Presented byJohn Lynch, Yamhill Co. Juv. Dept.SUPERVISION .docx

Presented by
John Lynch, Yamhill Co. Juv. Dept.
SUPERVISION & TREATMENT
OF SEXUAL OFFENDERS
1
Almost every hand you’ve shaken has touched a penis.
THINK ABOUT THIS
FOR A SECOND…
To gain knowledge regarding the broad range of considerations
when supervising offenders who have committed sexual
offenses and to examine effective intervention strategies.
LEARNING GOAL

Myths about sex offenders
Common characteristics of sex offenders
Sexual offense recidivism rates
Risk factors that are/are not associated
with recidivism
Common tactics of sex offenders
WE WILL COVER…
“Success-oriented” supervision model
The importance of communication
Specialized supervision conditions and
success-oriented goals
How to respond to violations
WE WILL COVER…
Effective interventions
Common treatment goals
Use of the polygraph
Doing your job better & reducing your
stress

WE WILL COVER…
SEX OFFENDER VERSION
7
Most sexual offenses are committed by strangers.
Most sexual offenses are committed by someone known to the
victim or victim’s family, regardless if the victim is a child or
an adult.
Approximately 60% of boys and 80% of girls who are sexually
victimized are abused by someone known to the child or the
child’s family.
From 2005 to 2010, 78% of sexual violence involved an
offender who was a family member, intimate partner, friend, or
acquaintance.
Debunking the Myths
Bullet 2 – (60% boys / 80% girls) is from Lieb, Quinsey, and
Berliner, 1998.

In a 2009 study conducted by the US Dept. of Justice, Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 13,471 juvenile
sex offender cases were evaluated which revealed that in 88.2%
of reported incidents, the victim was either a family member or
acquaintance.
Only 2.5% involved a victim who was considered a stranger to
the offender.
Victim Relationship
Rape and sexual assault victimizations against females by
victim-offender relationship
1994–1998, 1999–2004, and 2005–2010Victim-Offender
Relationship1994-19981999-20042005-2010Stranger
Non-stranger21%
79%25%
75%22%
78%Intimate Partner
(includes former spouse, BF,
GF)28%30%34%Relative9%3%6%Acquaintance42%42%38%
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime
Victimization Survey, 1994–2010.
Female Victims of Sexual Violence, 1994-2010 (March 2013).
Special report published by the US Dept. of Justice, Office of
Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Sexual offense rates are higher than ever and continue to climb.

Despite the increase in publicity about sexual crimes, from 1995
to 2010, the estimated annual rate of female (age 12 or older)
rape or sexual assault victimizations has declined 58%.
Debunking the Myths
Only a fraction of those who commit sexual offenses are
apprehended and convicted for their crimes.
Debunking the Myths

Debunking the Myths
This figure taken from the Rape, Abuse & Incest National
Network (RAINN) website, accessed on Sept. 9, 2014.
Justice Department, National Crime Victimization Survey:
2008-2012
2. FBI, Uniform Crime Reports: 2006-2010
3. National Center for Policy Analysis, Crime and Punishment
in America, 1999
4-5. Department of Justice, Felony Defendants in Large Urban
Counties: average of 2002-2006
Public awareness and education about sexual offenses has lead
to an increase of reporting such incidents.
Debunking the Myths
That’s crap!
Rape and sexual assault victimizations against females reported
and not reported to police

1994–1998, 1999–2004, and 2005–2010Reporting to
Police1994-19981999-20042005-2010Not
Reported71%59%64%Reported29%41%36%
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime
Victimization Survey, 1994–2010.
Female Victims of Sexual Violence, 1994-2010 (March 2013).
Special report published by the US Dept. of Justice, Office of
Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Few females commit sex offenses.
According to the 2012 FBI Uniform Crime Report, females
made up 0.9% of total arrests for forcible rape or other sex
offenses, which is down from 1.18% in 2008.
In this same report, juvenile females represented 1.5% of all
juvenile sex offense arrests in 2012 which remained the same
since 2008.
Debunking the Myths
Males- forcible rape was 98% males and other sex offenses were
committed by 91% males. Females do commit sexual offenses as
juveniles, but most of the research and information that exists is
for male juvenile sex offenders.
Have fewer criminal offenses
Are less antisocial
Are more likely to have been sexually abused

Are more likely to have been exposed to sexual violence
SEX OFFENDER CHARACTERISTICS
Seto & Lalumière (2010) meta analysis of 59 studies
Bullets #3 and #4 – Let participants know that more info. to
follow regarding these topics of sexual abuse and sexual
violence.
Are more likely to experience early exposure to pornography
Most began offending before age 12
Have atypical sexual interests
Tend to be more socially isolated, anxious, and have lower self-
esteem
Deny committing the offense
Understate offense information
Understate numbers of victims
Most victims are known to the offender
(Over 90%)
Victim median age is 7 years

21
Under 5% are actively psychotic
Are a heterogeneous group, spanning the entire social spectrum
Many achieve average or higher grades
Median age is 14-15 years
*
22
Most sex offenders re-offend…once a sex offender, always a
sex offender.
Those who commit sex offenses are highly unlikely to commit
another sexual offense.
2003 study of 9,691 adult male sex offenders found a sexual
recidivism rate of 5.3% for the entire sample, based on an arrest
during the 3-year follow-up period.
Treatment vs. No Treatment 5.17% vs. 17.8% (Worling and
Curwen, 2000).
Debunking the Myths
Perhaps the largest single study of sex offender recidivism to
date was carried out by Langan, Schmitt, and Durose (2003).
The study examined the recidivism patterns of 9,691 male sex
offenders released from prisons in 15 states in 1994. The

researchers found a sexual recidivism rate of 5.3 percent for the
entire sample of sex offenders, based on an arrest during the 3-
year follow-up period. The violent and overall arrest recidivism
rates for the entire sample were much higher: 17.1 percent and
43 percent, respectively. Nearly 4 out of every 10 (38.6 percent)
sex offenders in the study were returned to prison within 3 years
of their release due to the commission of a new crime or a
technical violation of their release conditions.
As part of their study, Langan, Schmitt, and Durose (2003)
conducted a comparative analysis of sex-offender and non-sex-
offender recidivism. They found that the sex offenders in the
study had a lower overall re-arrest rate than non-sex offenders
(43 percent compared to 68 percent), but their sex crime re-
arrest rate was four times higher than the rate for non-sex
offenders (5.3 percent compared to 1.3 percent).
Recidivism rates in Oregon for youth who sexually offend
remain relatively low.
Fiscal year 2013 – 36 month follow up on juvenile sex offenders
under OYA supervision:
SO Probation youth – 7.4% recidivism (person crimes = 21.7% /
property crimes = 20.4%)
SO Parole youth – 11.1% recidivism (person crimes = 31.4% /
property crimes = 35.5%)
5.3% recidivism among 1123 OYA registered Juvenile SO’s
with 16 year follow-up.
RECIDIVISM
OYA recidivism information accessed on April 19, 2017. OYA
definition of recidivism is conviction for adult felony sex
offense. (https://www.oregon.gov/oya/docs/RecidivismFY01-
FY15.pdf)

Meta-analysis of 63 data sets that included 11,219 juvenile sex
offenders (Caldwell 2010).
# of Studies Sex. Recidivism % Follow-
up months
Recidivism type
Arrest 52 7.5 57.7
Conviction 11 8.2 43.9
Population
Community 24 7.3 54.8
Residential 21 7.1 54.2
Secured 18 7.9 45.5
Recidivism Time
Juv. recidivism 15 9.9 30.5
Adult recidivism 20 6.5 73.8
Mixed 28 7.6 57.6
RECIDIVISM
Study Characteristics and Recidivism Base Rates in Juvenile
Sex Offender Recidivism. Michael F. Caldwell, University of
Wisconsin-Madison. International Journal of Offender Therapy
& Comparative Criminology. April 2010 vol. 54 no. 2 197-212.
Current public safety laws (registration, notification,
residency/premises restrictions) have not been effective in
reducing the number of sex crimes committed.

