Frederick Newcomb
PSY-310-H1560 Criminal Psychology 22EW1
10/6/2022
6-2 Journal: Criminal Prosecution
Limitations
In order to assess and identify the various causes and or precursors to criminal behavior,
psychological theories are used (Bartol & Bartol, 2017). This comes with inherent limitations
when using these theories to prosecuting criminals, in that, they can and often do fail in taking
into consideration any social and or cultural factors. The focus of these theories are to mainly key
in on environmental factors. In some cases, theories can also be skewed by bias and assumptions,
for example, religious or racial bias. An example of an assumption is that the criminal behavior is
conducted while high on drugs. There is no one theory that is or will be 100% accurate, thus they
are not able to completely explain criminal behavior. If limitations like bias and assumptions
were acknowledged, they could be and avoided, strengthening the prosecution process. Also.
including other factors like cultural and social issues could aid in strengthening and validating
the theory.
Motivational Factors
Criminal behavior and acting out is not impacted by a person's age. That said, the person
is more likely to continue the behavior, the younger they are when it is first exhibited. This
means that a five-year-old exhibiting the behavior is more likely to continue said behavior than a
fifteen-year-old is (Bartol & Bartol, 2017). The result of criminal behavior early on is typically
antisocial behavior when they get older. Serial killers such as Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer
exhibited antisocial, violent behavior when they were very young. As such, they were eventually
diagnosed with antisocial personality disorders later in life. These disorders can and do
negatively affect a person's decision-making regarding criminal behavior. However, there are
treatment for children and young adults that are able to reduce the possibility that they become
chronic offenders later in life (Bartol & Bartol, 2017).
ReferenceBartol, C. R., & Bartol, A. M. (2017). Criminal behavior: A psychological
approach(11th ed.). Harlow, England: Pearson.