Psychological and Psychiatric Foundations
Psychological criminology focuses on individual criminal behavior, how it is acquired, evoked, maintained and modified. Both studies of criminology have a common idea that the cause of criminal behavior originates in the personality of an individual. Crimes result from abnormal, dysfunctional, or inappropriate mental processes within the personality. An example of this would be a person suffering from depression who may believe that life is pointless, so the only option this person sees is that he might as well “escape” to criminality. (Schmalleger, 2002) Persons whose personalities do not conform to the norms accepted by society commit many serious crimes.
The following theories are based on psychological and psychiatric criminology. Many of these theories were developed in order to help us understand criminology in a more structured way.
Frustration-Aggression Theory: Frustration, which can lead to aggression, is a consequence of living and a root cause of crime. Aggressive behavior is a response to frustration. (Schmalleger, 2002) Displacement is when an individual directs his or her frustration on someone who is not the direct source of the frustration. Work place violence is an example of this theory. If we look at how an individual was raised we can get an idea of where deep rooted frustration comes from. If an individual was raised with frustration that was not dealt with in an appropriate way, this frustration can build up and display itself in inappropriate ways, such as murder and violence towards others.
Some childhood experiences that could contribute to this theory include, abusive childhoods (beatings or non loving parents), and negative experiences during school. Babies are not born with aggression, this is a learned response. Aggressive behavior is sometimes rewarded in our society, with an example being that of the “macho” man. The macho man receives more attention and more respect. Aggressive people often get what they want, although not always in ways which are appropriate. An example of the Frustration-Aggression theory is an employee constantly being reprimanded by his or her boss. The frustration of constantly being corrected by the boss builds up in the person until one day they explode verbally and physically towards their boss. The frustration will have built up to the form of aggression.
Ted Bundy is a good example of a criminal who falls within the Frustration-Aggression theory. Ted Bundy was extremely emotionally detached. He felt uncomfortable around others. He was shy and self doubting as a child. He was extremely smart and did attend several years of college, yet he never graduated. He was unable to keep a job for long periods of time and would often job hop. Although he was seen as detached by some, others felt as though he was a “lady’s man” and well adjusted in society. (Hickey, 1997) There were several issues that occurred during his younger years that made him unable to cope with everyday life and this caused much frustration for him. The first major blow came when he found out that his sister was actually his mother and his parents as he knew them were actually his grandparents. The second issue that he could not come to grips with was the break up with his first true love. Both of these issues had a psychologist conclude that he had a strong dependency on women. They also concluded that he had a fear of being humiliated in his relationships with women. There were approximately thirty six women that Ted Bundy was responsible for killing. His behavior fits the frustration-aggression theory due to the fact that he never appropriately dealt with the issues that came to him in his younger years. His frustration built up to that of aggression.
Modeling Theory: This theory can be explained in the three following steps: one observes a model, the individual imitates the model’s actions and they receive a consequence. (1996) Individuals who have close contact with each other tend to model each other, such as siblings. Youngsters tend to imitate older siblings. New forms of crime imitate older crimes, such as computer thieves replacing actual physical criminals. Babies learn from their parents how to act in situations. If a parent curses in front of a child consistently, the child will in turn pick up on this behavior and repeat the same words. An example of this theory is the following: a child plays a violent video game day after day. The parents are not interested in what the child is doing and they do not stop the child from playing this game. The violence is put into the mind of the child over and over due to the daily playing of this video game. The child models the violence they have seen in the game by getting their parents gun and shooting neighborhood children. This example shows the modeling theory in that the child models the violence he or she has seen in the game by getting his/her parent’s gun.
Two criminals that fall into the Modeling Theory are Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. These two young men killed thirteen individuals at Columbine High School in on April 20, 1999. (Gibbs, 1999) They later turned the guns on themselves. Both boys used the internet to model recipes on how to make pipe bombs and other explosives. They created an arsenal that included guns, knifes and over 99 explosives. Another area of the modeling theory that both boys fell into was the video games that they played (Doom) and violent music that they listened to. Although we do not have concrete answers as to what caused these two boys to commit murder, the violent music and video games could have definitely contributed to their crimes.
Behavior Theory: This theory states that behaviors that are rewarded will continue where as behaviors that are punished will decrease. An individual who is rewarded for doing something will continue to do that activity. In turn if punishment is given for a specific action, the actions will more than likely decrease. An example of this theory is how parents react to their children when certain actions are made. A rewards and punishment chart for a child is a good example. If the child behaves appropriately, (i.e.; completing all of their homework), they receive a mark on the chart. If they do not finish their homework, they do not receive a mark. At the end of the week all of the positive.