A 2007 study conducted by the Minnesota Dept. of Corrections
found that only 27 out of 224 (12%) sex offenders had contact
with their victim(s) within one mile of the offenders’ home.
NOT ONE offender had contact with a victim near a school,
park, or playground.
Sex offender registries and premises restrictions are designed to
target repeat offenders.
Nearly 96% of all sex crimes are committed by first-time
offenders.
Debunking the Myths
Bullet #5-6 – Legislative Trends in Sex Offender Management
(November 2008). CSOM, US DOJ, Office of Justice Programs.
Sex offenders typically are victims of child sexual abuse who
grow up to be adult sex offenders.
Results from recent studies vary, but most report that about 50%
of sex offenders have a reported childhood abuse history.
Although a history of sexual abuse may increase the risk for a
person to commit a sex offense as an adult, the majority of
children who are victims of abuse never go on to sexually
offend.
Debunking the Myths

Potentially Misleading
Risk Factors
Sexual abuse during childhood
Denial of sexual crime
Lack of victim empathy
Use of force/violence in offending
Low motivation for treatment at intake
Neglect or physical abuse during childhood
Low self-esteem / loneliness
These risk factors were taken from Karl Hanson’s article “The
characteristics of persistent sexual offenders: A meta-analysis
of recidivism studies” published in the Journal of Consulting
and Clinical Psychology, January 2006.
(https://www.icmec.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015/10/Characteristics-of-Persistent-Sex-
Offenders-Meta-Analysis-of-Recidivism-2005.pdf)
28
Factors Associated with Recidivism Among Sexual Offenders
The strongest predictors of sexual recidivism:
Sexual drive/preoccupation (deviant sexual interests, stranger or
multiple victims, continued offending despite being sanctioned)
Antisocial orientation (antisocial personality, antisocial traits,
history of rule violations, general self-regulation problems /
impulsivity)

These risk factors were taken from Karl Hanson’s article “The
characteristics of persistent sexual offenders: A meta-analysis
of recidivism studies” published in the Journal of Consulting
and Clinical Psychology, January 2006.
(https://www.icmec.org/wp-
29
Factors Associated with Recidivism Among Sexual Offenders
Significant relationship to sexual recidivism:
Attitudes supportive of sexual offending / antisocial behaviors
Intimacy deficits (intimate relationship conflicts / emotional
identification with children)
Incomplete offense-specific treatment
These risk factors were taken from:
Karl Hanson’s article “The characteristics of persistent sexual
offenders: A meta-analysis of recidivism studies” published in
the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, January
2006. (https://www.icmec.org/wp-
Worling, J.R., & Langstrom, N. (2003) Assessment of criminal
recidivism with adolescents who have offended sexually: a

review. Trauma, Violence & Abuse 4. 341-362
30
Most sex offenders rely on some type of force or aggression in
the commission of a sexual offense.
National statistics regarding non-injury to the victim during
offense:
Juvenile SO’s under 12 – 88.8%
Juvenile SO’s 12 & over – 86.9%
Juvenile female SO’s – 87.6%
Juvenile male SO’s – 87.0%
Debunking the Myths
Juveniles Who Commit Sex Offenses Against Minors (Dec.
2009), David Finkelhor, Richard Ormrod, and Mark Chaffin.
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office
of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
2004 stats gathered by US Dept. of Justice, FBI, and National
Incident-Based Reporting System.
Juvenile SO’s <12 yoa – N=2,104
Juvenile SO’s 12 yoa and older – N=11,367
Juvenile Female SO’s – N=979
Juvenile Male SO’s – N=12,450
With the following tactics, rely on your
instincts; consult with treatment
provider and/or supervisor
Denial
Minimization
Justification/Rationalization

Blaming
SEX OFFENDER TACTICS
32
Manipulative intent (false trust)
Sharing intimate/personal secrets
Convincing of their goodness
Giving impression of responsibility
Befriending physically/emotionally
vulnerable people
Triangulation
33
Discussing sexual scenarios
Boundary violations
Invading body space
Horseplay
Demands time/attention
Attempts to discredit others

34
Blackmail
Bribery or trickery
Ingratiation
Targets with demeaning comments,
sexual put downs, or sexual profanity
Attempts to verbally control interviews
Rallies support
*
35
It is less expensive to provide a sex offender with one year of
treatment than one year of incarceration.
One year of intensive treatment (2 individual sessions and 1
group session per week) in the community would cost around
$10,400 per year.
The cost for holding a youth in a detention facility for one year
would be about $54,750 (at $150 per day) and no treatment
would be done.
Debunking the Myths

For sex offender treatment to be most effective, it should be
empirically based, offense-specific, and comprehensive.
Such treatment should address:
Victimization awareness and empathy training
Cognitive restructuring
Sexual abuse cycle and relapse prevention
Interpersonal skills development
Changing deviant sexual arousal patterns
Treatment Works!
CSOM (2000). Myths and facts about sex offenders. Silver
Springs, MD: Author.
Treatment Works!
As stated earlier, research has shown a strong link between
failure to complete sex offender treatment and increased risk to
re-offend.
Research has also consistently shown that for those offenders
who have completed treatment, their risk of committing another
crime (sexual or otherwise) is lower than those who have not
received treatment.
38
Bullet #2 – Becker & Murphy (1998). What we know and do not
know about assessing and treating sex offenders. Psychology,
Public Policy, and law 4(1/2), 116-137.

Berlin, F.S. (2003). Sex offender treatment and legislation. The
Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law,
31, 510-513.
CSOM (2000). Myths and facts about sex offenders. Silver
Springs, MD: Author.
A 2002 meta-analysis on the effectiveness of current treatment
methods for sex offenders showed, for the first time, a
significant difference between recidivism rates for sex offenders
who were treated and those who were not.
Sexual Recidivism – no treatment = 17.4%
Sexual Recidivism – treatment = 9.9%
General Recidivism – no treatment = 51%
General Recidivism – treatment = 32%
Treatment Works!
Hansen, R.K., et al., First Report of the Collaborative Outcome
Data Project on the Effectiveness of Psychological Treatment
for Sex Offenders. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and
Treatment (Vol. 14, No. 2). 43 studies (combined n = 9,454).
SUCCESS-ORIENTED APPROACH TO SUPERVISION
40
Ensure that offenders meet expectations
Hold offender accountable for behaviors

Collaborate with others to improve
functioning and promote stability of
offender
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO
“FOCUS ON SUCCESS”?
41
Demonstrate the desire to work
collaboratively…
IT IS ON US AS JUVENILE
JUSTICE PROFESSIONALS TO…
42
Access key information from multiple
sources
Cover all bases
Increased awareness of changes over
time
COLLABORATION ENHANCES SUPERVISION PLANNING
Bullet #1 – Dr. Righthand (co-author of the J-SOAP-II)
emphasizes the importance of contacting a youth’s school as

they have access to a plethora of valuable information in an
educational file, which will often include behavioral testing
info.
43
Demonstrate the desire to work
collaboratively
Ask for participation and help from the
outset
Solicit family perspectives and goals
Reinforce the positive outcomes that
we are working towards
44
Educate others about the system
Explain risk/protective factors
Develop trust over time through…
Follow through
Mutual accountability
Communication
45

Keep in mind your role and your goal!
Most of us are good at addressing a conflict,
but this may be different.
You must constantly be assessing!
Assessing what????
Sex offender-specific risk factors
General criminogenic needs
Protective factors and strengths
Responsivity
COMMUNICATION…
IS IT DIFFERENT?
46
Communication is key
Focus on rapport building
More listening – less talking
Utilize your active listening skills
Emphasize congruence:
Your tone of voice, body
language and content of your
message should fit together
COMMUNICATION
47

Ask open ended questions
Employ active listening skills -
Paraphrase, clarification, and feedback
Provide positive reinforcement
Take your time
Expect denial
COMMUNICATION
Watch for facial and non-verbal cues
Learn to be comfortable with silence
Note inconsistencies – challenge now or
later?
Ask for help with any confusion
COMMUNICATION
As hard as it may be to say, or for
families to hear, tell them the truth
Be genuine – demonstrating honesty in
what you say, feel, and do
Be respectful
And never forget Dalton’s advice from
The Double Deuce…
THE IMPORTANCE OF CANDOR
50

