Individual based crime prevention

• Psychoanalysis and crime control

  Bringing unconscious conflicts and resented emotions into the conscious mind to be resolved using hypnosis and free association
• Aichhord- psychoanalysis on young offenders 


  Applied psychoanalysis to young offenders with uncaring absent parents who had abnormal socialisation by providing them with a happy and pleasant environment to help young offenders develop a super ego
• Psychoanalysis – is it effective?

  • Only 44% of patients showed improvement compared to 72% in hospital for neurosis
  • it is time consuming and cannot be done on a large scale
  • analyst abuse of power over thoughts
• Token economies and crime control (operant learning theory)

  Behaviour modification through punishment and reward where decide behaviour is recorded with tokens (positive reinforcement) this makes good behaviour more likely and bad less likely through selective reinforcement
• Token economies – is it effective?

  • Research show once reinforcement stops behaviour will return – but slower than others
  • Makes prisoners more manageable
  • In US food and water as punishment and reward - human rights infringement
• Aversion therapy and Eysenck’s theory

  Criminals have high E and N, which makes them harder to condition. this means that there needs to be stronger conditioning. Sex offenders conditioned using aversive stimulus when asked of a fantasy that made them aroused. Used until offender associated deviant arousal to stimulus.
• Aversion therapy – is it effective?

  • Success short term only
  • Criticised for abusive human rights - to cure homosexuality
• Cognitive behavioural therapy and cognitive theories

  Cognitions (thought processes) shape behaviour.

  Offenders have distorted cognitions which leads to offending behaviour. CBT aims to change thoughts to change behaviour and attitude.
• Think first - is it effective?

  Think First enables offenders to control their thoughts, feelings and behaviour

  • those completing the program are 30% less likely to be re-convicted than those without
  • however non-completion rate is high
• Aggression replacement training - is it effective?

  Replacing behaviour of aggressive/violent offenders with role play, anger control techniques, etc.

  • Most have lower re-conviction rates after ART
  • some found thinking skills improved but behaviour did not