Criminal psychology

For the science pertaining to the intersection between psychology and the legal system, see Forensic psychology.

Criminal Psychology is the study of the wills, thoughts, intentions and reactions of criminals, all that partakes in the criminal behavior.

It is related to the field of criminal anthropology. The study goes deeply into what makes someone commit crime, but also the reactions after the crime, on the run or in court. Criminal psychologists are often called up as witnesses in court cases to help the jury understand the mind of the criminal. Some types of Psychiatry also deal with aspects of criminal behavior.

Psychological Criminology is the science of behavior and mental processes of a criminal. Focuses on individual criminal behavior and how it is acquired, evoked, maintained, and modified. Environmental and personality influence on criminal behavior are considered along with the mental processes that mediate that behavior. </ref> Dudycha, George. Psychology for Law Enforcement Officers. 2nd. Springfield: Charles C Thomas, 1960. Print. </ref>

Psychology's Role in the Legal System

Psychiatrists are licensed physicians that can assess both mental and physical states. Profilers look for patterns in behavior to typify the individual(s) behind a crime. A group effort attempts to answer the most common psychological questions: If there is a risk of a sexual predator re-offending if put back in society; If an offender is competent to stand trial; whether or not an offender was sane/insane at the time of the offense.

The question of competency to stand trial is a question of an offender’s current state of mind. This assesses the offender’s ability to understand the charges against them, the possible outcomes of being convicted/acquitted of these charges and their ability to assist their attorney with their defense. The question of sanity/insanity or criminal responsibility is an assessment of the offenders state of mind at the time of the crime. This refers to their ability to understand right from wrong and what is against the law. The insanity defense is rarely used, as it is very difficult to prove. If declared insane, an offender is committed to a secure hospital facility for much longer than they would have served in prison. Theoretically, that is. .

Profiling

Main article: Offender Profiling

A major part of Criminal psychology, known as offender profiling, began in the 1940s when the United States Office of Strategic Services asked William L. Langer's brother Walter C. Langer, a well renowned psychiatrist, to draw up a profile of Adolf Hitler. After the Second World War British psychologist Lionel Haward, while working for the Royal Air Force police, drew up a list of characteristics which high-ranking Nazi war criminals might display, to be able to spot them amongst ordinary captured soldiers and airmen.

Criminal profiling refers to the process of identifying personality traits, behavioral tendencies and demographic variables of an offender based on characteristics of the crime. This process is dictated by a database collected on previous offenders who have committed similar offenses.

In the 1950s, US psychiatrist James A. Brussel drew up what turned to be an uncannily accurate profile of a bomber who had been terrorizing New York.

The fastest development occurred when the FBI opened its training academy, the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), in Quantico, Virginia. It led to the establishment of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime and the violent criminal apprehension program. The idea was to have a system which could pick up links between unsolved major crimes.

In the United Kingdom, Professor David Canter was a pioneer helping to guide police detectives from the mid-1980s to an offender who had carried out a series of serious attacks, but Canter saw the limitations of "offender profiling" - in particular, the subjective, personal opinion of a psychologist. He and a colleague coined the term investigative psychology and began trying to approach the subject from what they saw as a more scientific point of view.

Criminal profiling, also known as offender profiling, is the process of linking an offender's actions at the crime scene to their most likely characteristics to help police investigators narrow down and prioritize a pool of most likely suspects. Profiling is a relatively new area of forensic psychology that during the past 20 years has developed from what used to be described as an art to a rigorous science. Part of a sub-field of forensic psychology called investigative psychology, criminal profiling is based on increasingly rigorous methodological advances and empirical research.

Criminal profiling is a process now known in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as criminal investigative analysis. Pro-filers, or criminal investigative analysts, are trained and experienced law enforcement officers who study every behavioral aspect and detail of an unsolved violent crime scene in which a certain amount of psychopathology has been left at the scene. The characteristics of a good pro-filer are discussed. Five behavioral characteristics that can be gleaned from the crime scene are described: 1) amount of planning that went into the crime, 2) degree of control used by the offender, 3) escalation of emotion at the scene, 4) risk level of both the offender and victim, and 5) appearance of the crime scene (disorganized versus organized). The process of interpreting the behavior observed at a crime scene is briefly discussed.

Psychological Treatment

Psychotherapy refers to a set of procedures or techniques used to help individuals or groups alter their maladaptive behavior, develop adaptive behavior or both. The behavior must be considered maladaptive by the individual however. Most Psychotherapies try to change cognitive constructs about ourselves, others, or both.

Behavior Therapy refers to learning-conditioning principles which derived from well-controlled laboratory environments. Behavior therapy has a number of advantages. Its been shown to be highly effective in changing and developing specific behaviors under controlled, experimental conditions. It is also economical as it does not require expensive professionals and can be immediately beneficial for controlling unmanageable behavior.

Behavior therapy also has a number of problems because it requires sophistication on the part of the therapist, firm environmental control, and a high degree of cooperation and commitment from those even remotely involved in the program. Transferring behavior techniques from the controlled psychological laboratory to the correctional institution, where there are bound to be numerous constraints, is an extremely difficult task.

The prison system makes treatment and rehabilitation difficult because of “criminalization” and “ prisonization” . Criminalization, inmates exchange and support each others beliefs which creates a deviant culture. Prisonization is the process whereby inmates learn specific rules, general culture, and expectation of the prison community. These two learning processes are often in conflict with society.

Cognitive Therapy, “reality therapy” a form of self-control therapy developed by psychiatrist William Glasser (1965) and still commonly used in corrections today. Reality therapy is based on perspective that offenders must face reality no matter what happened to them in the past and take full responsibility for their behavior now. The main focus is on the irresponsible nature of crime and delinquency, rather then viewing them as the result of psychological sickness or disorder.

Constructive Therapy has emerged as a viable, rapidly growing approach across a wide area of cognitive therapies. The main idea is that individuals do not formulate static templates through which ongoing experience is filtered, but rather develop more dynamic constructs that are always subject to change as a result of new experiences.

See also

• Forensic psychology
• Criminal anthropology
• Antisocial personality disorder
• Psychopathy
• Narcissistic personality disorder
• Malignant narcissism
• Sadistic personality disorder