Karami, Jahangir, and Kasra Sharifi. "A Survey Of Psychological Features Of Violence Criminals." Journal Of Fundamentals Of Mental Health 18.3 (2016): 145. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 28 Nov. 2016. After abundant research it was discovered that violent convicts are more likely to have a higher level of self confidence, larger families, and a higher chance of a mental illness when compared to their nonviolent counterparts. These mental disorders are traditionally in the areas of “phobias, anxieties, somatic complaints, psychosis, depression, paranoid thoughts, aggression, obsession, compulsion, and interpersonal sensitivities” (Jahangir and Sharifi 2). Aggression, anxiety, and somatization cases are much more prevalent than are phobias and obsessive compulsive cases however. There is clearly something off-kilter in the criminal psyche, as a mentally sound person would likely not feel the need to use violence to solve their problems, so the proof that violence is often accompanied by neurological issues is only logical. Psychosis or deranged thoughts have the capability to make otherwise normal people commit heinous crimes, which, though it isn’t the cause for every single violent act in the world, could be a large explanation behind violent criminal activities. The evidence in the article supports two major ideas; that mental illnesses are much more prevalent in men with violent-tendencies, and that something needs to be done to help these aggressive offenders in order to prevent them from re-committing the crimes that resulted in their detainment in the first place. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Miller, L., & Ebooks, C. (2012). Criminal Psychology : Nature, Nurture, Culture: a Textbook and Practical Reference Guide for Students and Working Professionals in the Fields of Law Enforcement, Criminal Justice, Mental Health, and Forensic Psychology. Springfield, Ill: Charles C Thomas.
Miller discusses the process and discrepancies in the justice system in regard to determining mental stability in criminals. He states that “about 17 percent of people who enter the criminal justice system have some form of serious mental illness” (Miller 17). Many of these people don’t receive the assistance necessary for them to regain a stable psyche, and as a result end up in a sort of revolving-door situation, in which they continue to pass in and out of the justice system recommitting crimes due to their deranged subconscious. He additionally reviews Freud’s primary theories regarding human behavior and explains that criminals are often driven by egotistical reasoning, or by narcissism, speaking of the “striving for superiority and the will to power that drove different forms of human behavior, including criminal behavior” (Miller 66). This source is very credible due to the fact that Freud was a very well-renowned scientist with a PhD who studied human behavior for the majority of his professional career. This is a full length book so it is obviously accredited and credible. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Ogden, Janine T. "Personality Disorders." Salem Press Encyclopedia of Health, January.
In this article Freud establishes that personality develops in early childhood. However, traumatic childhood experiences can result in difficulty forming identity. This difficulty in forming a healthy identity can result in personality disorders, which are divided into 3 clusters. Borderline and Antisocial personality disorder are the most common and are characterized by erratic emotions and over dramatization. Personality disorders are the most common psychological disorders in criminals, resulting in mental instability that should affect sentencing. Personality disorders can additionally result in “impairments in day-to-day functioning” (Ogden). When someone is a victim of a personality disorder, their “personality traits that are significantly extreme or exaggerated, making it difficult to establish functional relationships with others” (Ogden). This article exemplifies the personality disorders common in criminals in order to show how they should be viewed in court and how these disorders can manifest themselves into other disorders like psychopathy, making a suspect technically not mentally sound.