BE NICE
!
!
!
BE NICE
51
Participate in pro-social recreational
and leisure activities
Achieve and maintain positive community adjustment
Establish positive peer groups
Secure appropriate employment
SUCCESS-ORIENTED GOALS
52
Technology restrictions - we will ALWAYS
be behind!
Internet accessible devices, such as…
No internet in bedrooms

Internet blocks and monitoring programs
(i.e. Net Nanny, Covenant Eyes)
Check My-Space, Facebook accounts
SPECIALIZED SUPERVISION
CONDITIONS
53
Be aware of “hidden vault” apps where pictures and videos can
be stored on cell phones
Limits on movies, TV programming, and
video games
Prior approval of extracurricular and
employment activities
Restrictions on contact with victims or other
vulnerable individuals
Follow all treatment recommendations
SPECIALIZED SUPERVISION
CONDITIONS
Bullet #1 related articles –
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3233731/Parents-
warned-dangers-smartphone-secrecy-app-looks-like-calculator-
used-conceal-photos-video.html

http://www.thv11.com/news/local/parents-beware-new-app-
hides-pictures-behind-calculator/188827629
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/state-news/canon-city-
school-district-investigates-student-misconduct-after-nude-
pictures-sent
54
Polygraph
55
CURRENT EQUIPMENT
To help break denial
To help complete a sexual history
Usually administered after several months of initial treatment
Used to verify accuracy and veracity of written sexual history
DISCLOSURE POLYGRAPHS
57

Used to determine compliance with treatment or probation
conditions
Generally administered every 3-6 months
Individual polygraph examiners will vary in test administration
MAINTENANCE POLYGRAPHS
58
Entire test covers one specific issue or
detail:
Did you insert your penis into Sally’s
vagina?
Did you touch Sally’s bare breast?
SPECIFIC-ISSUE POLYGRAPHS
59
USE OF THE POLYGRAPH
Polygraph results should never be the sole factor in making case
decisions.
60

Victims disclosed pre-polygraph:
63 (avg. of 2.5 per offender)
Victims disclosed post-polygraph:
403 (avg. of 16 per offender)
Gender of victims:
Male - 63 (15%)
Female - 340 (85%)
POLYGRAPH DATA
Source: Data from 25 youth who passed disclosure polygraphs
at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility, OR (1995/1996)
61
Age range of victims:
Male: 1-19 (Median age: 10)
Female: 1-25 (Median age: 13)
Hands-on offenses pre-polygraph: <700
Hands-on offenses post-polygraph: 8351
Average # of offenses post-polygraph: 334
POLYGRAPH DATA
62
Age of offender at time of first offense:
5 - 8 yrs: 36%
9 -12 yrs: 48%

13-15 yrs: 16%
Offenders who claimed to be victims of sexual abuse: 92%
84%
POLYGRAPH DATA
63
# of victims
Sexually abused as child
Sexually abused others as child
HINDMAN STUDIES (ADULTS)
Self-Reported Polygraphed Average
(347) (454)
Analysis of three studies conducted by
Jan Hindman 1978-1999
2.4 11.5
64% 30%
24% 72%
64
# of victims 2.1 11.6

Sexually abused 83% 17%*
*Another study of 87 outpatient juveniles indicated a rate of
40%.
6 Juveniles Pre-poly Post-poly
Nampa Boys Home, Nampa, ID, 1994
Study conducted by Jan Hindman
HINDMAN STUDIES (JUVENILES)
65
Child under 12
Offenders with an I.Q. under 80
Actively psychotic offenders
Those sleep deprived/exhausted
People suffering recent trauma
Offenders taking certain medications (may not be able to
respond)
CAN’T/SHOULDN’T TEST
*
66
Be Clear
Don’t create confusion with words or
phrases offender may not understand
Avoid the use of jargon
Be Consistent – families and offenders

should KNOW what to expect from you
Repeat themes and concepts
BEING BETTER AT YOUR JOB &
REDUCING YOUR STRESS
67
Confront…when necessary
And remember it’s NOT
personal, so don’t make
it so!
BEING BETTER AT YOUR JOB &
REDUCING YOUR STRESS
68
NEXT WEEK…
Crimes of Violence & Terrorism
Developmental Theories

CHAPTER 11
CJ 450D
On May 20, 1998, 15-year-old Kip Kinkel was suspended
pending an expulsion hearing from Thurston High School for
being in possession of a loaded, stolen handgun. At home that
afternoon, Kinkel was told by his father that he would be sent to
military school if he did not change his behavior. According to
Kinkel's taped confession, at about 3:00 p.m., his father was
seated at the kitchen counter drinking coffee. Kinkel retrieved
his .22 rifle from his bedroom and ammunition from his parents'
bedroom. He then went to the kitchen and shot his father once
in the back of the head, then dragged his body into the bathroom
and covered it with a sheet. Kinkel further stated that his
mother arrived home at about 6:30 p.m., and that he met her in
the garage, told her he loved her, then shot her twice in the back
of the head, three times in the face, and once in the heart. He
then dragged her body across the floor and covered it with a
sheet.
On May 21, 1998, Kinkel drove his mother's Ford Explorer to
Thurston High School. He wore a trench coat to hide the five
weapons he carried: two hunting knives, a 9x19mm Glock 19
pistol, a Ruger .22-caliber semi-automatic rifle, and a .22-
caliber Ruger MK II pistol. He was carrying 1,127 rounds of
ammunition. Once at the school, Kinkel fired a total of 50
rounds, hitting with 37 of those, and killing two. He is serving
a 111-year sentence without the possibility of parole.
1
Learning Goal
Students will learn more about the dynamic criminological
theories of development which address an element that many
theories do not: why people desist from crime.

2
Performance Objectives
Explain why the juvenile years are often a time of antisocial
impulses and experimentation.
List the seven major criminogenic risk factors for adolescents.
List the six protective factors for adolescents.
Examine the three developmental pathways to delinquency
conceptualized by Thornberry, Huizinga, and Loeber.
3
Identify the five life domains and two “super traits” that make
up Agnew’s “Super Traits” theory.
Discuss the two key concepts of Farrington’s ICAP theory.
Distinguish between the common characteristics, of what
Moffitt calls, adolescent-limited offenders and life-course
persistent offenders.
Explain the two main components of Sampson and Laub’s age-
graded theory.

4
Introduction
Developmental theories…
Are concerned with the onset, frequency, duration, seriousness,
and desistance of offending behaviors.
Are dynamic in that they emphasize individual development that
depends on a variety of interactive individual and social factors
which vary across a life span.
Maintain that a criminal career may be initiated at any time, but
almost all begin in childhood or adolescence (only about 4% are
initiated in adulthood).
Bullet #3 – Such factors that would vary across a lifespan would
be acceptance by antisocial peers (tends to fade into adulthood)
and marriage / careers (which begin in adulthood).
5
The Juvenile Years
Delinquency is the legal term that is given to adolescent
offending.
Rates for criminal behavior over the life course show (all
cultures world-wide and over different time periods):
A sharp increase in offending beginning in early adolescence;
Peaks in mid-adolescence;
A steep decline in early adulthood followed by a steady decline;
by age 28 about 85% of former delinquents have desisted.
6
The Juvenile Years

7
The Juvenile Years
To help explain why adolescence is full of antisocial impulses
and experimentation the 2003 adolescent brain development
conference of the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) put
forth the following four key messages:
Much of adolescent behavior is rooted in biology interacting
with environmental influences causing conflicts with parents;
take more risks; and experience wide swings in emotion.
8
The Juvenile Years
The body is physically maturing faster than the nervous system
(the body and the brain lack synchrony).
Adolescents’ sensitivities to rewards appear to be different than
adults, prompting them to seek higher levels of novelty and
stimulation to achieve the same feeling of pleasure.
With the right dose of guidance and understanding, adolescence
can be a relatively smooth transition.
In summary, the NYAS is saying that the immature behavior of
many adolescents is mirrored by the immaturity of their brains.
9
The Juvenile Years

