Criminal Cognition

How non-confirmative behavior

expands through exposure to
other non-confirmative behavior
 PEPI 1
P: Exposure to crime causes curiosity in most individuals
E: When Nick meets Mr. Wolfsheim, a known criminal, Mr. Wolfshiem
asks him “I Understand that you are looking for a business
recognition” (Fitzgerald 75).
P: Michael Welch states, “The notion of opportunities for crime or other
deviance is ambiguous” (337).
I: In the previous excerpts, the opportunity to make money and or gain
power in the criminal business is much more abundant and
available than in most legal jobs. When people become desperate
or greedy, crime may be the easiest and quickest way to make
money. Also, criminals will seek or assume people want to make
money through crime if they meet for any form of business.
 PEPI 2
P: Criminals are always seeking help and or associates because it is easier to
act alone than to act by themselves.
E: When Nick and Gatsby go to lunch in the city, they meet up with Mr.
Wolfshiem. Wolfshiem is unique because he is a known criminal and yet
Gatsby still socializes and does buisness with him. When they meet, Gatsby
says “Mr. Carraway, this is my friend Mr. Wolfshiem” (Fitzgerald 73). This
shows him and Wolfshiem are close because of their business.
P: Scholar Jean Marie McGloin states that “Many scholars have attempted to
learn these patterns, most focusing on the dominant role and influence of
deviant peers.” (74). This is because criminals never act alone and are
always looking for peers.
I: Solo criminals make their job harder by adding all the planning and funding of
their work to themselves. Many people in the same business and or gang
make them harder to track and is cheaper in the long run. Organized crime
is the easiest way to run a criminal business.
 PEPI 3
P: Constant group crime offenders are more likely to become violent than a
single criminal by themselves.
E: Gatsby has a reputation as a bootlegger with most of the common people
who know him and attend his parties. People assume because he runs an
illegal business, he is automatically violent and most gangs are. Someone
stated “One time he killed a man who found out that he was nephew to Von
Hildenburg and second cousin to the Devil” (Fitzgerald 65).
P: R. Karl Hanson, a scholar, states “ Individuals who engage in co-offending
are more likely to have violence as part of their repertoire than others who
engage in solo-criminal acts” (172)
I: The need to be the biggest and most respected gang is key in organized
crime. With no power, nobody will take the gang seriously and they begin to
lose business. To become the most repected gang around, gangs will turn
to fear for respect by using violence to scare other gangs as well as push
clients to use them because they are more protective.
 Works Cited
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 1925. Print
.
Welch, Michael R., Tittle Charles R., Yonkoski, Jennifer, Meidinger, Nicole,
Grasmick, Harold G., ”Social Integration, Self-Control, and Conformity”
Springer Science+Buisness Media, LLC. 10/20/07. 12/14/09. 74. WEB

McGloin, Jean Marie and Piquero, Alex R., “’I Wasn’t Alone’: Collective
Behaviour and Violent Delinquency” The Australian and New Zealand
Journal of Criminology. . 12/14/09. 337, 338. WEB

Hanson, R. Karl, “The Psychological Assessment of Risk for Crime and

Violence.” Canadian Psychology. 2009. 12/14/09. 172, 177. WEB