CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH BIHAR

SCHOOL OF LAW & GOVERNANCE

PROJECT WORK
ON
“CRIMINALS ARE SLAVE OF THEIR MIND”
EXAMINE WITH HELP OF PSYCHOLOGICAL
SCHOOL ON DEVVIANCE

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

DR. PARIJAT PRADHAN PRERAK RAJ

ASST. PROFESSOR E.No.CUSB1813125067

SEC-A
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

You are most welcome in my project work on the topic “Criminals are slave of
their mind examine with help of psychological school of deviance”.

This project is given by our hon’ble subject professor “Dr. Parijat Pradhan” and I
would like to thank her for giving me such opportunity to work on this specified
topic.

I would like to express thank to my seniors who reviewed my paper for rendering
constructive and valuable suggestions and comments that have helped a lot in
improving the quality and content of this paper.

I would like to thank all the Library staffs who helped me to find all the desired
books regarding the topic as the whole project revolves around the doctrinal
methodology of research.

Last but not the least, thanks to all who directly or indirectly helped me in
completion of this project. I have made this project with great care and tried to put
each and every necessary information regarding the topic. So at the beginning I
hope that if once you will come inside this project you will be surely glad.

Prerak Raj
CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION
2. CRIMINAL
3. PSYCHOLOGICAL SCHOOL OF DEVIANCE
4. THE CRIMINAL MIND
5. CHANGE BRAIN TO CHANGE BEHAVIOUR
6. CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY
INTRODUCTION

Deviance is behavior that violates social norms and arises negative social
reactions. Some behavior is considered so harmful that governments enact written
laws that ban that kind of behavior. Crime is behavior that violates these laws and
is obviously an important type of deviance that concerns many. The fact that both
deviance and crime arises negative social reactions reminds us that every society
needs to ensure that its members generally obey social norms in their daily
interaction. Social control refers to ways in which a society tries to prevent and
sanction behavior that violates norms. Psychological approaches to deviance all
have some key things in common. First, the individual is the primary unit of
analysis. This means that psychologists believe that individual human beings are
solely responsible for their criminal or deviant acts. Second, an individual’s
personality is the major motivational element that drives behavior within
individuals. Third, criminals and deviants are seen as suffering from personality
deficiencies, which means that crimes result from abnormal, dysfunctional, or
inappropriate mental processes within the personality of the individual. Finally,
these defective or abnormal mental processes could be caused by a variety of
things, including a diseased mind, inappropriate learning, improper conditioning,
and the absence of appropriate role models or the strong presence and influence of
inappropriate role models. Starting from these basic assumptions, psychological
explanations of deviant behavior come mainly from three theories: psychoanalytic
theory, cognitive development theory, and learning theory. A person who does or
performs the criminal activities in a regular manner becomes the slave of their
mind which provokes them psychologically to perform these kind of activities in
more regular manner.
CRIMINAL
A criminal is someone who breaks the law. If you're a murderer, thief, or tax cheat,
you're a criminal.

When you think of criminals, your first thought might be of someone awful like a
murderer. But this word is a lot broader — anyone who breaks the law is
technically a criminal, even if the crime is just not paying a speeding ticket. You
can also talk about criminal activities: things that are illegal. Lots of TV shows are
about police officers and lawyers trying to catch criminals who are engaged in all
kinds of exciting criminal activity.

PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF DEVIANCE

Psychological theories of deviance are specific theories that are used to study,
understand, and explain individual behavior that are considered unacceptable and
viewed as outside of the commonly accepted norms of behaviour within society,
otherwise known as deviant behavior. Within the psychological theories of
deviance, the focus is on the individual and how personality, mental processes, and
learning play a role in the rise of deviant behavior. It can also be said as
Psychological theories focus on explanations for deviant behavior at the individual
level, such as internal thought processes or personality traits. While early theorists
like Freud focused on the subconscious, later theorists proposed that we may learn
deviance from the actions of others. Personality theories and psychosis are also
offered as explanations of criminal behavior. Psychological explanations of
deviance often call for policies of individual treatment and rehabilitation rather
than larger societal changes. The three main psychological theories of deviance
include Psychoanalytic, Cognitive Development, and Learning Theory. The causes
of deviance are closely linked to what we do about it as a society. If we can figure
out why deviance occurs, then perhaps we can stop it. While no one theory can
explain all crime, new integrated theories have emerged to offer a more
comprehensive explanation of deviant behavior. As we have learned, with new
theories, new policies will inevitably follow.

