KMY4043: Criminal Psychology
UNIT 2: Crime In Context
Crime as social construction
- When a crime is reported to the police/authority, identified by the media or codified as law,
the nature of that action or behaviour only exists because people define that particular action
or behaviour as deviant or criminal. This is known as social constructionism.
- Social constructionism is a theoretical construct that focuses on knowledge, understanding,
and social relationships (i.e., interactions) that can change or shape the meaning of how
people perceive a symbol, an event, or social phenomenon.
- Berger and Luckmann (1966) suggested that reality is constructed by everyday social
interactions through a system of social, cultural, and interpersonal processes.
- From a contemporary perspective, Ray Surette (2011) explains that social constructionism is
built on four sources of knowledge that people acquire : personal experience, human
relationships (such as family and friends), institutional relationships (such as school,
religious place, government institutions) and media (news, literature, and film).
- Today, and in popular culture, the power of the portrayals found in the
media play an important role in defining what is reality. Thus, social
reality is what people construct by what they hear, see, or read. This
then leads to the classification or definition of crimes and criminal
behaviours.
-Defining a crime reflects not only the values of society but those in a
position to make those definitions a reality. Those making decisions
about what is right or wrong are called claims makers (Best, 2008).
However, defining a crime is also subject to time, place, culture, and
individual perspectives. For example marital rape was not viewed as act
of domestic violence or crime until the late 1970s and in 1993, 50 states
in the US had made the act of sexually assaulting one’s wife a crime
(Hasday,2000).
-The theory of social constructionism also relies heavily on the
concepts of moral panics and labelling, which shape the mind of
individuals that lead to the classification of what is a crime and who
is a criminal. Often, how the media reports events or particular
criminal acts can lead to a moral panic. Deviance act is labelled but
only to the eye of the beholder and can vary between cultures, time-
periods, and individual (Becker, 1963).
- Crime is socially constructed reality because people interpret the
behaviour as a crime or criminal behaviour and the courts, the
police, and the media help shape those classifications and
definitions of what is and is not viewed as a crime.
Definition, Understanding and Labels of crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by the government or other
authority. The term crime does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally
accepted definition. The most popular view is that crime is a category created by law; in other
words, something is a crime if declared as such by the relevant and applicable law. One
proposed definition is that a crime or offence (or criminal offence) is an act harmful not only
to some individual but also to a community, society, or the government. Such acts are forbidden
and punishable by law.
Usually, to be classified as a crime, the "act of doing something criminal" known as actus
reus(guilty act) must – with certain exceptions – be accompanied by the "intention to do
something criminal" also known as mens rea (guilty mind)
In law, actus reus can be either an acts against person (e.g assault) , property (e.g burglary) or
not acting when legally required to do so (e.g medical doctor not acting to save a person’s life).
- There are many sources of information about crime in society including the media, social
media, the government, family, friends and acquaintances. Personal experience as a victim of
crime or even a perpetrator can also contribute to our knowledge and beliefs. Nevertheless,
misconceptions about crime and criminals are common.
- Crime statistics have their shortcomings yet can provide some useful information. The
Internet is a ready and reliable resource for information on the most recent crime trends for
many countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
- There are many sources of information which make up crime statistics. Sample surveys with
members of the public and information recorded by the police are especially useful. Different
types of statistical information may superficially appear incompatible because of the different
types of data involved.
- Each method of data collection has its own advantages and disadvantages which need to be
taken into account when assessing findings based on them. The various approaches should be
regarded as complementary and incompatibilities seen as part of the challenge of understanding
crime data.
- Extensive research has demonstrated that criminal behaviour is quite common – sufficiently so
that it might be described as normal. Of course, relatively trivial incidents of stealing form the bulk
of this criminal activity. Nevertheless, there is evidence that half of men and nearly a third of
women admit to committing at least one crime such as burglary, theft, criminal damage, robbery,
assault or selling drugs at some stage in their lives.
- International comparisons tend to suggest considerable variation in levels of crime in different
nations. However, international trends in crime statistics do not indicate that levels of crime
invariably increase over time. For some crimes (homicide is a good example), the trends are
downwards or flattening out in some countries traditionally believed to be violent.
- Justice is administered differently and is based on different principles in different parts of the
world. Even where the systems are closely related (e.g. the United Kingdom and the United States)
there may be crucial differences in certain respects. It is important to avoid the assumption that the
principles of forensic and criminal psychology are universally applicable.
Criminal Conduct
- Criminal conduct refers to acts that are injurious and prohibited
under the law, and render the actor subject to intervention by justice
professionals.
- Criminal conduct has traditionally been divided into two broad
categories:
i) Crimes against the person. Crimes against the person include
murder, battery, assault, rape, kidnapping, and false imprisonment
etc.
ii)Property crimes include larceny, arson, criminal trespass, criminal
mischief, and burglary etc.
Definitions of criminal conduct within the four domains
1. Legal: Criminal behavior refers to actions that are prohibited by
the state and punishable under the law.
2. Moral: Criminal behavior refers to actions that violate the norms
of religion and morality and are believed to be punishable by
supreme spiritual beings.
3. Social: Criminal behavior refers to actions that violate the norms
of custom and tradition and are punishable by the community.
