Understanding Criminal Behaviour and Psychology

The assignment discusses the significance of understanding criminal behaviour and psychology, highlighting various factors that contribute to an individual's actions. It also mentions the importance of applying appropriate psychological perspectives in public service to reduce crimes.

PSYCHOLOGY OF
BEHAVIOUR

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................3
Theories of criminal behaviour and casual factors.................................................................3
Ways Psychological perspective are applied in the public services.......................................6
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Psychology is the scientific study of human mind and its functions which effect the
behaviour of an individual in a given context. Behaviour may be defined as the way someone
behaves or it can be defined as the response of the group or an individual to the action,
person, environment. Psychology of behaviour is also called behaviourism which is theory
based upon the idea that behaviours are adopted or acquired through conditioning and this
conditioning may occur through the interactions with the environment. Psychology of
behaviours involves the examination of different behavioural styles and providing the therapy
in order to correct any negative behaviour of an individual. Present report discuses about the
various factors which result in the criminal activities and the theories which are related to the
criminal behaviour. This report also includes how can various psychological perspectives can
be apllied by individuals and team in public services.
MAIN BODY
Theories of criminal behaviour and casual factors
Casual Factors, influences and factors that contribute in criminal activity
There are various kinds of casual factors or influences which contribute in criminal activity in
many ways. Factors that contribute in criminal activity or forces or influences an individual
in committing a crime are various. One of the most common factors that contribute in crime
is unemployment and poverty, these factors influences the criminals in committing crime as
money is one of the basic necessities of livelihood. Sometimes thought of lavish life also
forces an individual in committing a crime as they think it is one of the shortest ways of
making money. Such individuals do not think of consequences that they will be needing to
face after committing a crime (Brown and et.al., 2017). There are few more factors such as
racism, homelessness, substance misuse and typical stereotypes. These factors influence an
individual in committing a crime like if a person faces racism then it will affect them
mentally and will force them to commit a crime. Typical stereotypes such as only poor people
commit crime, due to this stereotype most of the times poor people are treated unequally
which forces them to commit a crime and contribute in criminal activity. Homelessness is
another factor that influences people to commit a crime as this factor forces many people to
commit a crime and make money in order to obtain a shelter to live.

In other words, factors such as housing, ethnicity, unemployment, education, financial
conditions force an individual to commit a crime or affects crime. Victims of such factors
forces themselves to commit a crime and contribute in criminal activities. There are various
other factors that have a major role in influencing people in order to commit a crime and
affect or contribute in criminal activity such as: peer pressure has always been linked to
criminal behaviour. It is one of the reason due to which many teenagers get influences to
commit a crime as peer pressure is an influence on oneself that is placed by others peer
groups of similar age which influences an individual to engage themselves in a criminal
activity (Kamaluddin and et.al., 2015). Negative peer pressure forces an individual to commit
a crime. Other factors that influences an individual in committing a crime are ongoing
fashion trends such as: media, internet, religion etc. Such negative fashion trends have been a
major influence on individual which forces them to commit a crim e. various internet or
social media crimes are committed due to these fashion trends such as mms scandals etc.
Theories of criminal behaviour
There are various theories of crime and criminal behaviour, where main root causes of
criminal behaviour are explained with the help of various existing and proposed theories. Bowlby and maternal deprivation: This theory proposes that a warm, continuous and
intimate relationship with mother is extremely important and necessary for emotional
and psychological development. Mother’s love in childhood helps in mental heath
growth and development. In other words this theory says that positive attachment
experience helps in development of good practices within the children’s. Social learning theory: This theory says that an individual engages themselves in
either non-criminal or criminal behaviour which completely depends upon their social
environment. Such type of people get influence by the way other people model or
reward behaviour (Ciardha, Gannon and Ward, 2016). This theory says that criminal
behaviour is learned which is counteracted by developing a social environment where
criminal behaviour is not normalized. So, this theory is most frequently used as a base
for supportive programs such as: in schools where positive behaviour is encouraged
so that students can develop a positive behaviour, used by communities that are
developed to take care and support juveniles. This can also help in educating
individuals with the help of different educational programs which will help in
educating individuals about different types of crimes such as drugs, violence etc. as

