Criminal Behavior Theories, Typologies, and Criminal Justice J.B. Helfgott Seattle University

Criminal BehaviorTheories, Typologies, and Criminal JusticeJ.B. HelfgottSeattle University CHAPTER 3 Typologies of Crime and Criminals

Typologies of Crime and Criminals “There are two types of people in this world, good and bad. The good sleep better, but the bad seem to enjoy the waking hours much more.” -- Woody Allen

What is a Typology? • A systematic grouping of entities that have characteristics or traits in common to classes of a particular system. • An abstract category or class consisting of characteristics organized around a common principle relevant to a particular analysis.

Typologies in Everyday Life, Science, and Policy and Practice • Typology construction is a fundamental component of human cognition and scientific investigation. • Examples of typologies we all use in everyday life? • Examples of scientific typologies? • How are typologies used at the institutional level in schools, hospitals, and the criminal justice system?

Criminological Theories and Criminal Typologies A CRIMINAL TYPOLOGY is criminological theory made manageable in a way that can be practically applied to organize, classify, and make sense of a range of behaviors that violate the law. • Examples?

Examples of Comprehensive Criminal Typologies • Clinard, Quinney, & Wildeman’s (1994)Criminal Behavior Systems • Dabney’s (2004) Crime Types • Miethe, McCorkle, & Listwan’s (2006) Crime Profiles

Mental Disorders and Criminal Behavior • Mental illness is just one factor that may play a role in some incidents and types of criminal behavior. • Mental disorder and criminal behavior are distinct concepts that sometimes overlap. • Some mental disorders have been empirically associated with criminal behavior (antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy).

Defining “Mental Disorder” • When people speak of “mental disorder” this term encompasses an enormous range of human behavioral symptoms and conditions ranging from everyday problems in living to severe psychopathological disturbances. • “No definition adequately specifies precise boundaries for the concept of ‘mental disorder’ (APA, 2000, p. xxx).

Conflicting Goals of the Mental Health and Criminal Justice Systems • Conflicting goals of the mental health and criminal justice systems make it difficult to understand and respond to mentally ill offenders and to understand the relationship between mental illness and crime. • According to Blackburn (1993, p. 246), “concerns about the ‘psychiatrisation’ of crime … have been paralleled by concerns over the ‘criminalisation’ of mental disorder.”

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM) • The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published since 1952 by the American Psychiatric Association, is a categorical system for classification of mental disorders for the purpose of communication, diagnoses, education, research, and treatment. • Editions of the DSM: -1952/DSM -1968/DSM II -1980/DSM III -1987/DSM-III-R -1994/DSM-IV -2000/DSM-IV-TR

DSM Multiaxial System • The DSM is organized around a multiaxial system that involves assessment on several axes: • Axis I: Major clinical syndromes • Axis II: Personality disorders • Axis III: Physical disorders • Axis IV: Psychosocial stressors • Axis V: Global level of functioning

The Macarthur Study of Mental Disorder and Violence • The Macarthur Study of Mental Disorder and Violence (Monahan et al, 2001) has been described as the best designed study ever done on violence risk assessment involving over 1000 psychiatric patients examining the relationship between 134 potential risk factors and subsequent violence. • The study concluded that, “… the propensity for violence is the result of the accumulation of risk factors, no one of which is either necessary or sufficient for a person to behave aggressively toward others. People will be violent by virtue of the presence or absence of different sets of risk factors. There is no single path in a person’s life that leads to an act of violence” (p. 142).

Criminal Typologies: Theory and Purpose • Criminal typologies are necessary to understand, identify, and respond to crime. • The criminal justice system cannot respond to crime with a “one size fits all” approach. Sanctions, management strategies, treatment approaches, and public safety policies and practices are highly dependent on differentiation of types of crimes and criminals. • The question, “What type of person are we dealing with?” is of central importance at every stage in the criminal justice process.

TYPES Legalistic Sociological Psychological Biological Multi-trait PURPOSES Sanctions Management Treatment Understanding Types of Criminal Typologies

Scientific Typologies • Classifying events or people into types is a necessary function of science, theory development, and professional practice. • Some typologies are rooted in stereotypes, not science (e.g. racial profiling). • Scientific typologies originated with the Linnaen classification of plants. • In the social sciences individuals are grouped into types based on shared characteristics

How are Typologies Constructed? • Typologies are constructed in two general ways. • IDEAL TYPES are inductively constructed based on a subjective clinical impression (“armchair” theorizing). • EMPIRICAL TYPES are deductively constructed describing patterns that exist in the real world through multivariate statistical methods

Categorical v Dimensional Models • Human types may be more appropriately viewed along a continuum or dimension rather than as a discrete category or taxon. • Categories or types that are not inherently taxonomic (no clear boundaries) are often formed by empirically grouping those who share features on several dimensions using statistical methods such as cluster analysis

Knight & Prentky (1990) Typology of Sexual Offenders: An Example • One of the most sophisticated and complex typologies of sex offenders developed to date used in criminal justice decisionmaking in treatment and management of sex offenders. • Empirical typology of rapists and child molesters based on inductive and deductive research strategies now in its 3rd version (MTC:R3 and MTC:CM3).

J.B. Helfgott, PhD Department of Criminal Justice Seattle University CRJS 515 Typologies of Crime & Criminal Behavior

Stages of Knight and Prentky’s Rapist and Child Molester Typology Development • STAGE 1 - THEORY FORMULATION Comparison of available typologies to determine whether consensus exists regarding specific types of sex offenders. • STAGE 2 – IMPLEMENTATION Definition of types/dimensions, assessment of interrater reliability, and determination of coverage/degree to which typology is exhaustive. • STAGE 3 – VALIDATION Look to research literature to determine whether the constructed types could be shown to have distinctive and theoretically coherent developmental roots • STAGE 4 – INTEGRATION Responding to the analyses of construct validity to determine which dimensions of the typologies needed modification

Evaluating Typologies • A criminal typology is only useful to the extent that it describes homogeneous categories of offending, is comprehensive/exhaustive with respect to the stated purpose, contains categories that are mutually exclusive, is complex enough to have explanatory value, and simple enough to be applied in criminal justice policy and practice. • In evaluating offender typologies, it is important to ask the following questions: • Is the typology and the categories it includes homogeneous? • Is the typology and the categories it includes heterogeneous? • Is the typology and the categories it includes exhaustive? • Are the categories included in the typology mutually exclusive? • Is the typology too simple? • Is the typology too complex?

Evaluating Typologies • Homogeneity/Heterogeneity • Exhaustiveness/Exclusiveness • Simplicity/Complexity

The Use of Typologies in the Criminal Justice System

Meloy’s Sexual Homicide TypologyMeloy, J.R. (2000). The nature and dynamics of sexual homicide: An integrative review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 5, 1-22. J.B. Helfgott, PhD Department of Criminal Justice Seattle University

Summary • Typology construction is a fundamental component of human cognition and scientific investigation. One way to think of a typology is that it is theory made manageable. • Typologies differ with respect to theoretical foundation and purpose. • Typologies of crime and criminals provide information with which to make decisions, policies, practices, and laws. Typologies are used at all stages of the criminal justice process. • A criminal typology is only useful to the extent that it describes homogeneous categories of offending, is comprehensive/exhaustive with respect to the stated purpose, its categories are mutually exclusive, is complex enough to have explanatory value, and simple enough to be applied in criminal justice policy and practice.

Criminal Behavior Theories, Typologies, and Criminal Justice J.B. Helfgott Seattle University