Abnormality and Mental Deficiency

ABNORMALITY AND MENTAL DEFICIENCY

Next to physical deformity, mental deficiency has been the second most popular explanation of crime.  Although few criminologists adhere to the belief that the only explanation of crime is low intelligence, the idea remains popular among the general public and the media as anti-heroes are usually depicted as physically deformed and/or mentally deranged. See or watch some movie and films produced where villains (contrabida’s) are all ugly with the exception of the Beauty and Beast (but later the actor become handsome)

Some people view intelligence along demonological lines much like the idea that ugly is evil (for the physical deformity), the parallel being that mental slowness or dullness must be a curse of God (for mental deficiency).  People with low intelligence are often seen as not knowing any better.

These persons are seen as not appreciating the reasons for the existence of law. It is believed they are too easily turned into accomplices or “dupes” by criminals.  Zeleny (1933) identified at least four (4) ways a person of low intelligence could commit a crime:

• • • by being duped;
    • by sheer folly;
    • by the inability to understand; and,
    • by attempting to provide for self.

While it may be true that foolish people do foolish things (and stupid is as stupid does), there are certain patterns to folly that deserve study in their own right.  Perkins (2002) claims that there are three (3) basic patterns to consider:

1. Mistuning. This is a problem in people with low intelligence which occurs when something is obviously wrong with the timing and intensity of their build-up toward an emotion.  Take anger, for example, as stupid people often lose their temper too early and/or too strongly.  This is not a sociological “definition of the situation” but instead, it is their low intelligence that caused them to prematurely quit processing information about something.
2. Entrenchment. This occurs among the mentally deficient when they get too absorbed in attempting to complete a task.  Psychologists call this the “Zeigarnik effect,” named after a German psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik (1927), where unfinished cognitive tasks tend to linger and take up valuable space in a person’s memory until those tasks are resolved.
3. Undermanagement. It is a failure to manage the moment, or a failure to adapt that is brought about by being caught up in one’s own momentum or excitement as carried over from situation to situation.  Such a person would be acting like a “fool” because they haven’t calmed down yet from a previous situation. This type is characterized by:

• • procrastination (putting something off for another day),
  • backsliding (to relapse or go back to doing something bad when a person have been doing something good),
  • vacillation (can’t make up their mind),
  • over commitment (taking on too much responsibility),
  • indulgence (laziness or wallowing in excess),
  • self-handicapping (underachievement), and,
  • rationalization (the “leaky roof” syndrome – you can’t fix the roof while it’s raining and there’s no need to fix it when it’s not raining).

In the note above, the discussions may give the wrong impression that all stupidity is self-inflicted. This is not the case. “Stupid people exist” who do not inflict anything upon themselves and in cases of diagnosed mental retardation, these persons have an organic disorder and cannot really be held accountable for their actions.  Instead, this book focused upon those of average or slightly sub-average intelligence (who happen to make up the bulk of the criminal population).  These people (say, with an IQ above 75) CAN be held accountable at law for having the capacity to distinguish right from wrong.

The willpower of these persons is regarded as mature enough to merit the examination of intelligence-related explanations for their “dumb” criminal behavior. Many of them suffer from Dunning–Kruger effect or also known as “illusory superiority” where “people tend to overestimate their good points in comparison to others around them, while concurrently underestimating their negative points.” Criminals of this type not only acknowledge their mental deficiency but actually believe they’re smarter than others. With this in mind, this book will explore the idea that mental deficiency helps explain a person’s involvement in the crime.

A discussion about mental deficiency must be made to lay down the foundations for this topic. “Intelligence” generally consists of different abilities, such as the ability to reason, solve problems, think abstractly, learn and understand new materials, adapt to novel situations quickly, grasp complex relationships, and profit from past experience (MSN Encarta 2003).  In other words, intelligence is “catching on,” “making sense” of things, or “figuring out” what to do.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is probably best thought of as a measure of smartness or a measure of intelligence.  There are different types of intelligence tests, with some using words or numbers and requiring cultural knowledge (like vocabulary), and others using shapes, designs, and only requiring simple, universal concepts (like up/down).  Some intelligence tests are among the most accurate of all psychological tests and assessments.  The brain processes underlying intelligence are becoming more understood and current research is looking at the speed of neural transmission, glucose (energy) uptake, and electrical activity of the brain.  Some theories of intelligence look at the efficiency of information processing and other theoretical models look at general adaptability.

