---
title: "Criminology"
chunk: 4/8
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminology"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:57:42.603938+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory (and therapy) which regards the unconscious mind, repressed memories, and trauma, as the key drivers of behavior, especially deviant behavior. Sigmund Freud discussed how the unconscious desire for pain relates to psychoanalysis in his essay, Beyond the Pleasure Principle. Freud suggested that unconscious impulses such as 'repetition compulsion' and a 'death drive' can dominate a person's creativity, leading to self-destructive behavior. Phillida Rosnick, in the article Mental Pain and Social Trauma, posits a difference in the thoughts of individuals suffering traumatic unconscious pain, which corresponds to them having thoughts and feelings that are not reflections of their true selves. There is enough correlation between this altered state of mind and criminality to suggest causation. Sander Gilman, in the article Freud and the Making of Psychoanalysis, looks for evidence in the physical mechanisms of the human brain and the nervous system and suggests there is a direct link between an unconscious desire for pain or punishment and the impulse to commit crime or deviant acts.

=== Symbolic interactionism ===

Symbolic interactionism draws on the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl and George Herbert Mead, as well as subcultural theory and conflict theory. This school of thought focused on the relationship between state, media, and conservative-ruling elite and other less powerful groups. The powerful groups could become the "significant other" in the less powerful groups' processes of generating meaning. The former could, to some extent, impose their meanings on the latter; therefore, they were able to "label" minor delinquent youngsters as criminals. These youngsters would often take the label on board, be more readily inclined to crime, and become actors in the "self-fulfilling prophecy" of powerful groups. Later developments in this set of theories were by Howard Becker and Edwin Lemert, in the mid-20th century. Stanley Cohen developed the concept of "moral panic" describing the societal reaction to spectacular, alarming social phenomena (e.g. post-World War 2 youth cultures like the Mods and Rockers in the UK in 1964, AIDS epidemic and football hooliganism).

=== Labeling theory ===

Labeling theory refers to an individual who is labeled by others in a particular way. The theory was studied in great detail by Becker. It was originally derived from sociology, but is regularly used in criminological studies. When someone is labeled a criminal, they may accept or reject the label and continue to commit crimes. Even those who initially reject the label can eventually accept it as it becomes better known, particularly among their peers. This stigma can become even more profound when the labels are about deviancy, and it is thought that this stigmatization can lead to deviancy amplification. Malcolm Klein conducted a study that showed labeling theory affected some youth offenders but not others.

=== Traitor theory ===
At the other side of the spectrum, criminologist Lonnie Athens developed a theory about how a process of brutalization by parents or peers that usually occurs in childhood results in violent crimes in adulthood. Richard Rhodes' Why They Kill describes Athens' observations about domestic and societal violence in the criminals' backgrounds. Both Athens and Rhodes reject the genetic inheritance theories.

=== Rational choice theory ===