2.2 individualistic

• Individualistic theories of criminality

  • Psychodynamic theories, such as psychoanalysis
  • Eysenck's personality theory
  • Learning theories, such as Bandura's social learning theory
  • Cognitive theories of crime
• Psychodynamic theories


  See our personality as containing active forces that cause us to act as we do. These forces are powerful urges, feelings and conflicts within the unconscious mind
• Criminal behaviour


  The result of an individual's failure to resolve inner conflicts in a socially acceptable way
• Psychoanalysis


  The first and most important psychodynamic theory, originally founded by Sigmund Freud. Our early childhood experiences determine our personality and future behaviour
• Elements of human personality (according to Freud)

  • Ego
  • Id
  • Superego
• Id


  Located in the unconscious, instinctive, 'animal' part of the mind. Contains powerful selfish, pleasure-seeking needs and drives
• Superego


  Contains our conscience or moral rules, which we learn through interactions with our parents during early socialisation in the family
• Ego


  Tries to balance the conflicting demands of the id and the superego. Driven by the reality principle and seeks to control the id's urges while still finding ways to satisfy them
• Weak/over-harsh/deviant superego


  Individual will feel less guilt about anti-social actions and less inhibition about acting on the id's selfish or aggressive urges
• Too harsh and unforgiving superego

  Creates deep-seated guilt in the individual who then craves punishment as a release from these feelings. May engage in compulsive repeat offending
• Deviant superego


  Child is successfully socialised, but into a deviant moral code. Does not inflict guilt feelings on the individual for contemplating criminal acts
• Bowlby's maternal deprivation theory


  Link between maternal deprivation and deviant or anti-social behaviour. A child needs a close, continuous relationship with its primary carer from birth to age 5 to develop normally
• Bowlby found that 39% of 44 juvenile thieves had suffered maternal deprivation before age 5, compared with only 5% of a control group of non-delinquents
• Eysenck's personality theory


  Criminality is the result of a particular personality type, made up of two dimensions: extraversion vs introversion, and neuroticism vs emotional stability
• Extraverted personalities


  Outgoing, sociable, excitement-seeking, impulsive, carefree, optimistic, often aggressive, short-tempered and unreliable
• Introverted personalities


  Reserved, inward-looking, thoughtful, serious, quiet, self-controlled, pessimistic and reliable
• Neurotic personalities


  Anxious, moody, often depressed and prone to over-reacting
• Emotionally stable personalities


  Calm, even-tempered, controlled and unworried
• Eysenck argues the combination of high extraversion and high neuroticism is highly likely to lead to criminality
• Sutherland's differential association theory


  Individuals learn criminal behaviour largely in the family and peer groups, through imitation of criminal acts and learning of attitudes favourable to crime
• Operant learning theory


  Behaviour is shaped by reinforcements and punishments. Behaviour that results in a rewarding outcome is more likely to be repeated, while behaviour that is punished is less likely to be repeated
• Social learning theory


  We learn much of our behaviour, including aggressive behaviour, by imitating other people ('models'). Whether we imitate the behaviour depends on the consequences observed for the model
• Cognitive theories of crime

  Mental processes such as thinking, beliefs, and decision-making shape our behaviour. Criminals are prone to faulty thinking and biases that lead them to commit crime
• Criminal personality theory


  Criminals show a range of errors and biases in their thinking and decision-making, including lying, need for power, lack of empathy, and blaming others
• Kohlberg's moral development theory


  Our ideas of right and wrong develop through a series of levels and stages from childhood to adulthood. Criminals' moral development is stuck at a less mature level, focused on rewards and punishments rather than moral principles
• Cognitive behavioural therapy is a range of treatments for offenders based on cognitive theories that see delinquents' thought patterns as different from those of normal people