Criminal Psychology

• Author: D. P. Lyle
• Pages: 357-379

Criminal Psychology 357

CHAPTER 20

CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY

The study and analysis of the psychology behind criminal a ctivity falls to

the foren sic ps ycholog ist and psychiatrist. These titles are often used

interchangeably but in reality are quite dif ferent. A doctor of psychology

possesses a PhD; a psychiatrist a med ical degree that, as w ith every other

physician, is earned after four years of medica l school. He would then com-

plete a residency in psychiatry.

As we saw with clinical and forensic pathologists, the duties and capa-

bilities of the clinical psychologist/psychiatrist and the forensic psychologist/

psychiatrist are very dif ferent. Clinical psychologists are trained to test a nd

interview patients in order to determine their mental state, competence, and

sanity and to offer counseling. A clinica l psychiatrist does all this but in addi-

tion, his medical degree al lows him to perform psychotherapy and prescribe

medications. In the forensic arena each attempts to dissect the criminal mind

to search for motives, competency, and sanity in criminal and civic ca ses.

Society has long searched for a method to identify the “bad guys,” the

rationale being that if criminals ca n be identified and put away, the public

is safe and, if not, the public is at risk. This fear is fueled by such seem-

ingly “normal” serial killers li ke Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, and Dennis

Rader, the BTK Killer. These predators looked and acted, at least in public,

like everyone else. This is discomforting to most p eople.

358 Criminal Psychology

The search for methods to identify the “criminal type” has a long and

sordid history. Though this chapter will deal with more modern methods,

a look at a couple of the more famous, yet completely erroneous, methods

developed by Franz Joseph Gall and Cesare L ombroso will underline how

far we’ve come.

Franz Joseph Gall, a German physician, developed the field of phre-

nology around 1800. He believed that criminals could be identified by

reading the “bumps” on a their head. The concept was that the criminal’s

abnormal brain would alter the shape and contour of the overlying skull

bone and feeling for these changes could identify the criminal personality.

Cesare Lombroso, a professor of psychiatry in Pesaro, Italy, pub-

lished his book The Cr iminal Man in 1876. In it he stated that criminals

could be identified and classified by physical characteristics such as cleft

palates, poor teeth, long arms, an asymmetric head shape, prominent jaw

or cheekbones, large ears, a hawk nose, fleshy lips, extra fi ngers or toes,

and other physical “defects.” In his 1895 publication, Criminal An thro-

pology, he further suggested that some characteristics indicated the type

of crime the person would likely commit. According to Lombroso, assas-

sins had prominent jaws and pale faces; ravishers possessed short hands,

narrow foreheads, and light hair; and pickpockets posses sed long fingers

(which actually makes sense) and black hair.

These theories, and many others, are r idiculously naive and have long

since fallen by the wayside, but the search for the “criminal mi nd” contin-

ues. Profiling, which will be d iscussed later in this chapter, is one exam-

ple. In addition, current research into such high-tech devices as CT scans,

MRIs, and PET scans hopes to develop methods for evaluating the brain

function of criminals. The goal is to develop techniques as wide ranging

as a better lie detector to identifying those with brain disorders that could

lead to aberrant behavior.

The Forensic Psychiatric Professional

Modern forensic psychiatrists and psychologists take a more reasoned and

scientific approach to evaluating suspects and cri minals than did their pre-

decessors. Their duties include the following: