CRIMINOLOGY

Unit-I- Introduction: psychology and crime

Introduction: Definition, and Purpose of Criminal Psychology

Component - I - Personal Details

Role Name Affiliation

Principal Investigator Prof(Dr) G S Bajpai Registrar

National Law University
Delhi
Paper Coordinator Dr. Navin Kumar Associate Professor, Bhim
Rao Ambedkar College,
University of Delhi
Content Writer/Author Dr. Ritu Sharma Assistant Professor &
Behavioural Skills Trainer,
Amity University, Noida
Content Reviewer Dr. Navin Kumar Associate Professor, Bhim
Rao Ambedkar College,
University of Delhi

Component - I (B) Description of Module

Description of Module

Subject Name Criminology

Paper Name Criminal Psychology

Module No. M-1

Module Name/Title Introduction: Definition, and Purpose of Criminal

Psychology
Pre-requisites Psychology, Research Methodology

Objectives To Study about the definition and purpose of Criminal

Psychology.
Keywords Criminal Psychology, Criminal Profiling, Psychological
assessment, Criminal Behavior

1. Module I

2. Introduction

3. Learning Outcome

Topic Name 1:
1. Psychology-
Understanding
Behaviour
Topic Name 2.
Definition:
2.1 What is
 Crime?
2.2 What is
Criminal
Psychology?

Topic Name 3:
Psychology and
Crime

Topic Name 4:
Purpose of Criminal
Psychology

Summary

Introduction

Psychology is a scientific study of human and animal behaviour which is aimed at

Describing, Explaining, Predicting and Controlling behaviour. Psychology as a subject
involves studying behaviour scientifically.

The new paradigms have expanded the horizon of Psychology. It has also touched law, and
Criminal Behaviour. This has led the birth of Criminal Psychology as an independent field in
itself. And today, Criminal Psychology is a specialized field which is growing and has
immense scope.

Learning Outcome: Students expected to be able to

1. Understand what Criminal Psychology is.
2. Analyze the Role of Psychology in Criminal Psychology.
3. Evaluate relation between Psychology, Crime and Criminal Behaviour.

1. Psychology- Understanding Behaviour

Psychology has undergone great transformation and diversification as it is aimed to study

behaviour scientifically. Paradigms of Globalization and liberalization which gained much
popularity in the 20th century have now been replaced with more specific paradigms. Today,
there is an emergent need of diversification to understand the application and theory of
specific aspects.
At the same time the need to have a holistic approach cannot be ignored thus we see that it is
exemplary that eclectic and interdisciplinary, and multicultural approaches are considered to
be more practical.
With the growing rate of crime, it has become essential and important for government
agencies to increase their focus on improving legal services. It is also essential to find the
reason of crime, Psychology of Criminals and to be able to device interventions at individual
and social level to improve social conditions.
Today we cannot ignore the presence of activities which are labeled as and under Organized
Structures of Crime. Where, one can find; a small child, women, adult or an old age person to
be involved in criminal activities. Crime can be as small as stealing, burglary, to murder and
mass killing. We witness on a daily basis a lot of things which are criminal in intent, & it’s
irrespective of the country or state.
In many recent cases of rape, females have been raped and are assaulted beyond human
imagination. This leaves us with a question that how can a normal man whom you probably
just cross-by in a market or any public transport or place can stretch themselves to such
extremes, forgetting about humanity, and do not even fear of legal actions.

From one murder to mass killing! Have you ever thought what lead to The Holocaust? How
one individual like Hitler can give orders for mass killing of people? And on the basis of
caste, religion, race, political beliefs, discriminate people and give orders to kill them. His
forces’ followed his instructions without giving a second thought. The holocaust further
formed and guided the basis of many experiments which aimed to understand extremes of
obedience (Milgram, 1961).
Many cases in the history of Crime, has left many questions unanswered which can only be
explained by understanding human behaviour.

Psychology is so varied and applied that it explains behaviour at all levels:

i) Individual level: This is aimed at understanding cause of behaviour at individual
level. Environmental, Biological, Physiological, cognitive, and Psychological
factors affecting, or motivating individuals to behave in a certain manner.

ii) Group level: This is aimed at understanding the social factors which can explain
behaviour of individuals in a group. It is aimed at understanding how presence of
others affects the behaviour of an individual.

