Why do People Break the Law?

This chapter will begin with the differentiation between individual psychology, evolutionary psychology, and cultural psychology as applied to criminology. We will explore the impact of personality, upbringing, cognition, psychopathology, and trauma on criminal and violent behaviour and go on to explore pathways leading to criminality as well as culturally informed pathways out of criminality. The basic principles behind psychobiosocial integrative models and the theories they incorporate will be outlined as well as their limitations and criticisms. This chapter concludes with identifying trauma-informed approaches to reducing criminality in Canada and provides select examples of excellence in B.C.

Psychology attempts to answer the question “Why do people break the law?” by studying the intricacies of the human mind, including how human minds make sense of their environment and are shaped by evolution, culture, and society. Psychological approaches to explaining criminal behaviour can be differentiated from one another by looking at where theorists and researchers locate the flaw causing criminality. Some look to the individual for causes, while others look to the impact of social and cultural factors. This field of work encompasses many approaches, theories, and directions of inquiry. In this chapter, we will explore how individual psychology, cognitive-behavioural psychology, evolutionary psychology, cultural psychology, and integrative models of criminality answer the questions raised by criminal, or criminalised, behaviour.