Crime, Delinquency and Intelligence: A Review of the Worldwide Literature

doi:10.1016/B978-008043793-4/50054-4

The Scientific Study of General Intelligence

Tribute to Arthur R. Jensen

2003, Pages 343-365

The Scientific Study of General Intelligence

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This chapter reviews the worldwide literature on crime, delinquency, and its relation to intelligence. The chapter begins with the historically troubled story of an inverse relationship between intelligence and delinquent and criminal behavior, and argues that even today criminologists tend to downplay the role of intelligence. The chapter presents, in the form of two tables, an updated review of intelligence–criminality relationships, one for intelligence in general, the other for intellectual imbalances among linguistic and non-linguistic components. The inverse IQ–crime and the intellectually imbalanced-crime relationships are confirmed, usually with the linguistic component being the weaker.. The chapter then draws attention to moral maturation theory, hemispheric functioning theory, and explores the role of evolutionary forces in explaining the observations, supplemented by the genetic influence hypothesis.

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Cited by (49)

High tech crime, high intellectual crime? Comparing the intellectual capabilities of cybercriminals, traditional criminals and non-criminals
2022, Computers in Human Behavior
Citation Excerpt :
One of the key debates in cybercrime offender research, is whether or not cybercriminals have higher intellectual and technical capabilities compared to traditional criminals or even the general population (Holt & Bossler, 2014; Leukfeldt, 2017; Maimon & Louderback, 2019). With regard to traditional criminals, previous criminological studies consistently show that lower intellectual capabilities are associated with an increased risk for criminal behavior (Ellis & Walsh, 2003; Frisell et al., 2012; Schwartz et al., 2015; Jacob et al., 2019). In contrast with these findings, cybercriminals - and especially offenders that commit highly technical cybercrimes such as hacking - are often assumed to have a high level of intelligence, problem solving capabilities and being motivated by the intellectual challenge rather than simply earning easy money (Rogers, 2006; Chiesa et al., 2009; Koops, 2010; Bachmann, 2011; Jordan, 2017).
In our highly digitalized society, cybercrime has become a common crime. However, because research into cybercriminals is in its infancy, our knowledge about cybercriminals is still limited. One of the main considerations is whether cybercriminals have higher intellectual capabilities than traditional criminals or even the general population. Although criminological studies clearly show that traditional criminals have lower intellectual capabilities, little is known about the relationship between cybercrime and intelligence. The current study adds to the literature by exploring the relationship between CITO-test scores and cybercrime in the Netherlands. The CITO final test is a standardized test for primary school students - usually taken at the age of 11 or 12 - and highly correlated with IQ-scores. Data from Statistics Netherlands were used to compare CITO-test scores of 143 apprehended cybercriminals with those of 143 apprehended traditional criminals and 143 non-criminals, matched on age, sex, and country of birth. Ordinary Least Squares regression analyses were used to compare CITO test scores between cybercriminals, traditional criminals, and non-criminals. Additionally, a discordant sibling design was used to control for unmeasured confounding by family factors. Findings reveal that cybercriminals have significantly higher CITO test scores compared to traditional criminals and significantly lower CITO test scores compared to non-criminals.
Life course epidemiology and inequality in health
2019, Encyclopedia of Environmental Health
The life course perspective is bringing about major change in the way in which epidemiological research for public health is done. It is increasingly acknowledged that both hazardous exposures and protective factors may accumulate over the lifetime of an individual. In addition, there may be critical periods at which exposures make more or less difference to health. In public health policy terms, what has been understood is that the distribution of power in society influences the probability of encountering multiple hazards over time. A ‘life course political economy’ approach can explore the ways in which the distribution of risks according to social class, gender, and ethnicity is affected by societal institutions, and thereby how conditions of extreme risk may be avoided.
The author gratefully acknowledges the support of UK Economic and Social Research Council Center grant RES-596-28-0001, International Center for Life course Studies in Society and Health.
Lead, deliquency and criminal offending
2019, Encyclopedia of Environmental Health
The possibility that lowering of intelligence is correlated with criminal behavior has had a long and checkered history in the medical and social sciences, and lead poisoning has become part of the debate because it is known to impair mentation in children. Pooling of data and meta-analyses of results of a large number of epidemiological studies from different parts of the world, buttressed with extensive information from experimental animals, provide a strong evidence that lead exposure at low dose has a negative effect on the intelligence quotient and mental development of preschool and school-age children. A major accomplishment in environmental health sciences in recent years is the demonstration that some mental health disorders are pathophysiologically linked to low-level lead exposure in early childhood and this has fostered the neurotoxicity hypothesis to explain the relationship between childhood lead exposure, conduct disorders, and proclivity to violent behavior later in life. Much uncertainty still surrounds the etiological role of lead in offending behavior mainly due to the difficulty of ascertaining the dose–response relationships of chronic low-level exposure that characteristically results in vague and insidious symptoms. Nevertheless, there is understandable and growing concern that some young adults are being consigned to a life of criminal behavior for environmental injuries that occurred prenatally or while they were infants.
Spearman's hypothesis not supported? Three meta-analyses of Black and White prisoners, Northeast Asians, and Arabs and Jews
2017, Personality and Individual Differences
Citation Excerpt :
However, there are some crimes (e.g., securities fraud), that, compared to many other crimes, are more common among people with high IQ (Herrnstein & Murray, 1994). Furthermore, it has been suggested that there is also a specific IQ profile among criminals, with relatively higher scores on the Performance scales than on the Verbal scales, which has been supported by research (Ellis & Walsh, 2003; Suzuki & Valencia, 1997). One of the more successful ethnic groups in Western countries is those of Northeast Asian descent.
Spearman's hypothesis states that differences between groups on the subtests of an IQ battery are a function of the g loadings of these subtests, and it is virtually always supported. There are anomalies: comparisons for which Spearman's hypothesis shows no supporting evidence. What they all have in common is an unusual Verbal/Performance profile. We carried out meta-analyses for these comparisons: Black and White prisoners, Asians and Whites, and Arabs and Jews in Israel. We carried out three meta-analyses based on, respectively, 2 data points and a total N = 575; 15 data points and a total N = 8100; 5 data points and a total N = 730. In all three meta-analyses Spearman's hypothesis showed no supporting evidence with sample-size weighted correlations with values of, respectively, −.18, .01 and −.24. Correcting for reliability led to similar outcomes. Bypassing the unusual V/P profile by testing Spearman's hypothesis separately on Verbal subtests and Performance subtests led to a confirmation in approximately half of the comparisons. So, it could be that the unusual V/P profile obstructs support for Spearman's hypothesis in approximately half of the cases. We conclude that the anomalies appear to be more in line with Spearman's hypothesis than previously thought.
Race/ethnicity and criminal behavior: Neurohormonal influences
2017, Journal of Criminal Justice
Citation Excerpt :
For decades, studies have been undertaken to determine if intelligence and involvement in criminal behavior are correlated. The findings have overwhelming supported the conclusion that these two variables are inversely related (reviewed by Burhan, Kurniawan, Sidek, & Mohamad, 2014; Ellis & Walsh, 2003; Hirschi & Hindelang, 1977). When attention is given to repeat offenders, especially for violent crimes, the IQ-offending associations are especially strong.
Evolutionary neuroandrogenic (ENA) theory asserts that brain exposed to androgens plus the brain's ability to learn accounts for most of the sex and age variations in criminal behavior. Here, the theory is extended to explain race/ethnic variations in offending. The article documents that among seven different racial/ethnic groups, blacks have the highest and East Asians have the lowest criminal involvement. Strictly social environmental explanations for race/ethnic differences in criminality appear to be inadequate for explaining these differences. Two main elements of ENA theory are offered in the present context: (a) criminal behavior is promoted by exposing the brain to testosterone and other androgens. (b) rapid postpubertal declines in offending depend heavily on learning ability. Ten lines of evidence concerning average racial/ethnic variations in androgen exposure are reviewed, and four lines of evidence of racial/ethnic differences in learning ability are reviewed. With some exceptions and qualifications, currently-available evidence seems to support the idea that racial/ethnic variations in offending could be at least partially explained by ENA theory. Closing comments are offered to suggest that biosocial approaches to the study of racial/ethnic variations in criminal behavior can help to supplement strictly social environmental theories in criminology.
A criminologist's tribute to Hans Eysenck: The r/K story
2016, Personality and Individual Differences
Hans Eysenck influenced my professional life in important ways. Here, I will describe how those influences became interwoven with a personal friendship that we developed. This brief essay will also sketch out how I think his editorship of Personality and Individual Differences has substantially influenced the understanding of behaviour from a biological perspective, including in my own field of criminology.

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Chapter 16 - Crime, Delinquency and Intelligence: A Review of the Worldwide Literature

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