Abstract
A method of classifying criminal behavior for prognostic purposes, based on an analysis of the motivational dynamics of the antisocial act itself, is presented. Offenses are placed along a hypothetical spectrum, with those acts influenced mainly by external environmental factors on one end, followed by situational, impulsive, and catathymic categories. On the extreme opposite end of the scale are the compulsive offenses motivated almost entirely by internal psychogenic sources. Antisocial acts that are a direct result of a primary psychiatric condition form a group of their own, separate from the motivational spectrum. The author argues that the legally charged crime (e.g., murder, manslaughter, arson, sexual assault) focuses on conduct and degree of intent and does not fully differentiate motivational factors. Accordingly, the purely legal approach is of limited help in understanding the offender's behavior or in offering a prognostic guideline.
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