Low IQ scores seem to be associated with crime and other vices. We need to know why people with low IQ scores commit crimes more frequently than those with high scores.
Understand Delinquency and IQ. Learn Myths About Intelligence and Criminal Behavior.
Understanding IQ and Its Interpretations
The explanation largely depends on one’s view of what IQ measures. The most common approach assumes that “IQ measures some form of abstract reasoning or problem-solving ability and that this ability is largely inherited.” Gordon, for example, has subscribed to this view.
Factors Contributing to Delinquency
He suggests that low-IQ parents’ ineffective child-rearing practice may cause delinquency among their low-IQ children.
Hirshi and Hindelang also believe that IQ measures the inherent ability of an individual. They argue that IQ affects school performance, as low-IQ children do poorly in school, which causes anger, which then gives rise to delinquency.
Their argument is consistent with the research works of those who show that the school characteristics related to educational failure are the same school characteristics associated with delinquency.
School Factors and IQ
Those characteristics are high student-teacher ratios, low student attendance, high student turnover, and poor academic quality. Youths with low intelligence tend to seek short-term immediate gratifications, which, Gottfredson and Hirshi suggest, gives rise to delinquent activities.
Wilson and Herrnstein put forward a similar argument. They suggest that people with low IQ have a tendency to commit impulsive crimes associated with immediate rewards.
All these interpretations assume that IQ scores gauge some form of the inherent ability of individuals, which is largely inherited.
Alternative Views on IQ and Crime
A second approach argues that IQ does not measure innate ability but rather measures qualities that are associated with the dominant culture.
A third approach argues that IQ measures general abilities but that the environment of an individual largely determines those abilities. It is unreasonable to hold that IQ is determined by biology solely. IQ can be altered and determined by the environment.
Addressing the Delinquency Issue
If intelligence is largely inherited and if low intelligence directly causes crime, then some people might think that the only option would be to prevent low-IQ people from reproducing. But in fact, that would not be true. If low intelligence was found to have some direct impact on delinquency, then some steps would have to be taken for the proper socialization of these children.
Intervening Factors and Solutions
Most of the researchers today view that low intelligence does not directly cause delinquency, rather there is some intervening factor that is associated with low intelligence, and that the intervening factor causes delinquency.
Gordon, for example, suggests that low-IQ parents practice ineffective child-rearing, and their low-IQ children commit crimes because of this faulty upbringing. In this case, poor parenting, not low intelligence, is the cause of delinquency.
If low-IQ parents are given effective lessons about proper parenting, that will reduce the risk of delinquency in their low-IQ children.
Schooling and Cognitive Skills
Hirschi and Hindelang suggest that school failure is the result of low intelligence. The failure of school then causes delinquency. On average, delinquent children score only eight points lower than their non-delinquent children.
Providing these children with extra help will eliminate the probability of school failure and increased risk of delinquency. Similarly, Quay suggests that because of low intelligence, children cannot learn cognitive skills like moral reasoning, empathy, or problem-solving.
They, therefore, commit crimes due to this inability. If these children are taught cognitive skills with some extra effort, that will eliminate their possibility of committing a crime.
The Role of Environmental Factors
It is, finally, to be remembered that intelligence cannot be measured directly. The principal method of measuring intelligence is IQ scores, which measure reading ability or the motivation to become successful at academic work.
This reality subscribes to the view that environmental factors may have more impact on the overall difference in IQ scores between delinquents and nondelinquents than genetic factors.