Criminal Psychology

I think criminal psychology is extremely fascinating! I was really excited to read and watch a documentary about it. 

One major misconception I think people have about criminals is that they HAVE to be mentally ill.  

This is NOT true!!!!

One thing I wanted to reference was a quote from Understanding the Criminal Mind: A Phenomenological Approach. "A person can be mentally ill AND have anti-social features to their personality, just as one can have both cancer AND diabetes. One does not cause the other" (280).

 

It is completely possible for a criminal to be sane. 

I think its important that we reference a spectrum when talking about this topic because there are different degrees of crime and each "criminal" lies somewhere along that spectrum. With small crimes, like stealing a water bottle, no one really questions your sanity. With heinous crimes like rape and murder, it becomes more difficult to understand how someone could be sane.

I think some people are just inherently evil. Nature and nurture could have been on their side for them to be a good person, but they just enjoy being evil. Their personality thirsts for it.

For some, nurture may not have been on their side and those individuals may lash out due to their past experiences and immense suffering. 

For some nature may not have been on their side and they may have been predisposed to some sort of genetic inclination for violence. For example, most criminals have antisocial personality disorder. This results in a malformation of the amygdala, which can result in the inability to determine right from wrong.

None of these are excuses to commit crimes. Everyone gets to make a choice. 

As Jim Clemente said "Genetics loads the gun, their personality and psychology aim it, and their experiences pull the trigger.” It all just comes down to that person.

Honestly, this topic is so vast. We haven't even scratched the surface. The criminal mind is genuinely beyond comprehension. 

There's a really cool show on Netflix called Mind Hunter. If this topic interests you, you should definitely check it out.