CRIM 3 - HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND VICTIMOLOGY

Preliminary Coverage
What is Psychology?

According to the American Psychological Association (APA) , psychology is the scientific

study of the mind and behavior. Psychology is a multifaceted discipline and includes many sub-
fields of study such areas as human development, sports, health, clinical, social behavior and
cognitive processes.

How Psychology is Related to Human Behavior?

Since psychology is the study of the mind, how it works, and how it might affect behavior it also
attempts to understand the role human behavior plays in social dynamics while incorporating
physiological and neurological processes into its conceptions of mental functioning.

Psychologists are actively involved in studying and understanding mental processes, brain
functions, and behavior.

ATTRIBUTES OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR

Crime committed by man has an explanation socially, morally, and

psychologically. More importantly, the psychological and social
aspects are considered by criminologists in addressing the problem of
crime and determining their cause.

Basic Concept of Human Behavior

Human behavior is the study of human conduct; the way a person

behaves or acts; includes the study of human activities in an attempt to discover
recurrent patterns and to formulate rules about man's social behavior.

Modern criminologists regard crime as a social phenomenon: meaning – an individual behavior

could be attributed directly or indirectly with his experiences and interactions to his social
environment. Thus, one's knowledge of human behavior will give him better understanding as to
the causes of normal and abnormal behavior which eventually lead to criminal behavior.
Different Attributes or Characteristics of Behavior

• Overt behavior – behaviors that are observable.

• Covert behavior – those that are hidden from the view of the observer.
• Simple behavior – less number of neurons are consumed in the process of behaving.
• Complex behavior – combination of simple behavior.
• Rational behavior – acting with sanity or with reasons.
• Irrational behavior – acting without reason.
• Voluntary behavior – done with full volition of will.
• Involuntary behavior – bodily processes that goes on even when we are awake or
asleep.

Three Levels of Behavior

• Vegetative Level – responsible for nurturing and reproduction, mostly found in plants; in
human beings, for food and reproduction.
• Animal Level – movement and sensation, mostly the use of the senses and sex drives.
• Rational/Psyche/Human Level – values and morals, reasons and the will
Three Faculties of Man
• Will – the power of conscious deliberate actions; the faculty by which the rational mind
makes choice of its ends of action, and directs energies in carrying out its determinations
• Intellect – the faculty of power of perception or thought; or power of understanding
• Soul – the rational, emotional, and volitional faculties in man, conceived of as forming and
entity distinct from, often existing independently of his body.

The Two Basic Factors Affecting Behavior

The questions on why do people become heterosexual and others homosexuals, some
are alcoholics, some are law abiding citizen and others are criminals, some are well
adjusted and other mentally ill? What will enable us to understand these extremes of
behavior? The answer to these questions requires the study and understanding of the
influences of HEREDITY and ENVIRONMENT.

A. What Is Heredity And How Does It Affects Individual’s Behavior ?

The characteristics of a person acquired from birth

being transferred from one generation to another. It
explains that certain emotional aggression, our
intelligence, ability and potentials and our physical
appearance are inherited. It influences all aspects of
behavior, including the intellectual capabilities,
reactions, tendencies and stress tolerance. This will also explain the conditions that genes,
diseases, malnutrition, injuries and other conditions that interfere with normal development are
potential causes of abnormal/criminal behavior. It is the primary basis of the idea concerning
criminal behavior, the concept of “criminals are born”. Certain individuals due to genetic may
have an elevated risk of becoming criminal. Put another way, offspring of criminal biological
parents may have a greater chance of engaging in criminal behavior than offspring of non-criminal
biological parents

B. How Environment Affects Individual’s Behavior?

Environment is the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or

operates as affected by human activity. It may also refer to anything around the person that
influences his actions.

Who we’re around us can influence who we are. Just being in a high-crime neighborhood can
increase our chances of turning to crime ourselves.

