Stereotypes: Why Do People Commit Criminal Behavior?

he/she will do whatever it takes in order to get what he/she wants with no remorse for others. This is very similar to a psychopaths tendencies, which focuses strictly on the pleasure principle of an individual. The ego is what makes a person check reality and think about how one could obtain the desired thing (Brown et al., 2017). Lastly, the super-ego is a person’s conscious, which regulates the moral decisions of a person. According to Freud one will commit deviant acts depending on his/her super-ego. If an individual has a weak super-ego, he/she will lack the ability of self-control; furthermore, he/she will succumb to the id’s initial response and commit criminal behaviour in order to satisfy the needs of the id (Brown et al., 2017).

Psychologists have accurately depicted the reasons why a person will commit crime and has learned the major influential reason for this is because of demographics. The majority of people who commit criminal behaviour are the ones at the bottom of the societal gap (Katyal, 2002). Criminal behaviour is commonly a learned behaviour, which a person develops through interactions with other people (Brown et al., 2017). This is why demographics have such a large impact on a person. The impact the criminal justice system has when treating a deviant individual can either deter or reinforce a person’s criminal behaviour. People commit crime out of necessity of life and lack of the political left opportunity such as lack of jobs/education or the political right of needs for better parenting and stronger law enforcement (Katyal, 2002). A goal by the government has been created to prosecute more minor offences like vandalism in an attempt to deter gateway crimes for adolescents to not pursue a criminal career (Katyal, 2002). This however, would directly contradict Eysenck’s theory of learning through one’s environment. By arresting adolescents for minor crimes one would become more exposed to learning criminal behaviour through his/her environment in prison. Once an individual has become incarcerated and one is considered antisocial or a

An immense amount of individuals who commit crime are under the influence of some sort of mind-altering substance (Morse, 2006). This however, does not indicate people commit crime because he/she is under the influence, but merely states when an individual commits crime while under the influence (Correctional Service Canada, 2015). Many individuals who suffer from addictions are often stigmatized of having weak moral character (Morse, 2006). There are 45% of inmates who have admitted to be using drugs and/or alcohol at the time of his/her offence and only 24% do not have some sort of problem with drugs and/or alcohol (Correctional Service Canada, 2015). This shows that 76% of incarcerated individuals have some sort of drug/alcohol problem. Research indicates there is a severe increase in the chance of crime when an individual has some sort of drug/alcohol addiction (Correctional Service Canada, 2015). After an individual is incarcerated, he/she has a much higher chance of recidivism then those who do not have a substance abuse problem (Phillips, 2010). This is common because once a person is released from custody he/she will go back to seeing his/her peers who do drugs/alcohol and he/she will fall in the same pattern that got him/her in prison to begin with (Philips, 2010). Drugs have been commonly used as a coping mechanism for people who have had rough lives. This factor as well as other