A criminal’s home can resonate with many different meanings. To understand a criminal, an individual must first understand their lifestyle. The origin of a crime can be nebulous, hence the fundamental importance of the criminal’s upbringing. Criminal tendencies distinctly tie to psychopathic or sociopathic personality traits. Underlying constituents could have triggered criminal behavior, provided that the criminal is not psychologically abnormal. People are not born criminals, a singular occurrence in their life could have guided them to this path.
Internal Factors of Criminal Development
Inside the head of every criminal is a foretelling past. The mind is an intricate path that shows distortion, inciting unlawful actions. Criminals are a product of the circumstances that encompass their lives. Former circumstances indicate the type of environment that will surround them in the future. Notably, figures who trigger unwanted memories from a killer’s past inadvertently cause the killer to target them. Serial offenders may go after people who remind them of childhood trauma. For example, one might attack drug addicts because that was what their parents were, believing that killing them was their way of “saving them.” By portraying themselves as a savior, the individual may even go as far as killing their own parents, which to them is logical. The ambiance of a person’s past or present home is an integral part of their crimes.Unmerited crimes occur because society drills hate into anyone willing to listen. Hate crime offenders surmise that groups of unfamiliar people are threatening and “...may not be motivated by hate, but rather by fear, ignorance or anger. These can lead to the dehumanization of unfamiliar groups and targeted aggression.” (American Psychological Association 1) Prejudice towards specific groups because of their religion, gender, or disability, encourage hate crimes.
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External Factors of Criminal Development
Society associated with the criminal often lacks environmental factors crucial to positive development. The way a person was raised is a decisive factor for criminal behavior. Characteristics formed as a result of an involved or absent community may promote criminal development. Home is the natural school for children, reverberating future habits and morals associated with criminals. When negative societal behaviors enclose the individual, it makes it harder to differentiate their thoughts from others. Absent parental figures seldom decrease behavior linked to criminality. If a guardian is negligent of their parental duties, they take partial responsibility for all possible outcomes. “Sufficient supervision of children's activities ensures that the child will not drift into types of antisocial and delinquent behaviors.” (Wright et al. 1) The morals of children, subsequently obtained from societal bonds, construct their future conduct. Illegal behavior can also be a lifestyle and not just a habit due to the criminal’s socio-economic status. Neighborhood dynamics in areas of economic disadvantage experience increasing crime rates. In high-crime neighborhoods, coercion caused by cultural goals and social structures drive people to commit crimes. “Individuals living in poverty are under immense stress and many resort to crime.” (Maryville University 1) Additionally, if the offender’s parents were criminals, the time they spent around crime can affect their behaviors. Whether illegal behavior is derived from the criminal’s home environment or not, the societal upbringing of the criminal plays a pivotal role in their crimes.
Motives Attributed to Human Development
Discerning the contrast between a motivated versus unmotivated criminal is, at times, complex. “A lot of people simply can’t comprehend the idea that sometimes the criminal has literally no motivation whatsoever to attack, but yet does so anyway.” (Ellifretz 1) Criminal actions are often influenced by outside forces, rather than solely internal conflict. Factors, such as drugs and alcohol, increase the chances of illegal behavior as they alter the person’s state of mind. The inevitable emergence of a dissociative and automatic state of mind majorly impacts the offender’s incentive. A considerable determinant in sexual assault cases is intoxication, which creates a sense of disconnection within reality. Although the individual’s initial intentions may not be violent, influences on the brain will disrupt their thought process. Usage of alcohol and drugs is a way to alleviate pain, escaping from overwhelming adversities in life. Addicts may even turn to crime to pay for their habit and spark a chain of reactions. The life of the criminal preordains the intoxicant path, which can lead to the criminal path. If the parent had drug problems when they were pregnant and now the child is unavoidably addicted as well, provides the implication of mental illness and increases their chances of addiction.
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