Methods of Criminology Theories and Diagnosis

Secrets of the Criminal Mind: Methods of Criminology Theories and Diagnosis

It is often referenced that we ought to envision ourselves in someone else's shoes to better understand their way of thinking, emotions, and beliefs. However, it is difficult to comprehend the inner lives of others. Understanding another person's vantage point requires great effort to gain real insight into one’s mind. Everyone’s brain performs, analyzes, and is structured differently. Numerous mixed functions ˗˗ such as memories, thoughts, ideas, solutions, language, mood, vision, motor skills, and feelings ˗˗ can drift into a sensory overload, all while trying to stay alert and focus on something else that is occurring. The brain is the key to our existence, and each individual is distinguished by unique characteristics. The conceptual core of personality elicits complex higher challenges like perfectionism and self-compassion. There are three categorized frames of mind: engaged, automatic, and analytic. Each course of the mind in all tendency within psychology theories and mental diagnosis will provide how they apply in all parts of the brain in relation to what assets have the ability to control one’s thoughts, behavior, body, and actions.

Each individual's mind has a purpose that functions and forms a distinctive system of perception. The engaged mind is a state of vitality immersed in the choices that people decide in the present moment. During the day, our attention and thoughts are fully attuned to what is happening here and now. Maintaining an engaged mind helps recollect a person’s routine of daily activities, in addition to reducing the lack of the hormone cortisol, which creates stress. This allows an individual to find the resources to encourage themselves to talk to someone when having a stressful day (Meek Ph.D., 2013).

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The automatic mind is aware of the environmental changes such as light, temperature, sounds, and quick movements; the cues of variation are centered around the brain, which constantly conducts a tremendous range of tasks that is occurring at the same time. In this step, the mind effortlessly makes judgments and evaluations in which it is addressed with either a negative or positive outcome. It categorizes the past experiences and sensations someone may have. An automatic mind forms continuous habits that play major parts throughout everyone’s lives. This sequence is a non-stop flow of an everlasting repetition. The flow is crucial for our survival because it allows us to adapt to constantly changing circumstances and bias distortions. The content of an automatic mind is fixed by both current, internal, and external surroundings; perceptions, instincts, environmental conditions, and prior experiences are all a part of the automatic mind’s reaction. During this process, the mind may malfunction. It is marked as an oppressive place that one’s mind tries to escape from. For instance, from time to time our nerves, stress, and anxiety can disturb the mind into reckless symptoms modifying an individual’s body, feelings, thoughts, and behaviors; this response can cause unsettling damage to a person’s mind. Those who do not make an effort to exercise and ease their mind, can possibly, in the end, lead to an individual with an unsafe mental disorder (Meek Ph.D., 2013).

An analytic mind is determined to have the ability to be aware of the danger. Therefore, citizens have the understanding to step back from their recent anxious reflexes and bad thoughts, since that is a large portion of how the analytic mind exercises. Six significant broad sections that the mind offers are: ways to conquer obstacles, being able to manage one’s schedule morning, evening, and night, reflecting and replaying flashback events, staying active on future goals and constantly building backup options, having desires to become influential, and lastly playing out an individual’s imagination into reality. The analytic mind analyzes a terrifying situation that can traumatize a person to being less likely to make the same mistake or have a biased mindset when coming across a similar situation (Meek Ph.D., 2013).

Furthermore, the layout of the engaged, automatic, and analytic mind is able to present in different measures that can either make us better or worse. The mindset performs a significant role in settling an outcome of success and achievement. A person’s mindset is a strong and solid belief that orients the manner of how we handle situations. Those with a fixed mindset acknowledge that these qualities are unchangeable, rigid, and natural. People with a growth mindset believe that these abilities are beneficial and develop by way of hard work and commitment. A growth mindset can take a turn for the worse; it can transform people to behave in a manner of violence. This psychological dysfunction opens the honest truth that the biological roots of anger and upsetting rage effectively lives in all of us. It is very complex in how we address an issue. Our mindsets help guide us in a path of opportunities; however, the mind can mold towards mayhem, confusion, and chaos trapping those into self-defeating cycles (Klein Ph.D., 2016). In the article Psychological Theories, the author, Kendra Cherry, unmasks insights about the scientific theories’ aspects in all parts of human behavior and how the mind functions when tackling brutality. This means that scientists’ testing may be refined, modified, or even rejected. Psychology is the study of the mind causing an attitude of good or bad behavior. It includes many subfields within multifaceted disciplines in areas such as the human health, development, skills, and cognitive processes, social and clinical behaviors (2019).

