The Criminal Mind: A Case Study

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There are many extensive and unique causes behind what motivates an individual to act on their criminal designs. A criminal mind independent of physical action is not an offense on its own, but there are many factors that push an individual to act on their ideas. The issues involving what makes someone a criminal is a popular topic amongst researchers, and has been for many years. Through further investigation, several issues emerge that are argued to be driving forces behind why a person acts on a criminal mind. First, there is research that supports that a specific gender and age group are more compelled to commit crimes. The issue of mental health is another factor that strongly affects a person’s criminal actions, with the mentally ill …show more content…
The factors that assist in creating a criminal are complex, but are proved to involve aspects of an individual’s gender and age, mental health and social class.
Social class and upbringing have been factors in figuring out criminal acts since the research began. The criminals from lower social classes tend to resort to violent acts of crime while the offenses committed by white-collar workers do not generally contain violence (Cerrah, 2014). When someone at the bottom end of the social continuum commits a crime it is usually violence constructed and disorderly because they don’t have the capability to commit superior more complex crimes. However you were raised tends to follow you into your adulthood as well. Individuals that were raised in a low-income environment enclosed by violence and deviance tend to believe that violent crime is the only kind because they aren’t as educated and knowledgeable as those raised in a wealthy community surrounded by skill and open opportunity. When individuals are raised in a lower revenue family commit crime it is usually violence based because of
…show more content…
When you are diagnosed with a mental illness you are already at a disadvantage with being able to control your own actions and operate your own mind. Having violent or crime correlated thoughts is not illegal, it isn’t until you act on them that is considered unlawful and when you are unable to control those actions and are unaware that they are even taking place makes it even worse. Not everyone who has a mental illness is a criminal, but most criminals have some sort of mental illness whether it is a severe case such as multi personality disorder or a simple but still mind altering case of depression. Studies that have examined the antecedents of aggressive incidents in inpatient treatment units reveal that the majority of incidents have important social/structural antecedents such as ward atmosphere, lack of clinical leadership, overcrowding, ward restrictions, lack of activities, or poorly structured activity transitions (Stuart, 2003). A large component of why the mentally ill commit crimes is due to the social settings around them; they cannot handle certain social settings as well as those with a sound mind. Some mental illness patients can become angry and violent at something as simple as a red light not changing fast enough which can cause an over abundance of rage and uncontainable actions while on the other hand some people affected by mental illness

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