Criminal psychology
Encyclopedia
Criminal psychology is the study of the wills, thoughts, intentions and reactions of criminals
. It is related to the field of criminal anthropology. The study goes deeply into what makes someone commit crime, but also the reactions after the crime, on the run or in court. Criminal psychologists are often called up as witnesses in court cases to help the jury understand the mind of the criminal. Some types of Psychiatry
also deal with aspects of criminal behavior.
Office of Strategic Services
asked William L. Langer
's brother Walter C. Langer
, a well renowned psychiatrist
, to draw up a profile of Adolf Hitler
. After the Second World War British
psychologist Lionel Haward, while working for the Royal Air Force
police, drew up a list of characteristics which high-ranking Nazi war criminals might display, to be able to spot them amongst ordinary captured soldiers and airmen.
In the 1950s, US psychiatrist James A. Brussel drew up what turned to be an uncannily accurate profile of a bomber who had been terrorizing New York
.
The fastest development occurred when the FBI opened its training academy
, the Behavioral Analysis Unit
(BAU), in Quantico, Virginia
. It led to the establishment of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime
and the violent criminal apprehension program. The idea was to have a system which could pick up links between unsolved major crimes.
In the United Kingdom
, Professor David Canter was a pioneer helping to guide police detectives from the mid-1980s to an offender who had carried out a series of serious attacks, but Canter saw the limitations of "offender profiling" - in particular, the subjective, personal opinion of a psychologist. He and a colleague coined the term investigative psychology and began trying to approach the subject from what they saw as a more scientific point of view.
and psychiatry
treated crime as an identity is French philosopher Michel Foucault
in Discipline and Punish
. Foucault showed how, since its birth, the prison had been criticized by a reformist movement, which showed that it created a class of professional criminals (recidivists), separated from the popular classes, and often used by the police as informant
s and to carry out shady acts for the act. In other words, far from stifling criminality, the reformist movement showed that prison created and perpetrated a class of professional criminals. Henceforth, Foucault concluded that the prison's alleged failure (in rehabilitating
criminals) was in fact its success, and that it was used as a disciplinary technology
to control the population
. Foucault also showed that, if the penal system in Early Modern Europe
punished the crime in itself, the act itself, the new disciplinary system punished the person, and not the crime. It did not ask: "what did you do?" (as in the classical school
of criminology; i.e. Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham
), but "who are you?" (as in the Italian school
, Cesare Lombroso
, etc.) In this frame, the role of criminal anthropology, psychiatry, etc., became evident as a tool used to create the notion of "dangerous people".
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
. It is related to the field of criminal anthropology. The study goes deeply into what makes someone commit crime, but also the reactions after the crime, on the run or in court. Criminal psychologists are often called up as witnesses in court cases to help the jury understand the mind of the criminal. Some types of Psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
also deal with aspects of criminal behavior.
Profiling
A major part of Criminal psychology, known as offender profiling, began in the 1940s when the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
asked William L. Langer
William L. Langer
William Leonard Langer was the chair of the history department at Harvard University and the World War II volunteer head of the Research and Analysis branch of the Office of Strategic Services...
's brother Walter C. Langer
Walter C. Langer
Walter Charles Langer was a Cambridge, Massachusetts psychoanalyst best known for his role in preparing a World War II psychological analysis of Adolf Hitler in 1943 for the Office of Strategic Services, that predicted his suicide as the "most plausible outcome" among several possibilities...
, a well renowned psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
, to draw up a profile of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. After the Second World War British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
psychologist Lionel Haward, while working for the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
police, drew up a list of characteristics which high-ranking Nazi war criminals might display, to be able to spot them amongst ordinary captured soldiers and airmen.
In the 1950s, US psychiatrist James A. Brussel drew up what turned to be an uncannily accurate profile of a bomber who had been terrorizing New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
The fastest development occurred when the FBI opened its training academy
FBI Academy
The FBI Academy, located in Quantico, Virginia, is the training site for new Special Agents of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was first opened for use in 1972 on 385 acres of woodland. It is a relatively small government academy, housing three dormitory buildings and...
, the Behavioral Analysis Unit
Behavioral Analysis Unit
The Behavioral Analysis Unit is a component of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime that uses behavioral sciences to assist in criminal investigations...
(BAU), in Quantico, Virginia
Quantico, Virginia
- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there are 561 people, 295 households, and 107 families living in the town. The population density is . There are 359 housing units at an average density of .-Racial composition:...
