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1.1 - Action system applied to forensic topics

from Part I - Psychological underpinnings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2010

Jennifer M. Brown
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Elizabeth A. Campbell
Affiliation:
University of Glasgow
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Summary

In the search for a conceptual framework that underlies variations in criminal activity, a model derived from Parsons' exploration of sociopsychological systems is proving productive. This has its roots in cybernetics and the related attempts to model social and psychological processes as systems of interactions. The author and his colleagues have demonstrated the utility of such an approach when applied to criminal behaviour. They have developed the action system model further by linking it to dominant theories in the explanation and differentiation of crime. The action system model goes further than just being the identification of four modes of action, which include: the integrative mode, adaptive mode, conservative mode and the expressive mode. The challenge, as with any system based on content analysis, is to develop definitions of the components that are clear and as objective as possible.
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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