motivation
...eral, there are often multiple motives that, when combined, lead individuals to commit a crime (Turvey 2002). Only in a rare case is a motive singular Nonetheless, people concentrate on finding one causative factor that can explain an individual’s criminal behavior Ainsworth (2001). Interest in Motive Police and lay-persons have different reasons for looking at motives. When a crime is committed, lay-people prefer to believe the offender was motivated by psychotic urges. Perhaps, by thinking this way, people are able to distance themselves from the perpetrator. Recognizing that a crime may have been motivated by common feelings like greed and anger, which all humans experience at some point, the criminal shows similarities to the rest of society. Often, lay-persons try to find a cause that is as far removed from their own motive as possible. On the other hand, law enforcement personnel are faced with the assessment of a criminal act. Even though a motive does not have any legal funct...