Criminal Psychology

ORIGIN OF A CRIMINAL MIND… MENTAL DISORDER 1. Causality depends on many factors including those of a biological, psychological, or social origin, or a combination of these. 2. Vulnerabilities in childhood development and even in pregnancy may be involved as well as situational factors leading directly to the origin of the disorder and more circumstantial factors sustaining the disorder by their persisting influence (loss of a love one) 3. Why a person committed a crime or why a certain mental disorder has led to a certain impairment can only be understood by looking at the functioning of this personality directly within the context of the crime. 4. Common mental disorders in criminal behavior a. Disorders usually first diagnosed in infacy, childhood, or adolescence i. Asperger’s Syndrome 1. Strong daily occupation with one or more stereotyped patterns of interest in an abnormal and restricted way ii. Three disruptive behaviors disorders in childhood of relevance to criminal behavior. 1. Conduct disorder (CD)  involving behaviors such as lying, stealing, fighting, and burglary 2. Oppositional definant disorder (ODD)  disobedience, temper tantrums, negativism (does not directly implay criminal behavior) 3. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) b. Cognitive disorder i. Dementia (dysfunction in memory + lost awareness for time or place) ii. Delirium (lowering of consciousness with impairment of memory, anxiety attacks, hallucination, and agitation) c. Substance-related disorders i. Addiction, dependency, intoxication, withdrawal, psychotic disturbance, etc ii. Obtain drugs may result in criminal offenses d. Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders i. Delusions, hallucinations, loss of identity, difficulty with interpersonal contact. ii. Individuals experiencing hallucinations may hear voices or see certain things that have a special meaning for them iii. The more chaotic the environment around them, the more aggressive and chaotic they are themselves (pic of schizophrenic patients locked up) e. Anxiety disorders i. Characterized by abnormal degrees of anxiety and can include panic attacks, specific phobias, as well as moral general social phobias. ii. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) iii. Posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) f. Factitious disorders i. Also known as Munchausen syndrome ii. Patients harm themselves in order to feign diseases, illness, or psychological trauma to draw attention or sympathy to themselves g. Dissociated disorders i. Separation of a person’s consciousness into two or more states

ii. Dissociative disorders that may be associated with criminal behaviors include dissociative amnesia (person who cannot remember one or more episodes of personal memory that are typically related to traumatic or stressful event), dissociative fugue (involves individual who abruptly engage in travel far away from their home or work, with an inability to remember their own past, thus not knowning anymore who they are and from where they come), and dissociative identity disorder (DID) (gives rise to the presence of two or more discernible identities or states of mind within a single individual.). 5. Personality Disorders a. Personality is the totality of emotional and behavioral traits characterizing an individual’s behavior in the daily manifestations of life b. Outcome of attitudes, interests, and needs that stem from a complex of unconscious and conscious biological factors, psychological drives, and emotions that form the self, unique and distinct from others, with its affectivity and intelligence. c. The development of the personality is greatly determined by the way a young child resolves internal object relations and in adolescence and early adulthood, how he/she relates to and incorporates parental models, and those of teachers and other important people in life encounters. d. Borderline Personality Disorder i. Characteristics were intense depressive psychotic episodes, a tendency to disorganization in unstructured situations, and superficial or very dependent relationships. ii. have weak ego iii. behavior is marginal and transient iv. they are highly vulnerable to stress and emotionally unbalanced v. their ability to test reality and to contain their impulsivity is a mixture of depressive and delusional symptoms and is difficult to predict. vi. Black and white thinking vii. Idealization and devaluation e. Paranoid Personality Disorder i. Chronic suspiciousness and general mistrust ii. Displace onto others their own shortcomings and responsibilities iii. Pathological jealousy, extreme litigiousness, and many become clearly delusional and paranoid. iv. Mechanism of defnse: project onto others feelings that they harbor but that they are unable or willing to accept – it’s not me. It’s you! v. Tendency to be grandiose, to have superiority feelings, and to disdain the weak, the sickly, and passive individual. f. Narcissistic Personality Disorder i. Heightened sense of self-importance and grandiose feelings. ii. Wish to be famous, are strongly exhibitionistic, almost demanding admiration iii. Selfish and exploitative iv. Do not show empathy for others v. Egocentric vi. Narcissistic tendencies, part of the grandiose self are often present in the serial killer

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g. Sadistic Personality Disorder i. Cruel, demeaning, and aggressive behavior ii. Behavior of the sadistic, power-and control-driven serial killer reflect the conduct of a curious child in the demolition of his toys. Homicidal triad Difference between psychopath and sociopath Definition of antisocial Examples a. Adolf hiter profile i. According to Mein Kumpf and interviews with his ppl