Research Paper

Influences on Behavior: How Situational Factors and Mental Health History have the Power to Improve the Criminal Justice System

Cyntoia Brown. You may have heard her name or story in the news or media recently, as she was released from prison in 2019 after serving 15 years of a life sentence for killing a man when she

Figure 1: Cyntoia Brown months after being released from prison. Holding her memoir "Free Cyntoia". (Source: Google)

was only 16 years old. She, a teenage runaway, found herself in an abusive relationship with a man who forced/sold her into the world of prostitution. She killed a man out of fear for her life.  Cyntoia Brown (pictured left in Figure 1) was convicted of aggravated robbery and first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. It was not for 15 years, until empowering movements such as the #MeToo movement rose up and gained enough support that brought awareness to her case as a victim of sex trafficking who was wrongfully imprisoned. As her story gained publicity all over the world, after 15 years she was finally released on parole, on certain conditions. Some of these conditions included requirement of maintaining employment or educational enrollment, participating in regular counseling sessions, and performing at least 50 hours of community service. It took 15 years for the United States Criminal Justice system to serve Cyntoia Brown the justice she deserved, the justice that the system promises. When she was being tried, the influence of her environment and mental state were factors that should have been considered but were not. The law only saw a murderer. If these factors were considered, they would have saw that she was a child, a victim of sex trafficking, and was only trying to protect herself/ survive on her own. Knowing this and knowing that a main goal of the Criminal Justice system is to rehabilitate offenders, and especially delinquents, she should not have received prison time. If extenuating factors were considered, she could (/and should) have received a similar sentencing to her parole conditions: community service, counseling, proof of productivity/normalcy, etc. – thus avoiding the unnecessary damage that 15 years in prison does, while still promoting healing and proper rehabilitation. Cyntoia Brown’s case is just one example of a verdict that failed to consider the impact of environment and mental health on her behavior, thus failing her. When considering factors such as environment and mental history in a criminal proceeding, some people will say that this takes away from the actual crime and victim in the case. However, it goes beyond speculation, as social psychology and psychological research say that situations indeed do affect behavior, specifically that environmental factors affect behavior, as well as mental health/history. If this is true, and these factors influence an individual’s behavior, then these factors should be regarded when deciding a verdict based on said individual’s behavior – especially since the verdict will decide/shape the individual’s future. Ultimately, Environmental factors and mental background should influence the final verdict in criminal trials. Psychological research will reveal that behavior is affected by several things, environment and mental health being among them.

Behavior, according to Saul Kassin, who is a professor, social psychologist, and co-author of the textbook Social Psychology, “is a product of both the situation (e.g., cultural influences, social roles, and the presence of bystanders) and of the person (e.g., personality characteristics)”. Modern approaches to social psychology take both the situation and the individual into account when studying human behavior. Environmental influences fall into the ‘situation’ category, while mental history is attributed to the person/individual. The environment that one is found in can have a profound impact on behavior. Environmental factors can range from family, peers, communities, socioeconomic status, to media and technology influence, etc. Environmental factors can also be physical environment. These factors can influence a person to act certain ways that they normally would not, therefore affecting individual behavior. An example of this is risk-taking behavior. Let us look at a realistic situation, say there is a man with a wife and 3 kids who has recently been laid off due to the CO-VID19 pandemic. The news and media show him every morning that people are still getting sick, deaths are continuing to rise, and unemployment is increasing. His wife is a stay-at-home mom, so he is considered the ‘breadwinner’ or money-maker. As this pandemic lasts longer than expected, his family approaches their last and there seems to be no better days in sight. By factoring in his family, his employment, his responsibility/role to his family, the current reality of the world, and media influences, we have created a situation that this man is placed in. This situation now holds the power to influence his actions. Whether he decides to go out and rob someone for money to feed his family, or whether he risks his health and wellbeing by going to a job interview are two different risk-taking actions (i.e. behaviors) both caused/ influenced by the situation in play. The environmental factors (i.e. the situation) impacts his character in ways that made him react with risk-taking behaviors. This is just one example of how environment impacts behaviors. Another study, conducted in 2014 by Neal M. Ashkanasy involving workplace environment and

