To understand criminal behavior it is one has to understand criminology. Criminology focuses on why people commit crime. Many theorists have developed criminological descriptions and explanations as to why crime occurs. These theories are then applied to events or individuals in an attempt to explain criminal behavior. Serial killers are very difficult to assess, but, because of the nature and extent of their crimes, many have been pushed to examine what goes on in the minds of these serial killers. Although some may use different criminological theories to explain different individuals, I believe that Sigmund Freud’s concept of Id, Superego and Ego best explains Andrei Chikatilo actions. Freud’s theory falls into Control Theories which argues that without appropriate socialization, people act on their preprogrammed tendency towards crime and deviance. If it weren’t for restraints on people’s innate self-tendencies, everyone would naturally commit crime (Tibbetts, 2012). Control theories concentrate on social control. It focuses on how individuals relate to their social surrounds or how they relate to agents of socialization. Agents such as family members, school teachers, church members, mass media or police officers. It explains how bonding and interacting with society keeps people away from criminal behaviors.
Freud had formed his own theory on how individuals choose crime over anything else; He developed the concept of ID, Ego and Superego. He states that individuals are all born with inherent drives and motivations that gravitate towards selfishness and greed (Tibbetts, 2012). Freud also felt that crime is not triggered because a person has criminal tendencies; it is caused by an underdeveloped or traumatized psyche. Traumatic experiences in early childhood can tarnished individual’s psyche. The psyche is divided into three domains the Id, the Ego and The Superego. These domains also develop at different stages in our lives. The...
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