Psychological perspectives on

Criminality
Chapter 9: Read only pages 246-248 (beginning of the chapter to ‘Psychoanalytic
theory; this means stop reading once you get to psychoanalytic theory); pages
257-260 (social learning theory to operant conditioning); 262-279 (read from the
heading ‘Anti-social personality to end of chapter)

CRCJ 100A
PPT 5
May 18, 2023
Lecture is 64 minutes
Psychological
Theories of Crime
Most psychological theories
entail one of two assumptions:
• Assumption of offender deficit
• Assumption of discriminating traits

Criminal vs. non-criminal binary

(research by Farrington)
• Different social and psychological risk
factors
• Motivation for material goods / need
for excitement
Critiques of psychological approach

• Ignores the importance of

situational and environmental
factors on individual behaviour

• Criminal vs. non-criminal binary

is not reliable
 • “Level of analysis” perspective:
1. Individual level
Community 2. Small group level
3. Organizational level
Psychology 4. Institutional or community level
 Haney (2002): Situational approach to
understanding criminal behaviour
Psychological • Argues for less focus on defective properties of
the individual
Theories of • More emphasis on situational pathologies or
Crime environmental stressors that may alter an
offender’s psychological state
Social Learning
Theory
• Cognitive functioning
• Modelling;
• Bandura: aggression learned from three
sources:
1. Family
2. Subcultural influences
3. Symbolic modelling
Social Learning Theory (2)

• Correlation between watching

television violence and
aggression
• But the causal direction in
this relationship is unknown
• Desensitization to violence
Antisocial
Personality Disorder
(1)
• “a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and
violation of, the rights of others that begins
in childhood or early adolescence and
continues into adulthood”
 Antisocial Personality Disorder (2)
• Pattern of behaviour:
• Begins in childhood with lying, stealing,
fighting, etc., as signs.
• Early or aggressive sexual behaviour,
drinking, drug use in adolescence
• Continues to adulthood but some
diminishment

• 15–20% of Canadian prisoners fit this

category
 Includes 20 traits and behaviours associated with
psychopathy

Provides reliable and valid assessments of

Psychopathy psychopathy

Checklist Widely used for research and for making decisions

in the mental health and criminal justice systems

Strong predictors of violence and recidivism in

offenders and psychiatric patients
 3% of men & less than 1% of women suffer from
APD (DSM-V)

Antisocial Psychopaths - extraverts who don’t learn fear

responses; don’t learn from negative experiences
Personality
Disorder Highly intelligent psychopaths are neither violent
nor impulsive and attain a high education
• Criminals may not be representative of population of
psychopaths
Psychopathy & the non-
criminal world
Babiak & Hare (2006):
• Psychopaths fit well into the corporate world
• Manipulative/ charming
• Like the action & rewards
• Appear as ‘leaders’

Recommended viewing (optional):

“The psychopath next door” Doc zone (CBC) – 45
minutes
 • Disagreement on whether this disorder can be
effectively treated

Antisocial • Construct of psychopathy criticized for being

too simple; disregards dynamic nature of
Personality human behaviour

Disorder • Yet some consider psychopathy to be “the

single most important clinical construct in the
criminal justice system” (Hare, 1998c, 99)
 Theory that all crime is a symptom of
mental illness now rejected

Crime and However, the prevalence of mental

Mental disorder among prisoners greater than
Illness general population
• Most inmates in Canadian prisons have
substantial mental health needs
• Many have co-occurring disorders (e.g.,
schizophrenia & substance abuse)
Crime and Mental
Illness (2)
• Prisoners with mental disorders are
more likely to:
• Be disruptive
• Self-harm
• Die by suicide
• Be victimized
• Be institutionally maladjusted
 Social
Control of
Mental
Illness
Deinstitutionalization
• Began in the 1960s
• Treatment within communities rather
than institutions
• Has improved outcomes for many people
• Many people have also fallen through the
cracks and don’t receive any treatment at
all
 Consequences of Deinstitutionalization:
Requirements for Homelessness:
- Housing First Model has been shown to help individuals who
Successful are experiencing homelessness & mental health issues
Deinstitutionalizati
on

- Supportive family network

- Accepting community
- Adequate community resources
- A place to live
Consequences of
Deinstitutionalization

• Criminality
• Police contact (need for more
training)
• Societal stigma & prejudice

• Only 3% of violent crimes are

committed by people with mental
disorders
 • Is there a significant relationship between
crime and mental disorder?
• No.
Crime and • Increased rate of mental disorder in prisons
Mental has to do with the ways that we, as a
society, are reacting to individual behaviour
Illness • Institutional response rather than individual
behaviour accounts for change
Reminders!
• Quiz #2

• Discussion #1 (with specific

instructions)