Network models of criminal behavior

Criminal psychology is beginning to focus on modeling the effect of mental processes and environmental stimuli on offender behavior by Strano (2004). This article presents a knowledge-based-system approach to deriving empirical models of this behavior. The inputs to the system are the psychological characteristics and environmental variables that reflect the mental state of the offender and the circumstances of the crime, while criminal actions are viewed as the outputs. Although criminologists and psychologists can identify relevant input and output variables, the processes underlying criminal behavior are only partly understood and thus cannot be modeled from first principles.