psychological explanations

• Eysenck's theory of criminal personality - is a biosocial explanation
• Esyenck suggests crime occurs as a result of personality traits rooted in biology and how they interact with the environment
• personality is reduced to two dimensions - introversion/extraversion + neuroticism/stability
• Neuroticism: characteristics - depressive, anxious, rigid, obsessive
• neurotism: biological basis - low sympathetic nervous system activation threshold

  unable to control emotions + reaction
• neuroticism: environment influences - forced stressful situations in environment make react in negative way
• Eysenck created the personality questionnaire (EPQ) which criminals scored with high neuroticism and high extroversion
• Criminals - high neuroticism and high extraversion because have less stimulation in the brain so need to seek people + activities to lift their mood. Childlike as don't learn from their mistakes