well as their consequences so that they can understand all the negative effects of
committing a crime Rational choice theory: It is one of the most classic theory of criminology. This
theory says that the choice of committing a crime arises due to a logical judgement of
reward versus cost. According to this theory punishment is the best way to deter a
person from committing a crime. This theory makes cost much more significant as
compared to reward, so that an individual decides themselves that crime is not worth
it. This is one of the most reasonable theory that helps in deterring humans from crime
however there are various other factors which complicate this understating such as:
Teenagers have immature brains which makes things much more complicated as they
do not think of consequences, most of the human beings do not think logically and get
influenced by their emotions and lastly most of the individuals do not have sound
knowledge about a particular situation of consequences and as a result they lack
sound judgement. Cognitive theory: Various kinds of efforts have been made in order to explain
criminal behaviour especially within this cognitive theory. It focusses on the mental
health of an Individual. This theory says the way criminals mentally represent and
perceive the world around them. This theory focusses on the thought process of an
individual while committing a crime. Theorist says that different stages of cognitive
development can help in explaining crime committed by an individual. There are
three level or stages of moral development which are: pre-conventional level is mostly
seen in children that focusses on the external consequences of that action or crime
committed, Another is conventional level which is common in young adults till 20
which focusses on societies expectations and point of view and lastly is post-
conventional which is common in adults above 20 which focusses on moral principles
and human rights (Bruijnes and et.al., 2015).
 Biosocial theory: This theory says that people are born criminals who cannot deter
themselves from committing crimes wither due to mental illness or physical disability
etc. criminal cannot learn to control themselves.
From the above investigation there are various factors that contribute in committing
criminal activities. Various kinds of psychological theories can be applied which can help in
understanding the root cause of the crime and can also help in understanding their criminal

behaviours. In other words, these psychological criminal theories can help in identifying all
the casual factors, influences and contributory factors that contribute in criminal activities.
With the help of these theories root cause behind the crime can be identified and can be used
to reduce the criminal activities or can help in changing the mindset of criminals.
Ways Psychological perspective are applied in the public services
Ways psychological perspectives can be applied by individuals in public services
Psychological perspective and theories can be applied in the public services on an individual
or on personal level by various ways such as: Style of communication: All the individuals have their unique style of communication
in which they exchange information with others. It is important to understand and
apply particular communication style in particular situation especially in public
services on individual or personal level(Willingham, Hughes and Dobolyi, 2015).
These styles of communication determine are important to be applied in public sector
as it can help in removing misunderstanding etc. There are various types of
communication styles that are mostly used in communication which are: passive
communication style- this style fails to express feelings of an individual and often
create misunderstandings. Aggressive communication style- it mostly emphasis on
loud and demanding voice which is mostly used to control and blame others. It is one
of the most commanding style of communication which is mostly not lived by others
(Soflano, Connolly and Hainey, 2015). Assertive communication style- it is one of the
most effective communication style that can be opted by an individual for
communicating information, ideas etc. Learning style: Learning style is important as it helps an individual in learning and
sharing their knowledge with others. There are various kinds of learning styles such
as: Kolb’s learning style, Honey and Mumford learning style, Fleming social learning
theory. Such learning styles helps in developing and changing the mindset of an
individual. Kolb’s learning style says that learning is a simple process where
knowledge is created and transferred through experience (Pachet, 2016). It can be
applied in variety of situations that can help an individual in public sector as
individuals can transfer their knowledge to others as well. Honey and Mumford
developed a learning style helps an individual in seeking opportunities to learn in
different styles They developed various kinds of learning styles such as activist,

theorist, pragmatist and reflector. Activist involves group discussions, brainstorming,
puzzle solving etc. Theorist involves quotes, stats, models, stories etc. pragmatist
involves problem solving, discussions etc. Reflector involves observing activities etc.
 Leadership styles and motivational theories: A kind of leadership style adopted by the
leaders in the public service and leadership approach can have an impact on the
behaviour of an individual. Motivation can also have an impact on the behaviour of
the employees in a public service(Lepper and Greene 2015). There are various
leadership styles which can be adopted by the leaders of the public service like
autocratic, democratic, laissez faire, transformational, transactional leadership style
etc which can be implemented by leaders depending upon the situations. A leader of
public services can also make use of various motivational theories like Maslow's
Hierarchy of needs which help in motivating the employees of public services.
According the Maslow humans have a ascending needs which needs to be fulfilled for
the purpose of high motivation of the employees. It consists of 5 levels which
includes Basic Psychological needs at the first level which is important to be fulfilled
second level consists of safety, their level is social belongings, fourth is self esteem
and the last is self actualisation. All these level when successfully implemented can
have an impact on the behaviour of the individuals in public services.
Psychological perspectives that can be applied to teams within public services
Psychological perspective and theories which can be applied in the public services within the
teams are described below:
Team roles:According to Bilbin there are 9 team roles which is designed to make use of
personalities and talents within a team. To work in a team a cooperation is must which
improves the team's performance. Team role can help in recognising the behaviours of the
individuals in a team (Rogers, 2017). It is important for each team to access the nine team
role behaviours in order to become high performing team, each team role has got strengths
and weaknesses too which has got equal importance in the sector. It is not important for the
teams to follow all the nine team roles at once but should first look at their team objectives
and work accordingly to complete a task.
Personality types: There are various types of people working in a team which have got
different personalities (Sen, 2017). It is important for the people to understand each others
personalities in order to avoid conflicts within a team. It refers to the psychological

