PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION

1) EMOTIONAL PROBLEM THEORIES

The emotional problem theories look at the offender as having the same
psychological make-up as that of non-offender. There is no disease or psychological
disorder present in the offender. But the offender does not cope well with his
environment and this creates frustration that result in crime. The emotional
problem theories assumes that the lawbreaker does not have a great mental sickness
that causes him to commit crimes but rather, he commits crime because of everyday
emotional problems that made him unable to cope. As a result the offender acts out
criminality.

2) MENTAL DISORDE THEORIES

There are two types of mental disorders. First, the organic disorder, where
the physiological cause can be identified, such as, head injuries that left the
mind blank, senility, Parkinson�s disease and Alzheimer�s disease, Organic
disorders refer to the brain�s disorder or sickness. Second is the functional
disorder, which is characterized by strange behavior that cannot be traced to any
known organic disease. Examples of functional disorders are those people with no
apparent brain sickness who hear voices that others do not hear, or who see things
that others do not see.

TYPE OF MENTAL DISORDERS

1) NEUROSIS
- a common type of mental disorder used to explain criminal behavior
- also referred to as hysteria or neurasthenia
- some of the more common neuroses are:

a) ANXIETY � also known as anxiety state or anxiety reaction; characterized by

the person feeling anxious, fearful anticipation or apprehension; the person may,
be irritable have poor concentration and over reacts to things that are annoying

b) OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR � people who suffer from this have unwanted,
intrusive and repetitive thoughts or behaviors

OBSESSION � a repetitive and irresistible thoughts or urge

COMPULSION � a repetitive behavior that is thought to produce or prevent something

that is thought to be magically connected to the behavior

c) PHOBIA � excessive and unexplainable fear of something; generally exaggerated

fear of things that normal people do not fear with the same degree

d) DEPRESSION � extreme feeling of low morale, sadness loneliness, self-pity,

despair, rejection, boredom and pessimism; a person is said to be depressed if
these feelings become pervasive and can already affect all aspect of a person�s
life

e) IMPULSE DISORDER � an excessive or unreasonable desire to do or have

something; an irrational or irresistible motive; examples of this are kleptomania,
pyromania, dipsomania and others

2) PSYCHOSES

-a more serious type of mental disorder, which can be organic or functional

- psychotic people lose contact with reality and have difficulty distinguishing
reality from fantasy
- the most common type of psychosis are the following:

a) SCHIZOPRENIA � also called dementia praecox; characterized by distortion or

withdrawal from reality, disturbances of thought and language and withdrawal from
contact.

b) PARANOIA � gradual impairment of the intellect, characterized by delusions or

hallucination.

DELUSION � false belief

HALLUCINATION � false perception

DELUSION OF GRANDEUR � a false belief that you are greater than everybody else

DELUSION OF PERSECUTION � a false belief that other people are conspiring to kill
harm or embarrass you

Albert Adler (1870-1937) = founder of individual psychology and called the term
�inferiority complex� --- people who have them feelings of inferiority and
compensate for them with a drive for superiority.

Erik Erikson (1902-1984) = described the so called �identity crisis� --- a

psychological state in which youth face inner turmoil and uncertainty about life
roles.

August Aichorn= he conclude that societal stress, though damaging, could not alone
result in a life of crimes unless a predisposition existed that psychologically
prepared youth for antisocial acts. He called this mental state the latent
delinquency, found on youth whose personality requires acting in the following
ways:

(1) seek immediate gratification,

(2) consider satisfying their personal needs more important than relating to
others, and

(3) satisfying instinctive urges without considering right and wrong (they lack
guilt)

Isaac Ray = an acknowledged American psychiatrist who popularized the concept of

�moral insanity� in his book, �A Treatise on the Medical Jurisprudence of
Insanity�.

c) SOCIOLOGICAL DETERMINISM

- sociological factor refers to things, places and people with whom we come
in contact with and which play a part in determining our action and conduct. These
causes may bring about the development of criminal behavior

1) EMILE DURKHEIM

- one of the founding scholars of sociology

- published a book �Division of Social Labor�, which become a landmark work on
the organization of societies according to him:
a) crime is as normal a part of society as birth and death
b) crime is part of human nature because it has existed during periods of both
poverty and prosperity
c) as long as human differences exists which is one of the fundamental
conditions of society, it is but natural and expected that it will result to
criminality
One of his profound contributions to contemporary criminology is the concept of
anomie, the breakdown of social order as a result of loss of standard and values

2) GABRIEL TARDE (1843-1904) � forerunner of modern day learning theorists,

- introduced the Theory of Imitation, which governs the process by which people
become criminals
- The Theory of Imitation is explained by the following patterns:

a) Pattern 1 : individuals imitate others in proportion to the intensity and

frequency of their contact
b) Pattern 2 : inferiors imitate superiors
c) Pattern 3 : when two behavior patterns clash, one may take place of the other