Figure 1.1

COGNITIVE PERSONALITY &

FACTORS BELIEF SYSTEM

INDIVIDUAL
LEVEL
LEARNING,
BIOLOGICAL &
ENVIRONMENTAL MOTIVATION
FACTORS
The change today and shift in the paradigms has led to emergence of Psychological
perspective as an important aspect in all fields of research, Practice and theory. Psychology
today is a subject which has gained a significant place in all subjects which are directly or
remotely related to behaviour.

Criminal Psychology is not only to understand Criminal Minds or Predict Criminal Behaviour
it is also important to control the development of crime and to be able to give intervention to
those in need.

2. Definition
2.1 What is Crime?

The term “Crime” or “Criminal” are very contextual in nature. And can be better understood,
and should be used with reference to specific legal, and judicial system of a particular state,
Country or Province.

It is to note that this term is required to be used with great caution as what one culture might
consider as a crime might not be considered as a crime in another culture. On the other hand,
an act may be considered as crime in one state, culture, province or legal system but may be
considered to be a disease, which is also a reflection of enlightened cultures.

Crime is an act which indicates maladjustment to a particular culture and a social concern,
which is legally considered as an act of violation of law.

Often confused as the similar the term “Criminality” and “crime” are different. While
Criminality indicates intentions and attitude of indulging into criminal behaviour; Crime is an
act against law. Criminal psychology aims to control Crime by providing interventions for
Criminality.

Crime is at times difficult to be concluded as crime. As it is not just contextual in nature it is

also situation based. In a war situation when a soldier kills another soldier of counter army it
is considered as the act of bravery and pride. But in civilians it is considered as crime. In case
of a civilian crime, it is also important to consider if the act is as a result of self-defense, or
under the influence of a substance or social pressure.

Thus, on one side an act which is against the law is considered as crime as per the legal
definition; the normative definition of crime highlights the act which offends our moral code.

To conclude it is ambiguous to label an act as crime as there is no objective definition which

can define what all is included to be called a Crime. Meaning of crime can be only understood
with respect to the social culture, Legal system, and context of act.

2.2 What is criminal Psychology?

Criminal psychology is the study of Criminal behaviour, where term behaviour includes
Personality, Attitude, Physiology, Learning, Motivation, Thinking and other cognitive Factors
which contribute to the act of crime or criminal intentions.
It is important to understand the psychology of criminals as it enables us to describe, explain,
predict and control such behaviour.
Criminal psychology has emerged from the major branches of Psychology:
1. Social Psychology.
2. Clinical Psychology

1. Social Psychology: It is an important and specialized field of Psychology which is

helpful in understanding criminal behaviour and related aspects is Social Psychology.
Social Psychology is the study of Behaviour in groups. It enables us to understand
how people behave in presence of others, how views, actions of other individuals
mould the perception and cognition of others present.
Social Psychology studies important aspects such as Competition, Collaborative
behaviour, mob behaviour, Leadership, group Behaviour, internal and external factors
affecting group behaviour, etc. This enables us to understand, explain control and
predict behaviour in social situations.
Most of the crime is not always due to Clinical disorders; majority of crime is a result
of deep planning which is a result of social issues, pressure and other environmental
factors.

Humans are considered to be social animals. While most of our behaviours are guided
by social norms, the definition of correct and incorrect behaviour, ethical and non-
ethical behaviour and similar definitions are culturally driven. Social psychology
enables us to understand the social context of a crime and reasons which foster such
behaviour.

Social psychology also enables us to understand cultural reasons of particular

behavior. Khabb which is a critical social issue is related to status of females in a
culture, status of Children in a culture, status of males in a culture, and role of senior
old members of a clan. These all and many more such factors can only be understood
by having a deeper understanding of the culture and related social aspects.

Theory, research and experiments of social Psychology give a deeper understanding

of individual motives, actions and behaviour in the presence of others and while as a
member of a group.

2. Clinical Psychology- Clinical psychology enables us to understand the Mental,

physiological, emotional and behavioural contributors of criminal behaviour. Mental
health is a significant predictor of criminal behaviour.
While, we define mental health in a layman term as “an individual who looks
healthy”. But mental health is described in a much holistic manner. It includes
Physical, Social, and Psychological health of an individual. That is, an individual is
considered to be healthy when he is physically fit, is able to interact with people, is
able to maintain healthy social and family relations, and is psychologically also fit.

