Developed by Sigmund Freud, psychoanalytic theory is a psychological perspective that focuses on the role of a person's unconscious mind and early childhood experiences in shaping their behavior. This perspective was highly influential and dominated the field of clinical psychology for several decades.

Psychoanalytic Theory

- People act in response to the feedback from their environment, rewards and punishment dictate ther response.
- 4 types of Rewards and Punishments
   - Positive Rewards
   - Negative Rewards
   - Positive Punishment
   - Negative Punsihment

Behavior Theory (Stimulus-Response Theory)

- Change their response
- There are 4 types of Self Control

Self Control Theory

The general idea of RFT is that the core of human language and cognition is the learned and controlled ability to relate events mutually and in combination with each other in context, and to alter the functions of specific events based on their relations to others.

Relational Frame Theory

- Many different theories related to conscious and unconscious reasons and reasoning for why people commit crimes, began with Freudian Psychology

Ohio State University, Columbus

- Classical
- Positivist/Biological
- Economic
- Psychological
- Sociological

Major Criminological Schools of Thought

Schmalleger, F. (2014). Criminology (The Justice Series). Criminology (2nd ed.). Pearson. https://archive.org/details/criminology0000schm. 

Criminology (The Justice Series)

- People choose to rationally commit crime through their free will by measuring the pain vs pleasure created from their action
- Two main contributors: Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham

Classical Criminology

Psychological Theories


- Using the shape of the skull to determine if someone was or is a criminal and what their personality (the first one to tie the mind to the personality)

Phrenology (Precursor to Positivism)

Economic Theory

- Applying sociological theories to understanding crime

Learn Before

Related

Learn After