Marks are added up and the child can be rewarded for achieving specific amount of marks. Behavior theory is very different from the other theories in that it deals with environment factors rather than factors that exist within an individual. If there is a good balance of positive and negative reinforcement within a child’s upbringing, the chances of criminal behavior are greatly reduced. A good example of behavior theory is the commonly used “reward system” utilized in prisons. Inmates who are cooperative and obey the rules are rewarded for their good behavior, whereas inmates who cause trouble get privileges taken away from them. The reason this is such an effective means by which to control inmates’ behavior is precisely because the Behavior Theory is valid.
Self-Control Theory: This theory covers cases in which individuals cannot control themselves appropriately. Self-control is the way in which an individual is able to control their responses to certain situations. There are four types of self-control: a) impulse control, b) thought suppression, c) emotional and mood control and d) performance control. Individual with low self-control seek immediate gratification. Impulsivity is a trait that is most consistently associated with this theory. Impulsivity is the need for a high level of activity, a tendency to act without thinking, to be impatient and need immediate gratification. For a criminal, the rewards resulting from committing crime is always more gratifying than not committing the crime. An example of the self-control theory is an individual who wants money immediately. Although the person could wait for his/her next paycheck, the lack of self control and the need for instant gratification compels that person to rob a bank.
Many individual’s difficulties begin with childhood experiences of abuse, neglect, poverty, sickness, parent’s sicknesses or death, parental psychological problems, divorce or accidents. Sometimes individuals are strong enough, or have enough support to get through these experiences with little to no troubles. In some cases these difficulties leave individuals with an on- going apprehension about life. They end up suffering from anxiety, guilt, sadness and anger. The way in which they deal with these feelings determines how they will cope with life.
Two criminals that fall into the self control theory include Jeffrey Dahmer and David Berkowitz. These two men were serial killers who had no definition of self control. Dahmer was responsible for the deaths of sixteen young men in the Milwaukee area. (Bardsley, 1998) Although Dahmer came from a good family who provided everything that he needed, Dahmer had low self confidence and was described as passive and isolated. Dahmer displayed little self control when it came to his vicious murders. He continued to kill without having any remorse. His lack of self control helped contribute to the number of victims that had been killed.
David Berkowitz was responsible for the deaths of seven individuals, and also for harming several others in the New York area. Shortly before the killings, Berkowitz turned to arson as a way to vent his anger. His anger was due to several childhood issues that had occurred. His mother passed away from Cancer and Berkowitz found out that he had been adopted. Berkowitz stated that “his feelings at the time of the killings were of demons, harassing him through the continual barking of his neighbor’s dogs, ordered him to initiate these dastardly deeds.” (Abrahamsen, 2001) Berkowitz falls into the Self Control Theory due to the fact that he was unable to control his feelings and emotions in regards to the “demons” that he claimed took over his mind.
Through a book by Dr. Helen Morrison titled, My Life Among the Serial Killers, Morrison explained that serial killers have no motive to what they do. She also explained that the structure of a serial murderer’s personality is “all bits and pieces”. She also states that “serial murderers tend to be chatty hypochondriacs without remorse who are addicted to brutal acts that result in the deaths of others.” (Morrison 2004) Serial murders have no personality structure and no control over their behaviors. Morrison believes that serial murderers cannot be rehabilitated because they are psychologically still at the infancy stage. The study of serial killers falls into the category of Psychological and Psychiatric Criminology.
In conclusion, the more we learn about the brain dysfunction that underlies much delinquency and criminality, the more successful we will truly be in rehabilitating offenders and preventing at risk children from turning to lives of crimes. The more we continue to study the Psychological and Psychiatric Foundations of Criminal Behavior, the further we will be able to find ways in which we can strengthen our criminal justice system. We cannot continue to believe that there are only limited reasons as to why criminals commit the crimes that they do. The mind of a criminal is complex, their backgrounds unstable and their crimes unacceptable.
References
Abrahamsen, D. (2001). Retrieved Feb. 6, 2005, from Court TV Web site: http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/berkowitz/18.html?sect=1.
Bardsley, M. (1998.). Retrieved Feb. 6, 2005, from Court TV Web site: http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/dahmer/why_4.html.
Gibbs, Nancy. “The Next Door: A Special Report on the Colorado School Massacre.” Time. 3 May 1999: 25-36.
Hickey, E. W. (1997). Retrieved Feb. 7, 2005, from Court TV Web site: http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/bundy/13.html?sect=1.
Modeling theory. (1996). Retrieved Feb. 16, 2005, from http://www.as.wvu.edu/~sbb/comm221/chapters/model.htm.
Schmalleger, F. (2002). Criminology today: an integrative introduction. 3rd ed. : Prentice-Hall Inc.
