Criminals, Who Are They?

This post has mostly quotes along with the sources (with no permission).

Are criminals thinkers or feelers (as in MBTI)? Or is the question too simplistic?

Here are some reading material:

1. http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3432&context=jclc
2. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/why_do_people_commit_crime.htm
3. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/anger-management-self-control/
4. http://www.2knowmyself.com/Why_do_people_commit_crime_psychology
5. http://www.protectiongroup.org/sup/fictional.html
6. http://ask.metafilter.com/263946/Someone-I-admire-committed-horrible-crimes
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_psychology
9. http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3432&context=jclc
10. https://archive.org/stream/criminalmanaccor00lomb#page/n21/mode/2up - Book "Criminal Man" by Cesare Lombroso.

Quotes from this book:

Page 36: "Impulsiveness: This is another pathognomonical characteristic of born criminals and also, as we shall see later on, of epileptics and morally insane. That which in ordinary individuals is only an eccentric and fugitive (is this the right word?) suggestion vanishing as soon as it arises, in the case of abnormal subjects is rapidly translated into action which, although unconscious, is not the less dangerous. A youth of this impulsive type, returning home one evening flushed with wine, met a peasant leading his ass (donkey) and cried out "As I have not come to blows with anyone today, I must vent my rage on this beast." at the same time drawing his knife and plunging it several times into the poor animal's body....

Page 37: The most trifling remarks that stand in the way of his wishes, provoke a fit of rage in which he appears to lose his self-control, like little children, who, in resenting any offence, show no sign of proportion. The most trivial reasons for disliking anyone awaken in him an irresistible desire to kill the subject of his aversion, and if any new blasphemy rises to his lips, he feels constrained to repeat it." 

Page 38: Closely allied to this impulsiveness is an exaggerated personal vanity, we find an extraordinary thirst for revenge. 

Page 40: Like savages, criminals are dominated by an incorrigible laziness which, in certain cases, leads them to prefer death from starvation to regular work.... Criminals are grown up children.

Gambling: The passion for gambling is so strong that the criminal is always in a penniless condition, no matter how much treasure he has appropriated, and cases of starvation in prison are not unknown, prisoners having sold their rations in order to gratify their vice.

Page 41: Intelligence is feeble in some [criminals] and exaggerated in others. Prudence and forethought are generally lacking. A very common characteristic is recklessness, which leads criminals to run the risk of arrest for the sake of being witty or to leave some blood stained weapon on the very spot where they have committed a crime, notwithstanding the fact that they have taken a hundred precautions to avoid detection. 

Page 43: One of the strangest characteristics of criminals is the tendency to express their ideas pictorially.

Page 57: Careful anamnesis shows that both born criminals and the morally insane begin at a very early stage to exhibit symptoms of the morbid tendencies which make them such a danger to society and if the general public and the police, when such cases are brought to their notice, usually fail to realize that they arise from precocious perversity, it is because atrocious actions are excused on the pretext of extreme youth and attributed to this cause than to vicious propensities.

Page 62: The extreme excitability manifested by born criminals is shared by epileptics. Distrustful, intolerant and incapable of sincere attachment, a gesture or look, is sufficient to infuriate them and incite them to the most atrocious deeds. [This seems to correspond  with "neuroticism" in five factor theory] The hatred frequently manifested by criminals towards the members of their own families is in many cases accompanied by an extraordinary fondness for animals.

Page 64: Invulnerability, another characteristic common to criminals, and epileptics - their wounds and injuries heal with astonishing rapidity.

Page 72:  The criminal is only a diseased person, an epileptic, in whom the cerebral malady, begun in some cases during prenatal existence, or later, in consequence of some infection or cerebral poisoning, produces, together with certain signs of physical degeneration in the skull, face, teeth and brain, a return to the early brutal egotism natural to primitive races which manifests itself in homicide, theft and other crimes.

Page 74: The Idiot is prompted by paroxysms of  rage to commit murderous attacks on his fellow-creatures. His exaggerated sexual propensities incite him to rape and his childish delight, at the sight of flames, to arson. The Imbecile, or weak minded individual, yields to his first impulse or, dominated by the influence of others, becomes an accomplice in in the home of some trivial reward.

