6.1 Psychology and Crime

Lesson 6.
1 Psychology and Crime

Lesson 6.1 Psychology and Crime
ORDER OF PRESENTATION
 Lesson Goal
 Lesson Objectives
 Definition of Terms
 Theories of Crime
 Factors Underlying Criminal
Behaviour
 Types of Disorder
 Drug Addiction and Alcohol
 Journey to Evil
 Family and Crime
 Summary
LESSON GOAL
This lesson is intended to have a better
understanding of the Theories of Crime and
other factors underlying criminal behaviors.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
After the lesson the students will be able
to:
 Define Criminal Psychology and Criminal
Behavior;
 Explain the Theories of Crime;
 Enumerate the others factors underlying
Criminal Behavior;
 Identify the different types of Disorders;
 Explain the Family and Crime;
II. DEFINITION OF TERMS

A. PSYCHOLOGY- The totality or sum of all
actions, attitudes, thoughts, mental state of a
person or group of persons.
B. CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR- The disorder used

to describe the behaviour of a person who
commits serious crimes and the disobedience
of societal rules in general.
II. DEFINITION OF TERMS

C. CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY- Studies the will,
thoughts, intentions and reactions of Criminals
that partakes in criminal behaviour.
III. THEORIES OF CRIME

A. Lombroso
In 1876, he argued that the
criminal is a separate species, a
species that is between modern
and primitive humans, and that
the physical shape of the head
and face determined the "born
criminal".
B. William Sheldon
He believed that people could be classified

into three body shapes which correspond to
three types of personality:
1. endomorphic (fat and soft) tend to be
sociable and relaxed.
2. ectomorphic (thin and fragile) are
introverted and restrained.
3. mesomorphic (muscular and hard)
tend to be aggressive and
adventurous.
William Sheldon
How are criminals ‘made’?
 Genetics
 Brain traits
 Environmental factors
 Economic circumstances
 Disorders
 Substance abuse
 Alcohol
INVESTIGATION OFFICERS BASIC COURSE

How are criminals made?

Genetics
Criminals have a genetic predisposition;
Genetic anomaly limits the function of the
amygdala, leaving psychopath with inability
to understand & feel emotion;
Extra chromosomes have been linked to
some serial killers.
How are criminals

“made”
Genetic Theories
 In the past, it was believed criminals were
born, not made. E.g. skull size and shape.
 Some scientists claimed that men with an
extra male, or Y, chromosome (XYY) may be
more likely to commit criminal acts than the
general population.
 Some people commit more crimes than
others because of their genetic makeup.
“How Criminal Mind

Works”
A central part of the brain’s

limbic system, the amygdala is crucial
for emotional learning, aversive
conditioning, and response to fear
and other emotions.
AMYGDALA

Brain traits
 Psychopaths have abnormal brain activities;
 Less active pre-frontal cortex (impulse
control);
 Overactive limbic system (aggression, sexual
desire);
 Overactive temporal lobes (temper outbursts
and mood disturbances).

Neurological Damage
 Frontal Lobe damage causes lack of social
behavior and self-control;
 Following a frontal lobe injury, an individual’s
abilities to make good choices and recognize
consequences are often impaired.

Neurological Damage
 Damage to the frontal lobe can cause
increased irritability, which may include a
change in mood and an inability to regulate
behavior.

The roots of antisocial behavior lie in early
childhood events:
 Insecure attachment;
 Weak sense of self;
 Dysfunctional family/or lacking family
structure;
 Coercive or indifferent parenting.

 Physical, sexual or emotional abuse or
neglect
 Death of a parent
 Low family income
 Separated or divorce
 Low academic achievement
Picture of an innocent child

Behavior Theory
People are not born with violent tendencies
but learn aggression through life experiences.
Violence is learned through behavior modeling;
 Family members
 Environmental Experiences
 Mass Media

Economic factors
 The purpose of the kill is to gain financially
 Female killers often murder for insurance
money;
 Arsonists often burn for profit;
 Wealth provides choice and quality of life,
therefore there is great pressure to own, and to
achieve a high material standard of living.

Social factors
A person’s peers and social status can influence
their behaviour.
Political Factors
A person maybe influenced by the views about
the government or have an opposing ideology.
Types of Disorder
1. Personality Disorder
Personality Disorder
Cluster A (Odd, bizarre, eccentric)
Paranoid PD, Schizoid PD, Schizotypal PD
Cluster B (Dramatic, erratic)

Antisocial PD, Borderline PD, Histrionic
PD, Narcissistic PD
Cluster C (Anxious, fearful)

Avoidant PD, Dependent PD, Obsessive-
compulsive PD
Antisocial Personality Disorder

