Understanding Modern Theories Of Crime

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people rather than rich
people are more likely to be labeled as criminals because of society's different definitions of class (Reiman, 1995).

Psychological Theories of Crime

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Psychological theories of crime begin with the view that individual differences in behavior may make some people more predisposed to committing criminal acts. These
differences may arise from personality characteristics, biological factors, or social interactions.
Psychoanalytic Theory

According to Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), who is credited with the development of psychoanalytic theory, all humans have natural drives and urges repressed in the
unconscious. Furthermore, all humans have criminal tendencies. Through the process of socialization, however, these tendencies are curbed by the development of inner
controls that are learned through childhood experience. Freud hypothesized that the most common element that contributed to criminal behavior was faulty identification by
a child with her or his parents. The improperly socialized child may develop a personality disturbance that causes her or him to direct antisocial impulses inward or outward.
The child who directs them outward becomes a criminal, and the child that directs them inward becomes a neurotic.

References

Freud, S. (1961). The Complete Works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. 19). London: Hogarth.


Cognitive Development Theory

According to this approach, criminal behavior results from the way in which people organize their thoughts about morality and the law. In 1958, Lawrence Kohlberg, a
developmental psychologist, formulated a theory concerning the development of moral reasoning. He posited that there are three levels of moral reasoning, each consisting
of two stages. During middle childhood, children are at the first level of moral development. At this level, the...