The authors refine, amplify, and extend the conceptual model for understanding tinder-box criminal aggression they first introduced in Criminal Behavior. This work integrates relative contributions made by such intrapersonal characteristics as the need for serial stimulation, impairment in foresight and planfulness, and the acquisition of a taste for risk on the one hand, with such factors as child-rearing practices, vicarious conditioning, sub-cultures of violence, and the availability of mood-altering chemical substances on the other hand
Crime Statistics suggest that Americans are not a notably law-abiding people. With some 13 million felonies reported every year, it is not surprising that few topics engage public attention and imagination more compellingly than the dynamics of criminal behavior. Volume and ubiquity alone might suggest the psychology of criminal behavior is well understood and there exists an integrated body of explanatory theory and empirical evidence. But in fact only fragmentary and incomplete accounts have thus far appeared. Criminal Behavior is virtually unique in providing a comprehensive psychological paradigm that fits across variant species of crime, while meeting the requirements of science and the needs of law enforcement and administration of justice in controlling criminal behavior.The authors begin this remarkable text by outlining a model for criminal behavior based not on abnormal psychology but on the tenets of social learning theory. They illuminate the processes by which criminal activity is initiated and repeated, including personal constructs, stimulus determinants, and behavioral repertoires. They define four process elements that interact in precipitating criminal behavior-inclination, opportunity, expectation of reward, expectation of impunity. They show how these process elements are regulated and confined by a series of complex and variable boundary conditions in specific criminal offenses. Conceptual, methodological, and operational constraints on the study of criminal behavior are defined, and statistically and behavioral science data bearing upon larceny and homicide, two crimes at diametric extremes, are examined in detail.Pallone and Hennessy locate and define those psychological variables that render comprehensible the process whereby formally criminal acts are construed as possible and desirable by individual actors and show how those actors self-select psychosocial environments that facilitate or at least do not impede the commission of crime. They identify and explain the phenomenon of 'tinderbox violence.'Its comprehensive perspective and balanced consideration of competing viewpoints make Criminal Behavior an ideal text for students and teachers of criminology and of the psychology of criminal behavior. It is also a pioneering work for psychologists, sociologists, criminologists, and law-enforcement official.
The Criminology of Criminal Law considers the relation between criminal law and theories of crime, criminality and justice. This book discusses a wide range of topics, including: the way in which white-collar crime is defined; new perspectives on stranger violence; the reasons why criminologists have neglected the study of genocide; the idea of boundary crossing in the control of deviance; the relation between punishment and social solidarity; the connection between the notion of justice and modern sentencing theory; the social reaction to treason; and the association between politics and punitiveness. Contributors include Bonnie Berry, Don Gottfredson, David F. Greenberg, Marc Riedel, Jason Rourke, Kip Schlegel, Vered Vinitzky-Seroussi, Leslie T. Wilkins, Marvin E. Wolfgang, and Richard A. Wright. The Criminology of Criminal Law concludes with an analysis of the results of a study on the most cited scholars in the Advances in Criminological Theory series. This work will be beneficial to criminologists, sociologists, and scholars of legal studies. Advances in Criminological Theory is the first series exclusively dedicated to the dissemination of original work on criminological theory. It was created to overcome the neglect of theory construction and validation in existing criminological publications.
This authoritative reference featuring chapters by nationally and internationally recognized experts details behavioral science research with respect to antisocial, criminal, violent behavior, substance abuse, and other high risk behaviors and puts it in context for criminologists, criminal justice practitioners and policymakers, public and mental health professionals, treatment providers and prevention professionals. This resource provides a rich source of leading-edge thinking and data on the causes and treatment of antisocial behavior.
In response to exciting developments in genetics, neuroscience and evolutionary psychology, a number of criminologists have embraced the position that criminal behaviour is the product of biological, psychological, and sociological factors operating together in complex ways. They have come to realize that if they are to capture the dynamic nature of criminal behaviour then they must span multiple levels of analysis and thus multiple disciplines. The explosion of interest in this field of biosocial criminology over the past ten years means that the time is ripe for this research companion aimed at graduate students and scholars, giving them an essential overview of the current state of research in the field. The authors are experts in a variety of disciplines (sociology, psychology, biology, criminal justice, and neuroscience), but they all have in common a strong interest in criminal behaviour. This unique book is essential and accessible reading for all students and scholars in the field.
This Encyclopedia is the definitive resource for students, researchers and practioners needing further informationon various aspects of interpersonal violence, including different forms of interpersonal violence, incidence and prevalence, theoretical explanations, public policies, and prevention and intervention strategies.
