Criminology

• Theories of crime are used to explain why people commit crimes.
• Social learning theory suggests that individuals learn criminal behaviors through observation and imitation.
• Differential association theory proposes that criminal behavior results from repeated exposure to deviant values, attitudes, and techniques.
• Psychodynamic- Where our personality contains active forces

  for how we behave. They are powerful urges,

  feelings and conflicts in the unconscious mind.
• Freud's psychodynamic approach focuses on the role of childhood experiences in shaping adult personalities and behavior.
• Psychodynamic theories suggest that early childhood experiences shape personality development and influence later behavior.
• Sigmund Freud proposed that human behavior is driven by unconscious desires and impulses.
• Freud Weak superego = individual will feel less guilt about

  anti-social behaviour and less inhibition about acting on id’s

  selfish or aggressive urges.
• Freud Too harsh/unforgiving superego = creates deep seated guilt,

  craves punishment as a release from these feelings. May

  engage in compulsive repeat offending to be punished.
• Freud Deviant superego = successfully socialised, with a deviant

  moral code. A good son may have a perfectly good

  relationship with his criminal father and so he internalises

  his father’s criminal values. As a result, his superego would

  not inflict guilt feelings on him for contemplating criminal

  acts.
• Bowlby Link between maternal deprivation and deviant/

  anti-social behaviour. A child needs close, continuous

  relationship with its primary carer from birth to 5 years old to develop normally.
• Bowlby If mother-child attachment is broken, even if short

  period, it can cause the child unable to form

  meaningful emotional relationships with others.

  Bowlby describes this as “affectionless psychopathy”

  which can lead to criminal behaviour.
• Bowlby Based his theory on 44 juvenile thieves

  referred to child guidance clinic. 39% of them

  suffered maternal deprivation before the age

  of 5, compared to 5% of a control group on

  non delinquents.
• Eysenck Argues that criminality is based on personality.

  Extraversion (E) v introversion (I)

  Neuroticism (N) v emotional stability (ES)
• Eysenck Extraverted – outgoing, sociable, excitement seeking,

  impulsive, carefree, optimistic, short tempered,

  unreliable.

  Introverted – reserved, inward looking, thoughtful,

  serious, quiet, self controlled, pessimistic and reliable.

  Neurotic – anxious, moody, depressed, prone to over

  reacting.
• Eysenck

  Criminals score high both E and N.

  Why?

  Conditioning: through experience we learn to

  seek pleasure and avoid pain. EG; misbehave

  and punished, learn to stop doing it.

  Genetic inheritance: inherit a nervous system

  that causes them to develop a criminal

  personality.