 More common in men than in women, and is
characterized by a callous unconcern for the
feelings of others;
 Disregards social rules and obligations and
fails to learn from experience;
Antisocial Personality Disorder
 Has no difficulty finding relationships, and can

even appear superficially charming but his
relationships are usually fiery, turbulent, and
short-lived;
 Has a criminal record or even a history of
being in and out of prison.
Borderline Personality Disorder
 Lacks a sense of self, and as a result

experiences feelings of emptiness and fears of
abandonment;
 Has a pattern of intense but unstable
relationships, emotional instability, outbursts
of anger, violence, impulsive behaviour,
suicidal threats and acts of self-harm.
Histrionic Personality Disorder

 lack a sense of self-worth and depends on the
attention and approval of others;
 often seem to be dramatizing or ‘playing a
part’;
 take great care of their physical appearance
and behave in a manner that is overly
charming or inappropriately seductive;
Histrionic Personality Disorder
 may put themselves at great risk of having an

accident or being exploited;
 dealings with other people often seem
insincere or superficial, which can impact on
their social and romantic relationships.
 sensitive to criticism and rejection and react
badly to loss or failure.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder

 has a grandiose sense of self-importance, a
sense of entitlement, and a need to be
admired;
 is envious of others and expects them to be
the same of him or her;
 lacks empathy and readily exploits others to
achieve his or her goals;
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
 may seem self-absorbed, controlling,

intolerant, selfish, and insensitive;
 If he or she feels slighted or ridiculed, he or
she may be provoked into a fit of destructive
anger and revenge-seeking.
Avoidant Personality Disorder

 Persistently tense because he or she believes
that he or she is socially inept, unappealing,
or inferior, and as a result fears being
embarrassed, criticized, or rejected;
 avoids meeting people unless he or she is
certain of being liked;
Avoidant Personality Disorder

 Strongly associated with anxiety disorders,
and may also be associated with actual or
perceived rejection by parents or peers
during childhood.
Dependent Personality Disorder

 characterized by a lack of self-confidence and
an excessive need to be taken care of.
 needs a lot of help to make everyday
decisions and needs important life decisions
to be taken for him or her.
Dependent Personality Disorder
 greatly fears abandonment and may go to

considerable lengths to secure and maintain
relationships.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
 characterized by excessive preoccupation with
details, rules, lists, order, organization, or
schedules;
 Devotion to work and productivity at the
expense of leisure and relationships;
 typically doubting and cautious, rigid and
controlling, humourless, and miserly.
Drug addiction and Alcohol in

Criminal Behavior
VI. DRUG ADDICTION AND ALCOHOL

Criminal Acts Committed
 Criminal acts can range from activities such as
driving under the influence of alcohol or
drugs, domestic violence; robberies, assaults,
prostitution and rape.
 manufacturing or distribution and use of
illegal drugs such as methamphetamine or
cannabis;

 Robberies are often committed to support
drug habits; assaults, rapes and violent crimes
are often linked to drug use;
 Poverty, personality disorders, social and
cultural factors, association with other users
and previous incarceration or drug use;

 Drug use is intrinsically linked to prostitution,
especially street prostitutes;
 between 40 and 85 per cent of all prostitutes
are drug users. Many prostitutes, men and
women, are selling sex to support their drug
habits;

 Prostitutes are often the victim of violent
crimes, rapes, assaults and other serious
crimes; but, because of their lifestyle and the
work they do, they are unreported crimes;
Dominant Viewpoints Today
 Crime is the symbolic expression of tensions

and conflict existing within the psyche of an
individual;
 Crime is the result of the social environment in
which the individual lived;
 Emphasis is placed in the interaction of both
sociological and psychological factors.
Practical exercises
Watch video
“Journey to Evil”
Sample cases
Described as two headed Monster in
California
Serial Rapist and Murderer
Case of Leonard Lake and Charles Ng
(Partners in doing Crimes)
CHARLES NG
• Born in Hongkong in 1960, only son of a

middle class family;
• At an early age, he suffered physical abuse
from his father (business executive) who is a
strict disciplinarian;
• He also displayed obsession with martial arts
and fire-setting. Also fantasizing to become a
ninja;
CHARLES NG
• He was a sullen, combative child whose
constant fighting led his parents to send him
to a psychiatrist when he was 10. He is always
expelled from school;
• At the age of 15, he was arrested for
shoplifting and sent by his father to a private
boarding school in England in an attempt to
change him, from which he was expelled for
stealing from his fellow students;
CHARLES NG
• In adulthood, he moved to the United States
and enrolled in the Notre Dame de Namur
University in Belmont, California, but dropped
out after his first semester. In October of 1979,
he was arrested in relation to a hit and run
accident and forced to pay for damages;
CHARLES NG
• In 1980, he lied about his nationality and