Page 85: Crimes peculiar to inebriates: Since modification of the reproductive organs is a common cause of hallucinations [I think there is something not quite right in this sentence. How is the cause of hallucination relevant? Where is the foundation laid for organs being modified?], inebriate criminals frequently suffer from a species of erotic delirium, during which they murder those whom they believe guilty of offences against themselves - generally their wives or mistresses. This is partly owing to the sexual nature of their hallucinations and partly to the wretched nature of their homes, which are in such striking contrast to their rosy dreams inspired by alcohol and which tend to increase the melancholy natural to drunkards.

Page 92-99: Hysterical people: Hysteria is a disease, allied to epilepsy, of which it appears to be a milder form, and is much more common among women than in men - in the ratio of 20:1. The disease may frequently be traced to hereditary influences, similar to those found in epilepsy, transmitted by epileptic, neurotic or inebriate parents, frequently also, to some traumatic influence such as, typhus, meningitis, a blow, a fall or a fright. They [hysterical people] show, on the whole, a fair amount of intelligence, although little amount of concentration. In disposition they are profoundly egotistical and so preoccupied with their own persons that will do anything to arouse attention and obtain notoriety. They are extremely impressionable, therefore easily aroused to anger and cruelty, and are prone to take sudden and unreasonable likes and dislikes. They are fickle and easily swayed. They take special delight in slandering others and, when unable to excite public notice by unfounded accusations, to which they resort to as a matter of revenge, they embitter the lives of those around them by continual quarrels and dissensions... Eratomania: This is almost a pathognomonical symptom and is shown in hallucinations and nightmares of an erotic character preceded by epigastric aura. This eratomania is so impulsive that hysterical women frequently engage in liaison, from a desire of adventure or of experiencing sudden emotions. The criminality of the hysterical is always connected with sexual functions. Of 21 women found guilty of slander, nine made false accusations of rape, four accused their husbands of sexual violence, one of sodomy. Such accusations, when made by minors, are generally full of disgusting details, which would be repugnant to any adult. Mendacity: Another peculiarity of hysterical women is the irresistible tendency to lie, which leads them to utter senseless falsehoods just for the pleasure of deceiving and making believe. They sham suicide and sickness or write anonymous letters full of inventions. Many, from motives of vanity, accuse servants of dishonesty, in order to revel in their disgrace and imprisonment. The favorite calumny, however, is always an accusation of indecent behavior, sometimes made against their fathers or brothers, but generally against a priest or medical man. The accusations, in most cases, are so strange and fantastic as to be quite unworthy of belief, but sometimes, unfortunately, they obtain credence. The commonest method adopted for spreading these calumnies is by means of anonymous letters. Anonymous letter writing is so common among hysterical persons that it may be considered a pathognomonical characteristic. The handwriting is of a peculiar characteristic, or rather it shows a peculiar tendency to vary from excessive size to extreme smallness, a characteristic we have noticed in epileptics.

Hysterical subjects manifest special sensitivity to the contact of certain metals such as magnetised iron, copper and gold. [They find] a sense of pleasure in the presence of pain

Page 140: In the gypsies, we have an entire race of criminals with all the passions of and vices common to delinquent types; idleness, ignorance, impetuous fury, vanity, love of orgies and ferocity.

As I read the book, i couldn't help thinking that the personality of the man, accused and found guilty of raping and murdering Nirbhaya, probably seems similar to that explained above (excepts from "The Criminal")

Absence of self control apparently is the cause of crimes. It is the absence of knowledge of appropriate behavior and self control - meaning an absence of J.

Quote from another book: "Moral insensitivity is decidedly more congenital."


Additional reading:

1. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/head-games/201305/criminal-minds
2. http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/02/criminal-mind.aspx: "The bottom line, he says, is that "biology is not destiny. We can change the biological roots of crime and violence — there's no question about it." 
3. The Mark Of Sanity: http://www.quantumfuture.net/store/sanity_1.PdF