To begin with, many theories have been put forward to explain the reasons as to why some people are involved with criminal activities. However, psychological theories of crime claim that it is the differences in behavior that make some people criminals. According to psychological theories of crime, criminal behaviors’ arise from genetic factors, societal interactions or behavior characteristics. Actually, the Psychoanalytic Theory which was developed by Freud is of the idea that all people are capable of being criminals (Weiner et al, 2003).
Actually, this theory argues that if a child receives improper socialization then he/she may develop personality disorder which may lead to terrorism as a result of antisocial behavior. The other theory is cognitive development theory which asserts that delinquent behavior is a consequent of the way in which people have structured their thoughts concerning rules and ethics. This theory argues that moral reasoning has three levels. The three levels include preconvention where the child avoids any disobedience acts, convectional level whereby the reasoning capacity of the child is based on what other people expect of him/her. Finally, there is the post convention level whereby an individual can go beyond societal demands (Weiner et al, 2003). In case one is unable to go through the levels properly, then, there are high chances of becoming a criminal.
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Looking at the case of Osama bin Laden who is the most wanted criminal in the world, his socialization process may have contributed a lot to his terrorism behavior. By the mere fact that his parents divorced after his birth contributed a lot into his antisocial behavior since he had to grow up with one biological parent which means he missed so much from his father. On the hand, Osama believes that Islam is the only true religion and actually sharia law should be implemented worldwide (Mockaitis, 2010). In fact, Osama hates the US ideologies and he argues that Israel should be eradicated. To be spececific, Osama is trying to act like an agent of change in the Islamic community just as the cognitive psychological theory argues.
Nevertheless, these theories are also limited in their arguments. For example, the psychoanalytic theory does not explain exactly how a child directs the unsociable behavior outward and not inward. On the other hand, the cognitive behavior theory does not give reasons as to why an individual is unable to go through the reasoning process successfully. For these reasons it is hard to rely on these theories at times.