Psychological Theories Of Crime

Authors Avatar

Psychological Theories of Crime.

Cognitive, Developmental and Personality factors associated with criminality.

This essay will attempt to critically evaluate the contribution made by Cognitive, Developmental and Personality theories to our understanding of criminal behaviour.

One psychoanalytical theory proposed by Freud (1923) was that all people had three components to their personality.  These components were ID, which is the impulsive component.  EGO known to be the rational component and the SUPEREGO this is the moral component.  The ID is the only component of the personality that is present from birth.  Freud believed that the ID was the most powerful element of the personality.  

The ID operates on the pleasure principle, seeks immediate gratification and is not restrained by reality.  If the needs of the ID are not satisfied immediately, the result is anxiety or tension. If you consider babies it is evident that they are not considerate of their parents' wishes.  They have no care for time, whether their parents are sleeping, eating dinner, or bathing.  They will cry when they require their needs to be met.  When the ID wants something, nothing else is important.

The EGO is the socialized part of the personality therefore it is based on the reality principle.  It is the dominant part of the personality.  The EGO realises that other people have needs.  It will aim to meet the needs of the ID whist taking into consideration the reality of the situation.

The Superego emerges between the ages of four and five.  It internalizes the morals of parents and society.  The Superego acts as a voice of conscience and operates mostly at the pre- conscious level of awareness.

It is possible for a person to have an underdeveloped EGO and SuperEgo.  The ID can be overdeveloped.  If a person does not fully develop the Ego, this can lead to latent delinquency.  This person’s moral growth is not completely developed and they will not be considerate of others feelings and needs, only of their own.  This can lead to this person to commit crime as they will be listening to the ID part of their personality.

If a person has an overdeveloped ID, they will only act to please themselves.  They will act to satisfy the needs of the ID.  This can lead to crime as they will not consider others when acting on their desires.  This person will do what it takes to relieve the tension they are feeling and will not consider the repercussions of their actions.  It is possible for a person to have an underdeveloped ego.  The ego acts as a mediator between the ID and the Superego and can sometimes find it difficult to resolve the conflict between the two.  If this happens the Ego has help in the form of defence mechanisms.  There are different types of defences the Ego may use ranging from denial to suppression, there are many others that may be used also.  These defenses are not necessarily unhealthy.  However, some individuals may employ the defenses at the wrong time or overuse them which can have destructive consequences.  If the superego is underdeveloped this leaves the individual without an effective conscience which could lead to crime as the individual will mainly act on the ID impulses as he or she will not see the morality in his or her actions and will therefore do what he or she pleases regardless of whom gets hurt in the process.

Join now!

Freud’s theory was just that a theory, there were no experiments conducted to back it up.

As there is no physical evidence to back up Freud’s theory it cannot be proved but it can be applied to crime and to the traits of people in general.  Freud’s theory cannot be disproved and many psychologists have based a lot of Freud’s work on their own to construct very similar theories.  Therefore Freud’s work must have some substance to it.  

Another personality theory was proposed by Eysenck (1977).  Eysenck attempted to give some insight to why some people ...

This is a preview of the whole essay