During puberty, adolescents experience profound chemical and
physical changes in the brain.
Testosterone surge – If at age 9, males get a cup of testosterone
per day; at age 15 they get 1.25 gallons!
Dopamine (the excitatory “go get it” neurotransmitter) is
peaking.
Serotonin (the inhibitory “hold your horses” neurotransmitter)
is reduced.
Axons in the PFC are not yet fully myelinated, which results in
a larger time lapse between the onset of an emotional event in
the limbic system and a person’s rational judgment of it.
Bullet #2 – Male levels of testosterone are more than 10 times
that of females during adolescence.
Bullet #5 - Myelin is a fatty substance that coats and insulates
axons and allows for the rapid transmission of brain messages.
10
Risk & Protective Factors
A risk factor is a condition or trait in individuals, families,
communities, or society that increases the probability of an
individual offending.
A protective factor is a condition or trait in individuals,
families, communities, or society help people deal more
effectively mitigate or eliminate risk.
Most risk and protective factors are dynamic.
It is typical for both risk and protective factors to cluster
together.
11

Major Criminogenic Risk Factors
1. Criminal History –The only static risk factor
2. Pro-criminal Associates (isolation from pro-social associates)
– Primary social group uses substances and/or condones and
participates in criminal behavior
3. Vocational or Educational – Low level of skills and/or
investment
4. Negative Family Factors – Verbal abuse, physical
abuse/neglect, substance abuse, poor supervision
12
(Source: Andrews & Bonta, 1994 and Pennsylvania DOC, 2007)
12
What factors lead to an increased probability of engaging in
criminal behavior?
Andrews and Bonita (2004); Loeber and Farrington (1998);
Patterson and Dishion (1992)
5. Antisocial Attitudes, Values and Beliefs (risky thinking) –
Rationalization – “everybody does it, so what’s the problem”,
“she was asking for it”, “I have the right to do what I want”
Minimization – “nobody got hurt, so it’s OK”, “they got
insurance”
Denial of responsibility – “I was set up”, “I’ve already been
punished enough”
Inflated self-esteem – “no way I’m working at Mickey D’s”
Street justice – “this kid was mad-doggin’ me, so I had to pop
him”
Ego – “I'm too smart to get caught”
13

13
criminal behavior?
6. Particular Behavioral Characteristics
Poor self-control/self regulation – “I got frustrated with my PO,
so I said to hell with it, I don’t care any more”
Weak problem-solving and social skills - “What do you expect?
I needed money to pay my restitution, so I sold drugs…”
Low frustration tolerance
Low trust in others
Engages in risk taking behaviors
7. Substance Abuse
14
14
criminal behavior?
Protective Factors
Family
Attitudes/Beliefs

Pro-social Peer Group Attachment
School
15
15
Family - High levels of love and support; Positive
communication -child seeks advice; Parents encourage school
success; Clear rules and consequences-monitors whereabouts;
Parents model pro-social behavior and attitudes; Parents
reinforce achievements
Attitudes/Beliefs - Youth places value on helping other people
and promoting equality; Youth tells truth-even when not easy;
Youth accepts responsibility for behavior; Youth optimistic
about future
School - School provides a safe and encouraging environment;
School provides clear rules and expectations; Teachers
encourage youth success; Youth involved in extra-curricular
activities; Youth motivated to do well; Youth has B average or
better
Protective Factors
Attachment to the Community:
Clubs / Sports / Volunteerism
Spiritual / Religious Group
Mentors
Personality Characteristics
16
16

Attachment to Community - Receive support from non-parent
adults; Has caring neighbors who monitor youth; Involved in
the community; Feels safe in the community; Neighbors are pro-
social; Involved in supervised and organized activities; adult in
youth’s life (other than family member) that you can talk to.
Personality Characteristics - Youth has skill to plan ahead and
make choices; Youth has empathy, sensitively and friendship
skills; Youth can resist peer pressure; Youth can resolve
conflict nonviolently; Youth feels they have control over things
that happen to them; Youth optimistic about future; Youth has
problem solving and communication skills
Developmental Pathways
Thornberry, Huizinga, and Loeber (2004)
Three developmental pathways of offending:
Authority conflict pathway – starts before puberty with simple
stubborn behavior followed by defiance and authority avoidance
(truancy, running away, curfew).
Covert pathway – starts after puberty and involves minor
offenses (shoplifting, lying) that become progressively more
serious (vandalism, fire setting, fraud, serious theft, and
burglary).
Overt pathway – progresses from minor aggression to serious
violent acts (physical assaults to rape/robbery).
The overall lesson of this model is that as boys get older, their
crimes become more serious, but fortunately, there are fewer
serious crimes committed.
17
Developmental Pathways

The overall lesson of this model is that as boys get older, their
crimes become more serious, but fortunately, there are fewer
serious crimes committed.
18
Agnew’s “Super Traits”
Robert Agnew identified five life domains that contain possible
crime-generating factors:
Personality
Family
School
Peers
Work
Personality traits set people on a developmental trajectory that
influences how other people react to them.
Personality variables “condition” the effect of social variables.
19
Agnew identified two underlying traits of low self-control and
irritability (negative emotionality) as “super traits.”
These two traits encompass many of the traits we’ve discussed
such as sensation seeking, impulsivity, low empathy, etc.
People with low self-control and irritability are more likely to
evoke negative responses from family members, school
teachers, peers, and workmates.
Bullet #3 – This feedback process is the evocative gene-
environment correlation we discussed last week in Chpt. 10.

20
Bullet #3 – This feedback process is the evocative gene-
environment correlation we discussed last week in Chpt. 10.
21
Farrington’s ICAP Theory
Integrated cognitive antisocial potential theory stresses that
early biological and environmental conditions affect choice and
that these choices lead to particular ways of thinking.
ICAP theory is also interested in the process of desisting from
offending.
As people age, they tend to become less impulsive and less
easily frustrated.
As people age, they experience life events which shift patterns
of interaction.
The events decrease offending opportunities by shifting routine
activities.
These events increase informal controls.
These events change cognition.
Bullet #4 – As people age, they experience life changes such as
marriage, steady employment, moving to a new area, etc.
Bullet #5 – Routine activities such as hanging out at bars
drinking with male peers, etc.
Bullet #6 – Informal controls such as having a family and work
responsibilities.
Bullet #7 – Change cognition in the form of reduced subjective
rewards for offending because the costs are now much higher.
Peer approval now becomes potential disapproval from wives

and family members.
22
Farrington’s ICAP Theory
The two key concepts in ICAP are:
Antisocial potential (AP) – a person’s risk to engage in crime.
Long-term AP tends to affect people who come from poor
families, poor socialization, are impulsive, and are sensation
seeking.
Short-term AP people may temporarily increase their AP in
response to certain situations, however can turn into long-term
AP over time if reinforced.
Cognition – the thinking or decision-making process that turns
potential into actual behavior.
23
Moffitt’s Dual Pathway
The vast majority of youth who offend during adolescence
desist with only a small number who continue offending into
adulthood.
Those who desist Moffitt calls adolescent-limited (AL)
offenders. Such youth:
Are “normal” youth who are adapting to the adolescent
transition events that they are encountering.
Comprise the majority (at least 85%) of youth offenders.
Have accumulation of positive attachments and academic skills.
Desist from crime abruptly or over time, at a slower pace.
Desist because they are “psychologically healthy” and are able
to adapt to change in a positive manner.

