Psychological Determinants Of Criminal Behaviour Essay

Improved Essays
There are many factors that contribute to the likelihood of an individual committing criminal behaviour, including their socioeconomic environment, psychological disturbances, and early childhood experiences. Compiled case studies have determined that there is a stronger correlation with external factors that influence thinking than genetic predisposition or inherent nature. Psychology is an important area of research in criminology, with respects to understanding the internal precursors that lead to deviance. Exposure to varying conditions of social institutions and their effects are also relevant to the analysis the rates of criminal activity. Furthermore, individuals living in poor economic conditions have been shown to be likelier to participate in criminal …show more content…
The causes behind criminal behaviour are variables dependent on individual experiences which affect the levels of susceptibility to commit deviance. The debate on nature versus nurture becomes relevant in determining crime prevention and rehabilitation, but the exploration of both areas are necessary to effectively gather insight. Understanding genetic predisposition is of importance, but the varying environments produced from our current societal structure is crucial in assessment of causes leading to criminal behaviour. Many studies have utilized psychological approaches in examining factors that may drive an individual to commit a crime. Evidence states that delinquency is often the expression of psychological pressures that require recognition and action. Criminals have been divided into five types: individuals driven to crime by their overwhelming external circumstances, seemingly normal individuals driven by overwhelming impulses, neurotic individuals driven by unrecognizable impulses which they attempt to repress, individuals who

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    For many decades and centuries there has been a debate within the criminologists population about the causes to become a criminal. Throughout time, people have tried to come to a conclusion about what could be the cause for crime. It was perceived that there was one single cause for someone to commit a crime, whether it was robbery or murder. The reason in the 17th century would be that, the accused is possessed(Causes of Crime). As technology and society advanced, many criminologists began to have a different perspective.…

    • 1172 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Third, they explore the personality characteristics of criminals and acknowledge that criminals do tend to be more impulsive, intolerant, and irresponsible than non-criminals. Lastly, they investigate the relation of criminality to such mental disorders as psychosis and…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The General Theory of Crime assumes that lack of an individual’s self-control is the predominant factor behind criminal behavior. The low self-control in early childhood aspect of the theory places tremendous emphasis on parental upbringings, and further suggest that self-control is the result of early socialization in the family. Both…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This paper is going to compare and contrast the theories put forth from Terrie Moffitt (Dual Pathway Developmental Theory) and from Sampson & Laub (Age-Graded Developmental Theory). First we will look at what is similar in the two theories. They both are longitudinal studies, meaning that they take place with a fixed group of subjects who are monitored and data is gathered on for a specific time. The Dual Pathway Developmental Theory used data that was collected from New Zeland over the last forty-one years, and is still on going.…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Outward environmental sociological factors and inward hereditary psychological factors have many similarities and differences. The environment and social circles influence criminal behavior as it creates opportunities for such behavior to be learned. There are two theories that can help elaborate on the fusion of environmental and sociological factors causing criminal behavior. Differential association theory is the belief that criminal behavior is learned through communication with others (Schram, 2017). During this process, values, attitudes and norms are internalized and maintain within a group.…

    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Cindy Sanchez Juvenile Justice System C. Drew 9/22/15 Mental Health and Violent Offending Juvenile delinquents, minors who commits acts that violate the law. Not all juveniles are prone to perpetrate crimes. There are many studies towards why adolescents commit crimes. Most criminologists conclude that theories and mental health can be excellent explanations towards offending. Choice theory, trait theory and mental health issues are superb studies to further understand the causes of juvenile delinquency.…

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For this week’s unit paper we are to summarize and provide an example of how biological, sociological, and psychological theories of crime causation affect human behavior and actions. Biological theories believe that somewhere there is a biological difference that make criminals commit crimes. There are two different theories that I feel could relate to this and those two would be neuroscience and genetics. Many people do not understand that the brain is very complex and fragile organ which can be damaged by traumatic injury, tumors, neurodevelopment disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, vascular lesions and many other causes. You may hear this in the court room a lot of times especially with juvenile’s.…

    • 1109 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Nature vs Nurture Are criminals born or made? Are the way that someone is brought up the way they are supposed to be? Are people who have distinct genetics the ones that are definite criminals? Nature vs Nurture is a debate that has been going on for many years, The question is is a person genetically made up to be bad or is it the environment that they are exposed to the thing that change them.…

    • 2066 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Criminologist have theorized and studied the development behind offender behavior for decades. In this paper, the strengths as well as differences of Robert Agnew’s General or Super Traits Theory and Terrie Moffitt’s Dual Pathway Developmental Theory will be discussed. Robert Angew’s Theory “identifies five life domains that contain possible crime-generating factors: personality, family, school, peers, and work” (Walsh, 342). These describe a developmental theory because they interact and provide feedback on one another during an individual’s lifetime, affecting their criminal careers or the lack thereof.…

    • 1412 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The literature review “Psychological Theories of Crime and Delinquency,” published in Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment in April 2011, by Megan Moore at School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley focuses on the psychological theories of understanding crime and delinquency. Psychological theories deal with identifying individual differences rather than social theories. This review identifies five important theories used in psychology, learning theories, intelligence theories, personality theories, theories of psychopathy, and cognitive and social development theories. These theories were chosen due to the fact that they have been used to explain crime previously, have been considered important by scholars,…

    • 1229 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When society looks at crime offenders, most people assume that the offenders are breaking the law because they come from a broken home, are of non-white ethnic background, live in poverty and belong to a gang. While some of these are true, others are not. Why do people commit crimes in the first place, what makes them think that is ok behavior or is this even preventable behavior that society can stop? These are great questions, which makes this essay take a closer look at how the influence of socialization can affect crime. Could it be that anybody is prone to crime, and could improper socialization have anything to do with the crime itself.…

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Criminology is a subject which aims towards discovering the reasons behind an individual’s choice to commit crime and their behaviour in some situations. By understanding a person’s motives to commit a crime, criminologists can try and prevent crime from happening. Several criminologists developed their own theories which explain why people commit crime, what makes them do it and also how we can prevent individuals from committing a crime again. The main theoretical perspectives examined in this essay are Biological Criminology and Psychological Criminology.…

    • 1681 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In this essay I will reflect on the few assumptions and understandings I had about crime and see how they have changed. Upon arriving at De Montfort University to study Criminology and Criminal Justice, I had average knowledge about crime and punishment i.e. insight into biological and psychological perspectives of crime having studied A-level Law and Psychology beforehand. However I did expect to delve so deep into the history and other aspects of Criminology during this first semester. During A-level Law I have read many case studies of murder, manslaughter, GBH, rape etc. I found the main reasons behind committing these crimes were usually motives for revenge, loss of control, hate, rage, and biological inheritance of 'criminal genes ' such as Monoamine oxidase A which makes individuals more prone to exert violence.…

    • 1262 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Criminal Psychology Introduction: Criminal psychology is the study of the intentions and behaviours of criminals. Criminologists apply psychology to crime in order for them to uncover the criminals reasoning for committing the crime. This is not a job that many people know about but I believe that it is a very important job so that the police and other agencies have information about what and who they are dealing with. I had a short limited amount of prior knowledge about this topic but from researching it further I have accumulated much more information and have created 3 key questions that I will be exploring. First I will be analysing the question How can criminal psychology help the criminal justice system and other agencies deal with…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Poverty, neglectful parents, drug abuse, low-self esteem, no education, and alcohol abuse starting at a young age can not only alter brain chemistry but also can damage one’s judgement. It’s believed that there’d be less of a motivation, a need, to commit crime if one was satisfied with their…

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays

Related Topics