Criminal dangerousness: keys and concepts to evaluate it

In this day and age, it is not uncommon to hear often on the news, radio, and other media communication of the term “dangerousness”, especially when they talk about issues related to criminal field.

"Highly dangerous criminal", "medium dangerous prison" and other concepts and terms are examples how we hear such terminology from day to day, to the point where we think we are familiar with is. Despite this, this concept continues to be one of the most misunderstood within the criminology since it is often confused with others such as that of the aggressiveness and violence.

In addition, the new forms of crime that arise with the new times force us to give it a review and an in-depth review. In this article We propose to conceptualize the concept of dangerousness, point out what its characteristics are and explain its importance.

Criminal dangerousness: knowing the history of the concept

The idea of ​​danger is by no means new, however the concept of criminal dangerousness it is relatively modern.

Its clearest antecedent dates back to the theses of the German author Feuerbach, whose term would become part of the Bavarian Penal Code in 1800 and who defined it as the quality of a person who makes it reasonably presumed that he will violate the right.

Modern definitions and approximations

The more modern definition of dangerousness was introduced to criminology by Rafael Garófalo with its fearfulness to designate the constant and active wickedness of the offender and the amount of foreseen evil to be feared by the offender himself.

The concept, although controversial since then, was quickly accepted until in 1892 the International Union of Criminal LawOfficially recognized by eminent teachers of this branch of law such as Von Liszt and Prins.

Unitary definition from criminology

Danger, from Latin periculum, refers to the risk, the imminent contingency that some bad happens, being the situation, thing or obstacle what increases the possibility of some damage or damage.

Dangerousness, when we apply it to a person, it is the quality of damage that this could cause, in view of the factors that impel it to do this damage. The Royal Academy of the Language he accepts this term referring to a person as one who can cause harm or commit criminal acts.

To make this concept clearer, let's review other definitions given by various authors who have studied law and criminology. Rocco defines it as the power, attitude, suitability, the capacity of the person to be the cause of harmful or dangerous actions. Petrocelli defines it as a set of subjective and objective conditions under which impulse, an individual is likely to commit a socially dangerous or harmful act. The Quillet Encyclopedia says that dangerousness is the set of subjective conditions that authorizes a forecast about an individual's propensity to commit crimes.

As you can see, the common elements in the definitions are the potentiality and the intention to be prone to crime. Just as there is a clear difference between aggression and violence, dangerousness is distinguished from the previous two in that both terms help us to try to diagnose the latter.

Components of danger

Scholars of criminal behavior agree that dangerousness has two essential components: criminal capacity and social adaptability.

The first concept, the criminal capacity, refers to the internal criminal tension, the criminal power, what the criminal personality is capable of giving itself in the criminal field. For its part, social adaptability it is the suitability of the offender for social life, that is, the possibility of adapting the criminal's activity to the environment in which he is inserted.

From these components we can recognize four forms of dangerous state.

1. Very strong criminal capacity and very high adaptability: here are the most serious manifestations of antisocial behavior such as white collar crimes, political-financial crimes, organized crime, organized psychopaths, etc.
2. Very high criminal capacity and uncertain adaptability: less serious but with very harmful criminogenic potential. Their maladjustment makes them draw attention to themselves easily. Professional and specialized criminals, social outcasts, among others are in this category.
3. Low criminal capacity and weak adaptation: they constitute the criminals who habitually flood the prisons. Among them are psychic misfits, character delinquents and similar typologies.
4. Weak criminal capacity and high adaptability: light forms of criminality. Its danger is low or acute (the danger can be chronic or acute depending on the duration; we'll talk about this later). Occasional and passionate offenders are recognized here

Constitutive elements of dangerousness

We will quote and explain below the most important characteristics of danger.

• Elements: Two elements of dangerousness are recognized. The first known as a dangerous state, is the situation experienced by a person who is about to commit a crime. Meanwhile, the opportunity is the convenience of time and place that is provided or favors the subject to take the step to act.
• Shapes: psychiatrists, psychologists and criminologists distinguish two types of dangerousness, the first being chronic (or permanent) that occurs generally in cases of psychopathy and in other delinquents of difficult rehabilitation; while the second refers to acute danger, which is rather episodic and can even be exhausted in the event itself. In spite of this, if the criminogenic circumstances continue, the acute danger can lead to the chronic one.

Quantify dangerousness, an interdisciplinary work

Clinical criminology tries to explain the crime from the starting point of the criminal, his personality, his personal history and the different factors that play a role in his behavior. It aims to formulate a diagnosis, prognosis and treatment on the subject who commits antisocial behavior.

To quote Wolfgang and Ferracuti, clinical criminology consists of the integrated and joint application of the knowledge of criminology and diagnostic techniques for particular cases and for the diagnostic-therapeutic. Thus, in terms of the functions of clinical criminology, they stand out

TO) Synthesize the various studies carried out on the antisocial subject and integrate them for a correct criminological synthesis that allows to issue a diagnosis, prognosis and treatment

B) Discover criminogenesis and criminodynamics of the offender

C) Issue opinions and expert opinions criminological

D) Propose, if applicable, what kind of penalty it is more convenient for you

AND) Do criminological prophylaxis and attend to criminological needs of the subject

F) Estimate the level of danger

Sciences and professionals that evaluate the dangerousness of criminals

Although the clinical criminologist is the figure in charge of quantifying the level of danger, it would be impossible to carry out this work without the correct application of various disciplines that provide objective tools on the subject antisocial.

