Psychosocial Theories in Criminal Justice

PSYCHOSOCIAL THEORIES in the APPLICATION of CRIMINAL JUSTICE Mark P. Robertson Deviant demeanour teacher Tomasina Cook EMPIRE STATE COLLEGE July 30, 2012 There be some(prenominal) Psychosocial Theories pertaining to human behaviour. The relation of some of these theories keister be directly applied to the Criminal Justice field. Theories focus on why some carriage develops, when and where the instruction begins, who is affected by it and whitethorn be particularly to a greater extent susceptible, what signs or carriages to look for, and what whitethorn be done to prevent it.Psychologist Terrie Moffitt proposed her Developmental Theory identifying two evolutional paths or patterns in which an unmarried may exhibit. Moffitt claims that criminal behavior sewer mainly be classified into one of these categories. Moffitt states that the Life-Course-Persistent (LCP) offender continues their asocial ways and behavior across or throughout all kinds of conditions and situations, and throughout the biography course (or life span).This is a developmental path in which the offender shows various psychological and antisocial difficulty, and defiance on a consistent basis at an archaeozoic age, on through young person and adolescence, and further into adulthood and beyond. It appears as though once LCPs become involved in a deviant and sickening lifestyle they continue and increase their pique as they grow older. Young children as LCPs a good deal show evidence of this developmental path in ways such as wild hold tantrums and mood swings, to biting and hitting.As adolescents, LCPs show signs such as truancy, shoplifting and substance abuse. This may seem like rather common or somewhat normal behavior for many junior individuals, and in many cases it is. However, when the young person or adolescent does not grow-out of this phase or behavioral pattern, it can progress into adulthood. The adult LCP may a great deal develop such behavior as robbery, rape, ch ild abuse, even murder. Adult LCPs show high levels of antisocial behavior, and be almost unaccompanied male in gender.You can read alsoJustice System Position PaperThe offending might even esca later(a), with the offenses and behavior becoming more violent in nature, more erratic, and unpredictable. As verbalize earlier, some criminal behavior may be seen or viewed as relatively normal behavior for younger individuals, especially males. In fact, most young individuals do grow-up and out of this, and choose (whether voluntarily or involuntarily) another(prenominal) developmental pathway. They may offend or display some type of criminal or bad behavior as children, adolescents, or young adults, but usually stop in their late-teens to early twenties.Terrie Moffitt states that these youths ar Adolescent-Limited (AL) offenders, and these individuals usually do not have or display the early developmental, persistent antisocial, or problem behavioral histories as their LCP counterpart s. However the case may be, there is an occasional commonality in the midst of LCP and AL youth. Often times, the frequency and severity of offending among LCP and AL youth, is mirrored. The patterns of offending between them can be almost identical, but with the onset of young adulthood looming near, these patterns then abruptly change.For many reasons, the AL youth realizes that continued offending will not lead to any sort of positive outcome, and he or she then stops. Ultimately, when applied in a criminal justice setting, Moffitts developmental guess of the LCP person and the AL person shows that the AL criminals or delinquents have the ability, or at the very least, are more likely to regain control of their lives. They desist in their evil and/or devious behavior when they begin to mature and evolve into a more social, conventional, realistic, and acceptable person.The LCP criminal or delinquent maintains their malevolent behavior, possibly and usually escalating into a mor e antisocial, unpredictable and dangerous person. LCPs generally have foresightful histories wrought with aggressive and violent crimes, with genuine disregard for legality, posing as a threat to everyone. Psychologist Erik Erikson proposed another theory of Psychosocial Development, which focuses on Stages. He states that each horizontal surface plays a major role in the development of personality and psychological skills.Erikson says there are a series of eight stages, coinciding with infancy to late adulthood, in which a person experiences different challenges. Each stage requires the successful completion of the prior stage to move onto the next, otherwise incomplete stages may reappear in the future and pose potential problems. However, living completeion or mastery of a stage is not necessary. Eriksons developmental stages are as follows 1. Hopes Trust vs. Mistrust (Oral-Sensory, Birth 2 yrs) 2. Will Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt (Muscular-Anal, 2 -4 yrs) 3. endeavor Initia tive vs. Guilt (Locomotor-Genital, Preschool, 4 -5 yrs) 4.Competence Industry vs. Inferiority (Latency, 5 12 yrs) 5. Fidelity individuation vs. Role Confusion (Adolescence, 13 19 yrs) 6. Love Intimacy vs. Isolation (Young Adulthood, 20 24, or 20 40 yrs) 7. Care Generativist vs. Stagnation (Middle Adulthood, 25 64, or 40 64 yrs) 8. Wisdom Ego justice vs. Despair (Late Adulthood, 65 death) In regards to Erik Eriksons developmental theory of the Stages, there is particular importance in relation to the criminal justice field. Stage 5, (Fidelity Identity vs. Role Confusion) plays a key role in psychosocial ability and behavior. Identity is unique to every individual.There may be a distinct correlation between identity and why some throng stray from the