Psychological Theories - Essay Example

Psychological Theories Affiliation: Summary Psychological theories are useful in explaining criminal behavior and the differences between criminals. They do this by theorizing the causes and motivation of such behavior that leads to crime. The theories to be considered here are personality, psychoanalytic and behavioral theories (Siegel 2011).Underlying PrinciplesAll the above mentioned theories have the common principle that the social environment an individual grows up in causes and motivates them to engage in criminal behavior.

The different social environments also determine whether the individual will be a criminal or not and what crime they will commit.Major Contributors and their contributionsPsychoanalytic theory was developed by Freud and it basically states that motivator of an individual’s behavior is the unconscious which comes about as a result of the social environment of that individual. Behavioral theories are by Pavlov and Watson and they state that the behavior of an individual is caused and motivated by the conditioning of different factors in the environment.

The anti -social personality theory states that the personality of an individual which is shaped by the environment and it determines how they will turn out in future.Student AssessmentThe above mentioned psychological theories all come up with one conclusion that the difference between criminals and law abiding citizens is influenced by the environment in which the individual grew up in and which surrounds that individual on a daily basis. Individuals growing up and living in a crime infested neighborhood or in an emotionally unstable family may easily turn to criminal behavior compared to that in a peaceful neighborhood and stable family upbringing.

Those in the criminal-related fields like police and lawyers and prisons or social workers should consider using these theories to determine the cause and motivator of the criminal behavior and work using these theories to reform those criminals and prevent others from becoming criminals.ReferencesSiegel, L. (2011). Criminology. New York: Cengage Learning.