4. Psychological: Criminal behavior refers to actions that may be
rewarding to the actor but that inflict pain or loss on others. That
is, criminal behavior is antisocial behavior.
Victim of Crime
- In recent years, victims have become more of a priority in the criminal justice system; for
example, the police have started to show greater sensitivity in the treatment of rape victims.
- Care has to be taken not to blame victims, either directly or indirectly, or in part, for their
victimisation.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a consequence of serious trauma of which some
crimes, such as rape and extreme violence, are examples. Flashbacks to the traumatising
events and nightmares are among its characteristics. It is a psychiatric condition listed in the
APA Diagnostic and Statistical Manual since 1980.
- A substantial minority of homicide offenders show PTSD symptoms caused by their
offending. Suppression of the traumatic memories which re-emerge in flashbacks is
counterproductive to the treatment of PTSD. The victim needs to work through the memories
repeatedly, using methods such as structured trauma writing.
- Restorative justice concentrates on the harm done to victims by the offence. This may
involve mediated interaction between the offender and the victim. There is evidence that this
may be both helpful to victims and reduce recidivism in offenders.
- Victims, whether or not severely affected by the experience, have to make decisions about
whether to report the crime to the police. Usually, it is the nature of the crime which
determines this. It is common for victims to talk with other people before deciding to report
the crime or not.
- Crime reporting decisions are also dependent on the rewards and costs of doing so, the
emotion aroused by the crime, and the social push from those around the victim to report the
crime. However, counterfactual thinking, which leads to victims holding themselves
responsible for the crime, may inhibit reporting.
- Based on rational choice theory, there is evidence that self-protective behaviours may have
an impact on the way in which a crime unfolds.
- Victims of crime exhibit a wide range of responses to their
personal crime victimisation. In DeValve’s (2005) study, victims
of crime mentioned the following consequences for themselves: •
angry at offender – 81 per cent; • anxiety or panic attacks or some
other psychological consequence – 67 per cent; • fear of retaliation
by the offender – 39 per cent; • fear of the repetition of a similar
event – 53 per cent; • felt isolated and alone – 53 per cent; • felt
unsafe at home – 53 per cent; • relationship with partner affected –
44 per cent; • self-blame for the crime – 47 per cent; • time off
from work – 69 per cent; • wanted revenge – 44 per cent; • work
affected – 61 per cent.
- The victims had various feelings about the offender, including: •
wanting the offender committed to prison – 56 per cent; • wanting
an apology from the offender – 33 per cent; • wanting the offender
to receive help – 31 per cent.
- The victims of crime have increasingly been regarded
sympathetically as a consequence of a number of changes. The
feminist movement, for example, pushed for public awareness of
the plight of the victims of crimes such as domestic violence and
sexual abuse. It was argued that often the victim was revictimised
by the police investigation and the subsequent trial. While elements
of this remain, the concept of restorative justice changes the focus
of the criminal justice system onto the needs of the victims of crime
rather than simply the disposal of the offender through the criminal
justice system. It also allows for victims to express their emotions
towards their victimiser. A court may seek a victim’s proposals for
reparation.
-There are many consequences of crime, such as cycles of abuse..
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a psychological state in which the
victim is unable to deal effectively with their memory of the
traumatic events which the criminal subjected them to. Trying to
suppress the distressing memories prevents the psychological
processes of healing from taking place. Nevertheless, the memories
are still there and burst through into consciousness in the form of
nightmares and flashbacks, for example. Treatment involves
working through the memories safely. These memories tend to be
sensory motor ones rather than narrative ones. Trauma memories
are converted to ordinary narrative memories and so can be dealt
with by the victim through a normal healing process which was
previously unavailable.
- Victims of crime are also the major source of information to the
police. The process by which they choose to report the crime or not
is therefore of great importance in the criminal justice system. It is
clear that this is a social activity since a large proportion of victims
of crime talk the crime over with friends, relatives and others, and
solicit their advice. The decision to report a crime is influenced by a
range of factors, including the emotional significance of the crime
and the benefits/costs ratio involved in the decision to report the
crime.
PTSD and the Victims of Crime
The consequences of serious crimes such as rape, child abuse, and
violence may be traumatic to the victim as well as witnesses, family
members and friends. There are numerous negative psychological
outcomes which can result from being victimised by crime, such as
anxiety, depressive symptoms, eating disorders, hostility, poorer
general well-being and somatisation. However, the most extensively
researched outcome of victimisation is posttraumatic stress disorder
or PTSD.
- The following is a brief sketch of some of the common features of PTSD:
• Profound depression and possible thoughts of suicide.
• Sleep disturbances of all sorts. Some may have difficulty sleeping; some may
sleep for abnormally long periods.
• Oversensitivity to noise. Noise can cause a startle response since the
fight/flight reflex is heightened.
• Paranoia or fear of others: the victim may feel afraid of the reoccurrence of
the traumatic event, which causes them to be uncomfortable with people who
may be their future victimisers (Broken Spirits Network, 2004).
• Repeatedly reliving the trauma in the form of intrusive flashbacks of the
traumatic events during waking hours. Because of the intensity of some
flashbacks, victims can believe that they are experiencing the events once
again. At night, the events may be incorporated into nightmares. Victims often
go out of their way to avoid anything which remind them of the traumatic
events. The anniversary of the occurrence of the traumatic events may lead to
renewed upset.
