Criminal Psychology

Criminal behavior is a form of maladaptive behavior that has always intrigued psychologist. Why do some individuals commit crimes? Is it because of their personality? Maybe the main reasons are their relationships with their family members? Does genetic have something to do with it? How come that some people live in poor and undeveloped aeries and never commit a crime, while other, educated and financially stable individuals do? Of course, the curiosity of psychologists is not the only reason why this domain of psychology has been developed. It also has a more practical and pragmatic propose. Psychologists can play an important role (maybe even the crucial one) in solving crimes as they can analyze the behavior and the motives of the suspect, and thus, they can also predict his future actions. Besides that, criminal psychology can also recognize individuals who have the predisposition to commit crimes in the future. After detecting these individuals, psychologists can act proactive and prevent them from committing these kinds on illegal acts. One of the most important questions that need to be answered is an old psychological debate: What is more important, the heritage of the social factors? In this context, the question could be paraphrased: Are people simply born as criminals, or do they engage in illegal activities due to their social circumstances (influence of the peers, financial situation, criminal history in the family, etc…)? Although the biologists have provided evidence that genetic does play an important role in this form of behavior, this seems like a rather pessimistic point of view. According to it, there is basically very little that can be done in order to prevent a person to become criminal (other than locking him in prison) as he is simply “born as a criminal”. Fortunately, the environment probably has the crucial role, which basically means that these criminal tendentious can be neutralized by the environmental factors, such as education, social pressure, or simply the law. The right answer on this environment/genetic dilemma probably lies somewhere in between; it is not widespread opinion in psychology that gens represent person’s potential for a certain form of the behavior, and what kind of behavior will be actualized depends mostly on the environment. The influence of the society is important because it is the elements that can reward or punish an individual. If he behaves in a socially acceptable way (for example, obeying laws, helping others, working hard, educating himself, etc…) he will probably be rewarded by social acceptance, high income, or a degree. On the other hand, if his behavior is negative (stealing, giving up education, hurting others) he will suffer social sanctions, in the form of condemnation, rejection, or even the limitation of freedom (prison) of financial sanctions. Humans are social beings, so these kinds of reactions from the social environment can have a significant influence on one’s behavior. Having this in mind, it is easy to understand why cybercriminals are very effective. It is because they basically do not have an identity, as they are hiding behind their online profile, so they are not under the influence of these social factors. Juvenile delinquents represent another category of criminals that have its own characteristics. Although in the majority of countries the minimum age of responsibility is usually 18, there are places where it is as low as 6. These individuals are very specific, as they are still not grown up, so their physical and mental characterizes are still in the process of development. The society should invest all of its efforts in order to prevent these young people to commit crimes, and try to transform them into well-adapted citizens and to reduce the chances of recidivism as much as possible. Proper education and confidence-building among the juveniles can be very helpful in assuring them that they can be valuable and successful members of the society. Another vulnerable group whose characteristic will be elaborated are women criminals. Despite their education, they can sometimes get involved in criminal activities due to their caretaking responsibilities or drug abuse.

Aleksandar Mratinkovic, he has a Master degree of Psychology from Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad. He has been engaged in different fields of psychology (Developmental Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Educational Psychology and Industrial Psychology) and has published several scientific works