These two are major specialized fields of Psychology which are major contributors to
Criminal Psychology. Apart from this, there are many aspects which can be explained
under Psychology as an umbrella term which is also the reason why Criminal
Psychology in itself is considered as a sub-specialization within Psychology.
 While At individual level there are many factors that play an important role and
explain the cause of behaviour. Cognitive factors such as information processing,
moral development also play an important role in constituting and predicting human
behaviour. How an individual processes information, and the type of moral
development can help a criminal psychologist to understand the intent and intensity
of the crime.

Environmental factors also play an important role in understanding criminal

behaviour. Extremities in climate along with other naturally existing factors may also
lead to criminal behaviour.

3. Psychology & Crime

While Psychology and crime of course are two different terms and fields but each one
of them is important and interdependent. Psychology is the scientific study of
Behaviour, which also includes criminal acts and behaviour.

Figure 1.2.

CRIME

HUMAN BEHAVIOUR

Various school of thoughts of Psychology enable and foster the understanding of

behaviours. Following are the school of thoughts in psychology:
1. Psychoanalysis
2. Behaviorism
3. Humanistic

1. Psychoanalysis: Sigmund Freud is considered as the father of Psychoanalysis.

Psychoanalysis explains Personality organization and Personality development of an
individual. Through Psychoanalysis root cause of a behavior can be understood.
According to this approach behavioural issues are a result of unconscious desires,
issues of fixation during the stages of Psychosexual development, and disturbance in
functioning of the basic elements of personality (Id, ego and Superego). These issues
lead to the use of defense mechanisms.
Personality as described in Psychoanalysis consists of three elements id, ego and
Superego. Id is based on pleasure principle and seeks gratification of needs (these
needs are largely instinctual in nature). Id does not takes into account the
 consequences of Behavior. Superego is based on morality principle. While, Ego is
largely guided by reality Principle. Ego seeks to create a balance between Id and
Superego.
Unconscious mind is explained as a segment of mind which a person is not aware of.
It is a store house of unfulfilled desires, repressed emotions, thoughts and feelings.
Too much content in unconscious leads to personality issues.
Psychoanalysis till date is useful in understanding unconscious desires and conflicts
of humans which lead to irrational behaviours.

2. Behaviourism: Edward Thorndike and John B. Watson are the pioneers of

Behaviourism. Further significant contributions were made by B.F skinner and Ivan
Pavlov. Behaviourism is a systematic approach which rejects the idea of
psychoanalysis and believes that behaviour is a result of Stimulus which leads to a
particular response (S-R). Behaviourism resulted in understanding of voluntary
behaviour, and behaviour conditioning. It seeks to explain behaviour as stimulus and
response relation and focuses on observable behaviour and rejects the idea of
unconsciousness. Major focus is also laid on the effect of environment on behaviour
of an individual. Majority of experiments in behaviourism were conducted on animals
like Dogs, Cats, rats and also birds (pigeon) as the basic notion was to understand a
response to a stimulus. Though behaviourism leads and guides to an objective
measurement of behaviour and a much scientific reasoning of behaviour but it still
faced criticisms as it ignored the individual level variables completely. It laid to much
focus on objective behaviour and left little scope for free will. Thus, it was majorly
criticised as it compared animal behaviour to human behaviour.
Despite all criticism Behaviourism enables Psychologists till date to give a clear
prediction of behaviour and it guide major Behaviour modification interventions used
in therapy.

3. Humanistic: Carl Rogers in this approach emphasised on a whole person approach to

understand behaviour. Humanistic approach views individual behaviour from
subjective perspective, and not as stimulus response. In this theorists emphasize on
free will of humans and have discussed the optimism of humans to overcome the
impediments of daily life and emerge as fully functioning individuals. This approach
emphasizes on scientific and objective investigation of behaviour. It rejects the
scientific and measurement oriented approach to study behaviour and views
behaviour as human journey.

Psychology has brought and can bring great transformations to humanity, as the basic
application of Psychology is to be able to improve Psychosocial health of individuals.
Criminal Psychology which is an amalgamation of Psychology and Law helps not
only to understand criminal behaviour and criminal intentions but it is also to provide
interventions to criminals to control and modify such behaviour.

It is difficult to meet every individual and assess the criminal intentions by legal
authorities also. Psychology theories and principles are aimed at assessing behaviour.
Though, psychology as an intensive research field also uses both qualitative and
quantitative methods to study behaviour scientifically. But Psychology also relies on
standardized tools, tests, batteries, inventories, and surveys to assess and understand
behaviour, & attitude.

Standardised Psychological tests are used in Criminal Psychology to help in

identification of criminals and to understand criminal behaviour. Psychology as a
science is used to Predict, describe and explain Criminal behaviour with the help of
Psychological testing.

