Critically evaluate the extent to which psychology contributes to our contemporary

understanding of why people may offend in the United Kingdom today.

Word limit: 3,000 words.

Answer:

Psychology has significantly influenced the criminal law and justice system in the
United Kingdom (UK) from the investigation of a crime all the way up until
sentencing. Criminal psychology is an academic discipline that applies the study of
psychology as a scientific method to advance our understanding of what causes a
person to commit a crime1. In criminal psychology, both social and personality
influences on criminal behaviour are studied in consideration of the mental
processes that was involved in those criminal behaviours. 2

Through the work of criminal psychology, we now know that among the possible
causes that lead someone to commit a crime are family environment, biological
factors, psychological factors, social-structural factors, and situational factors. 3

Family environment as a cause for criminal conduct is understood as happening

possibly due to unstable family dynamic, abusive parenting, child neglect, or
absence one or more parents. Research was conducted among 219 young adults
between the age of 13 to 18 years old in three different family structure namely
families who are still intact, single parent families, and separated or divorced families
to determine the relationship between family background and relations psychological
distress and juvenile delinquency. The result his research found that there are no
significant differences between those who committed theft and substance abuse
from single parent families and family who are still intact, but the number of young
adults who committed theft and substance abuse is significantly higher in separated
or divorced families. This suggest that disruption of the family structure that is an

1
Durrant, R., 2018. Understanding Criminal Behaviour. 2nd ed. Third Avenue, New York: Routledge.
2
Ukessays.com. 2015. A Case Study That Correlates With Criminal Behavior. [online] Available at:
<https://www.ukessays.com/essays/psychology/a-case-study-that-correlates-with-criminal-behavior-
psychology-essay.php> [Accessed 21 November 2021].
3
Durrant, R., 2018. Understanding Criminal Behaviour. 2nd ed. Third Avenue, New York: Routledge.
important trigger that would influence criminal behaviour. The research further found
that the level psychological distress that would lead to criminal behaviour found in
divorced or separated families is significantly higher than that those in single families
and families who are still intact.4

A psychological study was conducted on DV, a 36-year old male that was charged
with a possession of firearm, was diagnosed with malingering (resolved) cannibus
abuse and antisocial personality disorder. Upon investigation on his background, it
was found that DV lost his mother in a car accident which led him being raised by an
aunt until he left home when he was 14 years old. DV described that he had trouble
in school due to lack of family support and felt that no one truly cared for him after
his mother passed away.5

The next factor that would influence criminal behaviour is biological factors such as
inherited genes and how their brains function. A study shows (that although the idea
of criminal gene is baseless but there is growing evidence to suggest that some
psychopathic behaviours are resulted from a genetic makeup known as low-
expression variant of MAOA (Monoamine Oxidase A). MAOA is an enzyme that
degrades amine neurotransmitters such as dopamine, noradrenalin, and serotonin. A
rare genetic disorder known as MAOA deficiency can lead to excessive impulsive
behaviour such as hypersexuality, sleep disorder and extreme mood swings and
high tendency to violence, which is known as Brunner syndrome. Though Brunner
syndrome is rare, but studies show that this syndrome occurs in about 40% of the
population and males with these variants has neurobiological structure factors that
would pre-disposed them to violence as compared to woman with the same
variants.6

4
Cassidy, A., 2011. Family Background and Environment, Psychological Distress, and Juvenile
Delinquency. [online] ResearchGate. Available at:
<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266000448_Family_Background_and_Environment_Psych
ological_Distress_and_Juvenile_Delinquency> [Accessed 21 November 2021].
5
Ukessays.com. 2015. A Case Study That Correlates With Criminal Behavior. [online] Available at:
<https://www.ukessays.com/essays/psychology/a-case-study-that-correlates-with-criminal-behavior-
psychology-essay.php> [Accessed 21 November 2021].
6
Hunter, P., 2010. The psycho gene. [online] NCBI. Available at:
<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2933872/> [Accessed 21 November 2021].
An example of how neurological impairment whether by hereditary, injury or disease
leads to criminal behaviour can be seen in a case study of Jimmy M, a 21-year-old
male charged with aggravated murder for shooting a police officer. He was
diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. Investigation on his past revealed that
he had suffered from a serious head injury, which coupled with environmental and
social risk factors may influenced his behaviour. 7

The third factor that may lead to criminal behaviour is psychological factors such as
impulsiveness, pathological lying, lack of empathy, or low IQ. A famous case that
deserves a mention would be a case of Ted Bundy, a man found guilty of the murder
of 20 women and sexually abused most of them. He was known for his impeccable
charism, intelligence, and apparent warmth which he used as a façade to hide his
lack of empathy and tendency for violence against women. During his psychological
evaluation, it was noted that Ted Bundy is a pathological liar and was diagnosed by
several psychologists as having narcissistic personality disorder. 8

