Future Criminal Behavior

Amanda Rutherford

Professor Kevin Beaver

CCJ 4031

15 April 2015

Question 1 Learning plays a large role in the development of future criminal behavior. This concept has led to the question “If people learn to become criminals, who taught the first criminal?” There are several ways to pick up on criminal activity without being taught in the traditional sense. Even beyond the scope of the classroom, learning is not always just finding out new information and applying it. Sometimes it is training your brain to think that taking short cuts around rules will be worth the risk of getting caught. The fruits of your criminal labor seem infinitely sweeter when you do not have to work as hard to obtain them. Maybe in hind sight, people will realize the

There are multiple ways that the environment contributes to learning. One way is conditioning. The first type, classical, “focuses on the reaction of an organism to the environment” (Wortley 145). The basis is that people begin to react to another stimulus in the same way they react to a stimulus they respond to instinctually. An example of classical conditioning taking effect in the criminal sense could be how a person becomes involved with violent crime. Perhaps an antisocial individual played a harsh contact sport, such as football. Playing might give them a feeling of euphoria. One day, they tackled someone a little too hard and the person they hit ended up receiving a severe injury. The individual guilty of tackling not only does not feel any remorse, they realize they actually enjoyed causing someone else pain. They associate the good feeling of playing football – the unconditioned stimulus – with hurting other people – the conditioned stimulus. The euphoria coming from hurting people is now the conditioned

Brain imaging would come in handy here. If the goal of this treatment is to help the individual leave behind their criminal activity, it would make sense to see if their brain shows certain phenotypes related to crime. “Genetic factors often interact with or condition the effects of environmental factors” (Beaver 222). Since genes are so important when it comes to causing criminal behavior, they should be considered just as important when we are trying to put an end to it. Once it has been decided that a person is treatable, they should have their brain examined via PET scans, fMRIs, etc. to see the current state of their brain. From there, the type of therapy should be decided. Cognitive behavioral therapy would be my choice because it “focuses on changing what offenders think and how offenders think” (Beaver 223). Brain imaging should be used throughout the duration of the treatment program. If a significant amount of therapy has been done and no changes are evident, it may be best to terminate the program and allow those who are showing progress to continue. In the end, the entire point of therapy is to change the brain; otherwise, criminals might as well be spending their time