Calvin Truong

Pd:1
10/26/21

Criminal Behavior
Crime will always be a dilemma for the justice system all across the country. Creating an

understanding of criminal behavior is a crucial asset for officers and many people in

suppressing, eliminating, and manipulating the opportunity for crime to be committed. Many

studies in our country have been done to learn and understand the nature of crimes and

criminals. For many people this is believed to be a physiological intent based on one's needs,

wants, desires, or emotions to postulate a negative or spontaneous reaction. A research done at

Maryville University states that “Psychological theories scrutinize personality traits like

extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, openness, and conscientiousness when

examining criminal behavior”, this meaning that all previous theories do not take into account

one's conscious will, however taking these factors into account. We can create many

hypotheses on the question, why do criminals commit crimes?.

What we can infer from crime reports and logs are that people who commit crimes are

strongly those in poverty. Researcher Tara O'neill Hayes director of human welfare policy stated

in her research that “Adults in poverty are three times more likely to be arrested than

those who aren’t, and people earning less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level

are 15 times more likely to be charged with a felony”. Many people in poverty see

themselves living difficult lives and struggling financially and mentaly. In fact, in 2011 roughly

31% of individuals that were in tough living conditions and poverty were clinically diagnosed with

depression. These counts are only for those who also publicly spoke out about their mental

health. Study’s show that suicide rate have incressed 33% over the last decade, with 3.35 per

100,000 in the highest-poverty communities, compared with 3.18 in the lowest-poverty areas.

Seeing crime from a mental standpoint shows a plethora of evidence on why criminals commit

crimes and the recurrence of those criminals recidivism.

Calvin Truong
Pd:1
10/26/21
Bibliography:

https://online.maryville.edu/online-bachelors-degrees/forensic-psychology/why-people-commit-c

rimes/

https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/incarceration-and-poverty-in-the-united-states/

https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/articles/2020-01-27/higher-poverty-tied-t

o-increased-youth-suicide-risk-study-shows