Other examples include the case of John William Cooper, a Welsh serial killer known
as the Bullseye Killer, who was charged for several double murder coined by the
media as the Pembrokeshire Murders or Coastal Murders. During his psychological
evaluation, Copper was diagnosed with as psychopath. 9 Similarly, David Groves also
known as Patrick David Mackay was evaluated as lacking empathy and diagnosed
as a psychopath. He confessed to the killing of 13 people in several states in
England. Investigation into his past shows that he exhibited tendency for violence as
early as age of adolescent.10

7
Ukessays.com. 2015. A Case Study That Correlates With Criminal Behavior. [online] Available at:
<https://www.ukessays.com/essays/psychology/a-case-study-that-correlates-with-criminal-behavior-
psychology-essay.php> [Accessed 21 November 2021].
8
Samuel, D. and Widiger, T., 2017. Describing Ted Bundy’s Personality and Working towards DSM-V.
[online] Samppl.psych.purdue.edu. Available at: <http://samppl.psych.purdue.edu/~dbsamuel/Samuel
%20&%20Widiger%20(2007)%20DIV42.pdf> [Accessed 21 November 2021].
9
Williams, K., 2021. Pembrokeshire Murders John Cooper. [online] WalesOnline. Available at:
<https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/tv/pembrokeshire-murders-john-cooper-background-
19625857> [Accessed 21 November 2021].
10
Evans, S. and Lucas, J., 2021. Inside grisly crimes of 'Beast of Belgravia' serial killer who butchered
priest. [online] The Sun. Available at: <https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13707158/patrick-mackay-
serial-killer-beast-belgravia-crimes/> [Accessed 21 November 2021].
The fourth factor is social-structural factors such as poor education, exposure to
systematic oppression and racism, unfair economic system, or growing up in a bad
neighbourhood. For example, a study conducted by Burt, Callie, Simons, Ronald, et
al (2013) shows that interpersonal racial discrimination leads to hostile views of
relationships, disengagement from conventional norms, and depression, which
eventually lead to an increase in the tendency to commit crime. The study further
found that 67% of sample shows that there is a sizeable relationship between
personal experiences with racial discrimination and delinquency. This result
therefore explains racial disparities in crimes and suggests that eradication of racial
discrimination would be an important crime reduction strategy. 11

Lastly, a situational factor such as finding oneself in a situation where one has the
opportunity to commit crime or committing crime under the influence of alcohol or
drug can also attributes to criminal behaviour.

Through criminal psychology that studies these abovesaid factors we are able to
understand why people exhibit criminal behaviour or commit crimes in the UK or
anywhere else today.

For purposes of this article, I will address one psychological theory that has been
applied directly to a specific type of crime or criminal behaviour by discussing on the
situational approaches to aggression and violence.

There are three types of aggression namely instrumental aggression (occurs when a
person uses aggression or violence as a method to obtain something without any
intention to harm others), hostile or physical aggression (occurs when one has the
intention to physically harm another or threatening to cause physical harm to
another), and relational aggression (occurs when the harm is not done physically but
rather relationally to another’s reputation or good name such as spreading gossips,
calling demeaning names, ignoring, or social exclusion). 12
11
Burt, C., Simons, R. and Gibbons, F., 2012. Racial Discrimination, Ethnic-Racial Socialization, and
Crime: A Micro-sociological Model of Risk and Resilience. [online] NCBI. Available at:
<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3777442/> [Accessed 21 November 2021].
12
Opentext.wsu.edu. N.D. Module 10: Aggression – Principles of Social Psychology. [online] Available
at: <https://opentext.wsu.edu/social-psychology/chapter/module-10-aggression/#10.4> [Accessed 21
November 2021].
At the outset, we must explain that every act of aggression and violence occur in
response to some specific situations or experiences. Therefore, through this theory,
we will look into situations where the aggression and violence are not premeditated
in advance, but rather happening spontaneously often as a result of frustration,
provocation, and rejection.

The most prominent and influential situational-psychological theory of aggression is

the frustration-aggression hypothesis, which describes a situation where a person is
blocked or defeated by an obstacle or a person thereby preventing him from
obtaining his desired objective that eventually leads to frustration which will
culminate into anger and manifest through violence. However, not all frustration
leads to violence or aggression since there various factors that come into play such
as how one views the importance of the desired goal, and how completely was one
prevented from obtaining such goal and whether one can think of other ways or
alternatives to achieve it and thereby overcoming the obstacle. 13

The next situational-psychological theory is that provocation leads to aggression.

