Psychoanalytic criminology is a method of studying crime and criminal behaviour that draws from Freudian psychoanalysis. This school of thought examines personality and the psyche (particularly the unconscious) for motive in crime. Other areas of interest are the fear of crime and the act of punishment.
Criminal behaviour is attributed to maladjustment and dysfunctional personality. According to Buhagiar, "psychoanalytic criminologists were not adverse to the principle of confinement, and often favored increased penality".
When looking at a specific crime, like sexually motivated serial killers, for example, this psychoanalytic perspective can be very helpful. This lens allows for exploring the link between evil and aggression. In this paper that looks at the aggression of evil, and aggression through this perspective allows for the introduction of what 'evil' actually means. Looking at this crime psychoanalytically allowed the author to define evil as destructive aggression that is innate and reactive; as a result, he came to the conclusion that everyone has the capacity for evil and can be viewed as a reaction to threat or sense of endearment.
Freudian psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud is the established original psychoanalyst to form theories and concepts surrounding the existence of mental illness and its interconnected nature with human behaviour. Throughout his research, Freud concluded that behaviour can be explained through the analysis of one's experiences and trauma giving accountability to the motivation of a person's actions. The interpretation of his findings concluded a person can adapt his/her behaviour from childhood experiences to become a part of the hidden consciousness state. He studied unobservable behaviour, parts of the personality that are not visibly noticeable within one's nature and on a basic level cannot be explained.
In 1923, Freud formed an idea that the theoretical human mind had three elements that conceptually make up 'The Psyche'. Id (instincts), Ego (reality) and Superego (morality) are not tangible physical areas within the brain, rather, entities that Freud concluded make up the human personality. What Freud referred to as the "psychic apparatus", three elements of the human personality are now established as the unconscious level that dictates one's desires and biological instincts (see section 'Attributed Neurobiological Factors' for more details).
Freud did not directly use his research and theories to explain how a person is led to commit a crime, but the application of his theories has been adapted by psychologists and psychoanalysts to understand the connection between the unconscious mind and criminalistic tendencies and actions.
Within the realm of science, the study into psychoanalysis has been contested and debated according to its validity.
History
Psychoanalytic criminology may be said to have begun with a 1911 study of parricide;The Development of Psychoanalytic Criminology but its real foundation came in 1916 when Freud published Criminality from a Sense of Guilt, in which he maintained that many criminals were driven by unconscious guilt which preceded the crime and led to a need for punishment. In applying psychoanalysis to the question of determining guilt or innocence in any given case, Freud was insistent however that analysis could only identify the guilty impulse, not necessarily the act itself.J. Halliday/P. Fuller, The Psychology of Gambling (1974) p. 168
Another major contribution came in 1929 with the book by Franz Alexander and Hugo Staub entitled The Criminal, the Judge and the Public.Thomas S. Szasz, Law, Liberty and Psychiatry (1963) p. 94 They drew a clear distinction between the normal criminal, for whom retribution was appropriate, and the neurotic criminal who needed treatment instead.Szasz, p. 93
Otto Fenichel added the point that while some criminals actively sought punishment to relieve their unconscious guilt, others sought to avoid punishment in order to prove their guilt feelings were unjustified.Otto Fenichel, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (1946) p. 499 He also stressed that criminality was a legal, not a psychological category, and considered most criminals were normals rather than neurotics (if still with unconscious motivations and possible lacks in normal consciences).Fenichel, p. 505
Psychoanalytic criminology was further developed by August Aichhorn, Melanie Klein, Fritz Redl, and David Wineman.
Sociological association to crime
The sociological and environmental association to crime represents the "nurture" element of the term "Nature vs Nurture". An individual's social environment has a central effect on a person's moral compass, political ideology and potential personality traits. These aspects mould the identity of a person and inflict subconscious psychological effect on everyday behaviour, attitudes and criminogenic needs.
