What drives criminal behavior?
In Breach of Trust, our protagonists, Laura Paige and Gail Fong, mull over the behavior of the Heneys, government leaders who opted for public service as career choices. Their choice, however, masks their real motivation.
Laura comes to a realization about the Heneys as she investigates their patterns of behavior:
In Breach of Trust, our protagonists, Laura Paige and Gail Fong, mull over the behavior of the Heneys, government leaders who opted for public service as career choices. Their choice, however, masks their real motivation.
Laura comes to a realization about the Heneys as she investigates their patterns of behavior:
“The EPF fund is a modern day indulgence. It’s the pool of money extracted from the rich elite followers who are promised more power in exchange for a portion of their wealth. Instead of building churches, the leaders of AFEW are directing funds to eliminate threats to their fossil fuel empire. They kill renewable energy researchers to preserve the status quo. The perpetrators have the added advantage of instant communication to track, find, and then silence any modern day Martin Luther objectors.”
“You mean, like us?”
“I suppose so.”
“Hmm.” Gail continued pacing. “That’s why we’ve had such a difficult time solving this string of killings. There are never any witnesses. Heney’s mercenaries identify potential targets and liquidate them rapidly.”
“Yes, but we have to prove it.”
Such a discussion leads one to wonder whether Bruce and Richard Heney are sociopaths or psychopaths? Are they simply greedy? Maybe hungry for power, or some combination of these vices?
Three key theories have been proposed for such criminal behavior [1].
“You mean, like us?”
“I suppose so.”
“Hmm.” Gail continued pacing. “That’s why we’ve had such a difficult time solving this string of killings. There are never any witnesses. Heney’s mercenaries identify potential targets and liquidate them rapidly.”
“Yes, but we have to prove it.”
Such a discussion leads one to wonder whether Bruce and Richard Heney are sociopaths or psychopaths? Are they simply greedy? Maybe hungry for power, or some combination of these vices?
Three key theories have been proposed for such criminal behavior [1].
- Biologically-based explanations [2], such as those related to primary psychotherapy, forms the basis for one theory. In the case of the Heneys, are their similar behaviors related to genetics?
- Multiple individual and social influences on a person’s behavior, such as the theories focusing on family and peers [3], offers another explanation. Did Bruce Heney coerce his son to follow in his footsteps?
- Along another vein, individual differences are rejected. Instead, “blame for a crime is placed on society at large [4], such as those that suggest that a capitalist society encourages those who hold power to commit crimes (e.g. political crimes or corporate crimes).”
Another criminologist, in looking over these three theories, wrote, “I subscribe to the first two theories of Bartol . . . no one theory is correct . . . criminal behaviour is a multi-factorial phenomenon (bio, internal and external factors) and can never be explained by one theory.”
“Psychopaths,” writes the Bartols, “who are believed to compose between 11% and 25% of the prison population . . . are extremely resistant to treatment, but they often play the treatment game well.”
They are also resistant to being caught for their crimes.
Read Breach of Trust to see if the youngest Heney can be caught in his own web of deceit.
[1] Current Perspectives in Forensic Psychology…,” Bartol et al, Editors, 3rd Edition, Sage, 2012.
[2] “Biological theories of deviance see crime and deviant behavior as a form of illness caused by pathological factors specific to certain types of individuals,” writes Ashley Crossman, in January 2017. “They assume that some people are ‘born criminals’ — they're biologically different from non-criminals.”
[3] “Just as positive behaviors reinforce positive behaviors, deviant behaviors also reinforce deviant behaviors. Deviant peers who reinforce one another’s behaviors can form fast bonds of friendship. The effects of such a relationship subjects all of the individuals involved to higher rates of . . . criminal activity.”
[4] “A classical school approach is attractive to many because it is centered on choice. People choose to commit criminal acts. This perspective [is often countered] by theories that rely on biology, psychology, and the environment, to name just a few. Choice theory is attractive to politicians because it puts the blame for the crime problem squarely on the shoulders of the individual, and not on society as a whole. The theory implies that the criminal needs to take responsibility and to make better choices.”
“Psychopaths,” writes the Bartols, “who are believed to compose between 11% and 25% of the prison population . . . are extremely resistant to treatment, but they often play the treatment game well.”
They are also resistant to being caught for their crimes.
Read Breach of Trust to see if the youngest Heney can be caught in his own web of deceit.
[1] Current Perspectives in Forensic Psychology…,” Bartol et al, Editors, 3rd Edition, Sage, 2012.
[2] “Biological theories of deviance see crime and deviant behavior as a form of illness caused by pathological factors specific to certain types of individuals,” writes Ashley Crossman, in January 2017. “They assume that some people are ‘born criminals’ — they're biologically different from non-criminals.”
[3] “Just as positive behaviors reinforce positive behaviors, deviant behaviors also reinforce deviant behaviors. Deviant peers who reinforce one another’s behaviors can form fast bonds of friendship. The effects of such a relationship subjects all of the individuals involved to higher rates of . . . criminal activity.”
[4] “A classical school approach is attractive to many because it is centered on choice. People choose to commit criminal acts. This perspective [is often countered] by theories that rely on biology, psychology, and the environment, to name just a few. Choice theory is attractive to politicians because it puts the blame for the crime problem squarely on the shoulders of the individual, and not on society as a whole. The theory implies that the criminal needs to take responsibility and to make better choices.”