It has been established that there is a link between crime and lower emotional intelligence.  People with lower emotional intelligence tend to have difficulty understanding, recognizing, and managing emotions in themselves or others.  This can result in heightened levels of aggression, impulsivity, and poor decision-making, which may lead to involvement in criminal behavior.

For example, people who lack the capacity to understand their emotions may be more prone to violent acts when angry or frustrated.  Furthermore, individuals who cannot empathize with others may have less regard for other people’s feelings or property, which could lead them to act criminally toward someone else.  Additionally, those with low emotional intelligence may struggle with controlling their impulses, which could bring about illegal activities such as theft or drug use.

It is important to note that although there is a correlation between crime and emotional intelligence, this does not mean that all people with lower emotional intelligence will commit a crime.  It simply means that it could increase the risk of involvement in criminal activities due to their difficulties understanding and managing their emotions.  Therefore, it is essential to create policies and programs to help individuals boost their emotional intelligence to reduce the likelihood of engaging in criminal behavior.  Such measures include providing education about emotion management and the consequences of certain behaviors, equipping people with strategies for dealing with frustration or anger, and offering support for those who may be struggling with their mental health.  In doing so, we can reduce the prevalence of crime and promote more emotionally intelligent behavior.

As the CEO of Nave Law Firm, we focus on our team’s EI growth because we must recognize the connection between crime and emotional intelligence.  By being aware and highly emotionally intelligent ourselves, we can become better advocates for people who commit these crimes, which builds trust and then allows us to better guide them to programs that may be able to allow them the opportunity to address what creates them to get in trouble with the law in the first place.  This way, we can work towards creating a safer society for the communities we also live in.

Ref:

Dąbrowska, A., & Szuster, A. (2018). Lower emotional intelligence increases the risk of criminal recidivism among people sentenced for driving under the influence of alcohol.  Frontiers in psychology, 9, 2548. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02548