24
Moffitt’s Dual Pathway
Those who continue to offend into adulthood Moffitt calls life
course-persistent (LCP) offenders. Such youth:
Have an early onset of offending (pre-puberty).
Suffer from neuropsychological and temperamental deficits as a
result of a combination of genetic and environmental effects on
brain development.
Demonstrate antisocial that are consistently cross-situational
(lie at home, cheat at school, fight in bars, embezzle at work).
Commit more crimes and are convicted of more serious crimes.
25
Sampson & Laub’s Age-Graded Theory
Emphasizes environmental circumstances and human agency
(the purposeful execution of choice and individual will) as
opposed to individual traits.
Although a person may be disadvantaged by the past, they do
not have to be a prisoner to it.
Rather than explaining why some people commit crimes due to
individual risk factors, this theory focuses on the situational
factors that influence people in resisting, or desisting from,
crime.
26

Assumes that we have to learn to be good rather than learn to be
bad and ties to prosocial people are critically important to this
prosocial learning process.
People who bond well with prosocial (conventional) others are
able to build social capital.
Positive relationships built on norms of reciprocity and trust,
developed over time, on which the person can depend on for
support in times of need.
27
Life is a series of significant events called turning points, which
may change one’s life trajectories, especially those lacking
social capital, in a prosocial direction.
Important turning points include getting married, gaining steady
employment, moving to a new neighborhood, or entering
military service.
Turning points are processes rather than events, which may also
accentuate antisocial tendencies or at least leave them intact.
Bullet #3 – Offenders may convert life events (marriage, job,
etc.) into sources of satisfaction that are consistent with their
previous criminal behavior, thus expanding their antisocial
repertoire into domestic abuse and workplace crime.
28
If there is a “gold standard” for criminological theory,
developmental theories would have to be it because…
They consider and integrate sociological, psychological, and

biological factors as a coherent whole;
They are dynamic in nature;
Thy follow the same individuals over long periods of time
which allows for cause/effect analysis;
They can identify characteristics that lead to onset, persistence,
and desistance from crime in the same individuals.
Developmental theories are primarily based on longitudinal
cohort data which is very hard to come by and expensive to
collect. (–)
Evaluation
29
Developmental theories support the same kind of nurturing
family-based prevention strategies supported by biosocial and
social / self-control theories.
Family-based interventions as early as possible to help nurture
bonds between children and their parents
Prenatal and postnatal care, including home visitation
Family directed wrap around services involving multiple social
services agencies
Parenting effectiveness training
In-home skills trainers to assist with both child and parents
Policy & Prevention
30
NEXT WEEK…
Guest Speaker – John Lynch
Topic – Sex Offenders

31
Psychosocial Theories
CHAPTER 9
CJ 450D
1
Learning Goal
Students will enter the dark and nefarious world of psychopathy
and sociopathy to gain understanding and empathy for society’s
most notorious criminals.
Actually, students will explore psychosocial theories of
criminal behavior which are more focused on individual
differences in the propensity to commit crimes than in the
environmental conditions that may push a person into
committing a crime.
2
Define intelligence and Flynn effect.

Explain the IQ/Crime connection.
Define and distinguish between temperament and personality.
List the major personality traits that are both positively and
negatively associated with criminal behaviors.
3
Know the difference between the autonomic nervous system and
the reticular activating system.
List the three key concepts of Walter’s Lifestyle Theory.
Distinguish the difference between psychopathy and sociopathy.
Discuss various rehabilitative programs utilized under
psychosocial theories.
4
Introduction
Early theories in the psychological tradition strongly
emphasized two major traits contributing to criminal behavior
that were known as “the two great pillars of differential
psychology.”
Intelligence – which determines the ability to effectively
calculate pleasure and pain

Temperament – which makes some people impulsive and
difficult to socialize
5
Intelligence
David Wechsler defined intelligence as “the aggregate or global
capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think
rationally, and to deal effectively with his or her environment.”
Are IQ tests culturally biased?
NO – According to BOTH the National Academy of Sciences
and the APA, no study designed to detect such bias has ever
done so.
Wechler is famous for developing the WAIS (Wechsler Adult
Intelligence Scale) and the WISC (Wechsler Intelligence Scale
for Children) which are the standard for IQ testing.
6
There is strong evidence that environment can effect IQ.
In 2007, James Flynn did research that revealed that the average
IQ has increased in all developed countries by about 3.1 points
per decade from 1932 to 2000.
Flynn claims that the direct genetic effect on IQ is only about
36% with the other 64% resulting from the indirect effects of
genes interacting with the environment.
This gene/environment interplay results in a multiplier effect
over time.
Flynn Effect
James R. Flynn (2007)

Bullet #4 - What may be a small genetic advantage/disadvantage
at birth is multiplied into a large advantage/disadvantage over
the course of a lifetime.
7
A number of reviews find a strong IQ/crime relationship.
How non-offender IQ scores differ from…
Casual / low risk offenders = 1 point
Serious persistent offenders = 17 points
A person’s full scale IQ (FSIQ) is obtained by averaging the
scores on the verbal (VIQ) and performance (PIQ) subscales.
Criminal behavior may be underestimated if we rely solely on
FSIQ rather than looking at VIQ and PIQ.
The IQ / Crime Connection
8
Most of us have VIQ and PIQ scores that are close to one
another.
Offenders consistently have significantly lower average VIQ
scores, but not lower PIQ scores, than non-offenders.
VIQ>PIQ profiles appear to be a major predictor of prosocial
behavior, especially among adults.
Bullet #3 – VIQ>PIQ study – Barnett, Zimmer, and McCormack
(1989) found that only 0.9% of prison inmates had a VIQ>PIQ
profile compared to the 18% of the general male population.
9

The most usual explanation for the IQ / Crime link is that IQ
sets up a negative domino effect:
Lower IQ = poor school performance
Poor school performance = dropping out of school
Dropping out = associating with delinquent peers
Delinquent peers = increased risk for criminality
Performance measures such as GPA are probably better
predictors of antisocial behavior than IQ.
Low IQ alone cannot explain criminal behavior.
Main Bullet #2 (GPA) – Ellis & Walsh (2000) looked at 46
studies exploring the link between grade point average (GPA)
and antisocial behavior and found that all 46 studies established
such a link.
Main Bullet #3 (Low IQ) – Most individuals with below average
IQ do NOT commit crimes and many people with above average
IQ do commit crimes…so what else influences criminality?
10
Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory taught us how a person
copes with strain (their temperament) is what either insulates or
exposes them to antisocial behavior.
Temperament is defined as as:
An individual characteristic, identifiable as early as infancy,
that constitutes a habitual mode of emotionally responding to
stimuli.
Temperament & Personality

11
The following BIG 5 components of temperament make it easy
or difficult for others to like us and get along with us.
Mood (happy/sad)
Activity level (high/low)
Sociability (introverted/extroverted)
Reactivity (calm/excitable)
Affect (warm/cold)
12
Personality is “an individual’s set of relatively enduring and
functionally integrated psychological characteristics that result
from his or her temperament interacting with cultural and
developmental experiences.”
There are many components of personality which psychologists
call traits.
Some traits are associated with the probability of committing
crime while some protect against such acts.
Traits are not characteristics that some people possess and
others do not; we all have traits.
People differ only on the strength of these traits.
13
Negative personality traits associated with criminality:
Impulsivity – the tendency to act without giving much thought
to the consequences.

Negative emotionality – the tendency to experience situations as
aversive and to react to them with irritation and anger.
Sensation seeking – the active desire for novel, varied, and
risky situations.
Bullet #2 – Impulsivity – The trait most often linked in studies
to criminal behavior.
Bullet #3 – Negative emotionality – People who are impulsive
tend to be high on negative emotionality. Low levels of
serotonin underlie both high levels of negative emotionality and
impulsivity.
Bullet #4 – Sensation seeking – A review of the literature found
that 98.4% of the studies reported a statistically significant
relationship between sensation seeking and antisocial behavior.
(Ellis & Walsh, 2000)
14
Positive personality traits associated with criminality:
Empathy – the emotional and cognitive ability to understand the
feelings and distress of others as if they were your own.
Altruism – the motivation needed to take action to alleviate
someone’s distress.
Agreeableness – the tendency to be friendly, considerate,
courteous, helpful, and cooperative.
Conscientiousness – a primary trait composed of secondary
traits such as well-organized, disciplined, scrupulous,
responsible, and reliable.

Bullet #2 – Empathy – High empathy is a strong protective
factor against criminal offending.
Bullet #3 – Altruism – This is the action component of empathy.
Lack of empathy AND altruism is considered one of the most
salient characteristics of psychopaths, the worst of the worst
among criminals.
Bullet #4 – Agreeableness – Agreeable persons tend to trust
others, to compromise with them, and to empathize with and aid
them. Agreeableness seems to be a better protective factor than
conscientiousness.
Bullet #5 – Conscientiousness – On the other end of the
spectrum would be disorganized, careless, unreliable,
irresponsible, and unscrupulous.
15
Arousal levels determine what we pay attention to, how strongly
we pay attention, and the ease or difficulty of acquiring a
conscience.
A conscience is “a complex mix of emotional and cognitive
mechanisms acquired by internalizing the moral rules of our
social group during socialization.”
People with strong consciences feel guilt, shame, stress, and
anxiety when they violate, or contemplate violating, moral
rules.
A functioning conscience signals successful pro-socialization.
Conscience & Arousal
16
Differences in the emotional component of conscience reflect

variation in autonomic nervous system (ANS) arousal patterns
(fight, flight, fornication).
The ANS funnels messages from the environment to the various
internal organs to keep the organism in a state of biological
balance (homeostasis).
Then ANS has two complimentary branches:
The sympathetic system (arousing)
The parasympathetic system (calming)
17
18
Classical conditioning also influences ANS functioning.
Is mostly passive (doesn’t require the person to do anything)
and visceral (that internal gut feeling we experience).
Is a subconscious association between two paired stimuli.
We have all been classically conditioned to respond at the gut
level to neutral stimuli via their association with unconditional
stimuli.
Bullet #4 – How did you feel when the school bell rang at the
end of the day? How did / do you feel when you hear and ice
cream truck coming down the road?

