Criminal psychology -

Juvenile Delinquency

Unit 4
CONTENTS
1. DEVELOPMENT OF HABITUAL BEHAVIOUR
2. JUVENILE OFFENDER
3. SCHOOL VIOLENCE
4. CRIMINAL PSYCHOPATH
General Behavioural Characteristics of Psychopaths
Antisocial Personality Disorder and Psychopathy
Prevalence
Offending Patterns
Psychological Measures of Psychopathy
Juvenile psychopathy
The Female Psychopath
Racial/Ethnic Differences
DEVELOPMENT OF
HABITUAL
BEHAVIOUR
Crime
Defined as “an intentional act in violation of the criminal
law committed without defence or excuse, and
penalized by the state as a felony or misdemeanor.”
(Tappan, 1947)

Criminal behaviour is intentional behaviour that violates

a criminal code.
To convict someone of a criminal offense, the government
generally must prove that the defendant committed a
voluntary act intentionally or with a guilty state of mind.

Entered in records

Spectrum of criminal behaviour - range from minor

traffic violation to murder.

Extensive harm is perpetrated by persons in power.

Corporate crimes - accounting improprieties that misled and

betrayed investors.

Companies act 2013

The persistent antisocial behaviour does not normally begin in
Adulthood but begins quite early in life, with signs sometimes
appearing even during the preschool years.

Cause of crime and delinquency are multiple, complex and

probably from some complicated interaction of several
influences.

Broad social Factors - racism, poverty, glorification of violence,

sexism and the availability of handguns.

Unlikely to be unidimensional.
Juvenile
Offenders
 Def of Juvenile Delinquency
Delinquency is the behaviour against the criminal code committed by an individual
who has not reached adulthood.

Status offences - (behaviour prohibited only for juveniles) - running away, violating
curfew laws and truancy.

Legal defn - Juvenile delinquent is one who commits an act against the criminal code
and who is adjudicated by an appropriate court. (restricted to persons younger than
age 18)
Psychological or psychiatric def - symptoms based labels of “Conduct disorder” or
“antisocial behaviour”

Conduct disorder - .diagnostic designation used to represent a group of behaviours

characterized by habitual misbehaviour, such as stealing, setting fires, running away
from home, skipping school, destroying property, fighting, being cruel to animals and
people and frequently telling lies.

If the misconduct benign in childhood - Conduct disorder - childhood-onset type

Adolescence - Conduct Disorder - adolescent- onset type

Antisocial behaviour - more serious habitual behaviour - actions that are directly
harmful to the wellbeing of others.

Antisocial personality disorder - psychiatric diagnostic label - adults at least 18 years

of age who displayed conduct disorders as children or adolescents and who continue
serious offending well into adulthood.
 School Violence
School shootings - US 1990s - 1999 - mass murder of 12 students and 1 teacher -
many injured. Shooters commited suicide during the incident

Threat Assessment

Set of investigative and operational activities designed to identify, assess and manage
individuals who may pose a threat of violence to identifiable targets, such as a school
environment.

Threat is an expression of intent to do harm or act out violently against someone or

something. A threat can be spoken, written or symbolic.
Threat assessment is innovative in 2 ways
1. It does not rely on descriptive, demographic, or psychological profiles
2. 2. It does not rely directly on verbal or written threats as a threshold for risk

Threat assessment concentrates on determining the seriousness of a threat that has

already been made and if the assessment suggests it is serious- setting up procedures
and strategies to protect the intended target.

“Instead of looking at demographic and psychological characteristics, the threat

assessment approach focuses on a subject’s thinking and h=behaviours as a means to
assess his/her progress on a pathway to violent action” (Borum et al.., 1999)

Crucial step in threat assessment is to determine whether the thretener is making a threat
or posing a threat.

Competent threat assessment tries to distinguish who is serious and who is not.
FBi and Secret agents - assessment guidelines to identify warning signs of potential
violence directed at the school environment

Secret National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC).

Research - 37 US school shooting - 41 perpetrators - past 25 years - focus on thourough

examination of of the thinking, planning and behaviours engaged in by students wh carried
out school attaches.
According to the FBI Threats may be divided into 4 types
1. Direct - specifies a target and is delivered in a straightforward, clear and explicit manner

2. Indirect - More vague and Ambiguous. The specific motivation, intention ad the target
are unclear and open to speculations

3. Veiled - strongly implies but does not explicitly threaten violence.

4. Conditional - seen in extortion cases - warn that a violent act will occur unless certain
demands or terms are met.