Freud’s psychoanalytic theory provided a new approach to the analysis and treatment of abnormal adult behavior. Freud is considered the father of psychology. Freud’s theory breaks human personality down into three modules known as the following: Id, Ego and Superego. Id is based on pleasure principle. An example is doing something that feels good, but in the back of your mind you know that it is wrong. Ego is the part of personality that helps us deal with reality by mediating between the demands of the id, superego and environment. The ego helps people function properly and not act on every urge. The superego contains the conscience which makes us feel guilty for doing or thinking something wrong and good when we do something right. The id, ego, and superego can be used to explain criminal behavior. For example, probation/parole officers have applied the psychoanalytic theory through the use of social casework.
BF Skinner’s Theory of Behaviorism
Behaviorism is a theory of learning based upon the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. BF Skinner made his reputation by testing Watson’s theories. He rejected Watson’s emphasis on reflexes and conditioning. Skinner believed that people respond to their environment. He also believed that they operate on the environment to produce certain consequences. Skinner developed operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is the idea that we behave the way we do because this kind of behavior has had certain consequences in the past. Behaviorism doesn’t explain why crimes occur, but it does attest the actions and re-actions of the person engaging in the behavior. Criminal behavior is caused by the reaction to environmental stimuli. For example, an