ABSTRACT
We saw in the previous two chapters that both the biological and psychological variants of the predestined actor model of criminal behaviour locate the primary impulse for criminal behaviour in the individual, whether it is a biological predisposition or criminal personality. We nevertheless found that in both cases the influence of environmental factors is highly significant. Thus, an individual may well have a certain physiological tendencies but these are only likely to be activated in a deviant or criminal fashion when particular environmental conditions are present; moreover, altered biological states, whether these are the product of poor diet, alcohol or drug use, are very likely to be the outcome of social influence. Personalities – whether they be ‘criminal’ or otherwise – are clearly the creation of social or environmental circumstances and are highly dependent on the nature of the socialisation experiences of the young person, the quantity and quality of parenting and the peer groups encountered in the geographical location in which the young person lives. The sociological variant of the predestined actor model which is considered in this chapter rejects individualist explanations of criminality and examines the environmental factors that are seen as significant in the creation of crime and criminal behaviour. It is a tradition which is very much informed by the increasingly influential social theory of Emile Durkheim and his concerns with the social problems created by rapid social change (see Hopkins Burke 2005).
