Two Influences That Explain Why People Turn To Crime Essay
1. Describe, using evidence, any two influences that explain why a person turns to crime. (10)
There are three main influences that explain why a person will turn to crime. These are cognitive, biological and upbringing. One influence that might cause an individual to turn to crime is upbringing. Farrington (2006) conducted a study in delinquent development to document the start, duration and end of offending behaviour from children and to adulthood in families. Farrington’s study concluded that offenders tend to be deviant in many areas of their lives. One of the most important risk factors for criminality in the family was poor school performance. This statement can be backed up by Farrington’s results that showed that, those who started criminal careers aged 10-13 were nearly all reconvicted (91%) and committed on average 6 crimes. Ages 10-16 (the early offenders) accounted for 77% of all crime in the group. This concluded that early intervention programmes for the under tens could have significant impact in reducing offending. …show more content…
Individuals might turn to crime as they think in a fundamentally different way to law-abiding citizens. Yochelson and samenow (1976) conducted a study to help understand the make up of the criminal personality. Yochelsons study concluded that criminals passed a number of personality traits including: restlessness, dissatisfaction, adrenaline junky, habitually angry, lacking empathy, and feel no obligation to anyone or anything. This suggests that individuals who posses these characteristics are likely to turn to crime. However, the 52 thinking ‘errors’ discovered may not be unique to criminals, as a control group was not
There are three main influences that explain why a person will turn to crime. These are cognitive, biological and upbringing. One influence that might cause an individual to turn to crime is upbringing. Farrington (2006) conducted a study in delinquent development to document the start, duration and end of offending behaviour from children and to adulthood in families. Farrington’s study concluded that offenders tend to be deviant in many areas of their lives. One of the most important risk factors for criminality in the family was poor school performance. This statement can be backed up by Farrington’s results that showed that, those who started criminal careers aged 10-13 were nearly all reconvicted (91%) and committed on average 6 crimes. Ages 10-16 (the early offenders) accounted for 77% of all crime in the group. This concluded that early intervention programmes for the under tens could have significant impact in reducing offending. …show more content…
Individuals might turn to crime as they think in a fundamentally different way to law-abiding citizens. Yochelson and samenow (1976) conducted a study to help understand the make up of the criminal personality. Yochelsons study concluded that criminals passed a number of personality traits including: restlessness, dissatisfaction, adrenaline junky, habitually angry, lacking empathy, and feel no obligation to anyone or anything. This suggests that individuals who posses these characteristics are likely to turn to crime. However, the 52 thinking ‘errors’ discovered may not be unique to criminals, as a control group was not