19
NEXT WEEK…
Chapter 10 –
Biosocial Approaches
20
It is these classical conditioning associations that develop our
“gut level” emotions of shame, guilt, and embarrassment that
make up the emotional (“feeling”) framework of our
consciences.
People who have readily aroused ANS are easily socialized.
Moral lessons stick because ANS arousal (“butterflies in the
stomach) is subjectively experienced as fear and anxiety.
21
People with relatively unresponsive ANS are difficult to
socialize because they experience little anxiety, fear, guilt, or
shame when they offend, even when discovered and punished.
Across a wide variety of subjects and settings it has been
consistently found that antisocial individuals have relatively
unresponsive ANS.
Having knowledge of what is right and wrong without that
knowledge being paired with emotional arousal is like this...
…knowing the words to a song, but not the music.

22
Neurological arousal is regulated by the brain’s reticular
activating system (RAS).
The RAS is a little finger-sized bundle of brain cells situated at
the top of the spinal cord.
The RAS can be thought of as the brain’s filter system
determining what incoming stimuli the higher brain centers will
pay attention to.
Cognitive Arousal
23
Some people possess an RAS that is highly sensitive to
incoming stimuli (known as augmenters).
Others possess an RAS that is unusually insensitive to incoming
stimuli (known as reducers).
When individuals are exposed to the same environmental
situation, some are under-aroused while others are over-
aroused, both of which are uncomfortable.
Augmenters tend to have a hyperactive ANS while reducers
have a hypoactive ANS.
Cognitive Arousal
24
Reducers continually seek to boost stimuli to more comfortable
levels and require a high level of punishing stimuli before

learning to avoid the behavior that leads to punishment.
As a result, reducers are prone to criminal behavior.
Because chronic criminals tend to have lower levels of ANS
arousal, they are less likely to show sweat responses to
threatening questions (as detected through skin conductivity).
Why is this important?!?
Cognitive Arousal
Bullet #2 – Studies consistently reveal that criminals with the
most serious records are chronically under-aroused (as
determined by EEG, resting heart rate, and skin conductance).
About 75% of studies conducted show that EEG readouts of
criminals show that their brains are less often in the alert and
focused range than the brains of non-offenders.
Bullet #3 – Polygraph test questions are designed to evoke
emotions of guilt, shame, or embarrassment which create ANS
arousal in “normal” people. This little factoid is why
sociopaths can pass polygraphs even though they are lying.
They have low levels of ANS arousal and are RAS reducers.
25
Proposed by Glen Walters in 1990.
Walters believes that criminal behavior is part of a general
pattern of one’s lifestyle characterized by:
Irresponsibility
Impulsivity
Self-indulgence
Negative interpersonal relationships
Chronic willingness to violate society’s rules
Walters’ Lifestyle Theory
26

There are three (3) key concepts:
Choice – a criminal lifestyle is the result of choices criminals
make “within the limits established by our early and current
biological / environmental conditions.”
Conditions – impulsivity and low IQ are the most important
individual conditions; attachment to significant others is the
most important environmental condition.
Cognition – the thinking errors people develop as a consequence
of their conditions and choice patterns.
27
Walters identified eight (8) major thinking errors:
Mollification – reducing or softening their criminality
Cutoff – discounting the suffering of victims
Entitlement – establishing a sense of privilege
Power orientation – viewing the world in terms of weakness and
strength
28
Walters identified eight (8) major thinking errors:

Sentimentality – believing good deeds counteract criminality
Super optimism – overestimating ability to avoid future crime
Cognitive indolence – orientation to the present and concrete
thinking
Discontinuity – inability to integrate thinking patterns
29
These thinking errors lead to four interrelated behavioral
patterns that almost guarantee criminality:
Rule breaking
Interpersonal intrusiveness (unwanted intrusion into the lives of
others)
Self-indulgence
Irresponsibility
30
Psychopathy – What is it?
A psychological syndrome characterized by egocentricity,
deceitfulness, manipulativeness, selfishness, and a lack of
empathy, guilt, or remorse.

A physiological syndrome characterized by the inability to “tie”
social emotions and rational cognition together in the brain.
The label most often applied to such people is antisocial
personality disorder.
“A pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the
rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence
and continues into adulthood.” (DSM V)
Antisocial Personalities
31
Psychopathy – How do you measure it?
Most widely used measurement tool is Hare’s Psychopathy
Checklist Revised (PCL-R).
32
Psychopathy – How do you measure it?
Most widely used measurement tool is Hare’s Psychopathy
Checklist Revised (PCL-R).
An official diagnosis requires a score of 30 or higher out of a
possible 40 on the checklist.
Offenders in general have an average PCL-R score of 22, while
non-offenders score an average of 5.
Hare stated, “I can find no convincing evidence that
psychopathy is the direct result of early social or environmental
factors.”

33
Psychopathy –
One of the most consistent physiological findings about
psychopaths is their greatly reduced ability to experience the
social emotions of shame, guilt, and empathy.
Hundreds of studies, using many different methods, also
confirm that the defining characteristic of psychopaths is their
inability to “tie” the brain’s cognitive and emotional networks
together to form a conscience.
34
Sociopathy –
Sociopaths differ from psychopaths in that their behavior can be
traced to deviant learning histories interacting with deviant
genetic predisposition.
One of the biggest factors contributing to sociopathy is poor
parenting.
Families headed by single mothers with children fathered by
different men were found to have children most at risk for
antisocial behavior.
The rate of out-of-wedlock births is a strong predictor of the
measure of violent crime (murder, rape, assault).
Bullet #1 – Sociopaths differ from psychopaths in that their
development over time is influenced primarily through
inadequate socialization and hostile childhood experiences and
is NOT as closely tied to genetics (as is the case with

psychopaths).
35
Since crime prevention policies aimed at “root causes” have had
little impact in the past, would it be wise to focus efforts on
those already committing crimes rather than on the
environmental conditions around them?
Psychopaths are poor candidates for any form of correctional
intervention.
Old age seems to be the only “cure” for this classification of
offenders.
Policy & Prevention
36
Effective psychosocial-based correctional treatment…
Uses multiple treatment components
Is structured
Focuses on developing social, academic, and employment skills
Uses directive cognitive-behavioral counseling methods
Provides substantial and meaningful contact between treatment
personnel and offenders (therapeutic alliance).
Policy & Prevention
37
Under Walter’s Lifestyle Theory, correctional counselors / PO’s
would directly confront and challenge an offender’s destructive
thinking errors.
The task of the counselor / PO would be to guide the offender in
reinterpreting their experiences in a way that promotes self-
awareness and growth.

