Forensic psychology - theories of crime

• Crime is relevant to a range of disciplines, each producing their own theories of crime
• Crime can be theorised and analysed at several different levels 

• Societal or macro-level theories: Suggest that crime is a consequence of social structure rather than, say, genetic tendencies or psychiatric problems 
• community or locality theories: crime is not randomly distributed geographically, and neither is criminality. Some parts of cities tend to suffer more crime and others tend to be home to more than their fair share of criminals. this theory suggests that thee is either something different about those areas or that different areas provide different opportunities for criminality 
• Group and socialisation influence theories: these are more direct social influences. About the influence of the group (including family). Assumes that associated may determine whether or not the youngster gets involved in delinquent acitvities 
• Individual approaches: some stress the importance of biological and psychological differences as a root cause of criminality. Not possible to identify very precisely personality characteristics that are associated with criminality 

Who says it's a crime?

• Police? police officers are used to inform law and policies. Target harderning (what do we need to make safer, what areas do we look at, to make offending for that individual less likely)
• Judge?
• Government?
• Media?
• Us? we are influenced by what we hear and what we read. We have some say in what constityres a crime
• Parents? Shape our minds and how we see the world, what we think is appropriate behaviour
• Friends (peers)?
• Crime is a social construction

Remember:

• Harm: harmful behaviour but we can also think about crimes that are victim free or certainly not harmful to our communities 
• Morality: right it's moral, wrong it's immoral but morality is subjective to the individual e.g. homosexuality
• Right and wrong: e.g. death penalty, life for a life? or wrong? Conviction for female genital mutilation (resisted, not right. Some can argue it's part of their culture, heritage, religion, sayin they are threatening their culture and who they are as a person). Just different points of argument.
• Deviance: may be deviant behaviour, but if it doesn't harm anyone than what difference does it make
• Post conventional morality: Grunwick trials, 1960's. Factory - lot of Asian ladies employed, bad conditions, paid poorly. They wanted to trade union, so could work reasonably. So, boss fired them all. 6 of them went on strike, called trade council and the next morning there were thousands of people, to support these women. Went on for months. Little support from the government. (criminalisation of their behaviour but social resistance to something they found to be unjustifiable)

Why do certain people commit crime and others don't?

1. Psychoanalytical theories of crime

• Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
• Freud showed how innate desires and repressed emotions shape human behaviour

• ID = gratify instincts at all costs 'pleasure principle' wants what he wants, nothing will stop him, driven by notions of pleasure and pleasure alone
• Primitive - instinctive - unconscious mind 
• Super-ego = moral values, ethical guardian, nagging parent, producer of guilt…