Spontaneous aggression like a car cutting you off on the road, someone insulting
you because you accidentally bump into them, or someone calling you names out of
the blue that hit your sensitive trigger spot. All of these situations to a certain extent
will provoke a response from you, especially anger which manifests as aggression or
violence. In fact, there are various cases which shows that provocations such as
insults, slights, and sarcastic hurtful remarks are common instigators of aggression
and violence.14

One relevant example would be the “culture of honour”, where an individual felt as
though he is expected to safeguard his reputations, family, or belongings by
responding to threats, provocations, and insults from others through aggression or
violence for fear that if he fails to respond, he might be considered as a coward or a
loser by the society or group in which he belongs. This culture of honour is socially
enforced and perpetuated especially among males due to their assumed social roles

13
Durrant, R., 2018. Understanding Criminal Behaviour. 2nd ed. Third Avenue, New York: Routledge.
14
Durrant, R., 2018. Understanding Criminal Behaviour. 2nd ed. Third Avenue, New York: Routledge.
as the bigger or stronger gender, social expectations, and ideas of manhood. 15 It is
also often associated with what we now know as saving face or toxic masculinity.

This however does not mean that women do not show aggression or violence due to
provocation but unlike most men who tends to react spontaneously against any
provocation, most women react differently. This can be illustrated from a landmark
case of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, who was found guilty of murdering her husband. The
defence of provocation was raised during her appeal which saw to the immense shift
on how the law and justice system treat provocation in cases of domestic violence.

By way of a background, Ahluwalia was pushed into an arrange marriage at the age
of 23, giving up her ambition to study law and moving to England from India with her
husband. During their 10 years of marriage, she was subjected to violence, rape,
and sexual abuse from her controlling husband, and she was treated like a slave
until one night, she no longer could endure his abuse, she set fire to her husband’s
bedclothes while he was asleep. Although she had no intention of killing him, but he
died 10 days after due to first degree burn and she was charged and found guilty of
murder.16

During her trial, her plea of provocation failed because the law requires an
immediate response from her as a result of provocation whereby there was no
cooling down period between the provocative incident and the violence. However, an
expert evidence and psychiatric report were later admitted during the appeal to show
that this standard of law are designed to assist men who lost control due to anger but
does not take into account the psychological differences between men and women,
whereby men are more likely to react instantaneously while women are more likely
endure abusive acts over a longer period of time, which accumulate to a stage where
they would ultimately lose control. This concept was coined as “boiling over” period
rather than “cooling down” period. The legal argument that introduced the concept of
slow-burn or accumulative provocation that are more suited to women’s psyche was

15
Opentext.wsu.edu. N.D. Module 10: Aggression – Principles of Social Psychology. [online] Available
at: <https://opentext.wsu.edu/social-psychology/chapter/module-10-aggression/#10.4> [Accessed 21
November 2021].
16
R v Ahluwalia [1992] All Er 4, p.889.
revolutionary at that time and exposed the inherent systematic discrimination against
women in the UK justice system.17

Thanks to the defence, the Court acknowledged that a different standard of

provocation needs to be considered in cases of abused wives:-

“However, in cases of abused wives, the harmful act is often a result of a

“slowburn” reaction, rather than immediate loss of self-control. The longer the
delayed reaction of provocation and the stronger the evidence of deliberation,
the less likely it becomes for the defence to succeed.

At the time of the trial there was a medical report showing that at the time of
the killing, the defendant was suffering from endogenous depression. It was
overlooked and the appellant was not consulted as to the possibility of
investigating it further. The appeal was therefore allowed and a retrial
ordered.”18

Another important situational and social causes of aggression or violence is

rejection. This usually occurs in various social context including when a person is
excluded by his peers from any social activities, an employee chosen among other
colleagues to be retrenched by his employers, a love-crush who rejects one’s
advances for another man or being rejected by a lover or spouse who chooses their
career over their relationships. A study shows that 13 out of 15 school shooting in
United State had suffered from rejection from their peers which led them to unleash
their anger by shooting those who rejected them. 19

One example of a relevant case would be the Dunblane Massacre that took place at
Dunblane Primary School, Stirling Scotland, UK, where Thomas Hamilton, a former
Scout Leader whose Scout’s Warrant was withdrawn due to various complaints that
he has suspicious moral intention towards the boys, especially after the complaints

17
Baksi, C., 2019. Landmarks in law: the case that shone a spotlight on domestic violence. [online]
the Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/jun/18/landmarks-in-law-the-
case-that-shone-a-spotlight-on-domestic-violence> [Accessed 21 November 2021].
18
R v Ahluwalia [1992] All Er 4, p.889.
19
Durrant, R., 2018. Understanding Criminal Behaviour. 2nd ed. Third Avenue, New York: Routledge.
that the scouts under his care was forced to sleep in close proximity with him inside
his van during a hill-walking expedition. Due to the devastating rumours, he was
ostracized by the scout organization, his business failed, he was placed under police
scrutiny where any attempt to organize a boys’ club were subjected to persecution
by local police and the scout movement, and he got into various arguments with the
scouts’ parents.20

