Eysenck's Theory of the Criminal Personality

• what is eysenck's theory of the criminal personality?

  • He proposed that personality is biologically based and that personality traits are dimensions of extraversion and neuroticism.
  • These can be measured on Eysenck’s Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), using a series of yes and no questions
  • eysenck made the argument for the criminal personality, which would be seen in people who score highly on these three dimensions
• what does extraversion refer to?

  • a biological need individuals have for high or low levels of environmental stimulation.
  • Eysenck argued that this trait was biologically determined by the level of arousal in a person’s central and autonomic nervous system (CNS and ANS), in that high levels of extraversion have a low level of arousal, therefore requiring more environmental stimulation to fuel their excitement.
• what does neuroticism refer to?

  • the stability of personality and relates to how stable a person’s nervous system is. For example, an individual with low levels of neuroticism have a stable nervous system that doesn’t have changeable reactions, while a high neuroticism score would represent someone who is more reactive and volatile.
  • Again, a high score would be more likely in a person who engages in offending behaviour.
• what was the third dimension found?

  • psychoticism, which relates to the degree to which somebody is anti-social, aggressive and uncaring.
• evaluation of eysenck's theory (1)

  • unclear relationship between all three traits and offending behaviour as extraversion is not consistently found to relate to criminality, suggesting that another factor may be involved. It may be that the type of crime is a more reliable predictor of whether or not a person is an extrovert or not. This is important as it may be that extroversion does not cause criminality, but acts as an indicator for certain types of crime.
• evaluation of eysenck's theory (2)

  • Eysenck’s theory of criminal personality has also been criticised for lacking explanatory power. For example, Howitt (2009) points out that while Eysenck highlights traits which are related to different types of criminal, they do not explain why they commit the crimes that they do. This is important because it highlights how the personality traits might be useful for identifying individuals at risk, but it is not particularly useful when it comes to rehabilitating such criminals.