THE CRIMINAL MIND

On the outside, violent offenders come in all shapes, sizes, colours and ages. But
on the inside, research finds that they may share some traits. Here’s a look at some
of the biological risk factors psychologists and others have linked to violence —
and the interventions they’re testing to reduce that risk.

Brain structure and function-:

The amygdala — a part of the brain involved in fear, aggression and social
interactions — is implicated in crime. Among the research that points to this link is
a neuroimaging study led by Dustin Pardini, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh.
His team found that 26-year-old men with lower amygdala volumes were more
than three times more likely to be aggressive, violent and to show psychopathic
traits three years later than men of the same age with more normal-sized amygdales
independent of factors including history of violence and social background1.

Other research, such as an fMRI2 study led by psychologist Andrea Glenn, PhD, of
the University of Alabama, suggest that amygdala functioning — not just size — is
also more likely to be reduced among those with psychopathic tendencies.3

At least one study indicates that such deficits may appear long before people
commit crimes. Adrian Raine, DPhil, of the department of criminology at the
University of Pennsylvania, led a study with Yu Gao, PhD, at CUNY-Brooklyn
1
(Biological Psychiatry, 2013).
2
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
3
(Molecular Psychiatry, 2009).
that examined fear conditioning, which is dependent on amygdala function, in a
group of 1,795 3-year-olds. The researchers put electrodes on the children's fingers
while repeatedly playing two tones: one that was followed by a loud, unpleasant
sound and another that was played alone. Subsequently, the difference in sweat
responses to each tone by itself yielded a measure of each toddler's fear
conditioning. Twenty years later, the team identified participants who had gone on
to commit crimes and compared them with noncriminal counterparts, matching
them on gender, ethnicity and social adversity. They found that those children who
went on to commit crimes had "simply failed" to demonstrate fear conditioning,
Raine says. In other words, they were fearless when most of us would be fearful.
This finding suggests that deficits in the amygdala, which are indirectly
identifiable as early as age 3, predispose to crime at age 23.4

The Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC), which plays a major role in behaviour
regulation and impulsivity, has also been linked to crime. Psychologist Kent Kiehl,
PhD, and colleagues at the University of New Mexico used fMRI to look at the
brains of nearly 100 adult male inmates while they completed a cognitive task
involving inhibitory control. They found that prisoners with lower ACC activity
were twice as likely to reoffend four years after they left prison than prisoners with
higher ACC activity (PNAS, 2013). While such studies need replication and
extension, Raine says, they are "proof of the concept that there may be added value
with bringing on board neurobiological information, including brain imaging
information, for future prediction of violence."

4
(The American Journal of Psychiatry, 2010).
CHANGE BRAIN TO CHANGE BEHAVIOUR

>>If we know that certain brain characteristics may predispose some people to
violence, what can we do about it? Intervene — and the earlier, the better, says
Raine, author of "The Anatomy of Violence" (Random House, 2013).

>>In one intervention, for example, he and colleagues found that 3-year-olds who
had been assigned to an enrichment program focused on nutrition, exercise and
cognitive skills had better brain functioning at age 11 and a 34 per cent reduction
in criminal activity at age 23 when compared with a control group that did not
receive the intervention (American Journal of Psychiatry, 2003). Intervening even
earlier, David Olds, PhD, of the University of Colorado, has found that pregnant
low-income mothers who were visited regularly by home nurses who talked to
them about health, education and parenting were less likely to have children who
were arrested by age 15 (Infant Mental Health Journal, 2006).

>>Even simple interventions may make a difference. In one preliminary study,

prisoners assigned to a 10-week yoga class improved their impulse control (Journal
of Psychiatric Research, 2013). In an earlier randomized-controlled trial of British
prisoners, those who received vitamin, mineral and essential fatty acid supplements
committed an average of 26.3 per cent fewer offenses than those who had received
the placebo. They also showed a reduction in offenses of more than 35 per cent,
while the placebo-taking prisoners' records remained stable (British Journal of
Psychiatry, 2002). A study in the Netherlands replicated the effect, and now Raine
is testing a similar intervention for children.

>>The bottom line, he says, is that "biology is not destiny. We can change the
biological roots of crime and violence — there's no question about it."
CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY
Criminal psychology, also referred to as criminological psychology, is the study of
the views, thoughts, intentions, actions and so reactions of criminals and all that
partakes in the criminal behavior. It is related to the field of criminal anthropology.
The study goes deeply into what makes someone commit a crime, but also the
reactions after the crime, on the run or in court. Criminal psychologists are often
called up as witnesses in court cases to help the jury understand the mind of the
criminal. Some types of psychiatry also deal with aspects of criminal behaviour.
Criminal behaviour can be stated as “Any kind of antisocial behaviour, which is
punishable usually by law but can be punished by norms, stated by community,”
therefore, it is difficult to define it as there is a fine line between what could be
considered okay and what's considered not to be, being considered as violation at
one point of time may now be accepted by community.

Psychology's role in the legal system

>>Psychiatrists and psychologists are licensed professionals that can assess both
mental and physical states. Profilers look for patterns in behaviour to typify the
individual(s) behind a crime. A group effort attempts to answer the most common
psychological questions: If there is a risk of a sexual predator re-offending if put
back in society; if an offender is competent to stand trial; whether or not an
offender was sane/insane at the time of the offense.

>>Criminal psychologists can be used to do investigative work, like examine

photographs of a crime, or conduct an interview with a suspect. They sometimes
have to formulate a hypothesis, in order to assess what an offender is going to do
next, after they have broken the law.[5]
>>The question of competency to stand trial is a question of an offender's current
state of mind. This assesses the offender's ability to understand the charges against
them, the possible outcomes of being convicted/acquitted of these charges and
their ability to assist their attorney with their defense. The question of
sanity/insanity or criminal responsibility is an assessment of the offender's state of
mind at the time of the crime. This refers to their ability to understand right from
wrong and what is against the law. The insanity defense is rarely used, as it is very
difficult to prove. If declared insane, an offender is committed to a secure hospital
facility for much longer than they would have served in prison—theoretically, that
is.

>>Legal psychologists, or known as Criminal psychologists are the ones who make
the decisions on offenders. They see if those offenders are a threat to society.

The four roles of criminal psychologists

>>In 1981, one of the fathers of UK's criminal psychology – Professor Lionel
Haward – described four ways that psychologist may perform upon being
professionally involved in criminal proceedings. These are the following:

#Clinical: In this situation, the psychologist is involved in assessment of an

individual in order to provide a clinical judgment. The psychologist can use
assessment tools, interview or psychometric tools in order to aid in his/her
assessment. These assessments can help police or other comparable organizations
to determine how to process the individual in question. For example, help finding
out whether he/she is capable to stand trial or whether the individual has mental
illness which relates to whether he/she is able or unable to understand the
proceedings.
#Experimental: In this case, the task of the psychologist is to perform research in
order to inform a case. This can involve executing experimental tests for the
purposes of illustrating a point or providing further information to courts. This may
involve false memory, eyewitness credibility experiments and such. For example,
this way questions similar to “how likely would a witness see an object in 100
meters?” could be answered.

#Actuarial: This role involves usage of statistics in order to inform a case. For
example, a psychologist may be asked to provide probability of an event occurring.
For example, the courts may ask how likely it is that a person will reoffend if a
sentence is declined.

#Advisory: Here, a psychologist may advise police about how to proceed with the
investigation. For example, which is the best way to interview the individual, how
best to cross-examine a vulnerable or another expert witness, how an offender will
act after committing the offense.
BIBLIOGRAPHY