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Sikand & Reddy – Role of Psychosocial Factors in Criminal Behaviour in Adults in India

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Copyright © 2017 International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences (IJCJS) – Official Journal of the South Asian

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Role of Psychosocial Factors in Criminal Behaviour in Adults in India Mehak Sikand

1

Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, PGIMER, New Delhi, India

K. Jayasankara Reddy 2

Christ University, Bengaluru, India

Abstract Over the years, there has been a steady increase in the number of crimes committed annually in India

(Snapshots, 2014). The purpose of this paper was to delve into the psychological and social factors that contribute to the development of criminal behaviour in the Indian context. For the current research, concurrent

embedded mixed research design was used. Twenty individuals with a criminal record were selected using

purposive sampling and twenty individuals with no criminal record were matched on the basis of age, gender

and socio economic status. Eysenck Personality Questionnaire- Revised was administered on them. A semi structured interview delving into understanding the social factors that contributed to the criminal behaviour was

taken for six individuals who have a criminal record. Results revealed that there was no significant difference in

the personality traits of extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism and lie score between the two groups. However, various social factors like lack of social support, less emphasis on education and awareness, financial constraints

and certain individual traits were found to be prevalent. Furthermore, an interactive effect of personality and

environmental factors was established. A model was also proposed for providing interventions at an individual

as well as societal level. ________________________________________________________________________ Keywords: Criminal Behaviour, Psychological Factors, Social Factors, Psychosocial Factors. Introduction

Criminal behaviour is any behaviour or act that is in violation of the criminal law, whereas crime is the particular action representing such behaviour (Kamaluddin, Shariff, Othman, Ismail, & Ayu, 2015). “It is not itself, or criminality that is innate; it is certain peculiarities of the central and autonomic nervous system that react with the environment, with upbringing, and many other environmental factors to increase the probability that a given person would act in a certain antisocial manner” (Eysenck & Gudjonsson, 1989) (Bartol & Bartol, 2005). The impact of the interaction of these factors has been found in a

1 M.Phil Clinical Psychology Student, Department of Clinical Psychology, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, PGIMER, New Delhi , India. Email: [email protected] 2 Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Christ University, Hosur Road, Bengaluru – 560 032, Karnataka, India. Email: [email protected]

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few studies; however this remains an area that requires more research. The influence of family, personality, neighbourhood, socio economic status, peers and education has been focused upon.

Psychological Factors

Psychological factors encompass processes that take place at the individual-level as well as the meanings that one attributes to a particular situation which in turn affects our mental state (Upton, 2013). Cesare Lombroso (1810) viewed criminality as a product of abnormal psychological traits. This view was elaborated further by Hans Eysenck. Traits are more deterministic in nature as they are “dimensions of individual differences in tendencies to show consistent patterns of thoughts, feelings and actions” (Kamaluddin, Shariff, Othman, Ismail, & Ayu, 2015). Eysenck, in his theory of criminality, proposed that personality factors like extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism are the prime causes of criminal behaviour and are the only “systematic method” available for the investigation of such behaviour. Personality traits contribute to one’s tendency to engage in criminal behaviour (Levine & Jackson, 2004; Egan, McMurran, Richardson, & Blair, 2000; Listwan, 2001). He proposed that high neuroticism leads to higher persistence in people which makes crime a matter of routine that is continuously reinforced. The combined effect of high extraversion and high neuroticism interferes with learning social rules and conditioning, increasing the likelihood of criminal behaviour (Levine & Jackson, 2004). Psychoticism is believed to increase the rigidity of thought in a person and reduce sensitivity to guilt. The traits that correlate to form this super-ordinate trait include aggressive, cold, egocentric, impersonal, impulsive, antisocial, unempathetic, creative and tough minded (Ruch, n.d.)

Additional evidence of the role of underlying personality factors in criminal behaviour is provided by the Five Factor Model proposed by McCrae and Costa (1988) which represents a continuum between two extremes of these traits. It was found that neuroticism has shown positive correlation with criminal acts which is consistent with the findings of Eysenck’ PEN Model. McCrae and Costa found that Eysenck’s measure of P was related to the Big Five factors, Conscientiousness and Agreeableness (Zuckerman, Kuhlman, Joircman, Tcta, & Kraft, 1993). In addition to personality factors, other individual variables like intelligence, emotional behaviour and academic achievements also determine the chances of an individual to indulge in criminal behaviour (Clarbour, Roger, Miles, & Monaghan, 2009; Koolhof, Loeber, Wei, Pardini, & D'Escury, 2007).

