Michelle Skelton Profile picture
Criminal Justice professor, avid reader, budding artist, aspiring yogi, tattoo aficionado, coffee drinker, football & color guard Mom, TedX, she/hers

Jun 20, 2022, 81 tweets

THINKING CHALLENGE: From your common sense, why do people break the law?

Join me at tomorrow, Tuesday, 11:45am, cst, today to discuss!

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley #Chapter03 #Chapter04

Restarting my computer & we'll get started!

#CRJ105

Well wouldn't you know, that did not do the trick. I'm going to delay today's discussion for just a little bit, while I see if I can get my computer fixed!

Let's plan on 5:45 p.m. to revisit our discussion. See you then!

#CRJ105

Good afternoon criminology fans! It's TAKE TWO of our live discussion on unit 2 covering schools of thought and criminology, biological theories, and psychological theories

#CRJ105 <--- follow along!

I really enjoyed reading the #ProfessorFurlowWhiteBoard contributions for Unit 01, some thoughtful questions & comments. Keep up the good work for Unit 02!

Today we will be covering Chapter 3 & 4

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Before we get started with Unit 02, I wanted to check in how the course is progressing for you so far. Now that we've got one unit under our belt, how is online learning treating you?

#CRJ105 #CRJ105CourseSurvey

What, if any, aspects of the course have been beneficial to you?

#CRJ105 #CRJ105CourseSurvey

What, if any, aspects of the course are still confusing to you?

#CRJ105 #CRJ105CourseSurvey

Overall, have I been clear & consistent in my communication? Would more or less input, via the course announcements be helpful?

#CRJ105 #CRJ105CourseSurvey

Overall, are you finding the course interesting so far?

#CRJ105 #CRJ105CourseSurvey

We will see how some things have drastically changed and we haven't moved too far away from some of our historic belief systems

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

THINKING CHALLENGE: Why do you like history?

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

I LOVE history. It was one of my undergraduate degrees! History is essential to understanding why/how things are done today.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Chapter 03 is a brief introduction to the theories that we will continue to look at more in-depth through the next 14 weeks. Don't worry if this seems to fly by, we will get into each theory in more detail!

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

I understand that some see looking at history as simply memorizing names & dates of people who are no longer alive

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

We...however... are going to try to break that myth! We are going to journey back in time to see how the historical schools of thought of behavior have major impact on today.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

We will see how some things have drastically changed and we haven't moved too far away from some of our historic belief systems

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

My goal in presenting the theories is to provide a generalized statement or assumption about behavior (#theory) then provide real life cases to further apply those theories

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

The philosophical approach culminated in the middle of the eighteenth century in the classical school of criminology.

It is based on the assumption that individuals CHOOSE to commit crimes after weighing the consequences of their actions

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Prior to this time, most understanding of behavior was based on religious or spiritual beliefs.

In other words, if someone 'acted bad', well ... the devil made them do it!

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

The Classical School of Criminology developed as an attempt to apply rationality and the rule of law to brutal and arbitrary criminal justice processes.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Classical criminology grew out of a reaction against the barbaric system of law, punishment, and justice that existed before the French Revolution of 1789. Until that time, there was no organized system of criminal justice in Europe

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Take this classic scene from the 1995 film Braveheart as an example how torture was used, William Wallace (Mel Gibson) can only 'save himself' by pleading for mercy, in other words, confessing guilty

#SPOILERALERT (28 years is enough time, right?)

The colonies even dabbled in their use of spiritual explanations ... who remembers those Colonial girls gone wild of the #SalemWitchTrials?

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

What ushered in the Classical School and a more measured way to examine behavior?

The Age of Enlightenment

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Refresh your memory from your high school humanities class on this important era

thank you @johngreen
@thecrashcourse

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

By the mid-eighteenth century, as the result of such ENLIGHTENED thinking, social reformers were beginning to suggest a more rational approach to crime and punishment.

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In March 1763, Cesare Beccaria was assigned to prepare a report on the prison system. Beccaria presented a coherent, comprehensive design for an enlightened criminal justice system that was to serve the people rather than the monarchy

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According to Beccaria, the crime problem could be traced not to bad people but to bad laws. Beccaria’s book supplied the blueprint

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That blueprint was based on the assumption that people freely choose what they do and are responsible for the consequences of their behavior

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Utilitarianism assumes that all human actions are calculated in accordance with their likelihood of bringing happiness (pleasure) or unhappiness (pain).

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Bentham proposed a precise pseudo-mathematical formula for this process, which he called “felicific calculus.”

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Bentham reasoned that if prevention was the purpose of punishment, if punishment became too costly by creating more harm than good, then penalties needed to be set just a bit in excess of the pleasure one might derive from committing a crime, and no higher

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The law exists in order to create happiness for the community. Because punishment creates unhappiness, it can be justified only if it prevents greater evil than it produces.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

In Summary: People freely choose all their behavior; that motives such as greed, revenge, need, anger, lust, jealousy, thrill-seeking, and vanity are just expressions of free will, personal choice, conclusion, & decision-making that people have made

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

In Summary: Choices can be controlled by fear of punishment; because people weigh the potential benefits and consequences of crime

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In Summary: The more certain, swift, and severe the punishment, the greater is its ability to control criminal behavior, especially if the punishment is fair and serves some rational and legitimate purpose

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Not until Charles Darwin (1809–1882) challenged the doctrine of creation with his theory of the evolution of species did the next generation of criminologists have the tools with which to challenge classicism

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The turning point was the publication in 1859 of Darwin’s Origin of Species. The nineteenth-century forces of positivism and evolution moved the field of criminology from a philosophical to a scientific perspective

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

The belief that criminals are born, not made, and that they can be identified by various physical irregularities is reflected not only in scientific writing but in literature as well

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The school of human physiognomy is the study of facial features and their relation to human behavior.