The key is to assist the offender in recognizing the vital link
between the origins of their behavior and their current
behavioral problems.
Policy & Prevention
Bullet #1 – Thinking for a Change (T4C) and Moral Reconation
Therapy (MRT) would be examples of such correctional
interventions that challenge offenders thinking errors.
38
We can never take either the environment or the individual for
granted because each one affects the other.
The relationship between IQ and criminal behavior has always
been contentious, but what is not in debate is that when it comes
to intelligence, ALL traits are necessarily the result of both
genetics and environment.
One of the most pervasive criticisms of psychological theories
is that they focus on “defective” or “abnormal” personalities
and there is always some risk in attaching a psychiatric label to
individuals.
Summary
39
The use of “hard” measuring instruments (EEG, brain scans,
etc.) to measure ANS and RAS arousal provides us with more
accurate predictions about future offending than simple “paper
and pencil” methods.
We must not forget that the influences of our arousal systems
are strongly conditioned by the social environment.
Predictions about human behavior are subject to false positives
(predicting something will happen and it doesn’t) and false

negatives (predicting something won’t happen and it does).
Summary
40
NEXT WEEK…FOR REAL
Chapter 10 –
Biosocial Approaches
41
Social Process Theory
CHAPTER 7
CJ 450D
1
Learning Goal
Students will study the various theories under the umbrella of
the social process tradition and will connect the major theorists
with their contributions to criminology.
2

Describe and evaluate Sutherland’s differential association
theory (DAT).
Explain the process of crime occurring under the social learning
theory (SLT).
Define the operant psychology concepts of reinforcement,
punishment, & discrimination.
List the four elements of Hirschi’s social bond.
Discuss the relationship between low self-control and criminal
behavior.
3
Describe the criticisms of both social control and self-control
theories.
Distinguish between primary and secondary deviance under
labeling theory.
List the five (5) techniques of neutralization proposed by Sykes
and Mata.
Discuss the various crime prevention policies under social
process theories.
4
Introduction
Social process criminologists promote the concept of symbolic
interactionism.
How people define their social reality and meanings they attach
to it in the process of interacting with one another.
The processes most emphasized are socialization and cultural

conflict.
They seek to describe criminal and delinquent socialization and
How social conflict “pressures” people into committing deviant
acts.
Bullet #2 – If we want to understand social behavior, then we
have to understand how individuals subjectively perceive their
social reality and how they interact with others to create,
sustain, and change it.
5
Differential Association Theory
Developed by Edwin Sutherland who stressed that where people
grow up matters greatly to the patterns of behavior they exhibit.
Sutherland laid out his theory in nine propositions.
His basic premise is that delinquent behavior is learned from
the exposure to the attitudes, beliefs, and expectations of the
intimate social groups we belong to while growing up.
The learning of criminal behavior involves the same
mechanisms involved in any other learning.
Bullet #1 – DAT asserts that humans are like chameleons in that
they will adapt to their environments, blending in and
conforming with natural ease.
Bullet #4 – Learning involves acquiring specific skills and
techniques for committing crimes as well as the motives,
rationalizations, justifications, and attitudes of criminals.
6
Learning criminal conduct is a process of identifying with and
modeling ourselves after people we respect and value.
Sutherland discusses the importance of definitions influencing
criminal behavior.

The meanings our experiences have for us, our attitudes, values,
and how we view the world.
Definitions become favorable to law violations the earlier and
more often we are exposed, the longer the exposure lasts, and
the more strongly we are attached to those demonstrating the
behavior.
7
Evaluation and criticisms –
What is there to learning how to lie, take things that don’t
belong to you, fight, and have sex?
Is DAT simply a case of “birds of a feather flock together” or is
it more “if you lie down with dogs, you’ll get fleas”?
DAT has a singular vision of delinquent peer influence,
focusing on private acceptance, but ignoring the idea of
compliance.
Bullet #3 – Research has shown that delinquent behaviors
precede gang membership and that association with other
delinquents simply speeds up and enhances delinquency among
those predisposed rather than acting as a stimulator of behavior
among those not predisposed.
Bullet #4 – Private acceptance is both the public and private
acceptance of the attitudes, values, and behavior of the
delinquent group. Compliance is “going through the motions”
without privately accepting the appropriateness of what one is
doing.
8

Social Learning Theory
Primarily associated with the work of Ronald Akers.
Social Learning Theory (SLT) looks at the social behavior
mechanisms that lead individuals to either continue or desist
from delinquency.
Differential reinforcement of behavior either amplifies or
extinguishes criminal behavior.
“The balance of anticipated or actual rewards and punishments
that follow or are consequences of behavior.”
9
Four mechanisms that explain behavior:
Differential association – Differentially associating with others
who commit, model, and support violations of social and legal
norms.
Differential reinforcement – Deviant acts are reinforced over
behaviors that conform to the norm.
Imitation – Exposure to and observation of more deviant models
than conforming models.
Definitions – Learned definitions are favorable toward
committing deviant acts.
Bullet #2 – The most important of these 4 principles is
differential reinforcement. The next slide is dedicated to this
topic.
10
Behavior has two general consequences: it is reinforced or it is
punished.
The most effective reinforcements and punishments come from

one’s primary social groups.
Behavior that has positive consequences is said to reinforce or
strengthen that behavior, making it more likely that it will be
repeated.
Behavior that is punished is less likely to be repeated and may
even be extinguished.
11
Reinforcement can be positive or negative.
Positive reinforcement is receiving something rewarding.
Negative reinforcement is some aversive condition is avoided or
removed.
Punishment can also be positive or negative.
Positive punishment the application of something undesirable.
Negative punishment is the removal of a pleasant stimulus.
Bullet #2 – The spoils of a successful burglary or status
achieved by beating up a rival gang member.
Bullet #3 – Having a label of “punk” removed after performing
some act of bravado.
Bullet #5 – The imposition of a prison sentence.
Bullet #6 – Loss of status in a gang; loss of driver’s license;
loss of a girlfriend
12

Discrimination – the process of learning to distinguish between
stimuli that have been reinforced or punished in the past with
similar stimuli you expect will result in the same response in
the future.
While reinforcers and punishments follow behavior,
discriminative stimuli are present before the behavior occurs
and influences decision making.
An unlocked car with the keys in it is a discriminative stimulus
that signals “immediate reward” for the criminal, but for the
average person it probably signals nothing other than how
foolish the owner is.
Bullet #1 – If we are approached by a person (a child, a
clergyman, a Hells Angel, a police officer, an aggressive
intoxicated panhandler, or an old friend) on the street in
downtown Portland, our response to that person will represent
what we have previously learned (personally or vicariously)
about that type of person or others like them.
13
The major criticism of SLT is that it ignores the role of
individual differences in the ease or difficulty with which
persons learn.
All complex behavior is social learning, so it is not too helpful
to say that crime is socially learned.
SLT assumes “a passive and unintentional actor who lacks
individuality…and is better at explaining the transmission of
criminal behavior than its origins.”
SLT explains criminality better in terms of different
environments, but not in terms of different individuals.

14
Social Control Theory
Social control theories are 180-degrees from social learning
theories.
Social control theories assume that criminal behavior arises
from natural motivations that we must learn to curb.
To ensure a peaceful and predictable social existence, all
societies have created mechanisms (social controls) designed to
minimize nonconformity and deviance.
Social control may be direct, formal, and coercive, but indirect,
informal social control produces prosocial behavior regardless
of the presence or absence of external coercion.
15
The question social control theorists want to answer is why
most of us behave well most of the time.
Views society as “good” and humans, in the absence of proper
training, become “bad”.
Recent longitudinal studies show that infants spontaneously use
physical aggression and that humans learn not to physically
aggress rather than learn to aggress.
Antisocial behavior will emerge automatically if social controls
are lacking since humans are naturally self-centered.
Social Control Theory
Bullet #2 – “If we grow up naturally without cultivation, like

weeds, we grow up like weeds – rank.”
Bullet #3 – A longitudinal study of children from ages 2-12
found that the frequency of hitting, biting, and kicking peaked
at 27 months of age and declined 66% by the age 12. (Tibbetts
& Hemmens, 2001)
16
Social Bond Theory
Travis Hirschi (late 1960’s) proposed that those most likely to
commit crimes lack four elements of social bonding that form
the foundation of prosocial behavior.
Attachment – emotional bonds existing between individuals and
key social institutions (family / school).
Commitment – a lifestyle in which one has invested
considerable time and energy in the pursuit of a lawful career.
Involvement – the time and energy constrictions placed on us by
the demands of our lawful activities.
Belief – acceptance of the social norms regulating conduct.
Bullet #2 – Attachment to prosocial others is the foundation for
ALL other social bonds. It leads us to feel valued, respected,
and admired and to value the favorable judgments of those to
whom we are attached. Lack of attachment to parents and lack
of respect for their authority easily spills over into a lack of
attachment and respect for the broader social groups of which a
person may a part of. If a child has little respect for parental
sanctions, the control exercised by others (neighbors, teachers,
police officers, probation officers, and judges) has little effect
because parental control has little effect.