Different Environmental Factors Affecting Individuals Behavior:

• The family background – a basic consideration because it is in the family whereby an

individual first experiences how to relate and interact with another. The family is said to be
the cradle of personality development as a result of either a close or harmonious
relationship or a pathogenic family structure: the disturbed family, broken family,
separated or maladjusted relationships.
• The influences of childhood trauma – which affect the feeling of security of a child
undergoing development processes. The development processes are being blocked
sometimes by parental deprivation as a consequence of parents or lack of adequate
maturing at home because of parental rejection, overprotection, restrictiveness, over
permissiveness and faulty discipline.
• Pathogenic family structure – those families associated with high frequency of
problems such as:
o THE INADEQUATE FAMILY – characterized by the inability to cope with the
ordinary problems of family living. It lacks the resources, physical or psychological,
for meeting the demands of family satisfaction.
o THE ANTI-SOCIAL FAMILY – those that espouses unacceptable values as a
result of the influence of parents to their children.
o THE DISCONCORDANT FAMILY – characterized by dissatisfaction of one or
both parents from the relationship that may express feelings of frustration. This is
usually due to value differences as common sources of conflict and dissatisfaction.
o THE DISRUPTED FAMILY – characterized by incompleteness whether as a
result of death, divorce, separation or some other circumstances.
• Institutional influences – such as peer groups, mass media, church and school,
government institutions, NGO's, etc.
• Socio-cultural factors- such as war and violence, group prejudice and discrimination
economic and employment problems and other social changes.
• Nutrition or the quality of food that a person intake is also a factor that influences man
to commit crime because poverty is one of the many reasons for criminal behavior.
 Psychological Perspectives

Psychologists today do not believe there is one “right”

way to study the way people think or behave. There are,
however, various schools of thought that evolved
throughout the development of psychology that continue to
shape the way psychologists investigate human behavior.
For example, some psychologists might attribute a certain
behavior to biological factors such as genetics while
another psychologist might consider early childhood
experiences to be a more likely explanation for the behavior. Because psychologists might
emphasize various points within psychology in their research and analysis of behavior, there are
different viewpoints in psychology. These schools of thought are known as approaches, or
perspectives.

Theoretical Perspective on Human Nature

All theories of crime have underlying assumptions about or perspectives on human nature.
As cited in the book of Bartol (2017), there are three major perspective namely:

A. The conformity perspective: It views humans as creatures of conformity who want

to do the “right” thing. To a large extent, this assumption represents the foundation of
the humanistic perspectives in psychology. Human beings are basically “good” people
trying to live to their fullest potential. Similarly, the branch of psychology called “positive
psychology” focuses on studying the individual characteristics that make life worth
living, such as contentment and intimacy (Peterson, 2006; Seligman &
Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Thus, positive psychology is very much in tune with a
conformity perspective.
B. The nonconformist perspective: It assumes that human beings are basically
undisciplined creatures, who, without the constraints of the rules and regulations of a
given society, would flout society’s conventions and commit crime indiscriminately.
This perspective sees humans as fundamentally “unruly” and deviant.
C. The learning perspective: This sees human beings as born neutral (neither inherently
conforming nor unruly) and subject to developmental changes throughout the life
course. This perspective argues that humans learn virtually all their behavior, beliefs,
and tendencies from the social environment.
Psychological Criminology and Sociological Criminology

Psychological criminology is the science of the behavior and mental processes of the
person who commits crime. While sociological criminology focuses primarily on groups and
society as a whole, and how they influence criminal activity, psychological criminology focuses on
individual criminal behavior—how it is acquired, evoked, maintained, and modified.

Focus of Psychological Criminology

Psychological criminology has shifted its focus in several ways. First, it has taken a more
cognitive approach to studying criminal behavior. Second, it has paid more attention to biological
and neuropsychological factors. Third, it has adopted a developmental approach to studying
criminal behavior among both individuals and groups.

