Reading Assignment #2 (Criminal Behavior Systems)


Chapter 2 (Theories of Criminality and Crime)

Points Possible: 20

Deliverable Length: 3-4 pages

Due: Saturday, September 3 by 11:55 pm

Answer any two questions (10 points each):

1.  Compare and contrast biological and psychological theories of crime/criminals. In particular, distinguish between the earlier biological focus on body type/phrenology and the later psychological emphasis on personality and crime.

2.  Outline Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality, including it’s the three major components, and the types of crime that the theory may best describe or predict.

3.  Summarize Edwin Sutherland’s differential association theory. How does it differ from biological/psychological explanations of crime?