Figure 2: shows an example of what makes a "hostile" work environment. (Source: the balance)

employee behavior, concluded that work environment features, such as office space and relationships with co-workers, “constitute critical workplace variables capable of pacting processes, attitudes, behaviors, and ultimately employee performance and well-being”(Ashkanasy, 2014).  Even an environment like, and situational aspects of the workplace can have an impact on an individual’s behavior. See Figure 2 to see a hostile work environment. How do you think a hostile environment will affect employee performance/ behavior? Not positively. Psychology says that the environment will influence behavior. While this point may seem obvious now, to many people it is not. When attempting to explain the behavior of others, people often overlook the impact of the situation. As evident, the situation matters. That is why the situation/ environmental factors should be considered in a criminal proceeding. Because the situation affected/influenced the defendant’s behavior, it should be seen as such when deciding the verdict that will predict the outcome of their futures. Mental history, or mental aspects related to the Individual, in a similar fashion as the situation, has a profound impact on behavior. 

A mental illness is a health condition that affects a person's thinking, feeling, behavior or mood, and it causes distress and difficulty in functioning. These conditions deeply impact day-to-day living and may also affect the ability to relate to others. Two of the major types of mental illnesses are mood disorders and personality disorders. From their names alone, it should be pretty obvious that they cause disorder in mood and/or personality. These disorders can affect the way you speak, move, act, and interact with yourself and others. Often, these effects will produce negative behaviors. Alterations to mood and personality are bound to have some impact on the behavior of an ill person. Such an effect, in fact, that Functionalist theorist Talcott Parsons (1951) claimed that illness was a form of “deviant behavior” within society. In his book, ‘The Social System’, Parsons illuminated the idea that people who are mentally (or physically) ill are unable to fulfill their normal social roles and thus they deviate, or divert, away from the consensual norm (Angrist, 1996). This theory basically says that illness impacts an individual so profoundly, such that their behaviors should be considered deviant, because the individual is not

                                            Figure 3: Depiction of overview of Parson's theory

 his normal self (in societal view).  Thus, if we apply this theory to our research question, then mental history should absolutely be considered when determining a final verdict – because one could argue that the illness caused the deviant behavior. See figure 3. Parsons devised a number of rights and obligations of the sick person. Among these rights were exemptions from performing ‘normal’ social roles. The more severe the illness, the greater the exemption. Illness is seen as beyond the control of the sick person and not curable by simple willpower and motivation.  Therefore, the sick person should not be blamed for their illness and they should be taken care of by others until they can resume their normal social role. These rights (as according to Parsons) are interesting because they sound a lot like what is supposed to be the rehabilitation aspect of the Criminal Justice System. Talcott Parson’s theory of deviant behavior by illness supports the need for consideration of mental health in a final verdict in a criminal proceeding. Mental history should be accounted in a verdict because illness causes deviance in behavior. If this is true, then mental history should be factored in when making judgements about deviant behavior due to illness. In any case, Parsons was prepared for critics to argue that there would be too many people claiming to have an illness – so he also devised a set list of obligations/solutions for the people who were ill. 

