Eras - revision

Origin of psychology

Traced back to late 19th century

Origins of criminology

Term was coined in 1890s

The pre-modern era

People who committed crimes seen as being affected by outside influence not created by humans, e.g. supernatural, witchcraft, religion, superstition.

• Pre-scientific - there was no scientific validity

• Didn’t see criminals as a distinctly different group to non-criminals, because crime thought to be caused by outside influences

Galen

Mediaeval writer who believed body was made up of four humours, and that an imbalance of these would result in personality changes and illness

• Melancholic (sad)

• Choleric (aggressive)

• Sanguine (sociable)

• Phlegmatic (calm)

Eysenck’s personality types

A pre-modern idea that has influenced modern-day theories - Extraversion and Neuroticism, strongly influenced by Galen’s writings

Eysenck argued…

Some people are biologically predisposed to crime due to their personality - extroverted type had low cortical arousal so sought out excitement to compensate, e.g. committing crime

The modern era

Characterised by greater faith in objectivity, rationality and the scientific method.

Individual isn’t considered to be in control of their deviation from the norm.

Crime seen as due to internal mental deficiencies (individual positivism) or the result of social factors such as economy, religion, poverty (sociological positivism), so punishment isn’t deemed appropriate.

Instead, medical model states crime is an illness that should be treated.

Who coined the term ‘positivism’

Auguste Comte

Positivism

Scientific form of sociology that would provide a positive agenda for political change (Auguste Comte)

Individual positivism

Assumes behaviour is the result of the individual and internal factors, rather than social factors. Aligns with psychology

Sociological positivism

Assumes behaviour is a result of social factors, things external to the individual that shape them. Aligns with criminology

Durkheim believed…

We all share certain beliefs as to what constitutes a crime, but the social environment goes through changes that leads to the breakdown of social norms, leading to a state of anomie

Anomie

Literally meaning ‘without norms’

The late-modern era

Characterised by challenges to the scientific principles of rationality that were dominant during the modern era.

Different moral debates resulted in a divide between those who argued that crime is a reality and can be counted and classified (positivism), and those who argued that crime isn't real as it's socially constructed and changeable.

Criminals were seen more as threats to order than victims of circumstance.

The late-modern era questioned…

Whether criminals are really different to non-criminals, if criminals who commit one minor crime are the same as criminals who continually commit crime/more serious crimes

Becker (1963) believed…

All crime is socially constructed

The post-modern era

Challenged our conventional understanding of the world, e.g. the notion that life unfolds as a story with a beginning, middle and end.

Psychology, being positivist in nature, is incongruent with postmodern ideas.

Prevailing view of crime in the post-modern period

Crime is seen as socially constructed and fragmented, there is also scepticism of state institutions and their ability to administer justice fairly

Postmodernists argue…

Theory is a human construction that is too ordered to adequately explain the confusion, contradictions and chaos of human life