The criminological synthesis must derive from at least seven sciences that together allow a reliable diagnosis to be made and that complement each other in the explanation of the antisocial behavior. Such sciences are: anthropology, medicine, psychology, sociology, victimology and penology. To these can be added others that allow the issuance of other objective criteria on the subject such as: social work, pedagogy, etc.

A practical example to understand the role of each professional

To show the interdisciplinary work, we could exemplify with the following case: we have a subject who is accused of theft, the pedagogue emphasizes that an important criminogenic factor is the level of learning of himself that results be scarce, he dictates that this difficulty affects his few job opportunities, finding in theft the easiest way to earn the lifetime. On his part, the doctor explains that malnutrition played an important role in the poor development of his brain during the first years of life, which would partly explain a low IQ that reinforces the idea of ​​their low level of learning; In turn, a psychologist deduces from this that both conditions, over the years, accentuated levels of insecurity and feelings of inferiority that prevented you from seeking an honest way of life due to fear of being rejected.

In this way, the criminogenesis of the offender is unraveled, an issue that in turn allows us to more reliably estimate his level of danger.

Assessment and quantification of criminal dangerousness

The assessment of the danger is qualitative and quantitative.. The first is seen in the meticulous and objective study of the criminogenic factors of the antisocial subject, both endogenous (for example, its characterology and biotype, organic disposition, psychopathologies, etc.) or exogenous (social environment, environmental conditions, culture, level educational, others).

In this sense, it is also of utmost importance to establish if the dangerousness of the subject in question is absolute, that is, if his antisocial behaviors develop under the influence of Any criminogenic stimuli, or if we speak of a relative dangerousness in which the individual only proceeds to the act after the influence of specific and very particular factors circumstances.

On the other hand, quantitative valuation refers to the value, quantity and size of factors that allow predict, among other things, the probability of recidivism and the effectiveness of a treatment penitentiary. It is usually classified into minimum, medium and maximum, but different authors handle multiple scales based on pre-established items. correlated to qualitative dangerousness, trying to point out as many criminogenic factors as possible present in the subject. Examples of such studies will be cited later.

The criminogenic threshold

This raises several problems in relation to what various scholars of human behavior call the criminogenic threshold, also known as delinquency threshold, which is defined as the ability of the subject to react to a certain amount of stimulus criminogenic.

This is an individual feature. Thus, the lower the subject's criminogenic threshold, the less criminal stimulus he or she will need to give way to the act. (just as people with a low threshold for pain need a little stimulus to produce it). To the comparison of the personality studies, the antecedents for previous crimes of the individual should be added, as well as observing the differences in action between one act and another, since dangerousness tends to increase as the complexity of the crime increases.

Scales to assess dangerousness

For Schied (German author), dangerousness can be quantified on a scale consisting of 15 factors and where each one of them adds a negative point and that in turn is related to the probability of recidivism. Among these factors that this author encompasses, the main stand out psychopathies, hereditary diseases, regularity of work, judicial history, and so on.

Other support tools that are included to assess the danger include the HCR-20 (protocol to assess the risk of any type of violence), LSI-R (which calculates the probabilities of recidivism), SVR-20 (specially designed to calculate the probabilities of recidivism of the sex offenders), etc.

What is the use of knowing the dangerousness of a criminal?

From a clinical point of view, establishing the level of dangerousness of a criminal has several objectives, among which we highlight the following:

1. Establish what the criminological action will be. If it will be prophylactic or only a specific treatment, if it needs a total reintegrative effort or if the specific criminogenic factors that lead to criminal behavior, that is, it allows treatment to be more individualized penitentiary.

2. Help the judge determine what the criminal reaction is. if it is worthy of a custodial sentence or a security measure. If you need a five-year or twenty-year prison treatment.

3. Indicate what your probability of recidivism is, helping to establish a correct diagnosis and a prognosis and therefore their probability of reintegration into society.

4. Justify which penitentiary institution is more convenient for the treatment and if it deserves to be in a penitentiary center or in a prison of low, medium or high danger.

5. Provide an idea of ​​the harm it can inflict against others.

Reflections on the validity of the concept of dangerousness

Due to the enormous complexity of the human personalityDespite the various items and methods proposed to try to quantify the danger, there are no 100% objective parameters that allow a reliable diagnosis in this regard.

Furthermore, among the most pronounced criticisms of the term is the idea that it is stigmatizing and prejudicial. Some jurists and psychologists criticize the concept of dangerousness as it limits the study of criminals.

If we reflect carefully, prison is practically useless: it is expensive, it keeps criminals idle, multiplies their vices, it is just one more pity, isolation causes abnormalities ranging from neurosis to psychosis and promotes promiscuity.

Unfortunately, today the vast majority of governments still choose to punish the intent to commit crimes and the reasoning applied to commit criminal acts, but the proportionality of the crime and the dangerousness of carrying it out are not examined in depth. However, the countries that adopt the individualized reintegration model based on the criminogenic needs of the subject, which take into account the level of dangerousness of the subject and who apply qualitative and not quantitative punishments, obtain better results and their recidivism figures are minors.

Bibliographic references:

• Rodríguez Manzanera, L. (2003). Criminology. (18 ed.). Mexico: Porrúa
• Mendoza Beivide, Ada Patricia. Psychiatry for criminologists and criminology for psychiatrists. Mexico: Trillas (Reimp. 2012)
• Pérez, Luis Carlos: Criminal law. Ed. Bogotá, 1981.
• Landecho, Carlos Maria. Social dangerousness and criminal dangerousness.. OR. From Valencia. 1974