Criminal Prosecution
6-2 Journal: Criminal Prosecution
Psychological Theories
In the academic discipline of psychology, the issue of human violence happens to be a huge topic. Psychosocial theorists focus on how a person’s characteristics interact with the social environment in producing a violent event, just as how biosocial theorists do. Instead of focusing on the biological basis of crime, psychologists are usually interested in the association between intelligence, learning, and personality, including aggressive behavior in a person (Bonnes, 2017). Some of the major perspectives that try explaining a person’s violent behavior include behavioral theory, the psychodynamic perspective, personality theory, and personality theory. There is also a relationship between mental illness and violence.
What are the limitations of psychological theories in the prosecution of criminals?
There are limitations of the psychological theories to criminal prosecutions. These limitations are that psychological theories have to accept the social forces and tendencies of forming a habit. The environment in which a person lives is the origin of where the risk of a person committing a crime (Smeulers, Weerdesteijn & Holá, 2019). there are psychological concerns that are counted as contributing factors. The prosecutor’s work is proving to the court of law beyond any reasonable doubt that a person is guilty of the charged crime. In other words, he presents the evidence to the court of law that can be proven from criminal responsibility. The psychological theories have a certain major limitation that is racially biased. Psychologists assume that the offender could be using drugs, which influences that person’s psychological state, therefore altering their mental state. In general, the limitation involves the offender being under the influence of psychological factors like drugs or illness, and others lean towards being racially bias.
Can these limitations be addressed or rectified? Explain.
These limitations could be addressed by the prosecution weighing the social causes of offending. If not that, such occurrences cannot be accepted during the stage of prosecution in any case. In rectifying the situation or the limitations, there is a need to eliminate the racial bias because it is based on assumptions. Also, there is a need to stop assuming that offenders characterized by the psychological theories are all drug users. These assumptions should be rectified by taking a close checkup on the person to determine clearly where the problem lies.
Does a person’s age impact their motivation?
There is a strong correlation observed by criminologists between crime and age. That relationship between crime and age has withstood stringent testing for the longest time. There is a repeated demonstration that criminal activity peaks at seventeen years of age and then gradually declines (Hennessy, 2018). In most cases, teenagers from seventeen years are the ones found to be involved in most of these crimes out of influence and exploration, among other factors. The young people have a status that is the least in the society, which leads to the police to police their behavior more heavily.
Does a person’s age increase the chances of continued criminal behavior?
Neuroscience suggests that the brain, or rather some parts of the brain meant to govern risk and reward, are fully developed at the age of twenty-five years, but they are not fully developed before that. That means, after twenty-five years, lawbreaking drops off. In most cases, young people are poorer than older adults; therefore, the poor tend to commi8t more crimes. According to statistics observed in 1999, about sixty-five percent of the most violent crimes were committed by and against adults of twenty-five years and older. Those adults between twenty-five years and thirty-four years were the most often victims of violent crimes. The young people between the ages of eighteen to twenty-four years faced higher risks of victimization or violent crime arrest than any other age group.
References
Bonnes, M. (2017). Psychological theories for environmental issues. Routledge.
Smeulers, A., Weerdesteijn, M., & Holá, B. (Eds.). (, 2019). Perpetrators of International Crimes: Theories, Methods, and Evidence. Oxford University Press.
Hennessy, J. (2018). Criminal Behavior. Routledge.
