Psychological

Positivism

Submitted by:
Robin E. Fulgar

Submitted to:
Fredda Embanada
 Why do individuals commit crimes? At the same time, why is crime present in
our society? The criminal justice system is very concerned with these questions, and
criminologists are attempting to answer them. In actuality, the question of why crime
is committed is very difficult to answer. However, for centuries, people have been
searching for answers (Jacoby, 2004). It is important to recognize that there are many
different explanations as to why individuals commit crime (Conklin, 2007). One of the
main explanations is based on psychological theories, which focus on the association
among intelligence, personality, learning, and criminal behavior. Thus, in any
discussion concerning crime causation, one must contemplate psychological theories.

When examining psychological theories of crime, one must be cognizant of the

three major theories. The first is psychodynamic theory, which is centered on the
notion that an individual’s early childhood experience influences his or her likelihood
for committing future crimes. The second is behavioral theory. Behavioral theorists
have expanded the work of Gabriel Tarde through behavior modeling and social
learning. The third is cognitive theory, the major premise of which suggests that an
individual’s perception and how it is manifested (Jacoby, 2004) affect his or her
potential to commit crime. In other words, behavioral theory focuses on how an
individual’s perception of the world influences his or her behavior.

Also germane to psychological theories are personality and intelligence.

Combined, these five theories or characteristics (i.e., psychodynamic, cognitive,
behavioral, personality, and intelligence) offer appealing insights into why an individual
may commit a crime (Schmalleger, 2008). However, one should not assume this there
is only one reason why a person commits crime. Researchers looking for a single
explanation should be cautious, because there is no panacea for the problem of crime.

Psychological positivists suggest that people commit crime because of

internal psychological factors over which they have little or no control. There is a
criminal personality (Burke, 2009). Psychological positivists suggest that there are
certain internal factors which drive an individual to become a criminal. It is important
to note that psychological positivists see criminals as having internal psychological
elements than the biological positivists who claim that criminal are born with criminal
attributes (body structure). They claim that there are certain internal psychological
elements due to which an individual commits crime. Those internal psychological
factors may be due to lack of parental love and attachment in early childhood, broken
family tragedies, parent’s separation, a feeling of loneliness and alienation from peer
group, negligence from siblings and teachers, etc. Therefore, due to such factors, an
individual engaged in a criminal behavior.

Psychological aspects of crime

 Intelligence

 Personality

 Learning

 Criminal behavior

EARLY RESEARCH

Charles Goring

Charles Goring (1870–1919) discovered a relationship

between crime and flawed intelligence. Goring
examined more than 3,000 convicts in England. It is
important to note that Goring found no physical
differences between noncriminals and criminals;
however, he did find that criminals are more likely to
be insane, to be unintelligent, and to exhibit poor social
behavior.

He found a little difference in the physical

characteristics of criminals, but he uncovered a
significant relationship between crime and a condition
he referred to as “Defective Intelligence.”
Detective Intelligence involves such traits as feeblemindedness, epilepsy, insanity and
defective social instinct. Goring likewise believed that criminal behavior is inherited.

Gabriel Tarde

A second pioneer is Gabriel Tarde (1843–1904), who

maintained that individuals learn from each other and
ultimately imitate one another. Interestingly, Tarde
thought that out of 100 individuals, only 1 was creative or
inventive and the remainder were prone to imitation
(Jacoby, 2004).

He is a forerunner of modern-day learning theorists

Gabriel Tarde. He also believed that people learn from
one another through a process of imitation.

Tarde’s ideas are quite similar to modern social learning theories who believed that
both interpersonal and observed behavior, such as a movie television, can influence
criminality.