Psychodynamic theory is determined to be sentimental and tranced in someone's personality, influencing the persona of an individual. According to Sigmund Freud, there are three substantial aspects which are the ego, id, and superego. Freud believed that the mind was responsible for the decisions of a subconscious and conscious capacity within the application to cognition, development, perception, mental illness, and memory. He invested his time on the source of mental essence between neurotic guilt, compulsive repetition, verbal aggression, and hate. The ego is an array of patterns aligned with society's norms. The id is formed as a primitive essence guided to possess what a person desires to have and supplying a person’s lust for an object. Superego is derived from values and morals. Numerous suspects get overwhelmed and angst by their id. A person who displays a weak ego manifests their feelings of oppression in a brutal manner (McLeod, 2019).

The perpetrator’s aggression is channeled into reckless attitudes and actions against an innocent person. Their acts of belligerent deeds will ensue into an ego energy that exploits to combat destructive forces. Ego stability would furnish a bearable tension and extreme depression associated with agitation and drastic anxiety. The decay through these offenders' personalities commences at a nonage within one’s childhood and adulthood. Although emotions and physics are critical, it is not the only determinant of one’s decisions towards the use of violence. The importance to social psychologists is the representation of all social concern’s circumstances (McLeod, 2019).

Felons cause disruption among public safety, while striking abominable terror within the community. Viewing violence in society can morph those who are bystanders. The aftermath of a person who witnesses an unforgettable memory can torment them in their trance. Behind the history of multiple psychopaths are heinous stories to hear because most of them are victims of childhood abuse, which can create a deeper impact down the line in their life as an adult. Murderers have a hard time recovering from their traumatizing memories, this leads to their irresistible compulsion to create harm, with the result of being demented it is viewed as a form of being deranged and insane. Gerald and Kathleen Hill, in the Legal Dictionary, briefly describe the word insane as “a mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior. Insanity is distinguished from low intelligence or mental deficiency due to age or injury” (2019). In general, the world of crime has no inhibitions in fulfilling out their unconscious, bad-tempered impulses of poor behaviors. The principles of social reinforcement agree that if we perform on violent and hostile behavior, then the constitution does not award a person for their demeanor. A punishment for their acts of an offense may, subsequently, curb their awful manners.

The highlight of an individual who lusts for power and control will fulfill their needs in a severe way. Some of these compulsions are what drives delinquents to kill. The primary motivation of these criminals is to dominate their victims by manipulation without the burden of any empathy. The offenders are patient in order for them to slowly compel their victims in thinking that they are normal human beings. Their prolonging is to play the heroine of their illusions, while still receiving a sense of satisfaction in their own sadistic pleasure. A study from the article, Psychology Today, by Scott A. Bonn Ph.D., revealed results that found childhood trauma was an important link to a murderer’s mental phase. However, it is often reflected that distress is what drives and signals various curiosities (2018).

It has been found that murderers encompass their emotional rage equivalently to their painful development issues. Crime is a significant exertion around the world, and it is expressed in an infinite number of ways. The minds of those who are able to enact on murder are puzzling and vile; only murderers have the ability to understand their own demeanor. Murderers tend to have an intelligent mentality; their minds are above average when it involves violence. (Fields, Ph.D., 2016) Psychopaths are rebellious towards rules based on having difficulties rousing on social cues or doing the right and fair thing when involving social contexts. However, murderers’ brains are wired differently from regular citizens and may have some sort of mental health diagnosis. Murders might display symptoms such as Dissociative Personality Disorder (DID), Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD), Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), Schizophrenia, Sadism, Bipolar, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The two most concerning conditions a psychopath can show are Schizophrenics disorder; and Sadism. During the stages of Schizophrenia, it causes numerous switches in the brain from delusions and hallucinations to having a sensory impression into reality. Psychopaths exhibiting a Sadism disorder is the most disturbing behavior a person can encounter. The signs of a murderer with Sadism derive on sexual gratification from treating their victims with cruelty (Morana, et al).

