Investigating Crime and Relevant Issues

Investigating Crime and Relevant Issues

Crime is defined as an act which is prohibited by criminal law. These

criminal activities are prohibited for the protection of society as a

whole, or a section of society. Each country has its own series of

prohibited criminal acts. In England, if a criminal act is committed,

the persons responsible are issued punishment of a fine, community

service or imprisonment. Although criminal activity is seen by

society to be morally wrong, and is punishable, people still continue

to commit crime.

Forensic psychology attempts to apply psychological principles to the

criminal justice system. For many years psychologists have tried to

explain why some individuals will continue to commit crime. There are

now several different psychological approaches that are used to

explain crime, including the biological approach, the behaviourist

approach, the humanistic approach, the cognitive approach, and the

psychodynamic approach.

Biological Approach

The biological approach focuses on how our brain structure, physiology

and our chromosomal and genetic make up can affect our behaviour. It

would suggest that our physiological components predispose us towards

a certain type of behaviour.

Lombroso’s Theory

In the late eighteenth century a number of studies were carried out by

phrenologists, who studied the shape and structure of the human head.

They believed that there was a link between the shape of the skull and

the structure of the brain that it contained; suggesting certain

abnormalities in the cranium could be related to criminal behaviours.

Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909) was a physician...

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approached, although not the actual reasons that trigger people to

commit crime. I think that there is a lot of evidence to support the

biological approach of criminality, though I can only assume that

criminality results from genetic predispositions that interact with

specific environmental situations. The psychodynamic approach is an

excellent approach to explain criminality. It is a shame that it is an

untestable theory. It is a better approach for explaining behaviour

rather than predicting it.

I believe that there needs to be a genetic predisposition towards

crime and that if such a predisposition exists then the types of crime

we commit can be related to unconscious processes that occur, caused

by our early experiences. The cognitive approach can then explain the

way in which the crime was approached.