Eysenck's Criminal Personality Theory

What did it propose?

Criminal behaviour is caused by high levels of %%extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism%% which are %%genetically inherited.%%

Extraversion

A trait measuring how out-going a person is.

Neuroticism

A trait measuring how anxious an individual is.

Psychoticism

A trait measuring how impulsive and aggressive an individual is.

Why are criminals often extroverts?

Extroverts need a lot of stimulation from the environment and are often thrill seekers. This excitement can be found through criminal activity.

Why are criminals often neurotic?

Neurotics can get stuck in patterns of behaviour to relieve their high anxiety levels, including criminal behaviour.

Their high anxiety can get in the way of punishing criminal behaviour so they don’t learn easily from previous mistakes.

Why are criminals often psychotics?

The characteristics of these people are directly related to crime.

Extraversion biological cause

* Under aroused %%cerebral cortex%%
* Stimuli restricted by %%reticular activation system%% (RAS)
* Stimulation gained by risky, lawless behaviour
* Stronger %%dopamine reward system%%
* Respond more positively to positive reinforcers such as money and sex

Psychoticism biological cause

* Excess of %%dopaminergic neurons%%
* Over production of %%dopamine%% by the %%nervous system%%
* Leads to less inhibition of impulses in the brain during %%synaptic transmissions%%

Neuroticism biological cause

* %%Autonomic nervous system%% (ANS) becomes under aroused
* Less control of %%limbic system%%
* Higher levels of violence

Conditioning

Learning by association and consequence.

Why are extraverts and neurotics hard to condition?

* Naturally stable and introverted people learn the association between criminal behaviour and its negative outcomes more easily, so avoid committing crimes in the future.
* They are more resistant to %%early socialisation%% in terms of learning moral behaviour.

Criticisms

* **Ignores** %%**individual differences**%%**.** He place people in broad categories who might all have different reasons for turning to crime.
* **With such a wide range of crimes it’s unlikely that criminal share a similar personality.** It’s hard to believe that a person who spontaneously robs someone on the street has the same personality who carefully plans to defraud others.
* **Too** %%**deterministic**%%**.** It suggests that people are born with a personality type and their chance of being criminals is driven by biology, ignoring those who take responsibility for their actions.