Evolutionary theory and the classification of crime

Abstract

There are formidable challenges to providing widely agreed upon, logical, coherent, and useful classification schemes in the forensic domain. Most attempts to classify types of crime focus on surface features of offences and group together those that have similar elements in terms of specific kinds of behaviour (e.g., violent offending, property offending, sexual offending). In this paper I argue for an evolutionary approach to the classification of offences which is based on the sorts of moral violation that they represent. Drawing from research on the evolution of morality more generally, and Haidt's moral foundation theory more specifically, I argue that there are (at least) five distinct offence types based on each of the five moral foundations outlined by Haidt. This approach to the classification of crime, I suggest, can help us to both understand why certain acts become criminalised and why there is significant cross-cultural and historical variation in the range of acts that are prohibited by social groups and are subject to third-party sanctions. The implications of this approach for explaining criminal offending and rehabilitating individuals who commit crime is also considered.