Developing Criminal Metnality

[Woozyarth]

Hi guys, so I was trying to find out on the internet and some search on how someone can develop a character to become a criminal, like what are the best types of activities that someone want to develop a criminal character can do like a beginner stuff that a criminal starts to build up the mentality. Also, I need to know how can I develop the criminal mentality alone with/without a criminal organization and at the same time build his connections. I would like to get most of the answers for players who roleplayed all types of criminals and also who has a lot of experience on developing a criminal character.

[Cole]

Before seriously developing your character in any one direction, you need to take in consideration his background, his hobbies, his family members, etc. What was his home life like? What is he into? What is his relationship with those in his family, and with others? Did he go to school? Did he finish school? Was he a trouble maker or a straight A student?

Someone who has never done any crime at all until a late portion of their life is extremely rare. I would say criminal activities and the mentality are generally driven by the circumstances that your character faces. Develop your character's backstory first, and the traits should follow that drive your character's mindset and behavior.
 

The biggest thing to remember about character depth is that your character is a fully functional person. They have a life outside their criminal organization, they have family, and would likely be able to hold a job if needed. It's incredibly unrealistic to only rely on criminal activities for money unless you are extremely far into your development (and even then, I still think that's ridiculously unrealistic for 99.9% of characters) Your character isn't going to be a guy who's only focused on crime, posted up doing deals 24/7, it's simply not realistic and will tire you out quickly. You should tie in the fact that your character's personal life does and will affect how they operate on a day-to-day basis, it'll dictate the decisions you make as a role player.
 

To further touch on mindset, criminal behavior is generally built up over time and instilled into someone from a young age, and it stems from a myriad of opportunity, motive, pressure, abilities, and rationalization. 

* The two triangles relating to criminal activities and the intersection of behavior. The crime triangle generally relates to crime as a whole, while the fraud triangle relates specifically to white-collar crimes.

 

A criminal will often be pressured from a young age into a life of crime due to circumstances outside of their own, whether this be peer pressure from friends, or family. From there, they are given the opportunity to commit these crimes given their abilities, and the motivation is generally for obtaining power, money, and/or respect. The rationalization is generally a result of all four of the previous items, in which a criminal will rationalize their crimes by justifying it for themselves in line with their motives. 
 

This is where your backstory, and character traits come into play in building your criminal ventures. Not only that, but it's also extremely rare for someone to develop a criminal mindset without being influenced in one way or another by factors of desire, ability, and opportunity. If these myriads of traits do not exist in your character, it's going to be nearly impossible for your character to realistically develop a criminal mindset.

Take these archetypes for example, not to say it's the end-all-be-all of criminal RP, but it's something to take elements from and consider.

A power-oriented criminal is focused on being, unsurprisingly, being powerful. This character generally wants to be feared and to be the biggest and baddest in the city. The most common people who fall down this path are people who have something to prove, generally individuals who are either outsiders to the life, have physical weaknesses and are targeted/bullied for it, or victims of abuse from parents/violent households. They also tend to be hot-heads. (A note on this, usually the exposure to violence from a young age builds tolerance/numbness and causes the individual to lash out on others.)
 

Money-oriented criminals are often driven to crime for the sole purpose of its monetary gain. This character is always after money, getting it any way they can. They generally grew up poor, in a neighborhood of low-socioeconomic status, and are generally distrusting of others. They'll abandon reliability and concern for others, and are willing to rob, steal, sell drugs, etc., all in the pursuit of money. You will generally see drug users fall down this path, as they'll do enough to make money for their next fix.
 

Respect-oriented criminals generally are into criminal activities for the respect they obtain through doing it. They're generally mingling and making connections whether it's around their neighborhood, or external individuals to ensure they can further facilitate the growth of their network. Networks breed respect in others, and putting in work does, too. They're generally looking for something in return and do activities to boost their credibility. The people who follow down this path are generally are great at talking to people, self-sufficient, and are generally very reliable people.
 

Remember that your character is a product of their environment that they grew up in, their neighborhood shapes them as a person. Your character, if he has been around it, wouldn't be new to all the bad that comes with the streets like incarceration, death, and drug abuse. Even if your character hasn't experienced any of these things first hand yet, they probably know someone who has or have heard plenty of stories. 
 

However, to emphasize this point once again, your character would not suddenly break bad over night and be a full fledged criminal. Criminal behavior and mindsets are something that develop naturally and organically over time in the real world due to exposure and events that shape and mold a person. Make it reflect that in your in-character world.

[Woozyarth]

37 minutes ago, krooked said:

Before seriously developing your character in any one direction, you need to take in consideration his background, his hobbies, his family members, etc. What was his home life like? What is he into? What is his relationship with those in his family, and with others? Did he go to school? Did he finish school? Was he a trouble maker or a straight A student?

Someone who has never done any crime at all until a late portion of their life is extremely rare. I would say criminal activities and the mentality are generally driven by the circumstances that your character faces. Develop your character's backstory first, and the traits should follow that drive your character's mindset and behavior.
 