A. Cognitive Approach. Cognitions refer to the attitudes, beliefs, values, and thoughts that
people hold about the social environment, interrelations, human nature, and themselves.
B. Biological or Neurological Approach. The biological approach often focuses on
aggression and violent behavior.
C. Developmental Approach. Learning how criminal behavior begins and progresses is
extremely important. A developmental approach examines the changes and influences
across a person’s lifetime that may contribute to the formation of antisocial and criminal
behavior. These are usually called “risk factors.”
 What is Developmental Psychology?

The science of Developmental psychology is the study of the

changes in humans over the course of their lifetime. According
to Dr. Brian Tilley, Associate Professor of Psychology at
National University, defines developmental psychology as “The
study of humanity.”

It is the study of how people change over time, but it also investigates how and why certain
characteristics remain consistent over the life course. Also, it involves the study of changes in
human behavior and thought from infancy to old age. Traditionally, developmental psychologists
have focused on child development, believing that most formative experiences of life occur during
infancy and childhood. But psychologists have more recently turned their attention to adolescence
and adulthood, recognizing that development continues throughout the life span. The study of
adult development focuses on the unique experiences of this stage of life and examines how
adults maintain and refine their capabilities as they age

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

• John Locke- He is considered the father of modern learning theory. For him, the child
was a tabula rasa or blank slate on which experience writes. The role of Locke and later
learning theorists was to emphasize the role of the environment in development
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau- He is often identified as the father of classical developmental
psychology. In his book Emile (1762), he championed a view that emphasized the natural
unfolding of the child based on an innate blueprint. He was one of the first to argue that
development took place in stages.

Take Note: (From a philosophical perspective, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are
the usual starting points for Western discussions of development.)

• Sigmund Freud- He developed the psychoanalysis and portrayed early childhood as a

formative period for personality development. Adult personality and psychological
problems were regarded as arising from childhood influences.
• Jean Piaget- He is a Swiss psychologist and developed the Cognitive development
theory. Piaget described how children construct new knowledge by adapting current
understanding to new experiences, and his emphasis on how the mind actively creates
new understanding.
• Erik Erikson- American psychoanalyst who expanded on Freud’s ideas and portrayed
development as lifelong. His psychosocial theory of development described each stage of
 life as a conflict involving the social world, such as “trust vs. mistrust” of others in infancy,
which must be successfully resolved to achieve healthy growth.
• John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner- They are learning theorist that proposed r proposed
that all behaviors were learned responses to environmental influences, such as the
reinforcement and examples provided by parents, peers, and others.
• Lev Vygotsky- He is a Russian psychologist and a socio-cultural theorist who viewed all
development in the context of culture, emphasizing the influence of cultural values on
individual growth.
• In the 20th century, the invention of the computer provided a new metaphor for describing
the developing mind. Theorists described the mind as a high-speed information-
processing machine, with changes in cognitive abilities resulting from the changing
capacity of the mind to organize information, store and retrieve knowledge, and solve
problems and evaluate solutions.

Aspects of Developmental Psychology

• Physical Development -The study of physical development focuses on the growth of the
brain, body, and physical capabilities, along with the psychological implications of this
growth
• Cognitive Development – This development concerns with the growth of the mind
throughout life. One of the challenges of studying cognitive development is that there are
so many aspects of mental growth, including the development of memory, perception,
logical reasoning, problem-solving skill, numerical understanding, intelligence, and
hypothetical thinking.
• Social and Emotional Development- Psychologists interested in social and emotional
development focus on relationships, the growth of social skills and social understanding,
and the influence of the social world on emotional life.
• Personality Development -The study of personality development explores how the
distinctive qualities of people develop over life: their characteristic social and emotional
dispositions, self-concept, views of the world, and ways of acting and thinking. Personality
development is closely related to social and emotional development, but it is also much
broader.
• Moral Development- Moral development concerns the development of moral values and
behavior. Moral values are beliefs about what is right and wrong; moral behavior refers to
actions consistent with these beliefs. Moral development is closely tied to other aspects
of psychological growth
A. The Earliest Theory. The Greek philosopher Hippocrates believed that four basic elements
(air, water, earth and fire) and four body fluids (blood, phlegm, yellow and black bile) affect
human behavior. This was further developed by the Roman physician Galen who said that:

● Sanguine – caused by excess of blood, the person is cheerful,

confidently optimistic and impulsive.
● Melancholic – the person is depressed, morose and pessimistic,
caused by an excess of black bile.
● Choleric – due to excess yellow bile, the person is hot-tempered
and irritable.
● Phlegmatic – the person is slow-moving, calm and unexcitable,
produced by an excess of phlegm.

A German psychiatrist Ernst Kretschmer (1888-1964) also

classified personality based on body build:

● Asthenic – thin, tall, fragile, narrowly built and looks weak

● Athletic – muscular and energetic
● Pyknic – round and robust
● Dysplastic – malproportioned body, a combination of the above

In the 1940s, William Sheldon examined the

relationship between body type and personality. He
classified the human physique into the hypothetical
biological structure called morphogenotype and the
externally observable physique called phrenotype. He
attempted to measure the morphogenotype directly
through the phrenotype, using what he called the
Somatotype Performance Test.
Endomorphs with viscerotonia

● Plump with fatty tissues, round, soft bodies with large abdomens.
● Sociable
● Fond of food and people
● Even tempered
● Affectionate
Mesomorphs with somatotonia

● Lots of muscles, hard, sturdy with strong bones and muscles

● Love of physical adventure
● Competitive
● Assertiveness of behavior

Ectomorphs with cerebrotonia

● Bony, thin, fragile with flat chest

● Love of privacy and secretive
● Self-conscious
● Inhibited in movement

B. Biological Typology (Hans J. Eysenck)

Eysenck defined personality as the stable and enduring organization of a person’s

character, temperament, intellect and physique, which determines his/her unique adjustment to
the environment.

● Character – the system of cognitive behavior (will)

● Temperament – the system of affective behavior (emotion)
● Intellect – the system of cognitive behavior
● Physique – the system of bodily configuration and neuroendocrine endowment.

Basic Dimensions of Temperament

1. Extroversion-introversion – this is a matter of balance of inhibition (calming down) and

exertion in the brain itself.

• Extrovert – manifests impulsive, outgoing behavior

• Introvert – generally avoids highly arousing situation
2. Stability-instability – neuroticism ranges from normal to fairly calm but tends to be quite
nervous; indicative of emotional overreaction and have difficulties adjusting to normal state
after emotional experiences.

3. Psychotism – this describes a person with psychotic and psychopathic tendencies due
to insensitiveness, hostility and aggressiveness, recklessness and inappropriate
emotional expression.
Personality

Personality was initially conceived apparently as a

superficial social image – one that a person took in performing
his role in real life (Carson-Arenas, 2004). Personality refers
to the sum total of the typical ways of acting, thinking and
feeling that make each person unique. It is further defined as
the long and enduring pattern of behavior. Personality
development begins at birth and develops gradually. The
infant possesses only the barest rudiments of personality. He
or she is not yet fully equipped to meet the requirements of
everyday living. Although the potentialities for growth are
present, these have to be developed in order for the characteristics of these potentials to be
manifested. This process is known as MATURATION.

Three Components of Personality

1. ID – the unconscious part of the personality which serves as the reservoir of the primitive
and biological drives and urges. It is that part of the personality with which we are born.
ID is the animalistic self.

2. Ego – the mediator between the ID and the superego. It refers to the developing
awareness of self or the “I”. It is known as the integrator of the personality; the part that
interacts with the outside world, partly conscious and partly unconscious. As the ego
develops the reality principle supersedes or operates in concert with the pleasure principle
in guiding the behavior. The adaptive functions of the ego are the defense against anxiety.

