Theories for offending

Theories for offending

1. Eysenck's personality theory: based on genetics to predispose our behaviours on a general scale

   • 'extraverts' are underaroused and need stimulation
   • 'psychoticism': lack of empathy, agressiveness
   • 'neuroticism' irritable, moody:

2. Farrington's simple model of crime: cambridge study in Delinquent Development found risk factors associated with why people commit crimes

   • Longitudinal study found risk factors of 41% of the cohort the committed a crime
     • Family
     • Individual differences
     • Socio-economic standards
     • School
     • Peers
   • Holistic approach that looks at comparing individuals (inter) and looking at changes over time too (intra)

3. David Canter: heirarchy of criminal differentiation

   • Basic level allows us to know who will commit a crime and who won't
   • Specifying broad classes of crime (violent, property)
     • crime within a class (property, may be arson or burgulary)
       • Consider the modus operandi (the way they prefer to commit a crime
         • The signature: a behaviour that uniquely identifies an offender.

4. Sexual offending

   • Types of rapists (Groth, Burgess and Holstrom, 1977):
     • Anger (excitation or sadistic)
     • anger retaliation
     • power reassurance
     • Power dominance
     • Oppportunistic
   • Gannon: behavioural, cognitive, affective and contextual factors of offending sexually
     • Explicit-approach: any that pre-planned the offence to feel gratitude
     • Direct-avoidant: coerced into offending by an often abusive male and offended out of fear
     • Implicit-disorganised: no planning, disorganised and impulsive and may feel negative or positive about the experience
   • Grounded theory (ward et al) stages of offending against children
     • Background factors of the offender such as their interpersonal relationships
       • Distal planning which may be explicit, implicit or by chance
         • Non-sexual contact with the victim such as recreational play
           • Cognitive restructuring where offender will feel guilt or positive (sexual arousal)
             • Proximal planning: whether they plan to please themselves, the other or both
               • Offense: which may be intense and short or long and intrusive
                 • Post offence cognitive restructuring: feelings of guilt and disgust or enhancement
                   • Future resolution: offend again or nah?
                     • Perceptions of lifestyle: the two steps above become new background factors
     • Polascheck et al : rape against adult women
       • Background: lifestyle and mood prior
         • Goals of the offence: sexual gratification IE
           • Approach: direct or indirect
             • Preparation: evaluation and planning
               • Offending
                 • Post offence strategies such as normalising the behaviour or rationalising
   • Prentky and Knight: opportunistic muted or overt anger motivation: non-sadistic low and high; vindictive low and high