Psychology and Crime
Psychologists through the years have possessed knowledge on criminal behaviour through executing psychological research. Numerous psychologists have embarked on studies but the focus is on four particular studies chosen for deeper analysis. Firstly, Sheldon had a theory of criminal behavior that highlighted the significance of physical appearance. He tried to find a correlation between a persons body build (somatotype) and criminal behavior. There are three basic body types, Endomorph who has a pear shaped body with wide hips, a rounded head and a lot of fat on the upper arms and thighs. A Mesomorph who has a wedge shaped body, wide shoulders and narrow hips, a massive cubical head and heavily muscled shoulders, arms and legs. Then lastly an Ectomorph who has narrow shoulders and hips, a narrow chest and abdomen, thin arms and legs and a high forehead and receding chin. Conversely, one of the biggest criticisms of his study was that not any one person is completely 100 percent one of these body types. Some people are meso endo morph where they would be tall and muscular. He believed that somatotype was linked with a persons temperament so an endomorph would be relaxed, endomorphs tend to be restrained and
a Mesomorph energetic and adventures. Considering this he then came to the conclusion that with the Mesomorph being adventurous this would lead them to participate in criminal activities. His study raises the problematic issue of self-fulfilling prophecy. This is where people label people as to what they believe they should be like. For instance as he believes Mesomorph's are going to be more aggressive, being included in criminal activity then he may be influenced towards portraying them as more criminally natured than they truthfully appear to be. To test his theory he obtained evidence using studies in which the somatotypes of college students and delinquents were assed from photographs. Each photograph was rated for Mesomorphy on a scale of 1 to 7 with 1 lowest and 7 highest. His findings showed that the delinquents had on average a higher Mesomorphy rating than the college students with a mean score rating of 4.6 compared to 3.8. These findings therefore support the theory that Mesomorphy is associated with criminal tendencies. He also found that some criminals did not fit the mesomorph somatotype. This would suggest that it is indecisive from this study there is any correlation between the two, meaning that another perspective may have to provide answers in explaining criminal behaviour. I personally perceive the way forward for society as being through the promotion of more positive role models for people to adhere to. Bandura has shown us how role models can affect behaviour so why should it not apply in a more positive direction, which is anti violent. The labeling of criminals also does little to help their re-entrance into society, and through the publicity and proactive application of rehabilitation criminals can be seen to make more of a life outside and would be less likely to repeat offences.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1687
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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