Listwan (2001) in her research supported the notion that personality is an important risk factor and can assist our understanding of offenders both theoretically as an explanation for behaviour and practically for the application of treatment. Despite the firm theoretical base of Eysenck’s theory in understanding criminal behaviour, situationalist theorists have often targeted its reliability. Theorists argue that behaviour varies not because of personality traits but due to the situation one is in and the characteristics of that situation (Smallbone & Cale, n.d.). Knowing the various circumstances, then, which may foster criminal behaviour is essential to be cognizant of. Social Factors

Social factors encompass those that are present in the society and influence the individual by their structure and course (Upton, 2013). The social frames of reference for studying crime are individual, familial, peer factors, socio economic status and schools

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(Leonard, 2013). Theoretical framework and research evidence has suggested that criminal behaviour is an outcome of various social factors, interactions and is related to various ongoing social processes (Leonard, 2013; Molidar, 1996; Johnson, Smailes, Cohen, Kasen, & Brook, 2004; Harris-McKoy & Cui, 2013; Sousa, et al., 2011; Robinson, n.d.).

Community/ Neighbourhood. As stated by Sutherland’s differential association theory, overabundance of criminal contact is considered a necessary as well as a sufficient cause of criminal behaviour (Gorecki, 1974). McKay and Shaw’s (1942) social disorganization theory focuses on the neighbourhood conditions like high unemployment, low socioeconomic status, less educational opportunities or deteriorated housing, that foster criminal behaviour (Dechant, n.d.; Kitchen, n.d.)

Socio-economic Status. Socio economic status (SES) refers to one’s standing in the society in terms of education, income and occupation (Socio Economic Status). The strain theory argues that crime is a “function of the conflict between people’s goals and the means they can use to obtain them”. The Cultural deviance theory further merges the key elements of strain and social disorganization theory and suggests that criminal behaviour is a result of conformity to the lower class sub culture (Dechant, n.d.). Albert Cohen proposed that delinquent gangs emerge in economically deprived areas which define their norms and the types of gangs that are formed depend on the type of neighbourhood in which they develop (Adler, Mueller, & Laufer, 2012). This is in accordance to the assertions made by McKay and Shaw’s Social Disorganization Theory.

Family/ Quality of Relationships. Sampson and Laub (1993) emphasized on the role of quality relationships or marriage in individuals’ likelihood of engaging in criminal behaviour in their life course perspective as preventive factors (Listwan, 2001). Social control theory, as proposed by Travis Hirschi (1969) proposed that lack of social relationships lead to lack of understanding of societal rules and norms which increases the probability of criminal activities (Listwan, 2001; Harris-McKoy & Cui, 2013). Influence of family members, especially mothers, has been emphasized on as being a prime factor in manifestation of criminal behaviour (Johnson, Smailes, Cohen, Kasen, & Brook, 2004).

Education/ Occupation. The age graded theory of informal social control proposed by Sampson and Laub (1993) proposed that individuals with higher educational qualifications and stable employment are more likely to abstain from engaging in criminal activities (Devers, 2011). Snowball and Hunter (2006) found that 20% of the individuals imprisoned for engaging in criminal act were unemployed as compared to 5.8% of them who were employed (Robinson, n.d.).

The theoretical basis of the role of social factors in criminal behaviour provides an in depth understanding. Individual’s choice to commit a particular crime, exposure to criminal cues, disorganized neighbourhood conditions, socialization, and lower socio economic status foster criminal behaviour among individuals. Psychosocial Factors

Even though various theories suggest either a psychological or a social underlying mechanism for criminal behaviour, the true essence is derived only by understanding the additive influence of these factors on an individual. The Lifestyle Theory proposed by Glen Walters proposes that criminal behaviour is a choice conditioned by the interaction of individual traits and environmental circumstances. The choices that an individual makes are made within the boundaries of one’s environmental and biological conditions which

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eventually lead to the development of cognitions. Lifestyle criminals are characterized by irresponsibility, impulsiveness, self-indulgence, negative interpersonal relationships, and the chronic willingness to violate society’s rules (Psychosocial Theories: Individual Traits and Criminal Behaviour, 2006). This theoretical framework accurately describes the rationale of this research which is to understand these conditions, cognitions and choices.

Pabbathi, Naik, Mandadi and Bhogaraju (2014) found a link between personality factors and crime as well as highlighted that many of the offenders were from rural areas, low socio-economic status, had lower level of education and were experiencing family and marital discord (Pabbathi, Naik, Mandadi, & Bhogaraju, 2014).

Even though the above stated research explains the psychological as well as the social factors that contribute to criminal behaviour, no formal assessment was conducted to determine the social factors. The statistics were formulated using preliminary data about the participants. There is a need to determine the impact of the social factors using a valid assessment which is the aim of the present research.

