The document summarizes research testing theories of criminality using questionnaires administered to 348 female inmates. Key findings include: 1) Sensation seeking, experiences of childhood abuse, insecure attachments, and partner abuse correlated moderately with criminal behavior. 2) Attachment to mother, experiences of childhood adversity, and risk-taking behaviors showed the strongest correlations with crimes committed and arrest history. 3) While the findings provide some support for theories of criminality, the research calls for a more comprehensive theory that better predicts criminal activities and allows for individualized rehabilitation approaches.

1. Ashtin M. Adkins, M.A.
Marshall University

2.  The female inmate population is the fastest growing
population within the criminal justice system.
 Between 1977 and 2004, the number of female inmates
increased by 757%, and this is double the rate of
increase among incarcerated males.

3.  The importance of a child’s relationship to parents in the
development of criminal behavior represents an older
account of criminality. Support for this set of theories has
been documented by criminologists such as Hirschi (1969).
 Hirschi (1969) suggested that we obey societal rules because
we have social controls that bind us to conventional society.
These social controls demand conformity to its standards. It
was said that it is the strength of the fear of losing these social
bonds that drives us either toward or away from lives of crime.
Thus, according to this theory, when socialization to parents
and society is poor, then the bonds are likely to be weak.

4.  Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) replaced the idea of
continuing social bonds with an emphasis instead on
self control in the abstinence from crime.
 Such control was said to come from relations with
parents in a rule governed family.
 Thus, Hirschi presented two theories concerning the
development of crime, and each set forth different paths
in a criminal lifestyle.

5.  Sampson and Laub (1993; 2005) and Sampson Laub, & Wimer
(2006) suggested that variables such as parental
separation, divorce, family size, and marriage are all important
predictors of the development of criminal behavior.
 They also suggested that child factors such as difficult
temperament, can affect the social controls afforded by the parents.
 Although it is these kinds of dichotomous variables that have been
the focus of most criminological theories, they reasoned that it is
the quality rather than just the presence or absence of these
relationships that is most important. However, this and other social
bond and control theories have ignored the different kinds of
relationships such as those to mothers, fathers, partners, or peers
which might be important at different times in development
(Shanahan, McHale, Crouter, & Osgood, 2007).

6.  Strain theories suggest that stressors and strains cause people to
act out in criminal behavior.
 Agnew (1992) suggested that strains are neither structural nor
interpersonal but individual and emotional. One’s perceived failure
to achieve positively valued goals or stimuli, and/or the presentation
of negative stimuli is the chief source of strain, and this is theorized
to create anger and frustration. These lead to negative relationships
and criminal behaviors. These strains will then increase one’s
alienation from society and increase criminal behavior.
 Agnew (1992; 2005; 2006) suggested that the chief predictors of
crime should be found in strain producing events during
development. The factors theorized to moderate reactions to strain
were temperament, intelligence, interpersonal skills, self-
efficacy, the presence of conventional social support, and the
absence of association with antisocial (e.g., criminally inclined) age
and status peers.

7.  The sensation seeking and risk taking models of desistance
suggest that an individual might be born with a tendency
to like the risks and thrills he/she gets from engaging in
dangerous behaviors (Zuckerman, 1994).
 Zuckerman (2007) found that risk taking behaviors such as
driving recklessly, engaging in sports, drugs, sex, and
gambling are correlated across activities. Zuckerman has
reasoned that because crime, delinquency, and aggression are
correlated with alcohol and drug use as well as
gambling, risky sex, and general social nonconformity, there
must be a common factor underlying all of them.
 The common factor was labeled “sensation seeking.”
Sensation seeking is a trait defined by the seeking of
varied, novel, complex, and intense situations and
experiences.

8.  Test the above theories of crime
 Identify attachment and clinical issues among female
prisoners
 Introduce a comprehensive theory of criminality that better
predicts criminal activities
 Provide a new way of conceptualizing the causes of crime
and create more individualized approaches to
rehabilitation in order to better reduce rates of recidivism.

9.  Participants
 A total of 348 females were recruited from the Lakin
Women’s Correctional Center in Point Pleasant, West
Virginia. Of these women, 20 of them became confused
with the numbering of the questions, 24 did not finish
for unknown reasons, and 11 did not consent to
participate. The number of questionnaires utilized for
the subsequent analyses was 293. Their ages ranged
from 18 years upward.

