Psychology as compared to the other, more conventional fields of sciences, is relatively young. Within the field of psychology, there are numerous sub-specializations that have emerged only a few years back; criminal psychology is one such branch of psychology. But, unlike most of the scientific fields its age, criminal psychology rose to popularity within a very short period of time- thanks to the evergrowing number of movies, series’, and novels based on murder mysteries and crime thrillers. But these depictions of criminal psychologists in the silver screen and books have also painted a somewhat idyllic picture of a semi-professional. So, if you are still hung over the last psycho movie you watched, this write-up would most probably disappoint you. But if you do want to know what the field of criminal psychology actually is and it’s scope in our country, I do hope this helps.
Criminal psychology can be defined as the study of criminal behaviour, where the term behaviour includes personality, attitude, physiology, learning, motivation, thinking and other cognitive factors which contribute to the act of crime or criminal intentions. It aims at explaining, describing, predicting and controlling criminal behaviour. This is probably the most accepted textbook definition for the term. Again, as a new field and applied science, textbooks can’t be totally relied upon to understand the subject as a whole. So, I have done additional research through professionals who currently work in the field of criminal psychology In India.
Criminal psychology arose from two other sub-fields in psychology- namely, social psychology and clinical psychology. But it is also an amalgamation of psychology and law. Therefore it is an interdisciplinary field in every sense.
Crime and criminal are two different terms; ‘Crime’ refers to an act against law, whereas ‘criminal’ includes even intentions or thoughts of doing a crime. It might sound similar, but when it comes to the real world, these terms can be miles apart. And both these terms are very complex in nature. There can never be a unified definition of what crime is, as it differs from person to person. Things that are considered to be a crime in one culture might be normal for another. The same act could be treated as a disorder by another culture. So it is hard to come up with words to describe the field.
India has only recently adopted this sub-field of psychology and has only very few institutes that actually provide courses associated with the field. So, in order to trace the scope of the field in India, we have to have a better understanding of the role of a criminal psychologist. What does a criminal psychologist do? Does he sit all day in a police office instructing investigators how to proceed? Or does he travel from one prison to another, interviewing psychopaths? Or does he wander around the crime scene without a uniform and sniff out the evidence?
Before debunking these stereotypes, let me clarify this. There is another similar sub-specialization in psychology known as forensic psychology, which is considered by many as equivalent to criminal psychology. Yes, in many ways they are the same. However, the distinguishing feature between the two is that forensic psychologists, in addition to the mental aspects, deal with evidence and other elements of an investigation to apply it in the judicial system whereas criminal psychologists are solely focused on the behavioural dimensions of the criminals or others involved in a crime.
A criminal psychologist can play roles of different kinds in a judicial system. One of the most familiar roles is that of an investigator- they might not necessarily investigate a case directly, but provide consultations to the ones who do. For the same, criminal psychologists are recruited in different areas of the justice department like CBI and Crime branch. Especially in cases involving people with mental instability, the help of a professional criminal psychologist is often required. Another method a criminal psychologist use to assist in investigations is by profiling, which isn’t currently that popular in India. This involves constructing psychological profiles of criminals that can be later used in researches and investigations.
Criminal psychologists can also apply their knowledge in training personnel involved in law enforcement- how to deal with victims, interrogation techniques, recruiting law enforcement workers, and so on. The services of a criminal psychologist also extend to courtrooms, where they can asses the accused’s mental status, testimonials of witnesses, etc. Another major service provided by a criminal psychologist is to rehabilitate the people involved in a crime- this could be the ones who committed the crime or the victims. Here, the criminal psychologist assumes the role of a clinical or counselling psychologist. He/ she is also required to come up with behaviour modification plans that can also be applied to develop the correction system. This is widely used in central prisons across the nation.
Criminal psychology, as a new field is mostly associated with researches and education at the moment. Numerous research works and field experiments related to the subject are in progress, which in turn tells us that criminal psychology is here to stay and will present with more opportunities in the future. The exponential growth of the crime rate in India requires support from mental health professionals to bring it down. Rather than finding the culprit after a crime has been committed, we should focus on identifying the factors that led to the crime in the first place and adopt methods to prevent them. We can hope that in the years to come, this field of psychology will help us achieve exactly this.
