenders' Dynamic Risk Needs. Zawacki, Stoner, George, Relapse Prevention for Sexually Risky Behaviors.

2,866 citations

BookDOI
01 Jan 1989
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a theory of criminality, heredity, and environment for criminality and apply it to the problem of illegal behavior in the United States.
Abstract: 1. Introduction.- 2. The Constitutional Theory of Criminality.- 3. Crime and Personality.- 4. Criminality, Heredity, and Environment.- 5. A Biological Theory of Criminality.- 6. The Function and Effectiveness of Sentencing.- 7. The Prevention and Treatment of Illegal Behavior.- 8. Sexual Deviations.- 9. Summary and Conclusions.- References.

404 citations

Book
27 Apr 1993
TL;DR: The Measurement and Distribution of Crime, Criminology, and Psychology as mentioned in this paper The Measurement of and distribution of crime, crime, and mental health disorders, and the effectiveness and ethics of intervention with offenders.
Abstract: Crime, Criminology, and Psychology. The Measurement and Distribution of Crime. Classification of Offenders. Social and Environmental Theories of Crime. Individually Oriented and Integrated Theories of Crime. Biological Correlates of Antisocial Behavior. Familial and Social Correlates of Crime. Personal Attributes of Offenders. Aggression and Violent Crime. Crime and Mental Disorder. Sexual Deviation and Sexual Offending. Forensic Psychology and the Offender. Psychological Interventions with Offenders. Treatment of Dangerous Offenders. The Effectiveness and Ethics of Intervention. References. Index.

373 citations