NCJ Number
69958
Date Published
1968
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Criminal behavior is defined, and the possibilities for its modification are reviewed in these excerpts from a speech delivered to the County Probation Workshop of the Pennsylvania Adult Correctional Training Institutes.
Abstract
Codes of laws have been developed in order to control the behavior of individuals within communities. Criminal behavior is a failure on the part of an individual to regulate his actions in accordance with community rules and expectations. Such failures represent behavioral deficiencies, and the problem confronting society is to identify the basis for individual deficiencies, and to come up with remedies. While self-control is preferable to external control in most societies, in those instances where internal regulatory mechanisms are inoperative, the society must introduce external controls. Such controls are necessary when any one or a combination of the following factors lead to uncontrolled behavior: defects in the neurological mechanisms, intense emotional turmoil, belief systems incompatible with the behavioral patterns that are socially acceptable, and ignorance of acceptable behavior. No single treatment approach can eliminate all of these factors. After an initial diagnosis, those persons responsible for treatment can intervene with drugs, the surgeon's knife, counseling, psychotherapy, custodial supervision, educative methods, or with a change in the person's environment. Unfortunately, most communities lack the proper facilities for effective analysis and treatment. Such facilities can be best realized in the form of a community resource center which would provide an interdisciplinary and integrated approach to the analysis and solution of behavior problems. Footnotes or references are not included with the excerpts.