3) ADOLPHE QUETELET

- He repudiated the free will doctrine of the classicists

- He founded what is known as the CARTHOGRAPHIC SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY, together

with ANDRE MICHAEL GUERRY

- This study used social statistical data and provided important demographic
information on the population, including density, gender, religious affiliations
and social economic status

- He found a strong influence of age, sex, climate condition, population

composition and economic status in criminality

4) ENRICO FERRI

- a member of the Italian parliament

- he believe that criminals could not be held morally responsible because they did
not chose to commit crimes but was driven to commit them by conditions of their
lives

SOCIOLOGICAL CONCEPTS AND CRIME CAUSATIONS

The study of sociology provides many ideas and opinions that help in
understanding why a person becomes a criminal.

SOCIAL NORMS

- Also called rules of conduct

- shared standard of behavior which in turn require certain expectations of
behavior in a given situation
- Socially accepted and expected behavior or conduct in society
- set of rules that govern an individual�s behavior and action

SOCIALIZATION
- refers to the learning process by which a person learns and internalizes the ways
of society so that he can function and become an active part of society.

CULTURE
- refers to the system of values and meanings shared by a group of individuals
including the embodiment of those values and meanings in material object
- refers to the way of life, modes of thinking, acting and feeling
- it is a design of living that is transmitted from one generation to the next

MODERN EXPLANATION OF CRIMES AND

CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

A) SOCIAL STRUCTURE THEORY = views that disadvantage economic class position is

a primary cause of crime

1) SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION THEORY

- Focused on the conditions within the urban environment that affect crime
rates

- Links crime rate to neighborhood ecological characteristics

- Views crime ridden neighborhoods as those in which residents are uninterested in

community matters; therefore, the common sources of control � family, school,
church, and barangay authorities � are weak and disorganized
- Also called differential social organization

Shaw and Mckay = works on social ecology (environmental forces that have a
direct influence on human behavior) as influence by urban sociologist Robert Ezra
Park and Ernes�t Burgess was focused on social how their breakdown influences
deviant and anti-social behavior. He popularized social disorganization theory.

2) STRAIN THEORY
- holds that crime is a function of the conflict between the goals people have and
the means they can use to legally obtain them

- argues that the ability to obtain these goals is class dependent: members of the
lower class are unable to achieve these goals which come easily to those belonging
to the upper class

- Consequently, they feel anger, frustration and resentment, referred to a STRAIN

- The commission of crimes with the aim of achieving these goals results from this
conflict

3) CULTURAL DEVIANCE THEORY

- combines the elements of both strain and disorganization theories

- theories that in order to cope with social isolation and economic deprivation,
members of the lower class create an independent subculture with its own set of
rules and values

Cultural transmission = the concept that conduct norms are passed down from one
generation to the next so that they become stable within the boundaries of a
culture.

B) SOCIAL PROCESS THEORIES

- Social process theory = views that criminality is a function of people�s

interaction with various organization, institutions, and process in society.

1) SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

- believes that crime is a product of learning the norms, values and behavior
associated with criminal activity.

a) DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION THEORY

- Formulated by Edwin Surherland

- Believes that criminality is a function of a learning process that could

affect and individual in any culture

- His theory is outlined as follows:

i. Criminal behavior is learned�

ii. Criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a process
of communication;
iii. The principle part of learning of criminal behavior occurs within an intimate
personal group;
iv. When criminal behavior is learned, the learning includes techniques in
committing the crimes which are sometimes very simple, the specific direction of
motives, drives, rationalization and attitudes;
v. The process of learning criminal behavior by association with criminal and
anti-criminal patterns involves all of the mechanism that are involved in any other
learning

2) SOCIAL CONTROL THEORY

- Maintains that all people have the potential to violate the law and that
modern society presents may opportunities for illegal activities

- Argues that people obey the law because behavior and passions are being
controlled by internal and external force

SOCIAL BOND THEORY (ALSO CALLED SOCIAL CONTROL THEORY)

Social bond = ties a person has to the institutions and process of society:
according to Hirchi, elements of the social bond include commitment, attachment,
involvement, and belief.

Containment theory = according to Walter Reckless, it is the idea that strong self-
image insulates a youth from the pressures and pulls of crimogenic influences in
the environment.

3) SOCIAL REACTION THEORY

- Also called LABELING THEORY

- Holds that people enter into law-violating careers when they are labeled for
their acts and organize their personalities around the labels.

- Negative labels have dramatic influence on self-image of offenders.