joined the USMC. He was dishonourably
discharged after less than a year for stealing
automatic weapons worth $11,000 from the
gun storage of the Marine Corps' base in
Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Though sentenced to 14
years, he escaped and made his way to
California, where he met Lake.
LEONARD LAKE
• Born in San Francisco California in 1945;
• At an early age, he began taking nude photos
of his sisters; this became the start of his
obsession to pornography;
• He also enjoyed killing mice by dissolving
them in chemicals;
LEONARD LAKE
• In 1965 at the age of 19, he enlisted with the
US Marine Corps as radar operator, but was
medically discharge in1971 because he was
diagnosed of having schizoid personality;
LEONARD LAKE
• He moved to San Jose, California and attended
the San Jose University, but dropped out after
only one semester and joined a hippie
commune. Around this time, Lake became
obsessed with the idea of a global nuclear war
and developed a kind of survivalist paranoia
and with it an obsession with guns;
LEONARD LAKE
• He met a woman named Claralyn Balazs, a 25-
year-old teacher's aide whom he nicknamed
"Cricket", in 1977 and married her in 1981 and
moved in with her;
• Lake would star in S&M- and bondage-related
amateur porn movies and also made Balazs
take part in them. He had been married to
another woman before her in 1975 while he
was serving in Vietnam
LEONARD LAKE
• Like Balazs, she left him when she could no

longer put up with his sexual deviance.
Modus Operandi
• Lake and Ng targeted women, but were not
hesitant to abduct entire families;
• After killing the men and children to get them
out of the way, they held the women captive
in a custom-built room in a bunker at Lake's
ranch, tied them up, tortured and raped them,
videotaping each other while doing so;
Modus Operandi
• Sometimes they also lured men to the
compound with promises of work and robbed
them, after which Lake stole their identities;
• After killing the victims by either strangling or
shooting them, they would often bury them in
shallow graves on the property, though there
is evidence that some were also dismembered
and burned and their remains shattered.
Wilseyville Ranch
Victims
Bunker, where he plays his victims

Victims
Unspecified dates:
• The Dubs family: Harvey Dubs (father);
Deborah Dubs (mother); Sean Dubs (son).
• The Bond family: Lonnie Bond (father); Brenda
O'Connor (mother); Lonnie Bond, Jr. (son);
• Kathleen Allen, 18; Michael Carroll; Robin
Scott Stapley; Randy Johnson.
Victims
Sometime in 1983:
• Charles Gunnar
• Donald Lake (Lake's younger brother;
disappeared and was presumed to have been
killed by Lake and Ng)
November 1984:
• Paul Cosner, 39 (possibly; the charges were
dropped).
Victims
• Note: The massive amount of burned,
shattered bone fragments suggested that Lake
and Ng killed several more victims besides the
ones found buried; investigators suggested
that the total victim count may be as high as
25.
Summary
At the end of the lesson, the students were
able to: Define Criminal Psychology and Criminal
Behavior; Explain the Theories of Crime;
Enumerate the others factors underlying
Criminal Behavior; Identify the different types of
Disorders; Explain the Family and Crime.
.
Summary
Crime is the symbolic expression of tensions
and conflict existing within the psyche of an
individual. Crime is the result of the social
environment in which the individual lived.
Emphasis is placed in the interaction of both
sociological and psychological factors.
.

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Lesson 6.

1 Psychology and Crime

II. DEFINITION OF TERMS

B. CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR- The disorder used

II. DEFINITION OF TERMS

III. THEORIES OF CRIME

He believed that people could be classified

How are criminals ‘made’?

INVESTIGATION OFFICERS BASIC COURSE

How are criminals made?

How are criminals

“How Criminal Mind

A central part of the brain’s

How are criminals made?

How are criminals made?

How are criminals made?

How are criminals made?

How are criminals made?

Picture of an innocent child

How are criminals made?

How are criminals made?

Cluster B (Dramatic, erratic)

Cluster C (Anxious, fearful)

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Antisocial Personality Disorder

 Has no difficulty finding relationships, and can

Borderline Personality Disorder

 Lacks a sense of self, and as a result

Histrionic Personality Disorder

Histrionic Personality Disorder

 may put themselves at great risk of having an

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

 may seem self-absorbed, controlling,

Avoidant Personality Disorder

Avoidant Personality Disorder

Dependent Personality Disorder

Dependent Personality Disorder

 greatly fears abandonment and may go to

Drug addiction and Alcohol in

VI. DRUG ADDICTION AND ALCOHOL

VI. DRUG ADDICTION AND ALCOHOL

VI. DRUG ADDICTION AND ALCOHOL

Criminal Acts Committed

VI. DRUG ADDICTION AND ALCOHOL

Dominant Viewpoints Today

 Crime is the symbolic expression of tensions

• Born in Hongkong in 1960, only son of a

• In 1980, he lied about his nationality and

• Like Balazs, she left him when she could no

Bunker, where he plays his victims

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