. It led to the establishment of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime
National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime
In November 1982, following a meeting between members of the Criminal Personality Research Project advisory board and other specialists, the concept of a single ' was put forward. This elite investigative branch was never envisaged as a replacement for traditional crime investigation by local law...
and the violent criminal apprehension program. The idea was to have a system which could pick up links between unsolved major crimes.
In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Professor David Canter was a pioneer helping to guide police detectives from the mid-1980s to an offender who had carried out a series of serious attacks, but Canter saw the limitations of "offender profiling" - in particular, the subjective, personal opinion of a psychologist. He and a colleague coined the term investigative psychology and began trying to approach the subject from what they saw as a more scientific point of view.
Critics
Among the most notable people who criticized how psychologyPsychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
treated crime as an identity is French philosopher Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
in Discipline and Punish
Discipline and Punish
Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison is a book by philosopher Michel Foucault. Originally published in 1975 in France under the title Surveiller et punir: Naissance de la Prison, it was translated into English in 1977. It is an interrogation of the social and theoretical mechanisms behind...
. Foucault showed how, since its birth, the prison had been criticized by a reformist movement, which showed that it created a class of professional criminals (recidivists), separated from the popular classes, and often used by the police as informant
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
s and to carry out shady acts for the act. In other words, far from stifling criminality, the reformist movement showed that prison created and perpetrated a class of professional criminals. Henceforth, Foucault concluded that the prison's alleged failure (in rehabilitating
Rehabilitation (penology)
Rehabilitation means; To restore to useful life, as through therapy and education or To restore to good condition, operation, or capacity....
criminals) was in fact its success, and that it was used as a disciplinary technology
Disciplinary institutions
Disciplinary institutions is a concept proposed by Michel Foucault in Discipline and Punish . School, prison, barracks or the hospital are examples of historical disciplinary institutions, all created in their modern form in the 19th century with the Industrial Revolution...
to control the population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
. Foucault also showed that, if the penal system in Early Modern Europe
Early modern Europe
Early modern Europe is the term used by historians to refer to a period in the history of Europe which spanned the centuries between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, roughly the late 15th century to the late 18th century...
punished the crime in itself, the act itself, the new disciplinary system punished the person, and not the crime. It did not ask: "what did you do?" (as in the classical school
Classical school
The Classical School in criminology is usually a reference to the 18th-century work during the Enlightenment by the utilitarian and social contract philosophers Jeremy Bentham and Cesare Beccaria. Their interests lay in the system of criminal justice and penology and, indirectly through the...
of criminology; i.e. Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism...
), but "who are you?" (as in the Italian school
Italian school of criminology
The Italian school of criminology was founded at the end of the 19th century by Cesare Lombroso and two of his Italian disciples, Enrico Ferri and Raffaele Garofalo .- Lombroso's conception of the "atavistic born criminal" :...
, Cesare Lombroso
Cesare Lombroso
Cesare Lombroso, born Ezechia Marco Lombroso was an Italian criminologist and founder of the Italian School of Positivist Criminology. Lombroso rejected the established Classical School, which held that crime was a characteristic trait of human nature...
, etc.) In this frame, the role of criminal anthropology, psychiatry, etc., became evident as a tool used to create the notion of "dangerous people".
See also
- Forensic psychologyForensic psychologyForensic psychology is the intersection between psychology and the criminal justice system. It involves understanding criminal law in the relevant jurisdictions in order to be able to interact appropriately with judges, attorneys and other legal professionals...
- Criminal anthropology
- Antisocial personality disorderAntisocial personality disorderAntisocial personality disorder is described by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth edition , as an Axis II personality disorder characterized by "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood...
- PsychopathyPsychopathyPsychopathy is a mental disorder characterized primarily by a lack of empathy and remorse, shallow emotions, egocentricity, and deceptiveness. Psychopaths are highly prone to antisocial behavior and abusive treatment of others, and are very disproportionately responsible for violent crime...
- Narcissistic personality disorderNarcissistic personality disorderNarcissistic personality disorder is a personality disorder in which the individual is described as being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, prestige and vanity...
- Malignant narcissismMalignant NarcissismMalignant narcissism has been described as "an extreme form of antisocial personality disorder that is manifest in a person who is pathologically grandiose, lacking in conscience and behavioral regulation, and with characteristic demonstrations of joyful cruelty and sadism".Malignant narcissism is...
- Sadistic personality disorderSadistic personality disorderSadistic personality disorder is a diagnosis which appeared only in an appendix of the revised third edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . The current version of the DSM does not include it, so it is no longer considered a valid...