Crime in a Psychological Context

Glenn D. Walters received his Ph.D. at Texas Tech University in 1982 with a concentration in Counseling Psychology and a minor in Neuroscience. He is employed full-time as a psychologist in a correctional setting while also teaching courses, both graduate and undergraduate, as an Adjunct Professor at The Pennsylvania State University, Schuylkill, and Lehigh University. In addition to forensic psychology, he teaches abnormal psychology, psychological assessment, and developmental psychology. He has written two other books with SAGE: Drugs & Crime in Lifestyle Perspective (1994) and The Criminal Lifestyle: Patterns of Serious Criminal Conduct (1990). The present book is an outgrowth of the author′s experiences teaching criminology and forensic psychology and the realization that crime is better understood once students appreciate the context of criminal development and desistance.

• 1. Understanding Crime: The Prime ContextPredatorCrimeIn ContextThe Organization of this BookConclusionKey Terms and Concepts2. Latent Structure: The Criminal Lifestyle in a Dimensional ContextThe Self MutilatorWhat is Latent Structure?The Taxometric MethodIdentifying the Number of DimensionsBehavioral Dimensions of a Criminal LifestyleCognitive Dimensions of a Criminal LifestyleWhy Should We Care About Latent Structure?ConclusionKey Terms and Concepts3. Classification: The Criminal Lifestyle in a Diagnostic ContextMr. ConsistencyDiagnostic FunctionsEssentials of Categorical DiagnosisEssentials of Dimensional DiagnosisConstructing a Dimensional Diagnosis for the Criminal LifestyleAnalyzing Trends and Identifying PatternsConclusionKey Terms and Concepts4. Assessment: The Criminal Lifestyle in an Appraisal ContextTuesday’s ChildClinical Forensic PsychologyConstruct AssessmentRisk AssessmentBroad-Band Clinical Forensic Assessment InstrumentsNarrow-Band Clinical Forensic Assessment InstrumentsClinical Forensic Evaluation of GraceConclusionKey Terms and Concepts5. Development or Propensity: The Criminal Lifestyle in an Etiological ContextBorn Under a Bad SignDevelopment versus Propensity in Explaining CrimeA Lifestyle Theory of CrimeJerry Revisited: A Developmental AnalysisConclusionKey Terms and Concepts6: Phenomenology: The Criminal Lifestyle in a Subjective ContextMarried to the MobPhenomenologyResponses to the Ten QuestionsConclusionKey Terms and Concepts7. Intervention: The Criminal Lifestyle in a Programmatic ContextThe BoxerProgrammed InterventionUnassisted ChangeThe “Nothing Works” ControversyFinding a PhilosophyImplementing the ProgramEvaluating the OutcomeConclusionKey Terms and Concepts8. Prevention: The Criminal Lifestyle in a High Risk Youth ContextDennis the MenacePrimary, Secondary, and Tertiary PreventionThe Lifestyle Approach to Secondary PreventionConclusionKey Terms and Concepts9. Mental Illness and Malingering: The Criminal Lifestyle in an Application ContextTattooMental IllnessMalingeringConclusionKey Terms and Concepts10. Future Contexts and Distance HorizonsThe Second Story ManUnderstanding Crime: The Prime ContextFuture Dimensional ContextsFuture Diagnostic ContextsFuture Appraisal ContextsFuture Etiological ContextsFuture Subjective ContextsFuture Programmatic ContextsFuture Preventive ContextsFuture Application ContextsConclusionKey Terms and Concepts