ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the search for the psychological factors in crime causation, presents the basic premises, describes some illustrative contemporary studies, and critiques the findings and assumptions. Psychological principles are applied in several criminal justice settings. Criminal offenders have been diagnosed as having a wide range of mental disturbances. Both victims and offenders can require diagnosis and treatment based on psychological concepts. The human mind has long been considered a source of abnormal behavior, and this connection is sustained by the media's linking mental illness to incidents of violence. Viennese psychiatrist Sigmund Freud is most responsible for establishing the role of the unconscious mind in shaping behavior. Trait-based personality theories differ from the psychoanalytic approach in that abnormal behavior is said to stem from deviant or criminal personality traits, which may develop from a variety of sources such as environment, brain injury, illness, drug abuse, and so on rather than unconscious causes.