In addition, the statistics published by the National Crime Records Bureau indicate that "the rate of murder has increased by 238.7 percent, of rape by 1255.3 percent, of abduction by 1144.3 percent, of robbery by 279.8 percent and of riots by 251.3 percent from 1953 to 2013” in India (Sikand & Reddy, 2016). The urgency to understand the reason behind such a drastic elevation in these incidences can be inferred from the statistics stated above. Also, in light of the evidence presented above, one can conclude that there is substantial influence of psychological and social factors on criminal behaviour. Examining the role of these factors in the Indian context is the purpose of this study.

Objectives of the Study

The major objective of this research study is to gain an in depth understanding of the role that psychological and social factors play in contributing to criminal behaviour. The specific objectives are as follows:

1. To understand the difference in the personality types of people with criminal record and those with no criminal record.

2. To understand the role of social factors in criminal behaviour. Hypotheses

To study the role of personality traits in criminal behaviour, the following has been hypothesized by the researchers:

� H1: Individuals with a criminal record will score higher on extraversion on the

Eysenck Personality Questionnaire- Revised compared to those who do not have a criminal record.

� H2: Individuals with a criminal record will score higher on neuroticism on the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire- Revised compared to those who do not have a criminal record.

� H3: Individuals with a criminal record will score higher on psychoticism on the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire- Revised compared to those who do not have a criminal record.

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Method The methods used to carry out this research included a concurrent embedded research

design, with experimental design for the quantitative aspect and social constructivist paradigm for the qualitative aspect. Forty participants were selected for the administration of Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised- Short Version and six participants were selected for the semi structured interview. Independent sample t test, Mann Whitney U test and thematic analysis were employed for analysis.

Research Design and Research Paradigm

Figure 1: A diagrammatic representation of

Concurrent Embedded Mixed Design (Creswell, 2009)

The present study was conducted using the mixed research design. For the

quantitative research design, experimental design was employed. This was done by dividing groups on the basis of criminal or no criminal record. This was the independent variable for the study. The dependent variables were the scores on the domains of extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism. For the qualitative design, social constructivist paradigm was used. This would help in understanding how criminal behaviour is contextualized in the Indian society.

Data Collection Method

Eysenck Personality Questionnaire- Revised Short Version. It is a self report inventory which measures personality. It contains of 48 items, 12 for each traits of neuroticism, extraversion, psychoticism, and a lie scale. The questionnaire was back translated into Hindi and back translated in to English by bilingual Indian nationals (Tiwari, Singh, & Singh, 2009). The coefficient of reliability was found to be 0.766 for extraversion subscale; 0.772 for the neuroticism subscale; 0.238 for the psychoticism subscale; 0.624 for the lie score subscale. The corrected item-total correlation ranged from 0.201 to 0.538 for extraversion, from 0.196 to 0.556 for neuroticism, from 0.109 to 0.449 for lie scale and from 0.020 to 0.284 for psychoticism subscale of EPQR-S (Tiwari, Singh, & Singh, 2009).

Interview. The interview schedule was validated by three professors of the Department of Psychology, Christ University, Bengaluru, India. It was translated in Hindi by a

QUAN qual

QUAL quan

Analysis of Findings Analysis of Findings

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professional. The interview schedule was used to determine the social factors that contribute to criminal behaviour. Information was audio taped with the consent of the participants and was then be transcribed for the purpose of analysis.

Kuppuswamy’s Socio-Economic Status Scale. The Kuppuswamy scale was proposed in 1976 and revised in 1998 then 2007. It calculated the socio economic status (SES) on the basis of three variables, namely; education, occupation and income of the head of the family (Maheshwaran, 2014).

Process

An interview schedule was constructed to delve into the social factors that may have influenced the participants’ lives. A pilot study was then conducted with two participants who had been imprisoned for the past ten years. Certain modifications were made in the schedule after which the study was carried out. Twenty individuals with a criminal record who have received a punishment of more than three years of imprisonment were selected using purposive sampling from the Central Jail, Bengaluru. EPQR-S was administered on them. Twenty individuals with no criminal record were selected and matched with the 20 criminals on the basis of their age, educational qualification, and gender. EPQR-S was administered on them as well.

A semi structured interview was taken for the six individuals chosen randomly from the 20 who had a criminal record. The semi structured interview delved into understanding the social factors that contribute to criminal behaviour. Thereafter, the scores of the individuals with a criminal record on the three domains were compared to the scores of those with no criminal record using Mann Whitney U test or Independent sample t test depending on the normality of the data. The interviews

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