Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality

• Outline Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality.


  Eysenck’s theory proposes that the criminal personality is innate because it results from the type of nervous system we inherit - offenders inherit an underactive nervous system.

  Because offenders have an under-aroused nervous system, they are more likely to be extraverted in that they engage in sensation-seeking behaviours in an attempt to stimulate/ arouse their nervous system.
• Outline Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality.

  This makes them more likely to engage in sensation-seeking crimes such as joyriding and theft.

  Extraverts are also not conditioned easily, meaning they are not deterred by the risks of being punished if they commit a crime.
• Outline Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality.

  The criminal personality is also proposed to be quite neurotic (anxious and irrational), explaining impulsive crimes of violence that are driven by paranoia.

  While Eysenck said the typical criminal is a neurotic-extravert, he did later add high psychoticism to explain the cold, heartless type of offender such as psychopathic criminals.
• Evaluate Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality: supporting evidence.


  Eysenck developed the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) as a way of measuring people’s levels of extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism. Using this, he found that prisoners scored higher on all three of the personality traits than non-criminal controls. This is a strength because it supports a link between the criminal personality traits and offending behaviour.
• Evaluate Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality: contradictory evidence. 


  While most studies have suggested that offenders score higher on psychoticism and neuroticism, research has found that both introversion and extraversion can be associated with offending behaviour. E.g. certain types of crimes (such as school shootings) are more likely to be carried out by introverts. This is a limitation because it suggests that other personality types can also be associated with offending behaviour and so there is not just one type of ‘criminal personality’.
• Evaluate Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality: may not address the root cause of offending behaviour. 


  Personality traits may have resulted from environmental experiences such as abuse. This is a limitation because it may be their negative environmental experiences that cause them to commit crimes. It is difficult to establish cause and effect between the personality traits and offending behaviour. This is because not all people who score high on these dimensions go on to commit crimes. This is a limitation as it suggests that there may be other factors involved.
• Evaluate Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality: too biologically deterministic.


  Proposes that the criminal personality is innate as it is determined by the type of nervous system we inherit. This is a limitation because it leads to negative implications on the criminal justice system whereby we expect criminals to take responsibility for their crimes so they can be appropriately punished. If a person’s criminal behaviour is proposed to be caused by factors outside of their control, it would raise ethical questions as to whether they should be punished to the same extent.