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Abstract

The notion that criminal behavior is a product of aberrant cognitive processing or fundamental character defects has a long history, apparent in the early concepts of “moral imbecility” and “moral insanity” popularized in the 1800s. At one point, it was even suggested that mental deficiency was the chief cause of criminal behavior (Caplan, 1965; Pichot, 1978). In contrast, some of the major criminological theories of the past few decades, dominated by a more sociological orientation, have discounted individual psychological factors entirely, viewing crime as an outcome of certain societal forces and inequalities (see Andrews & Wormith, 1989).

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Baxter, D.J., Motiuk, L.L., Fortin, S. (1995). Intelligence and Personality in Criminal Offenders. In: Saklofske, D.H., Zeidner, M. (eds) International Handbook of Personality and Intelligence. Perspectives on Individual Differences. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-5571-8_30

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