Psychosocial Theories: Individual Traits and Criminal Behavior

L ittle Jimmy Caine, a pug-nosed third-generation Irish American, is an emotionless, guiltless, walking id, all 5’ 5” and 130 pounds of him. By the time he was 26, Jimmy had accumulated one of the worst criminal records the police in Toledo, Ohio, had ever seen: burglary, aggravated assault, robbery, rape—name it, Jimmy had probably done it. This little tearaway had been arrested for the brutal rape of a 45-year-old barmaid. Jimmy entered an unlocked bar after closing time to find the lone barmaid attending to some cleaning chores. Putting a knife to the terrified woman’s throat, he forced her to strip and proceeded to rape her. Because she was not sexually responsive, Jimmy became angry and placed her head over the kitchen sink and tried to decapitate her. His knife was a dull as his conscience, which only increased his anger, so he picked up a bottle of liquor and smashed it over her head. While the woman lay moaning at his feet, he poured more liquor over her, screaming, “I’m going to burn you up, bitch!” The noisy approach of the bar’s owner sent Jimmy scurrying away. He was arrested 45 minutes later while casually eating a hamburger at a fast-food restaurant. Jimmy didn’t fit the demographic profile of individuals who engage in this type of crime. Although he had a slightly below-average IQ, he came from a fairly normal, intact middle-class home. However, Jimmy had been in trouble since his earliest days and had been examined by a variety of psychiatrists and psychologists. Psychiatrists diagnosed him with something called