Psychology as a Theoretical Foundation of Criminology
Criminology is a complex and intrinsic field of science and it owes to the findings and developments of substantial theories which give a firm background to interact with the topic. Modern criminology is very much indebted to the initial theories formulated by theoreticians like Cesar Lombroso. When you are all set to draft out your Law Term Paper with criminology as the specialized research paper topic, you can’t go without mentioning these forerunners of contemporary theories. Other than the early biological theories of criminology where criminality was recognized as an innate characteristic flaw, psychological theories have a better explainable and logical perspective. Presenting your custom term paper with methodical insights of psychological theories can produce an excellent law term paper.
Major Psychological Theories
The remarkable names like Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, Carl Yung, Erik Erikson are finely imprinted in the field of psychological theories. Their theories essentially make studies upon the distinct mental and social scenarios of distorted criminal minds. These are explained in terms of the psychotic and neurotic eccentricities of human conduct. Freud introduced the significant findings with concept of Id, Ego and Superego which interpret the distinct realms of conscious, subconscious and unconscious mind. The oppressed feelings within the sub-conscious mind lead the people to criminality. Similar to Freud’s notion, Erickson brought the concept of Negative Identity overpowering the conscious mind and thereby to lead the person to criminal behavior. The theory of Operant Conditioning by Burrhus Frederic Skinner is another major contribution in the branch and has its wide recognition in other fields of knowledge like learning, educational psychology etc. Similarly Jean Piaget’s Development theory is also associated with the cognitive development of a person right from his/her childhood. Based on Piaget’s theory, Kohlberg has his theory of moral development explaining the stages of a person’s characteristic development through gradual phases. Immaturity with any of the developmental stage adversely affects the person’s overall character and causes to his/her inappropriateness with the social structure.
The Significance of Psychological Theories
Prevention of criminality in modern society is studied seriously and the key arguments of psychological theories help a lot in reasonably predicting the causes and behaviors of crimes and criminal people. The psychological theories of criminology put forward, the psychic abnormality of a person as the reason behind committing of crimes. Such people fail to get along with the regular setting of a society and ends up in trying to damage the accepted social structure. Psychological approach in studying the mind-set of these people opens up the ways out to save them and also the society from demolition. There are several remarkable theoretical insights in the sphere of criminal psychology and are highly useful in analyzing a particular case study. Your careful analysis of the chosen topic in term paper writing needs to be discussed on a firm theoretical basis which invariably suits with the nature of the thesis idea. It enhances your law term paper serious and socially relevant more than a college research paper.