Phrenology posited that bumps on the head were indications of psychological propensities.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Cesare Lombroso (1835–1909) integrated Comte’s positivism, Darwin’s evolutionism, and the many pioneering studies of the relation of crime to the body

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

“Insane criminals” become criminal as a result of some change in their brains that interferes with their ability to distinguish between right and wrong.

“Criminoloids” make up habitual criminals, criminals by passion, and other diverse types.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Ferri believed that criminals could not be held morally responsible because they did not choose to commit crimes but, rather, were driven to commit them by conditions in their lives.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Influenced by Lombroso’s theory of atavistic stigmata, in which he found many shortcomings, Garofalo traced the roots of criminal behavior not to physical features but to their psychological equivalents, which he called “moral anomalies.”

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Although Lombroso, Ferri, and Garofalo did not always agree on the causes of criminal behavior or on the way society should respond to it, their combined efforts marked a turning point in the development of the scientific study of crime

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Classic criminologists thought the problem of crime might be solved through limitations on governmental power, the abolition of brutality, and the creation of a more equitable system of justice.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Positivist criminologists influenced judges to give greater consideration to the offender than to the gravity of the crime when imposing sentences.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Alright fans, let's finish up by discussing Chapter 04, Biology, Psychology, and Criminology

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While criminals are not born criminal, the predisposition to be violent or to commit crime may be present at birth

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Bio-criminology is the study of the physical aspects of psychological disorders. Recent research has demonstrated that crime does indeed have psycho-biological aspects

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Sometimes a defect in the production of sperm or egg results in genetic abnormalities. One type of abnormality is the XYY chromosomal male. The XYY male receives two Y chromosomes from his father rather than one.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

The XYY syndrome, as this condition became known, received much public attention because of the case of Richard Speck. Speck, who in 1966 murdered eight nurses in Chicago, initially (but incorrectly) was diagnosed as an XYY chromosomal male

To discover whether crime is genetically predetermined, researchers have compared identical and fraternal twins

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

No one yet has found any direct link between genes and violence

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Do your genes, rather than upbringing, determine whether you will become a criminal? Adrian Raine believed so – and breaking that taboo put him on collision course with the world of science

theguardian.com/science/2013/m…

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

The debate over the relationship between IQ and crime has its roots in the controversy over whether intelligence is genetically or environmentally determined

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Bio-criminologists’ primary focus has been on the relationship between criminality and biochemical and neuro-physiological factors

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Experiments have shown that males typically are more aggressive than females. Several investigators have found higher levels of testosterone (the male hormone) in the blood of individuals who have committed violent offenses. Some studies also relate premenstrual syndrome (PMS)

Hypoglycemia is a condition that occurs when the level of sugar in the blood falls below an acceptable range. The brain is particularly vulnerable to hypoglycemia, and such a condition can impair its function

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Anecdotal reports, in addition to more scientific investigations, link criminality to diets high in sugar and carbohydrates, to vitamin deficiency or dependency, and to excessive food additives

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Neurocriminological have included a wide range of investigations: studies of cerebral structure, brain wave studies, clinical reports of minimal brain dysfunction, and theoretical explorations into the relationship between the limbic system and criminality

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Advances in brain imaging made accessible by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and other imaging technologies (for example, positron emission tomography, or PET scan) offer dramatic new insights into the brains of criminals

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

The Charles Whitman case brought attention to brain dysfunction and violence



#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

We've seen current debates surrounding football, concussions, and associations with violence

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

The psychoanalytic theory of criminality attributes criminal behavior to:
•A conscience so overbearing that it arouses feelings of guilt
•A conscience so weak that it cannot control the individual’s impulses
•The need for immediate gratification

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), the founder of psychoanalysis, suggested that an individual’s psychological well-being is dependent on a healthy interaction among the id, ego, and superego

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg, who pioneered moral developmental theory, has found that moral reasoning develops in three phases

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

British psychiatrist John Bowlby has studied both the need for warmth and affection from birth onward and the consequences of not having it

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Joan McCord has investigated the relationship between family atmosphere (such as parental self-confidence, deviance, and affection) and delinquency

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Social learning theory maintains that delinquent behavior is learned through the same psychological processes as any other behavior

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Albert Bandura, a leading proponent of social learning theory, argues that individuals learn violence and aggression through behavioral modeling

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Ernest Burgess and Ronald Akers combined Bandura’s psychologically based learning theory with Edwin Sutherland’s sociologically based differential association theory to produce the theory of differential association-reinforcement

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Traditionally, the medical profession viewed mental illness as an absolute condition or status ... either one is afflicted with psychosis or one is not.

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Mental illness should not be considered apart from mental health ... the two exist on the same continuum.

At various times in people’s lives, they move along the continuum from health toward illness

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

The choice between crime and conventional behavior is closely linked to individual biological and psychological traits and to social factors such as family and school experiences

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

When I see a notification during my discussion ... and it's just a bot!

I got all excited there for a moment!

Thanks for following our #CRJ105Unit02 discussion covering Schools of Thought & Biological and Psychological Trait theories.

I had fun looking through my old whiteboards.

I hope they help your understanding of these topics.

#CRJ105 @morainevalley

Until then, my friends! How would you grade today's discussion?

As always, send any questions, comments, feedback

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

AND if you made it THIS far, for E/C for this week, include your summer reading suggestion with your response. I just started Joyce Carol Oates "Blonde" as I heard there is a movie based on the book coming out ... so far, really good (tragic!)

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