Me. Just kidding.
I do not want to take the blame for everything.
Nevertheless, it is fascinating to ponder who is behind these terrible actions and what possesses them to be soooooo ruuuuuude. For the sake of this discussion, bad actions are what is considered socially unacceptable, such as violence, crimes, tripping children, stealing grandma’s dentures, and mistreating others, but who is naughty, and why do they commit these naughty behaviors?
Individuals commit bad actions because of the cumulative risk model (I swear this is interesting). The cumulative risk model “Suggests that an accumulation of risk factors and insufficient protective factors lead to antisocial and criminal activity in children and adolescents” (Bartol and Bartol 34). For example, if an individual has negative attitudes and beliefs about life and others, socializes with antisocial peers, does not have proper role models, has a history of drug use, is impulsive, and has anger issues, according to the cumulative risk model, this individual is more likely to engage in criminal or naughty behavior because he/she has many risk factors present in his/her history. Simply put, when an individual has many risk factors in their history, they are more likely to do bad things.
Alternatively, the developmental cascade model can explain why people commit socially unacceptable actions. In this model, risk factors are accumulated, but they also interact with one another throughout one’s development, like a cascade (Bartol and Bartol 35). For example, the risk factor of social and cognitive deficits can predict “…conduct problem behavior, which predicts elementary school social and academic failure, which predicts parental withdrawal from supervision and monitoring, which predicts deviant peer associations, which ultimately predicts adolescent violence” (Dodge et al.) Consequently, people who commit bad actions have likely accumulated risk factors or their accumulated risk factors have interacted with each other to have an increased effect. So, what are these risk factors?
Risk factors increase the likelihood of being actually bad (-not bad meaning good-looking(!)). Some of these risk factors include (deep breath—long list ahead) lacking proper abilities to control or change one’s emotions and especially behaviors; often being impulsive; being exposed to negative environmental factors (such as exposure to neurotoxins, like lead, cadmium, manganese, mercury, and alcohol); lacking proper nutrition; using drugs, alcohol, and nicotine; experiencing a traumatic brain injury; having abnormal brain development and function; being taught antisocial behaviors; socializing with others who behave badly; being in situations or an environment in which bad behavior is profitable or advantageous; often experiencing frustration or anger; feeling as if one will not be identified and held accountable for one’s behavior; morally disengaging; not seeing others as individuals (dehumanizing others); being improperly parented; having/had a conduct disorder; portraying antisocial behavior at a young age; having callous-unemotional traits (having little to no capacity for empathy, guilt, and little to no expression of emotions); having low literacy; not being adequately supervised in childhood; being in a violent family, etc. (Bartol and Bartol; “Risk and Protective Factors”). However, if any or many of these risk factors are present in one’s past, this is not necessarily a reason to worry because risk factors do not have the capacity to determine who or who will not commit bad actions, but rather, they can increase the likelihood of behaving in such a way. Additionally, there are factors that come to the rescue that decrease the likelihood of being naughty.
Protective factors reduce the probability of committing awful actions. These protective factors include having self-regulation, proper nutrition, proper parenting (such as adequate parental supervision), academic achievement, good conflict resolution skills, strong and supportive prosocial peers, and most importantly, being resilient: “a characteristic that enables her or him to bounce back or to survive in the face of what may seem to be insurmountable odds” (Bartol and Bartol 9; “Risk and Protective Factors”). With the use of these protective factors, one can decrease the probability of committing behavioral mistakes.
In essence, those who commit evil, morally decrepit, essentially vile, and naaasty actions have likely accumulated risk factors throughout life; these risk factors may have interacted with each other to synergize their effects, causing an increased probability of acting in a Grinch-like manner; and there may have not been enough protective factors present in the individual’s life, but the accumulation of these risk factors does not invariably indicate an individual will act in a funky way, especially because protective factors can counteract the effects of the risk factors on one’s probability of committing ludicrous actions. Instead, the answer to who commits crummy actions is reliant upon individual factors, and one may have the power to decrease the probability of acting in a devious manner by building and utilizing one’s protective factors.
However, if you feel an undeniable urge to be bad, or you know someone who does, get help now! Seek help through the Reedley College psych services, where you can receive free psych services. Simply go to the Student Services Building and ask for mental health check-in, or, if you would rather receive help online or via a phone call, look up Reedley College’s psych services, press the “Telehealth Support (Phone/Online,” and click the link to register with Uwill.
In essence, do not do bad things, bad things are bad, my mom told me not to do bad things, your mom probably told you not to do bad things, it would be sad if we disappointed our mothers, bad things are bad, bad things are no bueno, and being good will put a smile on your mother’s face, and you want that, right? Good.
Works Cited
Bartol, Curt, R. and Anne M. Bartol. Criminal Behavior: A Psychological Approach. Available from: MBS Direct, (12th Edition). Pearson Education (US), 2020.
Dodge, Kenneth A et al. “Testing an idealized dynamic cascade model of the development of serious violence in adolescence.” Child development vol. 79,6 (2008): 1907-27. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01233.x
“Risk and Protective Factors.” Public Safety Canada, 17 Dec. 2015, www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/cntrng-crm/crmprvntn/fndng-prgrms/rsk-fctrs-en.aspx.
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