Research over the past five years indicates that a victim of a crime becomes more susceptible to expressing their trauma and/or psychological through violence and aggression. This is widely accepted as being the result of fostered trauma such as sexual assault or domesticated violence from early childhood. Consistent subjection to violence and abuse have shown correlative data that reflect dysfunctional behaviour and antisocial personality traits later on in life. Correlative variables do not indicate direct causation but lead to an additional variable leading to crime, for example, aggression and violent behaviour. Research has been conducted in both adult and children populations to investigate if there is a link between abuse in early life and incarcerated individuals. A published paper in 1999 explored an investigative review of 150 female inmates within maximum-security facilities. Browne, Miller and Maguin conducted interviews with each female individual and their results showed a high correlative pattern of early domesticated abuse leading to the motivation of crime. 70% of incarcerated women within the facility reported having experienced child sexual molestation, severe physical violence by parents and/or sexual violence by an acquittance or partner at some point in their life. Within the same sample, 78% claimed to have experienced a traumatic event within their life that had resulted in being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Differential association claims that all criminals learn and adapt behaviours from individuals they are closely connected to, for example a relative or spouse. The theory recognises that the more contact an individual has will a criminal – the more likely one is to engage in criminalistic activities. Anomie, a theory proposed by Robert K. Merton explores the idea of social disintegration leading to crime. This theory focuses on individuals who are incapable of achieving their desired goals in society through legal and socially accepted means. In order to attain financial support or material goods, crime will emerge in time of desperation. This set or of moral values appeals towards the criminal subculture that disassociated to the rest of society - often stemming from a collective emotion of marginalisation e.g., gangs. This type of delinquency is strongly associated towards the low socio-economic class; poor and rural.
Neutralisation theory recognises that the average individual is deterred from crime as violent actions go against standardised moral standing as it leaves the individual with feelings of guilt and shame. The theory explores that some delinquent individuals attempt to 'neutralise' this sense guilt that provides relief therefore they internally condone their criminalistic behaviour. Individuals that possess tendencies to neutralise their behaviour, often conform to societally accepted behaviour and represent strong morals. By redefining their actions, it facilitates the individual commit crimes with more ease. Low self-control theory of crime enforces impulsive and risk-taking action, individuals that possess this trait seek short term satisfaction rather than long-term resulting in poor decision making and spontaneous violence against another individual. In contrast, labelling theory introduces the idea that by identifying an individual as a criminal will increasingly advocate the person to adopt criminal-like tendencies. By acquiring this identity, the individual may endorse feelings of isolation and rejection and become more estranged from feeling obligated to follow the law.
Attributed Neurobiological factors
The study into the unconscious motive for criminal behaviour takes into account the uncontrollable variables human possesses such as the neurobiological pathways and reactions. The biochemical association towards crime must acknowledge psychophysiology, brain mechanism and genetic factors that contribute towards dysfunctional personalities.
Blunted autonomic functioning has been linked to individuals with antisocial behaviour and criminalistic tendencies. Blunted autonomic functioning is the state in which an individual has a reduced response to stimuli resulting in a low arousal capacity towards material that would otherwise cause distress and fear within the standard person. This has been recorded to induce a positive feedback loop, the low arousal level creates a low resting heart rate which then accounts for a reduced psychical response. This physiological trait creates a sense of fearlessness as the individual with blunted autonomic functioning does not experience the standardised physiological responses to distress that can be associated with discomfort. The lack of discomfort arouses the individual to engage in criminalistic behaviour to increase their arousal state as the person tends to have high levels of proactive aggression which does not deter the individual from carrying out criminal acts. Proactive aggression is the act of violence and rebel with little to no provocation. Blunted autonomic functioning impairs emotional intelligence by disallowing the development of feelings of shame, guilt and empathy hence resulting in psychopathic tendencies, behaviours and traits.
Physical somatic markers such as sweat conduction, give insight into the inter-relation between the emotional and physical state of an individual. The somatic changes of a person indicate the emotional state of a person while undergoing or viewing distressing material. The lack of somatic changes increases the likelihood to engage in crime as the individual cannot experience physical or emotional states that signal emotional discomfort to dissuade a person from committing violent crimes or generally violating the law.
The brain is acknowledged for contributing a key role in increasing tendencies that will ultimately lead to crime. The pre-frontal cortex and amygdala have a combined role in determining an individual's emotional state and his/her ability to recognise expressive emotions from the facial and auditory stimulus, particularly from negative and fearful emotions.
The Pre-frontal cortex (PFC) functions to form decision-making, moral reasoning, impulse regulation and attention and emotional control for individuals. Impairments and aberrations within these areas have led to observed criminalistic behaviours. A study conducted in 2018 reviewed 17 patients with brain lesions in research of identifying common characteristics of the effect of their injuries. The results concluded that regardless of the area of damaged tissue in the PFC, the patients were all left with disruption to their neuro-moral processes resulting in poor decision making and overall moral compass. These traits are associated with provoking criminal behaviours.