3. Superego – the socialized component of the personality. It is the authoritative or parental

direction which becomes incorporated into the personality as the censoring force or
conscience. It begins primarily by accepting early in life of the standards of the persons
who are most important to the child, and it is first evident when the child feels within himself
that his behavior is right or wrong. A weak defective superego permits a person to express
hostile and anti-social striving without anxiety or guilt.
Classical Psychoanalysis (Sigmund Freud)

Human beings are biological organisms motivated by the

satisfaction of bodily needs. They are hedonistic creatures
driven by the same impulses as lower animals. The mind is
made up of the id, ego and superego (human psyche). The
energy used originates in the id, which has a primitive and
instinctive nature. The ego, arising from the id, exists to deal
with rationally with its basic drives. It also mediates between
the forces that operate on the id. The superego, arising from
the ego, acts as the moral brake of counterforce to the
practical concerns of the ego. It sets out a series of guidelines
that define and limit the ego’s flexibility.

Cathexis and Anti-cathexis

Cathexis (cathexia) refers to a relationship or connection between a need and an object

that satisfies the need. Anti-cathexis is the inhibition of an impulse either the ego or the superego.

Anxiety

According to Freud, human beings experience an extreme form of anxiety when they are
separated from their mother at birth. He called this birth trauma. It signifies change from the
environment of complete security to one in which the satisfaction of their needs is less predictable.
The function of anxiety is to warn us that, if we continue thinking or behaving in a certain way, we
will be in danger. Anxiety refers to fear or nervousness about what might happen.

Three Kinds of Anxiety

• Reality anxiety – caused by real, objective sources of danger in the environment.

• Neurotic anxiety – fear that the id’s impulses will overwhelm the ego and make the
person do something for which he/she will be punished.
• Moral anxiety – fear of doing something contrary to the superego and thus experience
guilt.
 For Freud, human behaviour is primarily instinctive and motivated by unconscious
mechanisms. Instincts are the driving forces behind personality. Its four components are:

1. The source, where the need arises, may be part of the whole body; a deficiency of some
kind.
2. The aim is to reduce the need until no more action is necessary; it is to give the organism
the satisfaction it now desires, thereby re-establishing internal balance.
3. The impetus is the amount of energy, force or pressure used to satisfy or gratify the
impulse; usually determined by the strength or urgency of the underlying need.
4. The object represents experiences or objects that reduce or remove body deficiency. It
refers to a thing, action or expression that allows satisfaction of the original aim.

Freud noted two basic impulses: the life/love instinct or eros and the death instinct or
thanatos. Each of these generalized impulses has a separate source of energy. The libido is the
psychic energy associated with the eros. Freud believed that the libidinal energy is expended to
prolong life. The thanatos prompts a person to return to the inorganic state that preceded life.

Psychosexual Stages of Development

1. Oral stage/Infancy. This stage covers the period from birth up to the end
of the second year of life. The mouth region which includes the lips and tongue, is
the main source of gratification of the child. The child is learning to deal w/ anxiety
by gratification of oral needs such as sucking, chewing, biting and spitting are
normal activities of the child. This is also characterized by complete dependency
from others.

2. Anal stage/Toddler. This extends from the end of the second year to the
third year. The anus, through controlling and expelling feces, is the major
source of gratification for the child. Social control is developed thru
defecation and toilet training. A defective social control development will lead
to OCD.

3. Phallic stage/Preschool. This covers approximately the end of the third year to sixth year
of life. The child finds pleasure by fondling his/her genitals. The child establishes sexual
identity/genital stimulation. This stage is called the FIXATED BEHAVIOR
which means your behaviour right now was being developed during this
stage.

- ELECTRA COMPLEX - female child develops intimacy to her father

and views the mother as a rival.
 - OEDIPUS COMPLEX - a male child develops intimacy to his mother and views
the father as a rival.

