NextPrevious

Forensic Psychology

Specific Forms of Crimes

What do we know about the psychology of nonviolent criminals?

Perpetrators of nonviolent crimes, such as property and drug offenses, are obviously less violent than violent criminals. Likewise, they have less difficulty with controlling their aggression. These crimes are also associated with impulsivity, however, and nonviolent criminals, on average, have many features associated with impulsivity, such as younger age, lower IQ, and less education. Proportionately, females are considerably more likely to be convicted of a nonviolent than a violent crime. About 20 percent of nonviolent felons are female according to FBI statistics, whereas only about 8 percent of violent felons are female.