Environment psychology affected crime rate

By Katie Nichols (Contact) | Selma Times-Journal

Published Thursday, June 25, 2009

Adages and common sayings have stuck around for many reasons. Some hold wisdom while others speak of ethics and then there are those founded in truth like “the heat makes people do crazy things.”

Psychologists have studied heat waves and how it affects violent crimes for decades. Criminal justice professors have also taught that when a heat wave hits a town it can show an increase crime.

“During heat waves, there tends to be a spike in crimes especially in crimes that can be originated from people being more irritable,” said Selma Police Department Lt. David Evans, who is an adjunct professor in criminal justice for Faulkner. “Conversely, with intense cold there is an increase in certain crimes like domestic violence.”

Evans, who has a master’s degree in justice and public safety from Auburn University Montgomery, said the basic idea is that heat makes people more argumentative and quicker to react without thinking.

The idea does not indicate that seasonal changes like the onset of summer affects crime, but only heat waves.

“One thing is in the South you don’t see the increase as bad as the North does,” Evans said. “That is generally because they don’t have air conditioners and rarely have a need for them.”

Dallas County deputies said they do not see an influx in their jurisdiction during abnormally hot temperatures.

“I can see where it can attribute to violent crime, but we haven’t seen the trend around in our jurisdiction,” Chief Deputy Randy Pugh said.

Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Mike Granthum said he felt that the rise of juvenile crimes in the summer is due to the release of school.

Research regarding heat causing more crime has shown that it goes across all socio-economic classifications.

Iowa State University professor of psychology Craig Anderson studied this effect on people. He also looked specifically at the mental progression that is the cause of the heat effect.

“The simplest and most powerful ones all revolve around the ‘crankiness’ notion,” he said. “Being uncomfortable colors the way people see things. Minor insults may be perceived as major ones, inviting retaliation.”

He went on to also say that an increase in heart rate from the heat could also play a part in the total incident.

“My colleagues and I believe that most heat-induced increases in aggression, including the most violent behaviors, result from distortion of the social interaction process in a hostile direction. A minor provocation can quickly escalate, especially if both participants are affectively and cognitively primed for hostility by their heightened level of discomfort. An accidental bump in a hot and crowded bar can lead to the trading of insults, punches and eventually bullets.”

Psychologists like Anderson are continuing to do research in the field and hopes to one day further understand the relationship of the environment and people’s psyche.

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