On 13.3.1996, Thomas Hamilton drove to Dunblane Primary School and shot dead
16 pupils and one teacher before killing himself. The Dunblane Massacre eventually
pushed UK to enact stricter gun laws, banning private ownership of most handguns,
semi-automatic weapons, imposing mandatory registration for shotgun owners. 21
Prior to his shooting, Thomas Hamilton had wrote an angry letter complaining
against various people that he viewed to have contaminated and poisoned people
against him.22

In conclusion, psychology or in more specific criminal psychology is vital to raise

awareness on why people may commit offence in the UK today and how the law
should adapt, develop, and grow to address these cases in order to exercise greater
justice not only to the victim but also to the criminal who are suffering from
psychological disorder.

Word count: 2691

20
Solly, M., 2021. How the 1996 Dunblane Massacre Pushed the U.K. to Enact Stricter Gun Laws.
[online] Smithsonian Magazine. Available at: <https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-1996-
dunblane-massacre-pushed-uk-enact-stricter-gun-laws-180977221/> [Accessed 21 November 2021].
21
Solly, M., 2021. How the 1996 Dunblane Massacre Pushed the U.K. to Enact Stricter Gun Laws.
[online] Smithsonian Magazine. Available at: <https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-1996-
dunblane-massacre-pushed-uk-enact-stricter-gun-laws-180977221/> [Accessed 21 November 2021].
22
The Irish Times. 1996. Wrath and revenge of a man nursing rejection. [online] Available at:
<https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/wrath-and-revenge-of-a-man-nursing-rejection-1.34955>
[Accessed 21 November 2021].
 Reference

Durrant, R., 2018. Understanding Criminal Behaviour. 2nd ed. Third Avenue, New
York: Routledge.

Ukessays.com. 2015. A Case Study That Correlates With Criminal Behavior. [online]
Available at: <https://www.ukessays.com/essays/psychology/a-case-study-that-
correlates-with-criminal-behavior-psychology-essay.php> [Accessed 21 November
2021].

Cassidy, A., 2011. Family Background and Environment, Psychological Distress,

and Juvenile Delinquency. [online] ResearchGate. Available at:
<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266000448_Family_Background_and_En
vironment_Psychological_Distress_and_Juvenile_Delinquency> [Accessed 21
November 2021].

Hunter, P., 2010. The psycho gene. [online] NCBI. Available at:

<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2933872/> [Accessed 21 November
2021].

Samuel, D. and Widiger, T., 2017. Describing Ted Bundy’s Personality and Working
towards DSM-V. [online] Samppl.psych.purdue.edu. Available at:
<http://samppl.psych.purdue.edu/~dbsamuel/Samuel%20&%20Widiger
%20(2007)%20DIV42.pdf> [Accessed 21 November 2021].

Williams, K., 2021. Pembrokeshire Murders John Cooper. [online] WalesOnline.

Available at: <https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/tv/pembrokeshire-murders-
john-cooper-background-19625857> [Accessed 21 November 2021].

Evans, S. and Lucas, J., 2021. Inside grisly crimes of 'Beast of Belgravia' serial killer
who butchered priest. [online] The Sun. Available at:
<https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13707158/patrick-mackay-serial-killer-beast-
belgravia-crimes/> [Accessed 21 November 2021].
Burt, C., Simons, R. and Gibbons, F., 2012. Racial Discrimination, Ethnic-Racial
Socialization, and Crime: A Micro-sociological Model of Risk and Resilience. [online]
NCBI. Available at: <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3777442/>
[Accessed 21 November 2021].

Opentext.wsu.edu. N.D. Module 10: Aggression – Principles of Social Psychology.

[online] Available at: <https://opentext.wsu.edu/social-psychology/chapter/module-
10-aggression/#10.4> [Accessed 21 November 2021].

R v Ahluwalia [1992] All Er 4, p.889.

Baksi, C., 2019. Landmarks in law: the case that shone a spotlight on domestic
violence. [online] the Guardian. Available at:
<https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/jun/18/landmarks-in-law-the-case-that-
shone-a-spotlight-on-domestic-violence> [Accessed 21 November 2021].

Solly, M., 2021. How the 1996 Dunblane Massacre Pushed the U.K. to Enact Stricter
Gun Laws. [online] Smithsonian Magazine. Available at:
<https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-1996-dunblane-massacre-pushed-
uk-enact-stricter-gun-laws-180977221/> [Accessed 21 November 2021].

The Irish Times. 1996. Wrath and revenge of a man nursing rejection. [online]
Available at: <https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/wrath-and-revenge-of-a-man-
nursing-rejection-1.34955> [Accessed 21 November 2021].