Sigmund Freud

Proponents of psychodynamic theory suggest

that an individual’s personality is controlled by
unconscious mental processes that are
grounded in early childhood. This theory was
originated by Sigmund Freud (1856–1939),
the founder of psychoanalysis. He
emphasized the instinctual and unconscious
bases of human behavior. Freud viewed the
human personality as being made up of three
parts: Id, Ego, and Superego.
Id

 Id is instinctive, natural or animalistic self. It is totally selfish and seeks to

maximize pleasure. Expressions of these pleasure principle are their life or love
instinct as well as the death instinct. It represents the unconscious biological
drives for food, sex, and other necessities over the life span. Most important is
the idea that the id is concerned with instant pleasure or gratification while
disregarding concern for others. This is known as the pleasure principle, and it
is often paramount when discussing criminal behavior.

Superego

 The superego is the socialized component of the personality, the part

developed in order to function and gain acceptance in human society.
Repressing the pleasure – seeking instincts, the superego is in the constant
conflict with the id. Superego develops as a person incorporates the moral
standards and values of the community; parents; and significant others, such
as friends and clergy members. The focus of the superego is morality. The
superego serves to pass judgment on the behavior and actions of individuals.

Ego

 The ego is the mediator or referee in this contest. It is thought to develop early
in a person’s life. For example, when children learn that their wishes cannot be
gratified instantaneously, they often throw a tantrum. Freud suggested that the
ego compensates for the demands of the id by guiding an individual’s actions
or behaviors to keep him or her within the boundaries of society. The ego is
guided by the reality principle.

The ego mediates between the id’s desire for instant gratification and the strict
morality of the superego. One can assume that young adults as well as adults
understand right from wrong. However, when a crime is committed, advocates of
psychodynamic theory would suggest that an individual committed a crime because
he or she has an underdeveloped superego.

Psychoanalytic adherents of Freudian theory view criminality as being

unconsciously motivated and often due to the repression of personality conflicts and
unresolved problems experienced in early childhood.

Hostility to male authority is symbolized by the Oedipus complex that

originates when the male child desires sexual relations with the mother, and is blocked
by the father. Overly harsh toilet training, premature weaning as a child; or other
unpleasant, sexually related episodes contains the seeds of unconscious motivation
for later adult criminality

Some hold that the inability to control instincts due to inadequate ego and
superego development causes criminality. Crime represents a substitute response
when original goals are blocked; they are sublimated or displaced and expressed by
means of substitute goals. Crime may be committed due to unconscious desire to be
caught and punished.

According to Freud that some people who had unresolved deep seated
problems were psychopaths. Psychopaths or sociopaths are characterized by no
sense of guilt, no subjective conscience, and no sense of right and wrong. They have
difficulty in forming relationships with other people; they cannot empathize with other
people. Many criminal offenders are presumed to be psychopaths or sociopaths.

In sum, psychodynamic theory suggests that criminal offenders are frustrated

and aggravated. They are constantly drawn to past events that occurred in their early
childhood. Because of a negligent, unhappy, or miserable childhood, which is most
often characterized by a lack of love and/or nurturing, a criminal offender has a weak
(or absent) ego. Most important, research suggests that having a weak ego is linked
with poor or absence of social etiquette, immaturity, and dependence on others.
Research further suggests that individuals with weak egos may be more likely to
engage in drug abuse.
 Alfred Adler

In addition to the theories attributed to the work of

Freud, other psychoanalytic theories of criminality
can be inferred from the work of some of his
followers, or Neo – Freudians.

 For example, Alfred Adler maintained that

the source of personality disorder and for us,
criminality was a fear of inferiority and a
compensatory drive for power and superiority over
his victim to compensate for his own inferiority.

Erik Erikson

From the work of another Neo- Freudian, Erik

Erikson, we can infer that criminality may be the result
of an inadequate development of a sense of identity or
the result of an inadequate development of a sense of
inferiority or inadequacy.

Many offenders, especially gang members, commits

their crimes to gain notoriety or a reputation. In this
view, they do so to overcome their sense of inferiority
or inadequancy.
Karen Horney

For Karen Horney, criminality may be a

product of basic anxiety – the feeling of
being isolated and helplessness in a
potentially hostile world – and a need for
security.

May people find the problems in their lives

overwhelming and are scared and anxious
about them. Every one desires security,
and criminal behavior is one way of
achieving it, if only temporarily.