classification of the different individuals in a team which can be understood by the biological
perspective of an individual.
Conflict management and negotiation:Conflict management may be defined as the process of
minimising the negative aspects of the conflicts which may arise in a group. Conflicts may
arise in a group but it is equally important to bring parties at negotiation. There are three
negotiation strategies which can be applied in public service in order to bring the parties at
negotiation. Three negotiation strategies which can be applied in the teams of public services
are avoiding being provoked into an emotional response, not abandoning the value while
negotiating and last is using the time as an advantage while holding the dispute resolution
process.
Psychology applied by public services to reduce criminal behaviours
There are various professional in public services which can help in reducing the
criminal behaviour. One of the best psychology which is applied in public services is criminal
psychology (Hallward, Patel and Duncan, 2018). Criminal psychology is a field which mostly
focuses on the offenders. A criminal psychologist can perform criminal proceedings in four
ways such as-
Clinical- In this situation psychologist uses assessment tools, psychometric tool or interview
in order to provide the clinical judgement.
Experimental- in this situation psychologist performs research which includes executing tests
in order to illustrate a point to provide information to the court.
Actuarial-in this role psychologist uses statistics in order to inform a case sometime
psychologist may be asked to provide the probability of occurring an event.
Advisory- it is a part where the psychologist give advice and guidance to police regarding
how to proceed with the investigation like a psychologist can provide guidance which is the
best way of interviewing a criminal. Criminal behaviour can also be reduced by filling the
major gaps in the society like education, providing employment, control on drugs and
alcoholism, training centres etc. Also, providing counselling programs for the criminals in
societies and prisons.
Evaluation of psychological perspectives applied in the work range of public services

Psychological perspectives can be applied in the wide range of public services as in
public service there are various departments which have to perform their role and
responsibilities, so it is important for various departments to understand what jobs they
perform and which kind of psychological perspective is important for them (Abdullahi and
Kumar, 2016). People in the public service have to understand various perspectives like
feelings, thinkings, behaviours etc. Every perspective should be looked in different ways like
aggression is considered as biological but some may consider it has behavioural which may
come from stress, pressure etc. So it is important for wide ranges service to used appropriate
psychological perspective which have an influence on the behaviour of an individual.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above report that it is important understand the
behavioural psychology of the criminals. It can also be summarised that there are various
factors which have an influence on the behaviour of criminals and also there are various
theories which are associated with the behaviours of criminals. Present report also concludes
that it is important to understand the psychology of criminals in order to reduce crimes. There
are also various behavioural perspectives which can be applied in public service which can
help in understanding the behaviours the criminals and individuals.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Abdullahi, I. A. and Kumar, P., 2016. Gender differences in prosocial behaviour. The
International Journal of Indian Psychology. 3(4). pp.171-175.
Brown, S., and et.al., 2017. Psychology of Criminal Behaviour: A Canadian Perspective 2nd
edition. Development and Psychopathology, 17, pp.67-84.
Bruijnes, M., and et.al., 2015. Social behaviour in police interviews: relating data to theories.
In Conflict and Multimodal Communication (pp. 317-347). Springer, Cham.
Ciardha, C.Ó., Gannon, T.A. and Ward, T., 2016. The cognitive distortions of child sexual
abusers: Evaluating key theories. The Wiley Handbook on the Theories, Assessment
and Treatment of Sexual Offending, pp.207-222.
Hallward, L., Patel, N. and Duncan, L. R., 2018. Behaviour change techniques in physical
activity interventions for men with prostate cancer: A systematic review. Journal of
health psychology, p.1359105318756501.
Kamaluddin, M.R., and et.al., 2015. Linking psychological traits with criminal behaviour: A
review. ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, 16(2), pp.13-25.
Lepper, M. R. and Greene, D. eds., 2015. The hidden costs of reward: New perspectives on
the psychology of human motivation. Psychology Press.
Pachet, F., 2016. Interacting with style: the MIROR software and its learning theories.
In Children's Creative Music-Making with Reflexive Interactive Technology (pp. 81-
101). Routledge.
Rogers, C., 2017. A social psychology of schooling: The expectancy process. Routledge.
Sen, A., 2017. Rational behaviour. The new Palgrave dictionary of economics, pp.1-14.
Soflano, M., Connolly, T.M. and Hainey, T., 2015. Learning style analysis in adaptive GBL
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Willingham, D.T., Hughes, E.M. and Dobolyi, D.G., 2015. The scientific status of learning
styles theories. Teaching of Psychology, 42(3), pp.266-271.
Zinatullin, L., 2016. The Psychology of Information Security: Resolving conflicts between
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