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Personal Statement

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What drives someone to commit a crime? This question was raised to me since the exposure to T.V. programs such as Criminal Minds and Poirot as a child with great interest due to enthralling (and sometimes frightening) depictions of crimes. I have been fascinated by the psychology and behaviour of criminals from a young age and set out to answer this question posed in my mind when researching crimes. This fascinating knowledge on criminal behaviour is what draws me to Criminology. The T.V. series Lie to Me led me to read a book named The Body Language of Liars by Lillian Glass. This discusses reasons for lying, and detecting deception through body language and ‘micro-expressions’ that flash on faces- criminals are often used as examples to refer …show more content…

My personal research of the behaviour of criminals and study of crime is what drove me to study Psychology at IB level. Through studying psychology, I have acquired a deep understanding of behaviour and motivations of people, including criminal actions being influenced by social pressures. My exposure and understanding paired with a genuine interest have well prepared me for further studies in Criminology, and I am confident in joining the police force to further study and apply my skills regarding criminal behaviour, along with applying for a master’s degree in Forensic Psychology, following with a career in criminal profiling. During my IB Psychology course, I was able to explore the behaviour and social function of criminals, and the nature of psychopaths in more depth through bystanderism, social behaviour, and abnormal psychology. In particular, the Kitty Genovese case. My external research allows interesting discussions in class as I can relate examples in which certain theories behind acts of crime may be supported, e.g. the Tanaka-Matsumi Etic-Emic approach to psychopathology. Studying Psychology at HL has not only allowed me to broaden my knowledge regarding the processes of the human mind, but also allowed me to explore cases of abnormal psychology in which deviant behaviour is unexpected, e.g. Jeffrey

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The General Theory of Crime and the Psychoanalytic

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While a few theories are not as regular, others have developed and are utilized as a part of numerous criminal reviews today. Cutting edge criminologists consolidate the most important aspects of sociology, psychology, anthropology, and biological theories to advance their comprehension of criminal behavior. Rational choice theory, psychological, biological, and strain theory are used to analyze the

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While some theories are not as common, others have evolved and are used in many criminal studies today. Cutting edge criminologists consolidate the most important aspects of sociology, psychology, anthropology, and biological theories to advance their comprehension of criminal behavior. Rational choice theory, psychological, biological, and strain theory are used to analyze the facts of Hernandez’s crime. Biological Theory is

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How do the various psychological and psychiatric approaches presented in this chapter differ from one another? Psychological theories of criminal behavior differ from other theories like social structure theories of crime in the sense that psychological theories of crime place the emphasis on the individual and their cognitive abilities as opposed to social institutions and larger groups. Nearly all psychological theories of crime focus entirely on an individual and their cognition as the explanation of crime as opposed to social processes and social life. Psychological and psychiatric approaches to deviant, criminal, and antisocial behaviors differ in the sense that psychiatric approaches tend to focus on treating the symptoms of antisocial behavior through varying means. Psychological approaches on the other hand tend to focus on determining the causes of crime from within and individual.

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This theory clearly rules out the effect of inherited or innate factors, and the last is the cognitive theory, which is based on how the perception of an individual is manifested into affecting his or her potential and capability to commit a crime. (Psychological theories of crime) Relating these theories to the case under study, it’s clear that the behaviour can be traced most times to faulty relationships in the family during the first years of

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This deals with the thoughts, intentions and reactions of criminals. This also includes all that partakes in the criminal behaviour. In comparison to anthropological criminology, psychology deals with everything that makes the criminal “tick”, as opposed to the physical evidence. The questions that I formed can easily be related to the article because they are thought-provoking, and they ask about the actual intentions and thought process related to the crime. All of my questions could explain why certain things happened that was stated in the article, including why cigarettes and money was stolen, why the crime was committed at 4:00 AM, and many more.

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The field of criminology been slow to give credence to the biological theories of deviant behavior. One reason is that criminology because the roots are within Social Science. Criminology was given to the Social Science field but the approaches derived from sociology (pg. 86). In the unit I examined many different biological, psychological, and psychiatric theoretical explanations of criminal behavior.

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It does not consider other factors such as criminal associations, individual traits, and inner strains, which plays a significant role in determining punishment for the individuals in committing crimes. It is observed that this theory endeavours to know that whether the activities of crime as well as the victim’s choice, criminals commit the activities on start from rational decisions. The theory also determines that criminals consider different elements before committing crime. They engage in the exchange of ideas before reaching on any final decision. These elements consist of consequences of their crimes, which include revealing their families to problems or death, chances of being arrested, and others elements, which comprises of placement of surveillance systems (Walsh & Hemmens, 2010; Lichbach,

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Crime causation is the study of the reasons why individuals commit crimes and covers four main theories. The strain theory suggests individuals commit crimes to relieve psychological strain. The social learning theory that suggests individuals commit crimes as a product of their environment. Where control theory suggests that individuals chose an easier alternative to what their environment provides. Lastly, is the anomie theory, a social context where an individual commits a crime in response to alienation from society.

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Crimes such as theft, battery, murder, possession of drugs, fraud, domestic violence, kidnapping, and rape. Anything that is determined by the law as unethical, or that will harm people in society is considered a crime. Sometimes people have reasons to commit crimes, yet it still does not give them the right to do it. A theory that describes the role in which people play in executing these crimes is the Psychodynamic Approach. This theory shows that childhood experiences influence a person’s

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Adrian Raine, criminologist and author of "The Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime," has said before, is a very important factor in criminal behaviour that affects about 75% of a person’s criminal activity. In his book, Raine explores the many evidences that lead up to biological and genetic influences on crime

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Where external and internal factors play a part and they are fated to be a criminal. The scientific grounds are offenders and people who have not yet offended can be given help, and they can be diagnosed by experts and receive treatment needed to not offend (Cavadino, 2007

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The way how human mind works intrigue me. I am interested in study Criminology because I want a deeper understanding of the causes and the consequences of crime. The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it." (Oscar Wilde) The role temptation plays within the context of the criminal psyche, is a matter which compels my inquisitive and analytical mind to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding.

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