The Psychology of Criminal Behaviour: Why People Commit Crimes

Why do siblings grow up to be so different? One is driven to build a successful professional career, while the other chooses a life of crime. Similarly perplexing are two neighbours with nearly identical socio-economic contexts, but one is law-abiding, and the other engages in criminal activities. 

To find the answers to these types of questions, criminology draws on the psychology of criminal behaviour to unpack the drivers of crime. Doing so also provides valuable insight into understanding factors, like mental, environmental and social ones, which influence people’s behaviour. By understanding the psychological causes of crime and incorporating them into a criminal framework, policy makers can formulate more effective prevention, intervention, response, assessment and rehabilitation crime strategies.

7 Key Aspects of the Criminal Mind

1. Psychological Factors.
2. Neurobiological Drivers.
3. Social Factors.
4. Environmental Factors.
5. Cognitive Disorders.
6. Addiction.
7. Mental Health.

These core aspects of the criminal mind form the basis of criminological analysis. They offer an interdisciplinary lens through which the drivers of criminal behaviour can be better understood and thereby addressed from an individual and community perspective. 

Understanding the Criminal Mind

In criminology, criminal behaviour is defined as any behaviour that violates the prevailing criminal law. It contains descriptions of violations and types of penalties. However, it does not provide an explanation for the root causes of crime.  

Modern criminology adopts an interdisciplinary approach that seeks to understand the criminal mind psychology. It integrates neuroscience, trauma studies, behavioural psychology and social inequality theory. In doing so, it explores how thoughts, emotions, personality traits and the environment shape a person who becomes a criminal. Practically, this means that from a criminology standpoint, there’s no simple way to understand the mind, nor is there a single cause of crime. The reality is that to understand the psychology of criminal behaviour requires grappling with complicated, cumulative and interconnected factors.

5 Common Psychological Traits linked to Criminal Behaviours

1. Poor impulse control. 
2. Low empathy levels. 
3. Hostile attribution bias. 
4. Sensation-seeking tendencies. 
5. Difficulty regulating emotions. 

The result of these psychological traits is often maladaptive cognitive behaviours, executive function deficits, lack of empathy and moral disengagement, personality disorders and/or trauma-related adaptations. The manifestation of these traits is often antisocial behaviours, such as law violations, which increase the risk of criminal activity and repeat offences. 

Key Psychological Theories Explaining Crime

From a criminological perspective, crime is often categorised into three groups, which focus on criminal intent and context. They are reactive crime, voluntary crime and conforming or contextual crime. Doing so emphasises that crime does not have a universal common denominator, and the importance of the context of offences. Accordingly, it requires deeper insight than assuming that, for example, all incidences of stabbings are the same crime.  

Criminology relies on psychological theories to provide a deeper understanding of the causes of criminal actions. They put forward that crime is not only due to environmental or biological factors, but also because of developmental and psychological factors. The result of this integrated approach is a better understanding of the person who commits a crime.

5 Core Psychological Crime Theories Explained

1. Psychodynamic Theory: Developed by Sigmund Freud, this theory puts forward that criminal behaviour is a way of dealing with unresolved conflicts between the id, ego and superego. These conflicts relate to the early stages of someone’s life, for example, their upbringing. 
2. Social Learning Theory (Behavioural Theory): This theory’s premise is that criminal behaviour is learned and shaped through socialisation processes, such as peer association, modelling and reinforcement. 
3. Cognitive Theory: This theory focuses on cognitive processes, specifically decision making, reasoning and problem solving. Accordingly, criminal behaviour and its justification are a result of weighing up the risks and benefits or of distorted thinking patterns. 
4. Trait Theory (Personality Theory): This theory proposes that certain inherent personality traits cause a predisposition to criminal behaviours. For example, acting recklessly by seeking out dangerous activities because they excite you. 
5. General Strain Theory: According to Robert Agnew, the three main sources of individual strain are failure to achieve valued goals, removal of positive stimuli and exposure to negative stimuli. Any of these three can cause conditions which evoke negative emotions that result in using criminal behaviours as a coping mechanism.  An example of this is experiencing the constraints of inequality. 

Furthermore, criminological research emphasises that environmental and social factors, as well as mental health, all influence criminal behaviour.

Environmental and Social Factors in Criminal Behaviour

Within the South African context, environmental and social factors are particularly relevant to understanding criminal behaviours. This is due to prevalent factors like poverty, trauma and exposure to violence in communities, which can result in using criminal behaviours to cope. Additional social factors, for example, systemic disadvantages and historical inequality, reinforce socio-economic structural contributors that drive criminal behaviours.

Some Examples of Environmental Factors linked to Criminal Behaviour

1. Childhood abuse or neglect. 
2. Poverty and unemployment. 
3. Educational disruption. 
4. Community violence exposure. 
5. Substance misuse. 

Research shows that brain development is negatively impacted by chronic stress. Like that caused by environmental and social factors. Specifically, the parts of the brain responsible for emotional regulation and impulse control can be harmed.

The Role of Mental Health in Crime

Criminology research highlights that most people with mental health challenges are not violent, nor do they commit crimes. However, the criminology perspective also reveals that mental health illnesses, combined with issues like trauma, substance dependency, or a lack of access to treatment, can increase the risk of criminal behaviours.

How Studying Psychology and Criminology Can Help Prevent Crime

The integration of psychology into criminology enables a deeper understanding of why a person breaks the law.  This understanding assists criminologists to identify risk factors, understand how crime develops, design prevention programmes and rehabilitation strategies, as well as shape policy that promotes trauma -informed justice systems.  

If you are interested in psychology and crime prevention, then enrol in SACAP’s Bachelor of Applied Social Science (Majoring in Psychology and Criminology. This degree is designed to ensure that SACAP graduates have a strong foundation to study further and thereby specialise or apply for entry-level positions within the fields of community safety and support, the criminal justice system, research, policy and data analysis. Apply online or contact an Admissions Officer for further information.