For many years, psychologists have debated on just how big a factor mental health is in the criminal mind. After all, some of the world’s master criminals aren’t clinically insane and have little in terms of mental disorders. Certainly, there is an abundance of mental health problems in criminals whose crimes are subjected to sensationalism by the media, but there are others. There are criminals out there that are not insane and can easily pass even the most scrutinizing examinations without even the slightest indication of any known or documented mental health disorder. Also, insanity does not automatically make one a criminal and sanity does not automatically make one an innocent bystander. So, with that in mind, what exactly is the relationship between psychology and crime?
The first concern in unraveling this link is whether or not there is such a thing as a born criminal. Is there a combination of genetics and hereditary mental health problems that automatically labels a person as a criminal for life? The number of people who believe in this is starting to decrease rapidly, particularly in the light of recent arguments. Even in families with a long...