Criminal Potential Determined at Age 3 ??

[MA-Caver]

Potential for criminal behavior evident at age 3



By Rachael Myers Lowe – Mon Nov 16, 2:19 pm ET


NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Children who don't show normal fear responses to loud, unpleasant sounds at the age of 3 may be more likely to commit crimes as adults, according to a new study.
Yu Gao and colleagues in the United States and the United Kingdom compared results from a study of almost 1,800 children born in 1969 and 1970 on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius to criminal records of group members 20 years later.
At age 3, the children were tested to gauge their level of "fear conditioning," or fear of consequences. The idea is that children who associate unpleasant sounds or other unpleasant experiences with fear will be less likely to commit antisocial acts because they will link such experiences with punishments for those acts.
Researchers tested the 3-year-olds' responses to unpleasant noises using a lie detector. When they looked at any criminal records among the participants 20 years later, 137 of them (131 male, 6 female) had at least one criminal conviction.
Compared to almost 300 participants with no criminal records, those 137 participants had a much lower response to the noises at the age of 3.

More here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091116/hl_nm/us_criminal_behavior

Now wait a minnit.. I understand they said not to read too much into their findings but saying that a child has potential for being a criminal or even a psychopath just because they aren't scared of loud noises... c'mon. Maybe the kid has a hearing problem?

In my experience most of the criminals I knew were from a huge range of diverse backgrounds. Poor, rich, middle class, good neighborhoods, bad neighborhoods, good families, bad families, good peer groups and bad peer groups, et al.
Any one of these could've been in that test group where they did jump/respond to a loud noise. I don't think it's a determining factor of potentially criminal behavior. I can recall being jumpy as a kid and I still ended up with a record. What does that say... ?

Like to know what you all think about this... read the full article. I just am not buying into this.

 

[Ken Morgan]

You’d be surprised.
Apparently Texas determines its future jail needs based on grade three reading skills….

 

[Carol]

You’d be surprised.
Apparently Texas determines its future jail needs based on grade three reading skills….

That's the story going around the internet, but I'm not convinced its true.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/enterta...le_Push_for_reading_has_a_strong_message.html

The San Antonio Public Library Foundation ran a TV ad in the city encouraging people to read, stating that3rd grade reading scores accurately predict the number of future prison beds. (note: "accurately predict" is not the same as "used to predict")

A soothing female voice begins: "A book is like a baby and a baby is like a book. Turn the pages, begin a life. Please read to your baby every single day."
Suddenly, the tone changes. Much of the screen turns black and a loud crack is heard that sounds like thunder or a prison lockdown. Then, these ominous words: "Third-grade reading scores accurately predict the number of prison beds needed in the future."

http://www.essentialschools.org/cs/resources/view/ces_res/114

The study that originally raised eyebrows wasn't from Texas though, it was from a 1998 magazine article for California educators:

And because later success depends on such resources and opportunities, a cycle of failure sets in. "Based on this year's fourth-grade reading scores," observes Paul Schwartz, a Coalition principal in residence at the U. S. Department of Education, "California is already planning the number of new prison cells it will need in the next century."

But this statistic doesn't seem to have any weight outside of literary circles using the statistic to play on people's emotions:

But Terry Thorton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said the link between fourth grade testing and calculating prison beds is an urban legend. "We don't use elementary school reading levels," nor any other school-related data, Thorton said. "We look at about 100 different factors in projecting future prison needs, including historical trends, length of stay in prison, rate of return to prison from parole, sentencing changes and practices in the courts, new departmental programs or policies."

http://www.voiceofsd.org/articles/2008/04/02/this_just_in/295fourthgrade040208.txt

 

[Gordon Nore]

The San Antonio Public Library Foundation ran a TV ad in the city encouraging people to read, stating that3rd grade reading scores accurately predict the number of future prison beds.http://www.voiceofsd.org/articles/2008/04/02/this_just_in/295fourthgrade040208.txt

We gone from, "Reading is fundamental," to "Read a book. Stay out of stir."

 

[Brother John]

Now wait a minnit.. I understand they said not to read too much into their findings but saying that a child has potential for being a criminal or even a psychopath just because they aren't scared of loud noises... c'mon. Maybe the kid has a hearing problem?

In my experience most of the criminals I knew were from a huge range of diverse backgrounds. Poor, rich, middle class, good neighborhoods, bad neighborhoods, good families, bad families, good peer groups and bad peer groups, et al.
Any one of these could've been in that test group where they did jump/respond to a loud noise. I don't think it's a determining factor of potentially criminal behavior. I can recall being jumpy as a kid and I still ended up with a record. What does that say... ?

Like to know what you all think about this... read the full article. I just am not buying into this.

The study of criminology is fascinating! There are TONS of pathological experiments and studies that show that there is no CLEAR determinant for whom will be "legally deviant" and whom will not. The psycho/social elements that lead or lend toward being a 'criminal' are diverse! This study sounds pretty silly, I think.

OTHER things are MUCH more worth our study in determining who is more likely to commit crimes:

• People of very low and very high IQ.
• Poverty.
• Family history of criminal behavior.
• People with abnormal emotional responses (what makes most scare makes them happy, what makes most feel sympathy gives them nothing but apathy...etc.)

These are much greater CLUES toward whom MAY have the POTENTIAL to become a criminal.
Or a politician.

Same dif.

Your Brother
John