Lesson Objectives:
At the end of this module, you should be able to:
1. discuss the concepts of psychological theories; and
2. formulate examples based on real life situations using the concept of the theory.
PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES
Psychological theories expressed
that criminal behavior was the product of “unconscious” forces operating within
a person’s mind. Conflicts occur at various psychosexual stages of development
might impact an individual’s ability to operate normally as an adult and that
if aggressive impulse is not controlled, or is repressed to an unusual degree,
some aggression can “leak out” of the unconscious and a person can engage in
random acts of violence (Bartol, 2002).
Gabriel Tarde (1843-1904) in his theory of imitation believed that
people learn from one another through a process of imitation (Siegel, 2004).
These are some of the theories under psychological:
1. Psychodynamic or psychoanalytic psychology was
originated by Viennese psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and has still
considered as one of the prominent theories in psychology. This holds that the human
personality is controlled by unconscious mental processes developed in
early childhood. It argues that human
personality contains three major components, namely: id, ego and superego.
a. Id- dictates the needs and desires (it
operates under pleasure principle).
b. Superego – counteracts the id by
fostering feelings of morality (morality principle). It is divided into two (2)
parts: conscience and ego ideals.
c. Ego – evaluates the reality of a
position of these two extremes (reality principle). If these three components
are properly balanced, the individual can lead a normal life. But if one aspect
of the personality governs at the expense of the others, the individual
exhibits abnormal personality traits (Siegel
et al, 2007). For example,
upon entering the room you find out that there is a wallet full of
2.
Behavioral
theory is originally created by John B. Watson and popularized by Burrhus
Frederic Skinner commonly known as B.F. Skinner. Some psychologists agree that
behavior is controlled by unconscious mental processes determined by parental
relationships developed early in childhood as what Freud believed but others do
not, like Watson and Skinner. This theory concerned the study of observable
behavior rather than unconscious processes. It focuses on particular stimuli
and how people respond toward that
stimulus. It maintains that human actions are developed through learning
experiences; that behavior is learned when it is rewarded and extinguished by
negative reactions or punishment (Siegel, 2004).
3. Social learning is the branch of behavior theory most relevant to criminology. It was created Albert S. Bandura (1973), a Canadian psychologist who argued that people are not actually born with the ability to act violently but that they learn to be aggressive through their life experiences. The experiences include personally observing others acting aggressively to achieve some goal or watching people being rewarded for violent acts on television or in movies. Bandura claimed that people learn to act aggressively when, as children, they model their behavior after the violent acts of adults. For example, the boy who sees his father repeatedly strikes his mother with impunity is the one most likely to grow up to become a battering parent and husband (Siegel, 2004).
Social
Learning and Violence
Bandura (1973) believed that violence was something learned through a
process called behavior modeling. Aggressive acts are usually modeled after 3
principal sources:
1. Family
members. Bandura reports that family life showing children who use aggressive
tactics have parents who use similar behaviors when dealing with others.
2. Environmental
experiences. People who reside in areas where violence is a daily occurrence
are more likely to act violently than those who dwell in low-crime areas whose
norm stress conventional behavior.
3. Mass
media. Films and television shows commonly depict violence graphically.
Moreover, violence is often portrayed as an acceptable behavior, especially for
heroes who never have to face legal consequences for their actions (Siegel, 2004).
4. Cognitive Theory
A branch of psychology that studies the perception of reality and the
mental process required to understand the world we live. It focuses on mental
processes- the way people perceive and mentally represents the world around
them. Adolescents who use information properly, who are better conditioned to make
reasoned judgments, and who can make quick and reasoned decisions when facing
emotion-laden are the ones that can avoid antisocial behavior choices.
Cognitive perspective contains several subgroups: the moral and intellectual
development branch, which is concerned how people morally represent and reason
about the world.
Jean Piaget (1896-1980), a Swiss psychologist who was the first to make a
systematic study of the acquisition of understanding in children based on his
cognitive development theory. He hypothesized that a child’s reasoning
processes develop in an orderly manner, beginning at birth and continuing until
age 12 and older and it has 4 stages (Siegel et al, 2007).
