Chapter 5
Psychology and Crime
Chapter Objectives (1 of 3)
 Understand the difference between
psychiatric and psychological criminology.
 Know the gist of psychoanalytic theory,
including Freudian elements of personality
and defense mechanisms.
 Know how psychoanalytic theory and
psychoanalysis has been applied to
delinquents and criminals.
Chapter Objectives (2 of 3)
 Comprehend the principles of learning
(operant conditioning, classical
conditioning, and observational learning)
and how they relate to theories of crime.
 Understand the two areas of cognitive
psychology (cognitive structure and
cognitive content) and how they have
been applied to criminal behavior.
Chapter Objectives (3 of 3)
 Distinguish between general personality
research and research on criminal
personality.
 Grasp the concepts involved in the debate
on the relationship between IQ and
criminal behavior.
 Know the policy implications derived from
theories of learning, personality, and
cognition.
You Are the Criminologist
 The BTK Killer
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Dennis L. Rader
BTK: bind, torture, kill
Convicted of killing 10 people
Discussion
 How might a Freudian theorist explain Rader’s
letters?
 Does Rader show signs of being a psychopath?
 What characteristics do or do not fit?
Introduction
 How does a psychologist or psychiatrist
develop and understand the criminal
mind?
 What does psychology contribute to the
study of the criminal mind?
 What is the psychological approach to the
study of crime?
Psychoanalytic Theory
 Henry Maudsley (1835–1918): Criminals
suffer from “moral degeneracy,” a
deficiency of moral sense.
 Sigmund Freud (1856–1939): One can
understand human behavior best by
examining early childhood experiences.
Freudian Elements of Personality
 Conscious v. Unconscious Mind
 Id
 Superego
 Ego
Freudian Elements of Personality
 Lester and Van Voorhis
 Id: “If it feels good, do it!”
 Superego: conscience – “Stealing is wrong.”
 Ego: psychological thermostat that regulates
the wishes of the id with the social restrictions
of the superego.
Freudian Elements of Personality
 Two sources of anxiety
1. Desire is not met.
2. Unconscious desire becomes
conscious.
Freudian Explanations of
Delinquency
 Human nature is inherently antisocial
 Id: infants start life with antisocial drives
 Superego: forms from experience
 Ego: helps to negotiate demands for
instant gratification with acceptable behavior
Policy Implications of
Freudian Theory
 Drawbacks
 Difficult to test empirically
 Cannot be directly observed and measured
 Still maintains a place in psychology of
criminal behavior
Behavioral Psychology
 Differs from psychoanalytical theory
 Focuses on specific behaviors
 All behavior is learned
Principles of Learning
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Three types of learning
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Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
Observational (vicarious) learning
Principles of Learning
Classical Conditioning
Principles of Learning
Operant Conditioning
Principles of Learning
 Positive reinforcement: increases the
target behavior by rewarding the individual
 Negative reinforcement: increases the
target behavior by removing an unpleasant
stimulus
 Punishment: reduces the odds of the
target behavior being repeated
Principles of Learning
 Direct parental control: theorists tie
delinquency to parents’ failure to
effectively condition their children away
from negative behaviors
Principles of Learning
 Glueck and Glueck: inconsistent and
harsh punishment correlates with
delinquent children
 Patterson: effective parenting (monitoring,
punishing, and reinforcing behavior)
correlates with nondeliquent children
 Harris: parental behaviors have few effects
on the child’s long-term development
Principles of Learning
Modeling Theory
 Observational learning: role modeling the
behavior of others.
 Albert Bandura (Bobo doll experiments):
learning is not based on trial and error
(operant conditioning).
 Effects on criminal behaviors are difficult to
determine.
Media and Crime
 Does media (TV and movies) influence
aggression, violence, and criminal
behavior?
 Conducive to role modeling:
 Perpetrators not punished
 Targets of violence show little pain
 Few long-term negative consequences
Media and Crime
 Evidence suggests that reducing exposure
to media violence reduces aggression and
violence in children.
Policy Implications of Behaviorism
 Criminals can learn pro-social behaviors to
replace criminal actions
 Aversion therapy
 Token economy
Cognitive Psychology
 Humans’ ability to engage in complex
thoughts influences behavior
 Cognitions (like behaviors) can be
learned
 Focus on
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Cognitive structure (how people think)
Cognitive content (what people think)
Cognitive Structure
 Kohlberg's theory of moral reasoning:
humans advance through predictable
stages of moral reasoning
 Self-control
 Ability to empathize
 Ability to anticipate consequences
 Ability to control anger
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral
Development (1 of 2)
 Stage 1
 Right is blindly obeying those with power and
authority.
