PSYC 3020 Lecture : Psych of Law 3020

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 3020
• Professor: Dan Yarmey

Document Summary

Forensic psychology can be defined in a narrow or broad fashion. Clinical forensic psychologists are primarily interested in mental health as they pertain to law. Currently, forensic psychology is viewed as a distinct and specialized discipline, with its own textbooks, journals and professional associations. Box 1. 2: biological, sociological and psychological theories of crime: Biological: sheldon"s (1949) constitutional theory: crime is a product of an individual"s body build: endomorphs (pear shaped, hourglass, obese), mesomorphs (muscular) and ectomorphs (skinny) were linked to temperaments and therefore different types of crime: Mesomorph- bold and aggressive- predisposed to violent crime: jacobs, brunton, belville, brittan and mcclemont"s (1965) Chromosomal theory: chromosomal irregularity is linked to criminal behaviour: a normal female has 2 x chromosomes, and a normal male has xy. Symptoms include outbursts of physical violence, impulsive sexual behaviour and serious traffic violations. Thus, a criminal results primarily from a process of society labelling an individual as a criminal.