Schram, Introduction to Criminology 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
Lecture Notes
Chapter 7: Psychological/Trait Theories of Crime
Learning Objectives
7.2 Summarize the modern psychological perspectives of criminality.
7.4 Describe the policy implications associated with psychological explanations of criminal
behavior.
Chapter Outline
I. Introduction
A. Highlights various psychological theories, beginning with early psychological
perspectives such as the theories developed by Sigmund Freud, Hans Eysenck,
Lawrence Kohlberg, and John Bowlby.
i. Reviews what are considered more contemporary psychological theories of
II. Early Psychological Theorizing Regarding Criminal Behavior
A. Freud’s Model of the Psyche and Implications for Criminal Behavior
i. The psychoanalytic perspective: Individual’s behavior is presumed to be
due to the three aspects of his or her personality: the id, ego, and superego;
anxiety, defense mechanisms, and the unconscious are also key principles
of the psychoanalytical perspective.
a. The psychoanalytic perspective is both complex and extremely
systematized.
ii. An individual’s behavior is presumed to be due to the three aspects of his
or her personality: the id, ego, and superego.
iii. There are two types of instinctual drives, constructive and destructive:
a. Constructive drives are usually sexual in nature. These drives make
iv. The ego is the moderator between the demands of an instinct.
v. Anxiety, defense mechanisms, and the unconscious are also key principles
of the psychoanalytical perspective.
vi. Delinquency is considered manifest when it results in antisocial behavior;
B. Hans Eysenck: Theory of Crime and Personality
i. Theory emphasizes that human personality can be viewed in three
dimensions (i.e., the PEN model).
ii. Individuals considered to have high psychoticism are associated with being
aggressive, cold, egocentric, impersonal, impulsive, antisocial, unempathic,
iii. The second dimension is extroversion, with the associated traits of being
sociable, lively, active, assertive, sensation-seeking, carefree, dominant,
surgent, and venturesome.
iv. The last dimension is neuroticism, or instability, which is linked with such
C. Lawrence Kohlberg: Moral Development
i. The preconventional level of morality is characteristic of designating
what is considered “right” and “wrong”—for instance, “telling on your
brother is wrong because it is ‘tattling,’ breaking into the druggist’s store is
wrong because ‘you’re not supposed to steal’.”
D. John Bowlby: Attachment Theory
i. Development of attachment theory is the combined work of John Bowlby
and Mary Ainsworth.
ii. Theoretical perspective has seven essential features.
a. Specificity—Attachments are selective or “choosy”; these
attachments are often focused on one or more individuals, usually
with some order of preference.
Schram, Introduction to Criminology 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
b. Duration—Attachments are enduring and persistent; these
attachments can sometimes last throughout a person’s life.
c. Engagement of emotion—Some of the most intense and passionate
emotions are associated with attachment relationships.
III. Modern Psychological Perspectives of Criminality
A. IQ and Criminal Behavior
i. Intelligence quotient (IQ) is a quantified measure of intelligence.
B. James Q. Wilson and Richard J. Herrnstein: Crime and Human Nature
i. Environmental or sociological explanations of crime were more
“palatable,” while biological explanations “lost favor” among many social
scientists.
C. Psychopathy and Crime
i. Sociopath refers specifically to antisocial personalities attributed to social
or familial dysfunction.
ii. Psychopath refers to individuals whose antisocial behavior may be a result
of a defect or abnormality within themselves, rather than in their rearing or
socialization.
iii. Behaviorally, psychopaths engage in irresponsible behavior, are prone to
seek novelty and excitation, and often engage in moral transgressions or
antisocial acts.
iv. Individuals subsequently associate, or condition, fear of stimuli and
situations that they have previously experienced with pain or punishment.
Schram, Introduction to Criminology 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
IV. Mental Health and the Criminal Justice System
A. Treatment
i. Thinking for a Change is an integrated cognitive behavioral change
program that includes cognitive restructuring, social skill development, and
development of problem-solving skills.
a. The program does improve problem-solving skills among those
who have completed the program.
ii. Six areas of treatment that have demonstrated some evidence of
effectiveness for treatment offenders with mental illness.
a. Collaborative psychopharmacology: Symptoms of mental illness
improve when clients are included in the medical decision-making
process.
b. Assertive community treatment: Providing services to clients in
their community as opposed to a clinical setting such as an
B. Mental-Health Courts
i. A major reason for establishing mental-health courts was to address the
large proportion of individuals with mental illnesses involved in the
criminal justice system.
ii. The goals of mental health courts include increasing public safety for
C. The Insanity Defense
i. Insanity: The idea—which has been in existence for centuries—of
excusing offenders for their criminal actions due to a mental disease; the
term is not a medical term but rather a legal term.
Schram, Introduction to Criminology 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
ii. The general rationale for an insanity defense is that a person should not be
punished for engaging in a criminal act if he or she could not refrain from
committing the act.
iii. The M’Naghten Rule
a. The M’Naghten Rule is the oldest rule for determining insanity.
b. Every person is presumed sane unless the contrary can be proven.
c. A person suffering a “partial” delusion should be dealt with as if
the circumstance of the delusion was real.
iv. The Irresistible-Impulse Test
a. In 1897, the federal courts, and subsequently many state courts,
included the irresistible-impulse test with the M’Naghten “right–
v. The Durham Rule
a. Durham Rule: Offenders are not criminally responsible, even if
they are aware of their conduct, if this behavior was the “product
of mental disease or defect.”
vi. American Law Institute’s Model Penal Code
a. American Law Institute’s Model Penal Code: One standard for
V. Policy Implications of Psychological/Trait Theories
i. A major policy implication would be to address this “revolving door.”
ii. One suggested approach would be to implement primary, secondary, and
tertiary prevention programs.
iii. Primarily prevention focuses on eliminating influences that could
potentially result in someone engaging in criminal activity.