 Emphasis is on avoiding punishment.
 Interests of others are not considered.
 Stage 2
 Right is furthering one’s own interests.
 Interests of others are important only as a way to
satisfy self-interests.
 Stage 3
 Moral reasoning is motivated by loyalties to others
and a desire to live up to other’s standards.
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral
Development (2 of 2)
 Stage 4
 Right is following the rules of society and maintaining
important social institutions (e.g., family, community).
 Stage 5
 Moral decisions are made by weighing individual
rights against legal principles and the common good.
 Stage 6
 Moral decisions are based on universal principles
(e.g., human dignity, desire for justice).
 Principles are considered across different contexts
and are independent of the law.
Cognitive Content
 Rationalizations or denials that support
criminal behavior
 For example, a criminal thinks, “I’m not
really hurting anyone.”
 Criminals are more likely to express such
thoughts, but the relationship (causation or
correlation) to crime is unclear.
 Extremely common for sex offenders
Policy Implications of
Cognitive Psychology
 Cognitive theory translates easily into
practice.
 Cognitive skills programs teach offenders
cognitive skills like moral reasoning, anger
management, or self-control.
Policy Implications of
Cognitive Psychology
 Cognitive restructuring attempts to change
the content of an individual’s thoughts.
 Combination cognitive-behavioral
programs have had significant success.
Personality and Crime
 Crime and delinquency related to the
presence of some personality trait
 Personality trait: a characteristic of an
individual that is stable over time and
across different social circumstances
 Personality: the sum of personality traits
that define a person
Theory in Action
 Multisystematic therapy (MST)
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Creator Scott Henggeler and associates
Reduces criminal behavior
Comprehensive approach
Targets many areas for change
Uses many different techniques (not just
cognitive-behavioral programs)
Personality Traits and Crime
 A number of related traits combine to form
super factors
 Several different models
 Five-factor model
 Tellegen’s personality model
 Recent studies use the Multidimensional
Personality Questionnaire (MPQ)
Personality Traits and Crime (1 of 2)
• Personality dimensions in the MPQ
• Constraint
• Traditionalism
• Harm avoidance
• Control
• Negative emotionality
• Aggression
• Alienation
• Stress reaction
Personality Traits and Crime (2 of 2)
• Personality dimensions in the MPQ
• Positive emotionality
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Achievement
Social potency
Well-being
Social closeness
Criminal Personality:
The Psychopath
 Refers to a class of individuals with a
distinct criminal personality
 Term widely misused throughout history
 Unclear determining factors
 Psychopathy checklist (PCL) looks for
certain personality traits
 Criticism: Are psychopaths qualitatively
different from other offenders?
Policy Implications
of Personality Theory
 Personality traits consistently predict
delinquency and crime.
 Criticism: Personality traits are often
portrayed as impossible to change.
You Are the Criminologist
 Does Dennis Rader (BTK) show signs of
being a psychopath?
 What characteristics of psychopathy
appear to fit with Rader?
 What characteristics do not?
Intelligence and Crime
 Feeblemindedness was once thought to
be a cause of crime.
 What exactly is IQ and how does it relate
to criminal behavior?
A Brief History of
Intelligence Testing
 IQ tests measure mental differences from
one person to another.
 Old methods included:
 Measuring one’s skull size
 Testing the ability to memorize
 These methods were determined to be
insufficient.
A Brief History of
Intelligence Testing
 IQ test devised to identify students who
were performing poorly in school and
needed academic assistance
 Not meant to be a measuring device for
intelligence
 Has concerns of cultural bias
IQ and Crime
 There is an IQ gap of 8–10 points between
criminals and noncriminals, even when
statistically controlled for race and social
class.
 IQ is not a very strong indicator of criminal
behavior.
IQ and Crime
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Travis Hirschi and Michael Hindelang
The Bell Curve
Crime-IQ link consistently documented
Criminologists continue to study the
relationship.
Policy Implications of
the IQ-Crime Relationship
 Is IQ a measure of native intelligence or
something else?
 Is IQ a direct cause of crime or does it
influence other factors that cause criminal
behavior?
 What do criminologists believe about IQ
and its direct or indirect relationship to
crime?
Conclusion
 The common emphasis of all
psychological theories is on the individual.
 Each theory must be evaluated on its
ability to account for criminality.
 Not all theories are well supported by
evidence.
 Many psychological theories translate well
into treatment programs.