The biggest thing to remember about character depth is that your character is a fully functional person. They have a life outside their criminal organization, they have family, and would likely be able to hold a job if needed. It's incredibly unrealistic to only rely on criminal activities for money unless you are extremely far into your development (and even then, I still think that's ridiculously unrealistic for 99.9% of characters) Your character isn't going to be a guy who's only focused on crime, posted up doing deals 24/7, it's simply not realistic and will tire you out quickly. You should tie in the fact that your character's personal life does and will affect how they operate on a day-to-day basis, it'll dictate the decisions you make as a role player.
 

To further touch on mindset, criminal behavior is generally built up over time and instilled into someone from a young age, and it stems from a myriad of opportunity, motive, pressure, abilities, and rationalization. 

* The two triangles relating to criminal activities and the intersection of behavior. The crime triangle generally relates to crime as a whole, while the fraud triangle relates specifically to white-collar crimes.

 

A criminal will often be pressured from a young age into a life of crime due to circumstances outside of their own, whether this be peer pressure from friends, or family. From there, they are given the opportunity to commit these crimes given their abilities, and the motivation is generally for obtaining power, money, and/or respect. The rationalization is generally a result of all four of the previous items, in which a criminal will rationalize their crimes by justifying it for themselves in line with their motives. 
 

This is where your backstory, and character traits come into play in building your criminal ventures. Not only that, but it's also extremely rare for someone to develop a criminal mindset without being influenced in one way or another by factors of desire, ability, and opportunity. If these myriads of traits do not exist in your character, it's going to be nearly impossible for your character to realistically develop a criminal mindset.

Take these archetypes for example, not to say it's the end-all-be-all of criminal RP, but it's something to take elements from and consider.

A power-oriented criminal is focused on being, unsurprisingly, being powerful. This character generally wants to be feared and to be the biggest and baddest in the city. The most common people who fall down this path are people who have something to prove, generally individuals who are either outsiders to the life, have physical weaknesses and are targeted/bullied for it, or victims of abuse from parents/violent households. They also tend to be hot-heads. (A note on this, usually the exposure to violence from a young age builds tolerance/numbness and causes the individual to lash out on others.)
 

Money-oriented criminals are often driven to crime for the sole purpose of its monetary gain. This character is always after money, getting it any way they can. They generally grew up poor, in a neighborhood of low-socioeconomic status, and are generally distrusting of others. They'll abandon reliability and concern for others, and are willing to rob, steal, sell drugs, etc., all in the pursuit of money. You will generally see drug users fall down this path, as they'll do enough to make money for their next fix.
 

Respect-oriented criminals generally are into criminal activities for the respect they obtain through doing it. They're generally mingling and making connections whether it's around their neighborhood, or external individuals to ensure they can further facilitate the growth of their network. Networks breed respect in others, and putting in work does, too. They're generally looking for something in return and do activities to boost their credibility. The people who follow down this path are generally are great at talking to people, self-sufficient, and are generally very reliable people.
 

Remember that your character is a product of their environment that they grew up in, their neighborhood shapes them as a person. Your character, if he has been around it, wouldn't be new to all the bad that comes with the streets like incarceration, death, and drug abuse. Even if your character hasn't experienced any of these things first hand yet, they probably know someone who has or have heard plenty of stories. 
 

However, to emphasize this point once again, your character would not suddenly break bad over night and be a full fledged criminal. Criminal behavior and mindsets are something that develop naturally and organically over time in the real world due to exposure and events that shape and mold a person. Make it reflect that in your in-character world.

Thanks for the help. But the problem is that my character is already 25 years old, and it's a returned character. This character I played with in (LSRP) back in the day is a returned character, and he was in a crime life with an organized Russian mafia. I roleplayed that he left LSRP ((2013)) and returned to Los Santos trying to adapt to the changes with the modern day Los Santos and the technology. So, is there a way I can develop that criminal mind set if he is a returning character?

[TonyMontana12]

11 minutes ago, Woozyarth said:

Thanks for the help. But the problem is that my character is already 25 years old, and it's a returned character. This character I played with in (LSRP) back in the day is a returned character, and he was in a crime life with an organized Russian mafia. I roleplayed that he left LSRP ((2013)) and returned to Los Santos trying to adapt to the changes with the modern day Los Santos and the technology. So, is there a way I can develop that criminal mind set if he is a returning character?

My best advice to you is just be /realistic/. schemes are your best friend in criminal RP and you can apply for them as a individual player with or without faction - these can range from anything to ATM fraud to Alarm disablers to production of drugs((Subject to being open))

Creativity is truly limitless with schemes, the things suggested are just that, you can ask for things outside of these suggestions I.E an alarm disabler scheme for robbing houses, or a jail scheme smuggling in prison phones imported from china which don't get detected by scanner, it can literarily be anything as longs it's realistic and you have some reference to it being done in the real world.
 

Building contacts is essential,  I recommend keeping a character story too.

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by TonyMontana12

[Thekillergreece]

L&A.