IQ compares people to others of the same age and is calculated by multiplying 100 times the quotient of mental age over chronological age. Mental age is determined by a score on a test. The first IQ test was invented by Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon in 1905 (the Simon-Binet scale, consisting of 54 questions, revised in 1908 and 1911). They advocated its use for assessing “teachability” and prediction of academic achievement.  Overall, it accomplished these purposes.

In 1912, Lewis Terman of Stanford University made some revisions to the test and it became known as the Stanford-Binet scale (consisting of 90 questions), which produced a score called the intelligence quotient or IQ. 

One of the things about these scales is that they predict future behavior (or effects) as opposed to indexes that collect symptoms (describe causes).  Terman advocated its use for career counseling purposes.  The meaning of IQ is as follows, although modern tests no longer use the IQ terminology, but instead a quintile score that reflects a deviation from the average of others who are the same age:

 

The IQ Ranges and Their Interpretation
0-20	profoundly retarded
21-35	severely retarded
36-50	moderately retarded
51-70	mildly retarded
71-90	slow learner
91-110	average
111-120	above average
121-140	superior
141-160	very superior
161-180	gifted
181-200+	genius

INTERPRETATION OF THE TABLE: Most people cluster around the average (IQ 100). People at the lowest two (2) levels, profoundly and severely retarded, have to be institutionalized. The moderately or mildly retarded can stay with family or friends, although the amount of care required would be burdensome.  Slow learners are a large, diverse group. People in the low range (71-80) of this group have been variously called “idiots”, “morons” or “imbeciles” while people in the upper range (81-90) are called “challenged” or “disabled”. (Below is the capability of the left and right hemisphere of the brain)

The average range is also a large, diverse group, and some studies indicate that daily variation in IQ (rather than a fixed score) is the norm once you reach this level.  IQ tests like the Stanford-Binet are only good at measuring up to the “superior” level; i.e., up to an IQ of 140.  After that, you would need to take a special test, like one constructed by the Mensa society, to see if your IQ measured in the “very superior”, “gifted”, or “genius” ranges.  Also, full mental age is reached at the chronological age of 16, so giving a person under the age of 16 an IQ test is normally not appropriate, although some instruments claim to assess childhood IQs, like the Wunderlich or Werschler tests.

CAUSES OF ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

Genetic disorders (diabetes, trisomy 18, and phenylketonuria), as well as traumatic childhood experiences (injuries, exposure to poisons, severe neglect, and some diseases) all, affect intelligence. However, by and large, the consensus of scholars is that IQ is highly heritable (mostly because of heredity).

The only way to truly test the notion that IQ is 100% inherited is to make environments constant in all subjects.  Science does not yet know how to do this and scientists also do not know how to raise IQ permanently. There is clearly a need for more research on heredity and environmental factors.

INTELLIGENCE AND CRIME

The earliest group of criminologists who looked at intelligence and crime comprise what is known as the “PEDIGREE” studies.  The pedigree study is the process of tracing the family tree of criminals to see if the genealogy contains ancestors with low intelligence.  In 1877, Richard Dugdale traced back 200 years the ancestry of a family known as The Jukes.  He found that, not only are the current members always in trouble with the law, but that the family history extensively included pauperism, prostitution, fornication, illegitimacy, and degeneracy.  His work was so influential that by 1899, Americans were clamoring for something to be done about the “Three Ds” in society, which are:

• • • • The Dangerous (mentally ill) class;
      • The Delinquent (criminal) class; and
      • The Defective (mentally retarded) class.

Americans saw welfare, public assistance, and philanthropy programs as futile at this time.  An influential book at the time was written in 1901 by Charles Henderson, entitled The Dependent, Defective, and Delinquent Classes. It is divided into five (5) parts which explained the evolution of anti-social elements that developed together with the evolution of society, discussed the phenomena of dependency, and explained the general conditions and causes of the problem.

In 1912, another “pedigree” researcher, Henry H. Goddard, of the New Jersey Training School for the Feeble-Minded at Vineland, studied a family known as The Kallikaks.  He traced this criminal family’s history back six (6) generations to the illegitimate offspring of a “feebleminded” barmaid.  He popularized the idea of feeblemindedness as an alternative for the words “moron”, “imbecile”, and “idiot” (anyone with an IQ of around 75).