Criminal psychology is the application of the principles of normal and abnormal psychology to the understanding, prediction, and control of criminal behavior. Criminal Psychology: Nature, Nurture, Culture provides an in-depth yet readable introduction to the foundations of criminal psychology as it is understood and practiced from the classroom to the courtroom. The book is organized into five sections. Part I examines the nature and origins of criminal behavior. These chapters outline the role of psychology in the criminal justice system, and review the biology, psychology, and sociology of crime to develop a naturalistic model of criminal behavior that can guide theory and practice in law enforcement, criminal justice, and forensic evaluation. Part II examines the major classes of mental disorder that may be associated with criminal behavior, including psychotic disorders, mood disorders, organic brain syndromes, substance abuse, and personality disorders. Each chapter consists of a description of the syndrome, followed by applications to law enforcement, criminal justice, and forensic mental health issues of competency, sanity, and criminal culpability. Part III deals with death. Topics include homicide, serial murder, mass homicide, workplace and school violence, and terrorism. Part IV covers sexual offenses and crimes within the family, including rape and sexual assault, sex crimes against children, child battery, domestic violence, and family homicide. Part V discusses the psychological dynamics of a variety of common crimes, such as stalking and harassment, theft and robbery, gang violence, organized crime, arson, hate crimes, victimology, the psychology of corrections, and the death penalty. Each chapter contains explanatory tables and sidebars that illustrate the chapter’s main topic with examples from real-life cases and the media, and explore controversies surrounding particular issues in criminal psychology, such as criminal profiling, sexual predator laws, dealing with children who kill, psychotherapy with incarcerated offenders, and the use of “designer defenses” in court. Grounded in thorough scholarship and written in a crisp, engaging style, this volume is the definitive handbook and reference source for forensic psychologists, mental health practitioners, attorneys, judges, law enforcement professionals, and military personnel. It will also serve as an authoritative core text for courses in forensic psychology, criminology, and criminal justice practice.
How does the sense of basic fairness--or selflessness versus selfishness--arise? How is it exhibited behaviorally? How is it maintained? Few topics hold more contemporary significance or have proved more elusive to specification in precise scientific terms. Current research perspectives on altruism, narcissism, and comity by distinguished behavioral scientists from around the world were brought together in a special issue of Current Psychology (Summer 1998) and are offered here in a useful compendium. Chapters and contributors include: "Equity, Justice, and Altruism" by Graham F. Wagstaff; "Reactions to the Fate of One's Brainchild After Its Disclosure" by Sidney Rosen and Shannon Wheatman; "Need Norm, Demographic Influence, Social Role, and Justice Judgment" by Helen E. Linkey and Sheldon Alexander; "Adaptive and Maladaptive Narcissism" by Robert W. Hill and Greg Yousey; "Perceptions of Self-Oriented and Other-Oriented Help-Providers" by Mark A. Barnett, Guy D. Vitaglione, Jeffrey S. Bartel, Birgit S. Valdez, Lee Ann Steadman, and Kimberly K. G. Harper; and "Pathological Narcissism and Serial Homicide" by Louis B. Schlesinger. Altruism, Narcissism, Comity will benefit students, researchers, and practitioners in the psychological sciences, sociology, political science, philosophy, law, and other disciplines concerned with the nature of selflessness, heroism, justice, and their variants.
Violent crime in America is more strongly associated with poverty and with changing social and economic conditions than with race or ethnicity, and patterns of violence are changing. These are among the conclusions of Poverty, Ethnicity, and Violent Crime, a searching analysis that draws on scholarly research from all the social and behavioral sciences. By framing his analysis in terms of different levels of explanation, James Short is able to identify fundamental causal conditions and processes that result in violent crime. The book also examines current policies and political and scholarly controversies concerning the control of violent crime. This book can serve as a text or as supplementary reading for a variety of criminology courses. }Violent crime in America is more strongly associated with poverty and with changing social and economic conditions than with race or ethnicity, and patterns of violence are changing. These are among the conclusions of Poverty, Ethnicity, and Violent Crime, a searching analysis that draws on scholarly research from all the social and behavioral sciences. By framing his analysis in terms of different levels of explanation, James Short is able to identify fundamental causal conditions and processes that result in violent crime. The book also examines current policies and political and scholarly controversies concerning the control of violent crime. This book can serve as a text or as supplementary reading for a variety of criminology courses. }
Explores how the explosion of neuroscience-based evidence in recent years has led to a fundamental change in how forensic psychology can inform working with criminal populations. This book communicates knowledge and research findings in the neurobiological field to those who work with offenders and those who design policy for offender rehabilitation and criminal justice systems, so that practice and policy can be neurobiologically informed, and research can be enhanced. Starting with an introduction to the subject of neuroscience and forensic settings, The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Forensic Neuroscience then offers in-depth and enlightening coverage of the neurobiology of sex and sexual attraction, aggressive behavior, and emotion regulation; the neurobiological bases to risk factors for offending such as genetics, developmental, alcohol and drugs, and mental disorders; and the neurobiology of offending, including psychopathy, antisocial personality disorders, and violent and sexual offending. The book also covers rehabilitation techniques such as brain scanning, brain-based therapy for adolescents, and compassion-focused therapy. The book itself: Covers a wide array of neuroscience research Chapters by renowned neuroscientists and criminal justice experts Topics covered include the neurobiology of aggressive behavior, the neuroscience of deception, genetic contributions to psychopathy, and neuroimaging-guided treatment Offers conclusions for practitioners and future directions for the field. The Handbook of Forensic Neuroscience is a welcome book for all researchers, practitioners, and postgraduate students involved with forensic psychology, neuroscience, law, and criminology.
