The earliest theories that attempted to explain crime saw the cause as weakness and evil spirits within the person. Many times these theories were based on religious or moral beliefs, rather than empirical research. There are various modern day perspectives concerning crime causation such as: the classical perspective, the biological perspective, the psychological perspective, and the sociological perspective. The classical and neoclassical theories of crime, founded by Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham assume that crime is a rational free-will choice based on the pleasure–pain principle. The earliest biological theories of crime developed by Cesare Lombroso assumed that criminals were those individuals who failed to fully develop from their primitive origins and could be identified through physical features. The modern era biology based theories have been more likely based on biocriminology. The psychology based theories, such as Sigmund Freud’s, assume that criminal behavior is the expression of repressed feelings, personality maladjustment, or mental illness.
Sociological theories assume that crime is caused not by body, mind, or individual motivation, but by external societal factors that influence one’s behavior. In this perspective social groups and institutions create conditions that can underlie criminal behavior. The social disorganization theories view the cause of crime as resulting from an environment filled with poverty, unemployment, and inadequate housing. An early yet popular theory developed by Edwin Sutherland was known as differential association theory. This theory holds that crime is a learned behavior through contact with bad peer groups. The social control theories see decisions between conformity and deviance as shaped by an individual’s response to social expectations of those close to them. Robert Merton’s strain theory identified strain between societal goals and the means of achieving them as a source of criminal behavior. Individuals who cannot achieve the goals legitimately might turn to illegitimate means. Whereas strain theory is based
Oct 7, 2014 1 Psychology Notes New Unit What is Psychology? Psychology is the study of the human mind and its mental states It includes the study of characteristics of temperament and behaviour of a person or group. Psychologists aim to describe, predict, and control behavior and mental processes They study individuals and groups Schools of Thought in Psychology Exploring the Different Perspectives Four schools of Thought: 1. Humanist Psychologists 2. Cognitive Psychology 3. Psychodynamic…
Functionalists’ mindset that introspection and mind/consciousness was the main reason on how our minds work mechanically. One of the main persons responsible for the Behaviorism movement was John B. Watson who felt a need to restructure Psychology into a scientific psychology on the basis that behavior could be observed through stimulus and response methods and could be proven by experiments. Other schools of thought felt strong about the consciousness influenced our behavior as well and how we thought…
OBJECT RELATIONS THEORIES AND SELF PSYCHOLOGY Object Relations and Self Psychology Object relations refers to interpersonal relations 2. Object refers to that which will satisfy a need. Significant person or thing that is target of another's feelings (drives). 3. In combination with relations, object refers to interpersonal relations and suggests inner residues of past relations shaping present relations 4. Object relations theorists investigate the early formulation and differentiation…
or is not conscious of it. xlv. Conscious- being aware of something. xlvi. Individuation- becoming and individual. xlvii. Synchronicity- when the mental and physical state becomes balanced ("Carl Jung And Analytical Psychology", n.d.). xlviii. Unconscious- not being aware u. Is this theory research based? Evidence based? xlix. This theory falls under both categories. Jung has been criticized for his lack of empirical evidence. However, his…
Diverse Nature of Psychology Jessica Champion PSY / 490 July 2, 2012 University of Phoenix Diverse Nature of Psychology Psychology is a diverse area of study. Within this paper it will discuss the influence of diversity and it’s major concepts within psychology. It will also discuss subtopics within psychology, as well as how subtopics are identified, and applied to other disciplines within society. As well as, explain how these subtopics affect my personal theoretical perspective. Lastly…
Theorists The use of development charts is only the beginning of the process of understanding a child. Now look at what each theorist has to say about child development. Theories and approaches You are ready to make theoretical links when you have found and discussed appropriate child development milestones. The following pages summarise the main theories of a number of child development theorists. Jean Piaget (1896-1980) Piaget is a constructivist. Constructivists think that children learn…
crowd behaviour (Postmes & Spears, 1998), has traditionally been defined as a state where individuals in a crowd are ‘able to indulge in forms of behavior in which, when alone, they would not indulge,’ (Festinger et al., 1952). Researchers in Social Psychology have identified a number of variables that contribute to deindividuation (Guerin, 2003). However, which of these variables is responsible is a widely debated issue, with no conclusive findings to date. The following essay explores the concept of…
the organizations. Organizational learning was then studied organization using the perspectives of psychology or behavioral science, or using the various lenses of political, economic and social. This paper will provide a summary and critique of the four leading theories on organization. Argyris and Schon’s Organizational Learning II Chris Argyris was a business theorist with background on psychology and economics. His research on individual behavior and research provided foundation for future studies…
Running head: BASIC PERSPECTIVES ON MOTIVATION Basic Perspectives on Motivation: Evaluating Five Accounts for Sleep and Sleep Deprivation David Hickson University of Southern Queensland Abstract Sleep deprivation is prevalent in industrialized societies and has been linked to serious health issues and traffic accidents. This essay views sleep and sleep deprivation from five different motivational perspectives in order to gain a holistic understanding of the phenomena. From evolutionary…
Part 1 There are many theories in Developmental Psychology; past, present, and future. But out of all the theories there are “Grand Theories”. Grand theories in Developmental Psychology are major concepts used to describe every aspect of development from cognitive, emotional, physical, social and educational development from Birth to Adulthood. Behind the major stage theories are major stage theorists. After learning in detail about each theorist and their stage theories on development I was able…