4. Latency/School age. Starts from sixth year to age 12. During this period, the
child shifts from deriving gratification from his/her body parts to environmental
activities like playing and learning. The child gains pleasure by being with his/her
company. At this stage, sensual motives subside. The child focuses into
conventional activities such as school work and worthwhile activities such as
sports.

5. Genital stage/Adolescence. This starts from puberty

and beyond. The individual realizes that other people are not just mere
sources of gratification but people to be loved. Attraction to opposite sex
is expected. The person establishes relationship with an opposite sex or,
relationship with the same sex/gender due to an abnormal PHALLIC
STAGE.

Analytic Psychology (Carl Jung)

Carl Gustav Jung, one of the earliest pupils of Freud, eventually created a school that he
preferred to call analytical psychology. Under his theory, the human psyche is embedded in the
past, present and future. It consists of conscious and unconscious elements, masculine and
feminine traits, rational and irrational impulses, spiritualistic and animalistic tendencies and the
tendency to bring all these contradicting behaviors into harmony with each other.

Components of the Psyche

1. Ego – considered as concerned with thinking, feeling,

remembering and perceiving. It is responsible for carrying
out the functions of everyday life and for our sense of
identity and continuity in time.
2. Personal unconscious – consists of materials that were
once conscious but later repressed or forgotten, or which
were not vivid enough to make a conscious impression.
3. Collective unconscious – the collective experiences of
humans in their revolutionary past or the accumulation of
ancestral experiences. When the contents of the collective
unconscious are not recognized in the conscious state,
these are manifested in dreams, fantasies, images and
symbols.
4. Persona – this develops because of one’s need to play a
role in society. This is the part of the psyche by which we are known to represent only a
small part of one’s psyche.
 5. Archetypes – it causes males to have feminine traits and provides a framework within
which males interact with females. The female component of the male psyche is called
anima. It experiences men from experiences men have had with women throughout the
ages. Men’s relationship with women includes such things as being nurtured (mother),
being sexually involved (lover) and being just a friend. The animus is the masculine
component of the female psyche. It gives females some masculine traits and a framework
that guides her relationship with men. It furnishes women with an ideal of the male;
insistence that a particular man must live up to that ideal may lead to conflict and
disillusionment. Both sexes should recognize that they possess traits of the opposite sex.
This will result in a more well-rounded and creative person.
6. Shadow – the darkest and deepest part of the psyche. It is the part of the collective
unconscious that is inherited from our pre-human ancestors and contains all the animal
instincts. Because of the shadow, we have a strong tendency to be immortal, aggressive
and passionate.
7. Word association – a test used by Jung to detect complexes. The test is composed of a
list of words; as each word is presented, the patient responds to the first word that comes
to his/her mind. Jung found out that males tend to respond faster to stimulus words than
females; the educated respond faster than the uneducated and members of the same
family have similar reactions to stimulus words.
8. The self – the component of the psyche that attempts to harmonize all the other
components. It is a person striving for unity, wholeness and integration of the total
personality

Functions of Thought

1. Sensing – detects the presence of things but does not indicate what it is.
2. Thinking – tells what a thing is; it gives names to things that are sensed.
3. Feeling – tells whether a thing is acceptable or unacceptable; determines
what a thing is worth to the individual; pertains to liking and disliking.
4. Intuiting – hunches about past or future events when factual information
is not available.
Stages of Development under Analytic Psychology

1. Childhood (birth to adolescence) – libidinal energy is expected in learning to walk, talk

and other skills necessary for survival. After the fifth year, libidinal energy is directed
towards sexual activities, reaching its peak during adolescence.
2. Young adulthood (adolescence to 40) – libidinal energy is directed towards learning
vocation, getting married, raising children and activities relating to community life. The
individual is outgoing, energetic, impulsive and passionate.
3. Middle age (from 40 to later years of life) – the most important stage because the person
is transformed from an energetic, extroverted and biologically oriented individual to one
with a more sophisticated cultural, philosophical and spiritual sense of value.