norms of society and venture off into a life of deviant or criminal activity. This is especially true when it involves young people. Young people/persons are quite easily influenced, and impressionable. It is a very critical an d important time in ones life, trapped somewhere between childhood and adulthood. It is a period of extreme change, extreme choices, and big decisions. pretermit of ones own identity, confusion, and the need and desire to belong, or to fit in somewhere, can and oft does provoke irrational thought.The inability or difficulty to become accepted by ones peers gives way to potentially bad choices. This can be especially difficult for certain cultural, ethnic, and societal groups. For example, inner-city youth (regardless of race) who grow up in areas with higher crime rates and/or criminal activity, or lower-income families (many with alone one parental figure) are by default, at higher risk of exposure to criminal activity. They in essence, have little or almost no chance of meeting or interacting with (or being influenced by) person from the suburbs, or the country (rural areas), where criminal activity is lower.These inner-city youths are more frequently exposed to crime (it is s ometimes all they see and know), and without positive influence, they are more susceptible to adopt an identity relative and fit to what they experience on a regular basis. They believe that is the norm and in turn, they tend to lean towards what they believe. preferably than having no identity at all, and having the desire to fit in somewhere, they naturally fall into place. Unfortunately, the choice(s) for these youths are often very limited, and this is a major problem. This may be a reason why Hans J.Eysenck certain his psychosocial development theory of temper and Crime. Hans J. Eysencks theory is regarded as one of the most influential psychological perspectives on crime today. (Cale, 2006) Eysenck states that criminal behavior is the result of an interaction between certain environmental conditions and certain features of the nervous system. In other words, certain types of personalities, combined with certain types of surroundings, lead to certain types of criminal acti vity. This equates to a perfect combination of attributes which are a recipe for juvenile, delinquent, and/or criminal behavior.This theory is unlike most present-day(a) theories of crime, because Eysenck heavily emphasizes that genetic predispositions are largely responsible for antisocial and criminal conduct. Theoretically, some people are just born different from the majority of the population, and their genetics result in their inability to adapt and adjust to societys rules, regulations, and expectancies. Therein lays the problem. To assist Eysenck in measuring different variables of, and predisposure to commit crimes and offenses, he developed several questionnaires. The best known questionnaire would be the British Maudsley Personality Inventory (MPI).Additional editions would be the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (EPQ-R). These questionnaires can be very helpful in providin g researchers with valuable keenness on how personality traits may coincide with criminality however it is not yet conclusive research. Although Eysencks theory of Personality and Crime cannot be definitively proven, it is still worth looking at. Criminal justice practitioners would be wise to examine and contemplate its useful and unique suggestions.While there are still several theories on psychosocial development to be discussed, Gerald Pattersons Coercion Developmental Theory is in alignment with Terrie Moffitts theory. Patterson states and believes that early starters are at greater risk for more serious criminal offending. (Bartol and Bartol, p. 65) Patterson theorizes that enchantment early starters are at greater risk, he focuses on how the parents and their roles with their children are more important, and much more instrumental. Essentially when young children experience different types of traumatic events (e. g. ivorce, family violence, inconsistent parental discipline) , they are prone to or are at greater likelihood to begin using or displaying authoritative behavior. haughty behavior can become the childs way of avoiding or escaping his or her immediate (parental, social) environment. This coercive behavior could be as minor or unassuming as lying, temper tantrums, or whining. at last this coercive behavior becomes the childs go to strategy to obtain the desired result(s) he or she wants. If left unchecked, or uncorrected by parents, the problem behavior can be prolonged, well into adolescence and on to adulthood.You can read also King v CogdonTherefore, parents need to gain and maintain control, in a non-threatening, non-demanding, appropriate way, as early as the coercive behavior is recognized. Summarizing that society has no shortage of people with some type of developmental disability that inhibits or prohibits their behavior, it can usually be traced back or down to its source. In conclusion, the theories discussed here can assist in na rrowing down the root causes of or perhaps the reasons why some individuals seem to veer astray from societal normality.Whether the causes or reasons are psychological, developmental, or environmental in nature, criminal justice practitioners can utilize these theories to evaluate, and possibly explain the behavior of those in question. REFERENCES, NOTES, and CITATIONS 1. Criminal Behavior A Psychosocial Approach, 8th Edition, By Bartol and Bartol 2. Generalist Case Management A order of Human Service Delivery, 3rd Edition, By Woodside and McClam 3. Online Research on Juvenile Delinquency and Criminal Behavior http//www. fbi. gov. juveniledelinquency. icr