10.  Instruments
 Five different measures were administered to the
participants for a total of 319 questions. The following
measures were administered to the participants:
 Attachment & Clinical Issues Questionnaire (ACIQ)
 CAGE Questionnaire
 Adverse Childhood Events Questionnaire (ACE)
 Brief Sensation-Seeking Screening 4 (BSSS-4)
 Sensation Seeking 2 (SS-2)

11.  Attachment and Clinical Issues Questionnaire
(ACIQ)
 The ACIQ (Lindberg & Thomas, 2011) is a test battery
containing 29 scales measuring attachment and related
clinical issues. It includes scales measuring
avoidant, anxious
resistant, codependent/preoccupied, and secure
attachments to mother, father, and partner on
continuous scales.

12.  CAGE Questionnaire
 The CAGE (Aertgeerts, Buntinx, Fevery, & Ansoms,
2000). is named in reference to its four questions that
pertain to cutting back on drinking, feeling annoyed
that others ask you to cut back on drinking, feeling
guilty about drinking, and needing a drink first thing in
the morning (eye-opener). The CAGE is a brief
screening measure used to detect alcoholism.

13.  Adversive Childhood Events Questionnaire (ACE)
 The ACE Questionnaire
(Felitti, Anda, Nordenberg, Williamson, Spitz, Edwards, Koss, &
Marks, 1998; Anda, Dong, Brown, Felitti, Giles, Perry, Edwards, &
Dube, 2009; Ford, Anda, Edwards, Perry, Zhao, Tsai, Li, & Croft, 2011;)
contains several questions pertaining to aversive
childhood experiences, such as recurrent physical
abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse. It contains
questions about whether the household in which a
person grew up contained an alcohol or drug
abuser, someone who engaged in criminal
behavior, and/or someone with a mental illness.

14.  Brief Sensation Seeking Screening - 4 (BSSS-4)
 The BSSS-4 (Stephenson, Hoyle, Palmgreen, & Slater, 2003) is
a short assessment tool pertaining to an individual’s level of
sensation seeking. It has been found to predict risk taking
behaviors among those of different ages, particularly with
regard to risk taking behaviors pertaining to drug and
alcohol.
 Sensation Seeking – 2 (SS-2)
 The two items on this measure relate to the risk taking and
excitement aspects of sensation seeking. It has an overall
focus on personal dispositions toward risky and exciting types
of behaviors (Slater, Hoyle, Palmgreen, & Stephenson, 2001;
Stephenson, Hoyle, Palmgreen, & Slater, 2003).

15.  Procedures
 Participants were tested in groups of approximately 25 over
the course of two days. Each group was read each item on the
questionnaire by a test proctor, and the first ten items were
read twice. The participants were asked not to work
ahead, and at least one proctor walked around the room to
ensure that the participants were not moving on prematurely.
The additional proctor was available to answer any questions
that were raised. The participants answered each question on
a scantron sheet. Scantrons were numbered, and no
identifying information was obtained. The testing process
took aproximately an hour and fifteen minutes, and scantrons
were scored electronically.

16.  In line with Solomon & Laub (2005), it was predicted
that scales on the ACIQ pertaining to attachment to
mother and partner would correlate with the number
of crimes for which one was arrested and the number
of crimes for which one COULD have been arrested.
 In line with Agnew’s (1992; 2005; 2006) theory, it was
predicted that adverse childhood events, as measured
by the ACE, would be correlated with the number of
crimes for which one could have been arrested, as well
as the number of crimes for which one COULD have
been arrested.

17. Scale Crimes Arrested Could Arrested
Risk Taking Behaviors .24 .49
ACE .25 .35
CAGE .10 .10
Experienced Partner .34 .34
Abuse
Ambivalent Mother .25 .25
Anger Control .28 .29
Avoidant Mother .24 .28
Avoidant Partner .21 .24
Sexual Arousal .31 .18
Secure Attachment to .17 .20
Mother
General Mistrust .24 .21
*Correlations are between instrument scales and crimes for which one was
arrested and could have been arrested. All correlations over .20 have p< .001.

18.  From the above correlations, it can be seen that all theories
were partially supported. Although these correlations are
informative, they did not capture the complexity of the
factors we are theorizing to lie behind dissidence. The
results are continuing to be analyzed. They will be
examined in terms of more powerful path analyses to better
test how these theories might interact.
 In addition, the results reflect the need to address several
different factors when attempting to rehabilitate criminal
offenders and ultimately reduce recidivism.

19.  It is suggested here that there is some truth to all of
the above theories. Upon further analyses of the
data, it is suggested that different models will differ as
a result of the type of crime and criminal in
question, and that all such models will be complex
with several different factors related to different
crimes.