Eysenck's Theory

• Eysenck developed the psychological theory of the criminal personality to explain offending behaviour
• The Criminal Personality is an individual who scores highly in extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism, cannot be easily conditioned, and appears cold & unfeeling
• The Biological basis for extraversion is that extraverts have an underactive nervous system so constantly seek stimulation and are likely to take risks
• The Biological basis for neuroticism is that neurotics have a high level of reactivity in the sympathetic nervous system so respond quickly with instability, making behaviour difficult to predict
• The Biological basis for psychoticism is that psychotics may have higher levels of testosterone so are unemotional and prone to aggression
• Eysenk viewed offending behaviour as developmentally immature as it is selfish and involved immediate gratification
• Socialisation explains that children with difficult to condition nervous systems are less likely to learn anxiety responses anti-social impulses
• There is research to support Eysenck's theory e.g. Eysenk
• Eysenk used the Eysenk personality questionaire on 2070 male prisoners and found higher average scores for the three traits
• There is counter-evidence for Eysenk's theory e.g. Farrington et.al.
• Farrington et.al. conducted meta-analysis of relevant studies and only found higher measures for psychoticism
• The Criminal Personality may be too simplistic as personality traits poorly predict whether someone will be become a 'career offender'
• A Career Offender is someone who continues offending behaviour into adulthood
• Eysenck's theory is limited by cultural factors