Bullet #3 – People who invest heavily in a lawful career have a
valuable stake in conformity and are not likely to risk it by
engaging in crime.
Bullet #4 – The opposite is also true, non-involvement in
conventional activities increases the possibility of exposure to
illegal activities.
Bullet #5 – Persons lacking attachment, commitment, and
involvement tend not to subscribe to conventional morality. A
belief system that is void of conventional morality is filled with
narrow self-interest. Control theorists do not view a criminal
belief system as motivating criminal behavior, rather their view
is that criminals act according to their urges and then justify or
rationalize their behavior with thinking errors. In other words,
behaviors give birth to beliefs, not vice versa.
17
Low Self-Control Theory
Hirschi and Michael Gottfredson (1990).
Low self-control theory accepts the classical idea that crimes
are the result of unconstrained natural human impulses to
enhance ________ and avoid _____.
Self-control – “the extent to which individuals are vulnerable to
the temptations of the moment.”
Self-control is NOT a motivator of any act; it is a brake, not an
accelerator.
Most crimes are spontaneous opportunities requiring little
foresight and planning which earn the criminal minimal short-
term satisfaction.
Bullet #3 – Enhance PLEASURE and avoid PAIN.

18
Low self-control is established early in childhood (within the
first decade) and persists throughout life as a result of
incompetent parenting.
Children DO NOT learn low self-control; it is the default that
occurs in the absence of adequate socialization.
Self-control is enhanced by parental warmth, nurturance,
vigilance, and willingness to practice “tough love.”
Low self-control is fostered by parental criminality, family size,
single parenting, and working mothers (if no substitute is
provided).
19
People with low self-control have the following traits that put
them at risk for criminal offending:
They are oriented to the present and crime affords them
immediate gratification.
They are risk taking and physical and crime provides them with
exciting and risky adventures.
They lack patience, persistence, and diligence and crime
provides them with quick and easy ways to obtain what they
want.
They are self-centered and insensitive so they can commit
crimes without feeling guilty for causing others to suffer.

Bullet #2 - Rather than oriented towards the future.
Bullet #3 – Rather than being cautious and cognitive.
Bullet #4 – Rather than working hard to earn money to purchase
an item (instead of stealing it), or mediating a problem (instead
of exacting revenge), or engaging in courtship (instead of
having multiple sexual encounters)
Bullet #5 – Rather than putting the needs of others first by
exhibiting compassion and empathy.
20
Evaluation of Social –
and Self-Control Theories
Both have been criticized for neglecting social structure.
If a person can be emotionally attached to deviant parents and
deviant peers, can’t their own deviant behavior be viewed as
conforming to deviant expectations?
Self-control theory is a general theory trying to explain all
crime.
Self-control theory attributes variation in people’s self-control
solely to variation in parental behavior ignoring the child’s
impact.
Bullet #1 – If family is so important, then the social, economic,
and political factors that influence the stability of families
should be addressed. Control theorists would argue that they
are attempting to explain the consequences of weak, disrupted

families, not why they are weak or disrupted.
Bullet #2 – Hirschi was just referring to attachment to prosocial
others as a way to explain prosocial behavior and not all
attachments.
Bullet #3 – It is too simplistic to claim that crime can be
explained by the single tendency of low self-control. Low-self
control cannot be necessary and sufficient explanation of
criminality, nor can any other single risk factor.
Bullet #4 – Clearly socialization is a two-way street in which
parental behavior is shaped by the evocative behavior of the
child just as much as the child’s behavior is shaped by the
parents. A number of genetic studies have shown that low self-
control may be something that children bring with them to the
socialization process rather than a product of the failure of that
process.
21
Labeling Theory
Frank Tannenbaum viewed labeling of a person as “criminal” as
a self-fulfilling prophesy embedding them further into
criminality.
LT shifts the focus from the offender to the system by asking
why some behaviors are labeled criminal, while others are not.
LT looks for the causes of crime after it has been committed,
discovered, and punished.
LT theorists believe no act in and of itself is criminal until the
act is witnessed and judged good or bad by others.
This ignores the fact that 180 countries recognize acts such as
murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault are mala in se
crimes.

22
Primary deviance – the initial nonconforming act that comes to
the attention of authorities.
According to LT, being caught in an act of primary deviance is
either the result of police bias or sheer bad luck.
Secondary deviance – subsequent nonconforming acts
(committing more crimes) that as a result of society’s reaction
(stigma) to a person’s primary deviance.
Labeled persons may alter their self-image to fit their label.
What label(s) may exclude the person from conventional
opportunities (employment, housing, peer groups, etc)?
Labeling Theory
23
Juvenile Court Terminology
Adult System
Arrested/arrest report
Information/indictment
Trial
Found guilty
Convicted
Sentenced
Jail
Prison
Juvenile System
Custody/referral
Petition
Hearing
Found within Jurisdiction
Adjudicated
Disposition
Detention

Youth Correctional Facility
Neutralization Theory
Sykes and Matza suggested that criminals know their behavior
is wrong, but the neutralize any sense of shame or guilt for
having committed a wrongful act.
Five techniques of neutralization are:
Denial of responsibility – shifting blame away from the
offender.
Denial of injury – claiming no harm caused = no crime
committed.
Denial of victim – implying that the victim got what they
deserved.
Condemnation of the condemners – attempts to share blame
with the condemners by asserting their behavior is just as bad.
Appeal to higher loyalties – claiming altruistic motives to
elevate one’s moral integrity.
Bullet #1 – Psychologists tell us that we find it a lot easier to
make our attitudes consistent with our behavior, than to change
the behavior to conform with our attitudes if the behavior is
rewarding.
25
Policy & Prevention

The bottom line for all subcultural theories is that lower-class
neighborhoods harbor values and attitudes conducive to
criminal behavior.
If learning crime and delinquency within a particular culture is
the problem, then changing aspects of that culture is the answer.
Differential association theory would advocate for the provision
of prosocial role models to replace antisocial ones (mentoring
programs).
26
Social control and self-control theorists would support the idea
of early family interventions designed to cultivate parental
nurturance and attachment.
They would also attempt to increase bonding to social
institutions (school) by increasing children’s involvement in a
variety of prosocial activities.
Social control theory would also recommend more vocationally
oriented classes to keep less academically inclined students
connected to school.
Policy & Prevention
Bullet #2 – Such activities should provide prosocial role
models, teach moral beliefs such as personal responsibility, and
keep youth busy in meaningful and challenging ways.
27
Low self-control theory advocates programs designed to
strengthen families and improve parenting skills, especially
those relevant to teaching self-control.
They would also recommend efforts to delay pregnancy among
younger, unmarried girls.

Labeling theory has had an impact on criminal justice policy
that far exceeds its empirical support.
Criminals should be “treated” rather than “punished.”
Diversion programs development would keep offenders from
entering the system and avoid labeling.
Policy & Prevention
28
Neutralization theory would support criminal justice agents
charged with managing offenders (probation officers) to
strongly challenge their cognitive distortions in an effort to
extinguish excuse making and increase personal responsibility.
Policy & Prevention
29
NEXT WEEK…
30
Extra Credit Case Study Paper
Select a well-known American serial killer and analyze this
person by reading and learning as much about the person, their
behavior, and their case as possible.
Once you feel you have enough background about this person,

review the criminological theories covered in the course text
and identify the one theory that you believe offers thebest
explanation for the serial killer’s conduct.
Finally, write up your observations and conclusions by
providing the following:
1) A brief summary of the serial killer’s background, including
a review of his/her criminal conduct (what they did).
2) An educated explanation and discussion of the offender’s
behavior, including the criminological theory that offers the
best explanation.
3) Suggestions about what intervention could have been done to
prevent the person from becoming a serial killer.
Your paper should be a minimum of three (3) typed pages in
length (size 12 font; 1 inch margins all around; double spaced)
and should incorporate at minimum of three (3) sources with
one being the class text. Acceptable sources include books,
journal articles, newspaper articles, and websites. This paper
must be turned in at that beginning of class (4:30 pm) on
Thursday, June 8, 2017 and is worth 25 points.

Presented byJohn Lynch, Yamhill Co. Juv. Dept.SUPERVISION .docx

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