The growth of a criminal behavior starts in early life.
Humans live in a civil society. Society primarily is made of government and the people,in broad. In such sense, both of the groups intent in making the society better. However, for every yin, there’s an yang. Lirking among us are criminal intentions too. The main question rises that whether the growth of a criminal being is an innate and genetical factor or a reusult of discrepancy in developmental cycle?
While many genetical factors do play a role in criminal behavior(MAOA gene and a variant of CDH13), some evidence suggests to differential risk factors to separate crimes. A longitudinal association between 3 key ‘child risk factors‘ – AGGRESSION, EMOTIONAL DYSREGULATION and SOCIAL ISOLATION– and 2 key ‘adolescent risk factors‘- PARENTAL DETACHMENT and DEVIANT PEER AFFILIATION– predicts criminal behavior onset in early adulthood.
Violent crimes include crimes that are directed towards people that use force or the threat to use force to cause serious harm as Aggrevated Assault, Rape,Murders,etc compared to Non Violent cries which are rules and property violation, theft, burglary etc(HEMY,TOLAN AND GORGAN-SMITH,2001;US OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAM, 2015). The roots of Anti Social behavior and the growth of a criminal adult emerges in childhood as elevated aggression and emotional misconduct and by parent-child conflict(DODGE,GRENBERG,MALONE and CPPRG,2008). As in early teenage, deviance in peer affiliations along with detachmrnt is initiation of Antisocial Behavior.
Following cases of criminals who made themselves somewhat popular, we will carefully dissect their childhood and adolescent deviance to their growth as criminals.
1)CHARLES MANSON(The man who started a Cult Family)
Famously notorious cult family, the Manson Cult family was the brainchild of their leader ,Charles Maddox Manson. Claiming to be Jseus and a savior, this man was a charismatic leader who made 100 of his followers commit notorious murders throughout the early ’60s, from the deserted ranch of San Francisco. However, his growth to crime empire can be traced back to early childhood.
The growth of a criminal:childhood trauma
The growth of a criminal inside Charles Manson was due to his early childhood experience. His mother was an alcoholic who for days was missing from his life. He never met his real father and his step dad was an absentee. Manson was left to fend for himself resulting in a growth of narcissism and charisma. He was sent to Gibaut Shool for delinquents in 1942 from where he escaped and rented a room, supporting himself by burglary. This was his first crime and resulted from a parent-child conflict that he harbored. After 4 days in a home, he broke out with another inmate to steal a car and drove off.
In Washington d.c., under National Training School he was found to be aggressively antisocial. (1952). Before his hearing, he was caught to be sexually forcing in on another boy on knifepoint.
Manson showed classic developmental taits both in childhood and early teenage of criminal intention. A socially isolted child with no emotional support due to alcoholic mother and absentee father resulted him to have a parent child conflict and peer deviancy in teenage.
2)Ted Kaczynski(A prodigy of rage)
Theodore Richard Kaczynski ,a child prodigy, having an IQ of 167, was an Unabomber, anarchist having killed 3 people and harming 23 others. Though a child prodigy, his childhood showed dangerous traits of violence and rage.
The growth of a criminal: social isolation
In early age, due to his severe hives, he was kept isolated in a hospital ward and had little to no contact with anyone, after which his family and his brother reported him “showing little emotion”. Once he pulled a chair from his mother Wanda and started laughing maniacally at her. From an early age,Theodore displayed prongs of lifelong violence towards his parents, whom he blamed for “ruining his life”. In one of his notes from his brother, he was found to say to his parents ” I can’t wait to till you die, so I can spit on your corpse”.
This shows his parent-child conflict at an early age. Though his parents were compassionate, he grew socially isolated.
Due to his superiority in academics, he was prone to bullying and social isolation.
His peers and teachers woud describe him as “brilliant but lonely” showing high disparity in peer affiliations.
3)Adam Lanza(The gun talks)
Adama Peter Lanza is famously known for killing 20 first graders and 6 adults in Sandy Hook Elementary school, Connecticut. Adam’s love for guns brew from his mother’s frequent visit to the gun range. Lanza’s the growth of a criminal was brewed due to extreme proneness to violence and isolation.
The growth of a criminal: prone to violence
Though said to be careful with the armory, her mother took him to the gun range in fearing of leaving him alone. Early exposure to gun violence is a major cause for mass shootings in US. Nancy,his mother, was a socially outward person however her son was polar opposite. He was socially awkward and troubled as reported by his classmates. Veenstra-VanderWeele,M.D,director of child and adolescent psychiatry, Columbia University, said anxiety and problems with self-expression can lead to reclusive tendencies where violent ambitions are harbored — without parents or peers knowing. This shows Adam’s emotional dysfunctional part.
4)Charles Sobhraj(The Bikini Killer)
Coming to Indian context, Charles Sobhraj was born to a Indian father and Vietnamese mothers. Famous for his charismatic personality and intellectual abilities, Charles targeted mainly western tourists and killed and robbed them for funding his lifestyle of extravagance,in the 1970s throughout southeast Asia.
The growth of a criminal: neglecting parents
His problem of criminality was an early onset. His father left their family and they were to fend themselves. Though his mother got remarried, he was ignored and neglected to his half siblings. His distaste and distance from parents started to brew. His parent-child conflict grew so much that he tried to escape twice from home. In early 1963, during his early teen age committed petty crimes. In jail he met Felix d’Escogne who introduced Charles to Paris’ criminal underground.
Charles’ divulge from his teens and peers in his teen age showed his increasing hostility towards normal life. He had major detachment issues which resulted him being a prolific killer.
The growth of a criminal in terms of childhood: The risk factors in violent crimes were seen by profiling into the childhood development which included emotional and social dysfunction as well as aggresive behavior.
Children who later on went to become vioent criminals were aggresive and interperosnlly hostile. Also they showed socially neglignce, isolation and reflected social discomfort too.
The growth of a criminal in terms of adulthood: The risk factors of the growth of a criminal activity pertaining to non violent crimes in early teenage and adulthood were predicted by elevated social-emotional dysregulation in childhoos; however, the direct pathway to the link of the growth of the criminal activity was much smaller than the violent crimes.
The social emotional dysfunction increase a risk in the peer group interaction for social deviance which leads to the growth of criminal,juvenile and harmful behavior.
On all the accounts, it can be said that childhood and teenage developments are pivotal in determining a growth towards criminal path. Over the past 50 years in Forensic and Criminal psychology, it is evident and well-documented fact that “the past is the prologue”.
The following references have been used
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5640463/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120125151841.htm
https://www.biography.com/.amp/crime-figure/charles-manson
https://www.charlesmanson.com/childhood/
https://www.sfgate.com/news/amp/Kaczynski-Childhood-of-rage-3091103.php
https://www.biography.com/.amp/crime-figure/ted-kaczynski
https://www.biography.com/.amp/crime-figure/adam-lanza
https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/charles-sobhraj-11624.php
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