5. Moral
Development Theory
Lawrence Kohlberg (1973) expanded Piaget’s theory of cognitive
development and applied the concept of development stages to issues in
criminology. His theory of moral development was dependent on the thinking of
the former (Piaget) and the American philosopher John Dewey. He suggested that
people travel through stages of moral development and that it is possible that
serious offenders have a moral orientation that differs from those law-abiding
citizens. He and his associates found out that criminals were found to be lower
in their moral judgment development than non-criminals of the same social
background. Moral development theory suggests that people who obey the law
simply to avoid punishment or who have outlooks mainly characterized by
self-interest are more likely to commit
crimes than those who view the law as something that benefits all of society
and who honor the rights of others.
6.
Intergenerational
transmission theory stated that criminal and antisocial parents tend to
have delinquent and antisocial children, as shown in the classic longitudinal
surveys by Joan McCord in Boston and Lee Robins in St. Louis. The most
extensive research on the concentration of offending in families was carried
out in the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development. Having a convicted
father, mother, brother, or sister predicted a boy's own convictions, and all
four relatives were independently important as predictors (Farrington et al., 1996).
7. Alternative theory beats the famous
saying that says, “Opposite charges attract.”
An alternative theory focuses on assortative mating; female offenders
tend to cohabit with or get married to male offenders. In the Dunedin study in
New Zealand, which is a longitudinal survey of over one thousand children from
age three, Robert F. Krueger and his colleagues found that sexual partners
tended to be similar in their self-reported antisocial behavior. Children with
two criminal parents are likely to be disproportionately antisocial. There are
two main classes of explanations concerning why similar people tend to get
married, cohabit, or become sexual partners. The first is called social homogamy- convicted people tend
to choose each other as mates because of physical and social proximity; they
meet each other in the same schools, neighborhoods, clubs, pubs, and so on. The
second process is called phenotypic
assortment-people examine each other's personality and behavior and choose
partners who are similar to themselves (https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/legal-
and-political-magazines/crime-causation-psychological-theories).
8. Differential association-reinforcement
Ernest Burgess and Ronald Akers (1966) combined Bandura’s social learning
theory and Sutherland’s theory of differential association to produce the
theory of differential-association reinforcement. This theory suggests that (1)
the presence of criminal behavior depends on whether or not it is rewarded or
punished and (2) the most meaningful rewards and punishment are those given by
groups that are important in an individuals’ life – the peer group, the family,
teachers in school and so forth. In other words, people respond more readily to
the reactions of the most significant people in their lives. If the criminal
behavior elicits more positive reinforcement or reward than punishment; such
behavior will persist (Adler et al, 2010).
5. Eysenck’s
Conditioning Theory
Hans J. Eysenck in his theory of
conditioning claims that all human personality may be seen in three
1.
Integrated
theory has been proposed by James Q. Wilson and Richard Herrnstein. They
explain predatory street crime by showing how human nature develops from the
interplay of psychological, biological, and social factors. The main concept of
this theory is the interaction of genes with the environment that some
individuals form the kind of personality likely to commit crimes. According to
Wilson and Herrnstein, the factors that made the person to commit crimes are
IQ, body build, genetic makeup, impulsiveness, ability to delay gratification,
aggressiveness, and even the drinking and smoking habits of pregnant mothers.
2. Maternal
Deprivation and Attachment Theory
Maternal deprivation and
attachment theory has been devised by British psychiatrist Edward John M.
Bowlby who expressed the notion that a child needs warmth and affection from
his/her mother or a mother substitute. Bowlby emphasized that the most
important phenomenon to social development takes place after the birth of any
mammal and that is the construction of an emotional bond between the infant and his mother. When a child is
separated from the mother or is rejected by her, anxious attachment results.
Anxious attachment affects the capacity to be affectionate and to develop
intimate relationships with others. Habitual criminals, it is claimed,
typically have an inability to form bonds of affection (Adler et al, 2010).
Q1. What are the major theories in psychology?
Answer: The five major perspectives in psychology are biological, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive and humanistic.
Q2. Why psychological theories exist?
Answer: It exists and provides a basis for understanding the mind and behavior.
Q3. What is the main concept of psychological theory?
Answer: Its main concept is proposed to explain and predict various aspects of human behavior.
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