CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES:BIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACHES: A CRITICAL EVALUATION

This study aims to examine the dimensions of biological and psychological crime theories and the contributions of the early and contemporary theories on the field of criminology. The study will elaborate on these theories which contribute to the development of the science of criminology. Criticisms directed to the theories which are based on biological and psychological approaches and which deal with the phenomenon of crime in an individual context will be examined and the contributions of these theories will be scrutinized. In this sense, the study aims to include a critical evaluation of the literature rather than a simple review of it. The study will first examine the early theories of crime based on biological approach and then examine the effects of these theories on the field of criminology. After examining the criticisms of early biological theories, gene-based contemporary biological theories will be discussed. In the second part of the study, psychological based theories of crime will be examined. To this aim, first, the approach of Psychoanalyses, Behavioral and Cognitive theories to crime will be examined and then the relationship between basic personality traits and crime will be analyzed. Finally, the study will examine the relationship between psychopathy and crime, and will criticize the approach of the biological and psychological theories to the fact of crime. It is emphasized in the study that contemporary biological and psychological theories should take social factors into account. In this sense, contemporary theories of criminology are one of the important points underlined by the study that it is necessary to examine crime phenomenon from a holistic perspective.

Keywords

Crime, Biological theories, Psychological theories, Criminology.