Psychology being a scientific study also entails and includes a lot of research.
Research on behaviour enables to Psychologist’s and legal authorities to understand
crime, criminal intent and criminal behaviour scientifically.

There are various theories which explain criminal behaviour and it’s not surprising
that lines between crime and Psychology were drawn much later and theories based
on research conducted in the area of psychology even before this prospect was raised,
are still found to be useful in explaining criminal behaviour and has been added to the
literature of Criminal Psychology.
Criminal Psychology is not only intending to understand criminal behaviour but it is
also to control criminal behaviour. Thus, counselling and intervention for criminal
and victims is much of an importance.

Many interventions have been made to control crime. For instance, Correction homes
for Children which is an initiative to improve behaviour of children found guilty.

Many other Research based interventions are intended to improve the conditions and
wellbeing of Criminals in order to enable them to lead a healthy life.

Overall Psychology and crime are found to be interlinked as Crime is an act/

behaviour of an individual; and Psychology as a science enables us to understand
criminal mind, behaviour and intentions. It also seeks to answer questions relating to
explanation of criminal behaviour, apart from this controlling such behaviour and
modifying behaviour with the use of Interventions is also more viable when the two
disciplines i.e. Psychology and Law integrate. Criminal Psychology as an
amalgamation has a larger scope of application.

4. Purpose of criminal Psychology

Purpose of Criminal Psychology is to understand criminal Behaviour and to be able

to control and modify such behaviour.

A criminal Psychologist is required to assist police and legal authorities during

investigation of a case by developing Psychological profile of frequent offenders and
investigating reasons as to what led and resulted such behaviour.

It is not just to understand the offenders but also the police personnel dealing with the
case. As many times, human errors and limitations restrict or delay the personnel
from accessing information pertaining to the case.

A criminal Psychologist should also create instructions and increase the knowledge of
investigators to help them deal with cases of mental illness who are involved in
crime.

Purpose of criminal Psychology is also to research on ways to deal with investigator,

offender and victims issues which arise during the process of case investigation. It is
to draw and develop effective interventions to maintain and improve mental health of
professionals and also to provide counseling to offenders and victims.
 Criminal psychology is a specialized field and role of criminal psychologist is also to
understand if schools and colleges are engaging students into activities which
improve their mental wellbeing and prevent them from getting involved in violent
acts and behaviours.

It is important to understand the mental state of youth in school and college who have
shown deviant behaviour and how such offenders can be reintegrated back into the
society.

Criminal Psychology also intends to understand developmental issues which may

lead to criminal behaviour. Many researches conducted in the past are examples of
how criminal psychologists have tried to understand, test and develop theories to
understand developmental issues which may lead to criminal intent and behaviour
(Lawrence Kohlberg’s moral Development Theory, 1958; Erik Erikson’s
Psychosocial Stages of Development, 1963).

Criminal Psychology deals and helps to solve cases involving issues related to
custody decisions of child and conflict resolution in marital and family cases.

It is also important to note that criminal psychologists are also required to check and
verify the Mental illness certificate produced by criminals. And, also to provide
interventions and counselling to improve their condition.

Criminal Psychology in India is a growing field and purpose of Criminal Psychology

indicates its essential need in today’s society.

Intervention of Criminal psychologists in the legal system is need of the hour.

Summary

 Crime is an act which indicates maladjustment to a particular culture and social

concern, which is legally considered as an act of violation of law.
 Criminal psychology is the study of Criminal behaviour
 Criminal Behaviour can be studied at Individual Level and Group Level.
 Other branches of Psychology which contribute to Criminal Psychology significantly
are Social and Clinical Psychology.
 Purpose of Criminal Psychology is to understand criminal Behaviour and to be able
to control and modify such behaviour.

References:

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 Jacobs, Don. (2009). Psychology of deception: Analysis of sexually psychopathic
serial crime. Dubuque, IA: Kendall-Hunt.
 Joyce, Peter (2012) Criminology - A Complete Introduction. Teach Yourself
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 Newburn, T (2012). Criminology, 2e. Routledge
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Recommended Further readings:

1. Frank E. Hagan (2008). Introduction to Criminology, 6th edition. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage
2. Siegel, L. (2004). Criminology: Theories, Patterns, & Typologies, 8e. Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning
3. Newburn, T (2012). Criminology, 2e. Routledge
4. Joyce, Peter (2012) Criminology - A Complete Introduction. Teach Yourself