3.6: Psychological Theories

Psychological Theories

While some scientists study our body chemistry and genetic structures, other scientists have felt that the answers lie inside of our mind. The field of psychology is currently a popular one. For our purposes, we will break down the main psychological theories into four key areas.

Psychoanalytic

No discussion of psychology would be complete without a mention of Sigmund Freud. Dr. Freud developed a psychoanalytic theory. Dr. Freud had a background in both medicine and psychology. He felt that while at times there could be things physically wrong with a person that would trigger depression and other mental health issues, that often times there may not be anything physically wrong but that did not mean that the depression or other ailments were not real. In order to find out what was really wrong Dr. Freud felt that you had to talk to the patient in order to help them. Essentially Dr. Freud felt that there were three main parts to our mind he titled these parts the “Id”, the “Ego”, and the “Super Ego.” He also felt that our mind was partly conscious and partly subconscious. The superego resides in our conscious mind that we are fully aware of, the ego resides primarily in our conscious mind but it can also access our subconscious mind, and that id re-signs deeply in our subconscious.

Image 3.9 (Sigmund Freud)

In many movies that id is comically pictured as a devil on someone’s shoulder which encourages a person to do wrong and on the other shoulder is the superego which is an angel encouraging the individual to do what is right. This imagery is not actually correct. The id is not evil it is merely the part of the mind responsible for our rather primitive urges such as pleasure and procreation. Granted if these urges get out of control they certainly could lead to crime such as assault and rape but it is these same urges which give us the power to have to drive and overcome obstacles in our life and not give up.

In contrast, the superego is the part of our mind that encompasses our morals and values it is often thought of as our conscience. While a good conscience would seem rather angelic, being too hard on yourself and believing that you are never good enough can lead to bad consequences in one’s personality. An over active superego may even lead to crime in order to be caught and punished. If you have ever heard of one of those stupid crime stories such as where a bank robber writes the robbery note on the back of their own deposit slip, perhaps this could be the explanation why.

The key to a healthy personality seems to be the ego. The ego is reality based and it serves as a type of referee between the instinctual id and the expectations society presses upon us through the superego. The ego helps the mind and personality be balanced. The ego should help us understand that it is okay to display aggression as an athlete during a sporting event but that it is not okay to display that same aggression to our loved ones. So the problem of crime and aggression should not be solely blamed on the id but rather it would be explained by an unbalanced personality.

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Behavioral

Behavioral psychologists believe that human behavior is learned based on rewards and punishments. This viewpoint emphasizes the importance of proper parenting. If people in power such as teachers or parents clearly set up a system of rewards for good behavior as well as a system of punishments for bad behavior the children are more likely to demonstrate the good behavior in order to earn the reward. It is amazing how the entire classroom of children can be controlled through a chart and some tinfoil stars. These psychologists would state that you are the way you are because of what you have been rewarded for and because of what you were punished for. We should also point out that punishment does not have to be physical it can be things like a timeout or being grounded.

Some behavioral psychologists feel that we also learn by modeling what others do. If we see a sibling or another student being rewarded for a certain type of behavior we are more likely to do that behavior as well. These psychologists often study what influence the media may have on learning. Some studies seem to indicate that watching violent shows or playing violent video games may desensitize youth to violence. Other studies have shown that individuals can clearly tell the difference between fantasy and reality. In either case it may be wise to have parents monitor what young children are watching on television or on the Internet and it is good to have social role models for our youth.

Cognitive

Cognitive psychologists focus more closely on how people perceive and mentally interpret the world. These psychologists argue that we process information differently. Not everyone reading this text for instance will be picking out in memorizing the same pieces of information even though they are presented in identically the same way.

Another example of these differences might be evident when looking at different children in the same family. Often even though the rules of discipline are similar for all the children, the children themselves grow up quite differently. This line of study could explain why the offering of an Oreo as a reward for eating your vegetables at supper may work for one child while it will not work for another child especially if this second child has a stash of snacks in their bedroom.

If we each mentally interpret the world in a slightly different manner then a simple system of rewards and punishments will not be enough to prevent delinquency. This difference in interpretations can even be seen among students some of which are primarily visual learners, others are auditory learners, and some learn best by doing.

Physiological

For our purposes, the last psychological area we will look at is that of physiological. Physiological psychiatrists focus on the relationship between physical characteristics of the brain and human behavior. One interesting area in this realm of study are attempts to understand the autonomic nervous system and possible abnormalities therein.

The autonomic nervous system is the part of our nervous system that we do not consciously control. One part of this system would be our digestive tract. If you have ever had your stomach grumble in the middle of a meeting or class you may have wished that it stopped or even told your stomach to “stop it” but I am sure that did not work. Just as we cannot consciously control our need to breathe or the beating of our heart, these things operate on their own—they are autonomic. Now you may be wondering how this links with criminality but let me first relate this to the animal world.

Imagine you are hiking on a wilderness trail and you encounter a couple of bunnies. Are you afraid? Probably not. We know that rabbits tend to be timid creatures in their natural instinct is to either run away or freeze in place as if you cannot see them. They are hardwired to be timid. Now let’s imagine that a little bit further down the trail you encounter a couple of bear cubs. Are you afraid? I would hope so. All the young cubs may not be overly aggressive their mothers are notorious for protecting their young at all costs. Bears are hardwired to be aggressive.

So, are humans hardwired to be timid or aggressive? The answer is that we seem to be a mix. Some humans are just naturally more aggressive than others. If you are wondering which you are, just think about the last time someone jumped out at you from the dark or surprised you when you were not expecting it. Before you could even think, quite was your instinctive reaction—to fight back or to flee? This explanation applies only to those that answered they would fight back. Some people it seems are hardwired to be aggressive. If these people cannot satisfy their need for thrills through legitimate means such as mountain climbing, or skydiving, or active sports it may be that crime would give them the adrenaline rush they seek. Perhaps it is this difference in physiological hardwiring that explains psychopaths.

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