The theory that is most active in humanity for all children, teenagers, and adults is ego. Ego can be anticipated as a villain of self-improvement or self-help. Sometimes, it can be associated as being empowered or ignorant. Somehow, the relationship with an ego is either a spiral of a friendly aftereffect or a person’s worst enemy. A healthy ego is a balance between the effect of social and personal principles. Ego is a big part of our personality; they are traits of our esteem, respect, confidence, worth, and importance. An ego is what prevents someone from receiving critiques. An ego can make a person under-estimate their own skills and abilities to achieve their dreams and goals. Therefore, ego makes a person question “who am I?” and “what is my purpose in life?” Ego can direct a person in a path of depression and anger or happiness and compassion. Emotions are a major reflex within our ego. A person who tends to turn to violence has a low outlook of them self. The symptoms of a low self-esteem are insomnia and fatigue. A person with a high self-esteem realizes their strengths and weaknesses and is always ready to improve. In addition to, an individual’s self-concept it depends on whether the person request to be part of a world of hope and sunshine or a world of crime and darkness; moreover, it is a free world of choice (“The Positive and Negative Effects of Ego,” 2016).

Grand psychological theories were established by extreme popular thinkers: Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, and Sigmund Freud. These Quantitative Psychologists took a journey to explore how the mind operates. There is no single theory of development that is easy to interpret or too broad to explain within all areas of the mind when coming across the entire lifespan. The concept of the word theory is based and relied on a hypothesis that is strengthened by evidence. It is often used as a mean of superstition, guess, or a form of opinion (). Theory is a term that presents an outline and idea that is testable to be proven false or true. Quantitative Psychologists’ studies were based on the development of empirical methods and these attributes went beyond to observe and master the inner brain. The realm of the mind is where everything travels from ideas, sensations, feelings, and memories. Withal, it is perceived as mysterious as an ocean floor, our thoughts are like waves dissolving and arising, granting the fact that we have the opportunity to observe some given activities that occur at the surface of the mind. The rest of the mind is beyond an enigma, to learn any more than what the Quantitative Psychologists’ have already found.

Work Cited

• Bonn Ph.D., Scott A. “Serial Homicide for Power and Control.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 9 Apr. 2018, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked-deeds/201804/serial-homicide-power-and-control. Accessed 11 November 2019.
• Cherry, Kendra. “How Theories Are Used in Psychology.” Verywell Mind, Verywell Mind, 22 Oct. 2019, https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-theory-2795970#purpose-of-a-psychology-theory.
• Fields Ph.D., Douglas R. “The Science of Violence.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 27 Apr. 2016, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-new-brain/201604/the-science-violence.
• Hill, Gerald and Kathleen. “Legal Dictionary - Law.com.” Law.com Legal Dictionary, 2019, https://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=979.
• Klein Ph.D., Gary. “Mindsets.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 1 May 2016, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/seeing-what-others-dont/201605/mindsets.
• Mcleod, Saul. “Id, Ego and Superego.” Id Ego Superego | Simply Psychology, Simply Psychology, 5 Feb. 2017, https://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html.
• ---.“What Is Psychology?” What Is Psychology? | Simply Psychology, 2019, https://www.simplypsychology.org/whatispsychology.html.
• Meek Ph.D., Will. “How to Understand Your Mind.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 30 Mar. 2013, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/notes-self/201303/how-understand-your-mind.
• Morana, et al. “Personality Disorders, Psychopathy and Serial Killers.” Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, Associação Brasileira De Psiquiatria, http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=s151644462006000600005&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en.
• Www.facebook.com/michelleploog. “The Positive and Negative Effects of Ego in Relation to Others.” Good News Network, 15 Jan. 2016, https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/positive-negative-effects-ego-relation-others/.