The Cultural Agency-Model of Criminal Behavior

When it comes to the understanding and investigation of criminal behavior, the role of culture is often overlooked. Despite the fact that populations of individuals who offend are culturally diverse, theories, risk assessment procedures, and intervention methods in forensic psychology have been deve...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inAggression and violent behavior Vol. 58; p. 101554
Main Authors Schmidt, Stefanie, Heffernan, Roxanne, Ward, Tony
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Tarrytown Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2021
Elsevier Science Ltd
Subjects
Agency
Behavior
Crime
Criminality
Criminology
Cultural factors
Culture
Dynamic risk factors
Forensic psychology
Multiculturalism & pluralism
Offending
Psychological assessment
Psychological processes
Risk assessment
Risk factors
Agency
Culture
Offending
Dynamic risk factors
Crime
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:When it comes to the understanding and investigation of criminal behavior, the role of culture is often overlooked. Despite the fact that populations of individuals who offend are culturally diverse, theories, risk assessment procedures, and intervention methods in forensic psychology have been developed based on research with predominantly white, male, and Euro-American populations. In this paper we outline a preliminary model depicting hypothesized psychological processes that underpin criminal behavior, which can be applied within various cultural contexts: a perspective based on the construct of agency and its social and cultural underpinnings. The Cultural Agency-Model of Criminal Behavior (CAMCB) depicts the general processes underpinning human beings' goal-directed behavior and is intended to explain why there are variations in the relationship between dynamic risk factors and behavior across cultural contexts. In describing the model, we use a number of examples to illustrate the relationship between culture and offending related factors at the different phases of the offending action sequence. Following the depiction of the CAMCB, we discuss its research and practice implications.
ISSN:1359-1789
1873-6335
DOI:10.1016/j.avb.2021.101554