MODULE 9
(Semi-final)
In SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY, Albert Bandura (1977) agrees with the
behaviorist learning theories of classical conditioning ( also known as Pavlovian
conditioning) is learning through association)and operant conditioning (is a method of
learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior ) . However, he adds
two important ideas:
1. Mediating processes occur between stimuli & responses.
2. Behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational
learning.
Three mechanisms by which individuals learn to engage in crime.
1. Differential reinforcement of crime
Individual may teach others to engage in crime through the reinforcement and
punishments they provide for behavior.
What are the instances wherein crime is more likely occur?
a. Is frequently reinforced and infrequently punished.
b. Results in large amounts of reinforcement (lot of money, social approval, or
pleasure) and little punishment
c. Is more likely to be reinforced than alternative behaviors.
2. Beliefs favorable to crime
Some individual learn beliefs that are favorable to crime and they are more
likely to engage in crime as a result.
Three categories of beliefs favoring crime.
1. Approve minor forms of crime like consensual sexual behavior, gambling, soft
drug use, alcohol use, truancy, and curfew violation
2. Approve or justify certain forms of crime, including some serious crimes (to
justify their wrong doing).
3. Some people hold certain general values that are conductive to crime. These
values do not explicitly approve of or justify crime, but they make crime appear
a more attractive alternative than would otherwise be the case.
3.The imitation of criminal models - Individuals are more likely to imitate other
behavior if they observe them receive reinforcement for the acts.
PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY
This theory has a general perspective that looks to the psychological
functioning, development, and adjustment of an individual in explaining
criminal or deviant acts.
Under this approach, the criminal act itself is important only in the highlights
an underlying mental issues.
It focuses on the association among intelligence, personality, learning and
criminal behavior.
It further explains criminal behavior, in part, as factors affecting individuals
such as negative childhood experiences, or incomplete cognitive development.
What are the probes of the psychological theory?
1. Charles B. Goring (1870 – 1919)
Goring’s most important achievement was The English Convict: A Statistical
Study – one of the most comprehensive criminological works of its time.
He analyzed over 3,000 English convicts and ultimately concluded that “the
physical and mental constitution of both criminal and law abiding persons, of the
same age, stature, class, and intelligence, are identical”.
There is no such thing as an anthropological criminal type. And so he
contradicted the Lombroso’s idea that criminality can be seen through physical
features.
Nevertheless, he accepted that criminals are physically inferior to normal
individuals in the sense that criminals tend to be shorter and have less weight
than non-criminals.
Criminals are more likely to be insane, to be unintelligent, and to exhibit poor
social behavior.
THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY (PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME)
1. This is the period of psychological criminology and the rise of the sociological
perspective on crimes and criminals. This era was a shift of the blame for
crimes on human behavior and the social and environmental circumstances.
2. 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.
3. The second is behavioral theory. Behavioral theorists have expanded the
work of Gabriel Tarde through behavior modeling and social learning.
4. 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.
Sigmund Freud (1856- 1969)
Was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who founded the Psychoanalytic School
of Psychology.
In criminology, he is best known for his Psychoanalytic Theory.
Psychoanalytic criminology – is a method of studying crime and criminal behavior, it
examines the personality and the psyche of a person (particularly the unconscious) for
motive in crime.
Under this theory, the mind is divided into two main parts:
The conscious mind – includes everything that we are aware of. This is
the aspect of our mental processing that we can think and talk about
rationally.
The unconscious mind – a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and
memories that outside of our conscious awareness. Most of the contents
of the unconscious are unacceptable or unpleasant, such as feelings of
pain, anxiety, or conflict.
Elements of Personality according to Freud
-three elements of personality that are working together to create a complex
human behavior:
1. The Id – is the only component of personality that is present from birth.
This aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and includes of the
instinctive and primitive behavior (biological drives like food, sex and
other necessities over the life span which is concern with instant
pleasure).
The Id is driven by pleasure principle, which strives for immediate
gratification of all desires, wants, and needs.
If this needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state of anxiety
or tension.
If we will be ruled entirely by pleasure, we might find ourselves grabbing
things we want out of other people’s hand to satisfy our own cravings.
2. The Ego – is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with
reality.
The ego develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can
be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world.
The ego functions in both the conscious and preconscious and
unconscious mind.
The operates based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy the
id’s desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways.
The reality principle, weighs the cost and benefits of an action before
deciding to act upon or abandon impulses.
3. The Superego - the last component of the personality to develop is the
superego.
a. The superego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our
internalized moral standards and ideals that we acquire both parents
and society – our sense of right and wrong.
b. The superego provides guidelines for making judgments.
c. It works to suppress all unacceptable urges of the id and struggles to
make the ego act upon idealistic standards rather than upon realistic
principles.
d. The superego is present in the conscious, preconscious and
unconscious.
5. Furthermore, he maintains that:
Criminal behavior is a form of neurosis, that criminality may result from an
overactive conscience.
Crime is the result of the compulsive need for punishment to alleviate guilt and
anxiety.
Criminal behavior is a means of obtaining gratification of need.
Criminal conducts represent a displaced hostility. Criminality is essentially a
representation of psychological conflict.