Feeblemindedness is hereditary, passed on in a 3:1 ratio according to Mendelian Law through a recessive gene to what are called simplex cases in the second generation.  If simplex marries simplex, all the offspring are guaranteed to be feebleminded.  Goddard saw feeblemindedness as the breeding ground for crime. At that time in society, 97% of all female prostitutes, 80% of truants, and 50% of paupers were feebleminded. Goddard did extensive mental testing in jails and prisons, finding that 70% of criminals were feebleminded (even today, incarcerated criminals normally score 20 points less on IQ tests than non-criminals).

The American government quickly accepted the idea that all feebleminded people were potential criminals and put Goddard in charge of Immigration and Naturalization at Ellis Island until 1928.  From that position, he trained a group of clinicians to look for certain signs of feeblemindedness among the immigrants coming off the boats.  Sometimes they just sized a person up and sometimes they would take people aside, show them a drawing, and ask them to draw it from memory. The training wasn’t all that sophisticated (and Goddard, according to Gould, later admitted to doctoring photos of what the feebleminded were supposed to look like) and included things like looking for immigrants with glassy eyes that recede into eye sockets.  To Goddard, masturbation and/or overindulgence in sex caused this (the eyes to recede into eye sockets). Hence, the popular warning American mothers used for years when they suspected their sons were masturbating (“Stop that Johnny, or you’ll go blind!”). 

Goddard convinced the prison systems of 24 states that at least 50% of their inmates were feebleminded.  Together with his team, and a doctor named Harry Sharp, they proceeded to perform mandatory vasectomies on delinquents and inmates throughout these prison systems.  Many state prison systems had compulsory sterilization policies up until 1960.

Goddard also convinced the U.S. military to initiate IQ testing along the same lines as this feeblemindedness profiling (being able to “pick em out by sight”).  The Army tests were called the “Beta” tests and they led to a diagnosis of feeblemindedness among 37% of the whites and 89% of the Blacks. Subsequent tests by the military have shown that draftees tend to have an average IQ of 75 (slightly above the feeblemindedness range).  Even today, the military relies upon intelligence to screen out volunteers.  Ironically, dynamometer and other tests show that a large percentage of people with low intelligence has the following characteristics:

• • • Excessive strength,
    • Tallness
    • Broad shoulders
    • A heavy thick-set build
    • A primitive digestive system that isn’t upset by swallowing anything,
    • Wounds that heal fast
    • Resistance to certain diseases, and
    • Dullness to pain. 

The above characteristics raise the question of whether low IQ persons make better soldiers. A study conducted by Ian Deary, a psychologist at the University of Edinburgh, determined that intelligent soldiers are most likely to die in battle. The study concluded that Scottish soldiers who survived the second world war were less intelligent than men who gave their lives defeating Hitler’s Third Reich.

Another colorful character in history was Charles Benedict Davenport, a doctor who ran the Station for Experimental Evolution in Cold Spring Harbor, NY from 1904 until the 1930s with funding from the Carnegie Institute.  Black (2003) writes about Davenport as being the leader of the American Eugenics Movement.

For three decades, the Cold Spring Harbor station was believed to be the command-and-control headquarters of the eugenics movement, and people sent there with allegedly inheritable moral failings (such as criminality, alcoholism, promiscuity, and pauperism) were involuntarily sterilized so they couldn’t have offspring.  The Carnegie Institute pulled the plug on their funding for such activities in 1939.

Our Next discussion is all about PERSONALITY DISORDER.

Before delving into that discussion, make a brainstorming with your group and answer the following questions:

1. 1. If a person with a low IQ is not capable of thinking clearly, what possible crime these people might be committed, and why?
   2. Based on your observation (Television, radio, newspaper, and social media)  how often you see criminals of above-average IQ involved in a crime?
   3. With the intelligence quotient discussed in this module, who do you think is more dangerous, a person with “LOW IQ, or those whose IQ ARE HIGHER?(Sino sa palagay ninyo ang nakakatakot maging criminal)

ANSWER THE ABOVE QUESTION BY GROUP! (No individual answer – and list members involved during brainstorming)