            The situation (environment) and the individual (mental history) are two factors that should be considered when deciding the final verdict in a criminal proceeding. We have examined both the power of the situation and the deviance caused by illness. Both have proven to have an effect on and impact behavior. Because of this fact, these factors should be considered when determining a consequence based on a person’s behavior/actions. But how exactly could this work? Is it possible to serve a victim of crime justice, while also serving a victim of situation and/or illness justice at the same time? In short, the answer is Yes, this is possible. The theorist Talcott Parsons was prepared for criticism similar to this, so when he introduced the rights of the ill to be exempt on responsibility of behaviors, he also introduced obligations for the sick. These obligations include that the person who is ill “ is expected to see being ill as undesirable and so are under the obligation to try and get well” and that after a certain period of time, the ill person “must seek technically competent help and cooperate with the advice of the doctor in order to get better”(Angrist, 1996). Talcott obligated that ill persons want to get better and seek the help to get better. Using this as a foundation, I would suggest that situational and individual factors only be considered when determining a verdict, only under similar obligations as Parsons, defendants must be unhappy with their current state(and/or remorseful) and co-operative with wanting and seeking help/ restoration. With this standard, a future solution for the Criminal Justice system and for the purposes of criminal proceedings would be to factor in the environment of the defendant, as well as the mental history of the defendant when determining a final verdict. No matter the situation or the individual, a law that is broken, is broken. A person should always be held accountable. However, when other factors (situation/ individual) are held to a higher standard, they should influence such that they lessen punishment/imprisonments sentences and increase sentences that are rehabilitative and restorative. (This is assuming that these said other factors have influenced behavior. Just because they can, does not mean they always do). These sentences can mandate including but not limited to community service hours, therapy, counseling, medical treatment, etc. The ultimate verdict would be dependent on the specific individual/ situation and which services would best fit their needs. This will improve many aspects of our Justice system, from less overcrowded prisons, to more people actually rehabilitating and becoming better versions of themselves and of societal members. Most times the prosecution seeks imprisonment, forgetting that our Criminal Justice System is not based on punishment or imprisonment, but on rehabilitation and deterrence, as well as retribution and restoration. Not only will factoring in extenuating circumstances better serve justice, it will also take the Criminal Justice System a step forward in honoring one of its main goals, which is to rehabilitate (the offender). 

    Taking influential factors into consideration when determining a final verdict is imperative, because often influential factors cause the defendant to act/behave the way they do. It is only right for these factors to play a role in determining an outcome for these behaviors. When the situation is taken into thought, many behaviors are explained. For example, In Cyntoia Brown’s case, her situation was that she was a teenage runaway who was sold and forced into sex trafficking, that is why she did what did. When the individual is taken into though, if not explained, then many behaviors are understood. Insanity pleads are an extreme example of this, as it labels an individual as mentally incapable/ incompetent to stand trial and be held responsible for their actions. A milder example would be using a schizophrenic break to explain criminal-like actions. While some people will disagree with this, this is serving up to the main goals of the Criminal Justice system, which is to rehabilitate offenders, to therefore deter them from future crimes and restore them as functioning members of society.  If considering environmental factors and mental history will lead the courts closer to a verdict that honors the goals of the Criminal Justice system, then it is imperative that these factors hold weight in deciding the final verdict. 

References

Allyn, B. (2019, August 7). Cyntoia Brown Released After 15 Years In Prison For Murder. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2019/08/07/749025458/cyntoia-brown-released-after-15-years-in-prison-for-murder

Alund, N. N., & Timms, M. (2019, August 7). Cyntoia Brown, sentenced to life at 16, released from prison. Here's what you need to know. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/07/cyntoia-brown-released-nashville-prison-after-serving-15-years/1941329001/

Angrist, S. (1966). Mental Illness and Deviant Behavior: Unresolved Conceptual Problems. The Sociological Quarterly,7(4), 436-448. Retrieved May 13, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/4105073

Ashkanasy, N., Ayoko, O., & Jehn, K. (2014). Understanding the physical environment of work and employee behavior: An affective events perspective. Journal of Organizational Behavior,35(8), 1169-1184. doi:10.2307/26610956

Kassin, S. Social Psychology. [Chegg]. Retrieved from https://ereader.chegg.com/#/books/9781305888340/

Layard, R., Clark, D., & Kahneman, D. (2014). How Does It Affect People’s Lives? In Thrive: How Better Mental Health Care Transforms Lives and Saves Money (pp. 65-81). Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctvc77595.9

Parsons, T. (1970). The social system. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.