Psychological Theory Case Study

INTRODUCTION

I have chosen the case study number 3. Through this case study, I have chosen the “Psychological Theory” as a theory that can explain the criminal case through articles that I have been chosen.

SUMMARY OF THE CASE

The following is a summary of the case study number 3 that I been choose. This case study related to crimes that been happened at Kampung Cabang Tiga, Ketereh in Kota Bharu performed by a men against his own mother. The suspect was a man who was 31 years old and unemployed. The suspect had threatened to harm his mother's eyes only because her mother refused to give requested money of RM10. Her younger sister tried to accost his brother but the suspec started to get angry and was try to hurt her sister with a sharp iron

If someone commit a crime they can be arrested, charged and prosecuted according to the law. According to Barak (1998) it is difficult to get absolute objective definition of crime because the definition are laden and biased at same point. . The law defined crime “is somewhat arbitrary, and represents a highly selective process” (Barak, 1998, p. 21). In this case, the suspect has committed a crime when threatened the victim which is his own mother. In the theory of Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), he stated that a weak conscious that cannot control an individuals urges and a criminals need for immediate gratification. Based on this case, it is clearly shown that the suspect act aggresively because his mother did not give the requested money that he want and force him to act violent and eventually commited crime just to fulfill his desired. Freud divides the personality in three component which are Id, Ego and Superego. These three element play the important role as it affect the behaviour of the person who commited crime. As for this case, the Id element ordered the suspect to threatened the victim as it can fulfill his desires while if by ego, he will see whether the security situation around completely secure or not and try to divert and relieve some willingness of the Id. Lastly, the superego would argue that threatened is an offense and will give negative impact to the criminals themselves.

Crime is normal because a society without crime would be impossible. Emile also rejected the idea of individualism in the sense that society is the sum of its individual members; rather that it should be studied collectively. To some extent, with Durkheim’s theory,we can say that he is correct in saying that crime is unavoidable. Moreover, it is largely unavoidable in societies with higher inequality such as socio-economic statuses which being a factor of crime . According to Erikson, deviant is a person whose activities have moved outside the margins of the group and when the community applies social control it makes a statement about it boundaries (1996, p. 20). Thus, in the end for Durkheim and Erikson, crime and deviance is a natural social process which we would not want to get rid of even if one