Psychology

Criminal behavior can be defined as any act that breaks the already existing laws. The definition of criminal behavior can differ in relation to different domains. Socially, criminal behavior is any act that beaks the already existing social norms and such an act is punishable by the society while a moral criminal behavior is any act that goes against the norms of religion and it is punishable by a spiritual being with a higher supreme authority. Legally, criminal behavior is any act that violates the already stipulated laws of a country or state and psychologically, it is defined as any act that is performed by people to obtain pleasure while at the same time inflicting psychological pain to the victims. However, it is possible for criminal behavior to fall under one or more domain such that an act can be a social criminal behavior, while at the same time being a legal criminal behavior (Psychology Campus, 2004).
 
There are many reasons as to why people get involved in criminal activities. Several approaches have been employed while trying to understand the reasons behind the criminal acts like sociological and psychological approaches (Jones, n.d). For the purpose of this research, a psychological approach shall be considered in relation to homicide as a criminal behavior.

Homicide can be defined as an act whereby a human being kills another human being. It is a criminal behavior that is not only prohibited by law but also unacceptable both socially and morally.

Psychological approach employs psychological principles so as to understand why people engage in criminal behaviors such as homicide. In psychological approach, it is argued that the criminal behavior emanates from the personality of the person rather than the environmental factors.

Background Information
Several theories have been developed and all try to explain the reasons that lead people to committing behaviors such as homicide. Below are some of those theories that have been developed by psychologists to explain the reasons as to why people get involved in the criminal behavior like homicide.

Rational Choice Theory
This is a theory that was developed by Dr. William Glasser to describe why criminals commit crimes. The theory states that while committing the crime, the criminals are always aware of their acts and they are mostly driven by personal needs such as anger, lust, greed, jealousy among others (Dechant, 2009). The theory suggests that there are three different types of criminals in relation to what forces them to commit the criminal act .There are those who choose whether to commit the crime while there are also those who are controlled by the environment and therefore they cannot control the urge of committing a crime. The last model describes the victimized offenders who commit the crime just because of being the victims of the unequal society (Dechant, 2009).

Eysencks Theory of Personality and Crime
As recorded by Dechant, this theory was developed by Hans J. Eysenck and it states that the criminal behavior results from environmental factors and some features of the nervous system (2009). It is believed that every individual has got a neural psychological makeup which when mixed with certain environmental factors makes the victim to have no choice but to commit the crime. The theory further suggests that criminals are not actually born as such, but the personality as well as the neurobiological and the environmental factors lead people to committing different types of crimes. According to Dechant (2009), the type of the crime committed is determined by the personality trait of an individual. The theorists suggest that extroverts often engage in crime due to their personality trait of losing their temper quickly and becoming aggressive and their need of a high amount of stimulation.  The same theory describes individuals who are psychotic who are usually unemotional, rude and cruel as well as the neurotic individuals. According to the theorist, people are divided in two categories, the unstable and the stable types. The same study suggests that most the criminals belong to the unstable group.

Psychoanalytic Theory
According to the psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud, criminal behavior is a result of unconscious forces and drives. The theory suggests that individuals are mostly affected by their childhood experiences which eventually affect their personality. The theory states that personality is made up of three parts, id, ego and super ego. The super ego which is also referred to as the conscience is the one that judges the actions, as either right or wrong. Studies of Hunter  Dantzker (2005), record that criminal behavior results from overdeveloped or underdeveloped super ego. Moreover, a person with an overdeveloped superego may commit a crime such as murder and in order to ensure punishment, the criminal leaves traces of evidence. Such a person is believed to suffer mostly from anxiety and guilt. People with overdeveloped or underdeveloped super ego are considered abnormal and get involved with different kinds of crimes like murder or sex crimes (Hunter  Dantzker, 2005).

Cognitive Theory Approach
The cognitive approach was developed by Jean Piaget and it illustrates that people develop in an orderly process right from birth up to the age of about twelve years. During the early development of a person, moral development also takes place. The process of moral development is the one that is linked to the criminology aspect. According to Hunter  Dantzker (2005), most of the criminals are those people who fail to complete the moral development process. The theory suggests that all those people who do not involve themselves with criminal activities are those who fear punishment. There are many theories that have been developed under the cognitive approach to explain human behavior in respect to criminology.

In the expectancy theory, a person performs a particular act depending on the reward expected from that specific act. However, most people especially criminals generalize the reward expected from such situations. Hunter  Dantzker (2005) records that people often commit criminal behavior like murder so as to gain certain reward like power, material goods, security and status. The same studies illustrates this clearly as it states that a person may kill the immoral people in the society hoping that he would receive a reward from God.  Criminals, according to the expectancy theory consider their own interests and they can also be involved in a criminal act after observing that someone else benefited from the act. (Hunter  Dantzker, 2005).

Discussions
Psychological Reasons that Lead to Homicide
Homicide being a criminal behavior is usually as a result of many psychological reasons. Most of the studies that have been conducted on homicide cases illustrate that most of the cases result from arguments and in most cases the murderer and the victim are related by blood. Although most of these people are normal people without any psychiatric disorders, psychiatrics have observed that some are drug addicts and this leads to a mental disorder which makes such people unable to control their emotions (Cole  Smith, 2007).

Psychologists argue that most of criminals are characterized by lack of a properly developed conscience. According to Kohlbergs theory of moral development, individuals who fail to pass through the six developmental stages successfully end up with an undeveloped conscience. Such people can easily engage in crimes because they do not mostly care about the welfare of other people in the society. In cases of homicide, such a person may commit such a crime because he does not perceive it to be wrong (Bartol  Bartol, 2005).

The expectancy theory explains some of the reasons as to why people may be involved with such crimes like homicide by demonstrating that human behavior is influenced by the expected reward. This means that people are always aware of the consequences of their acts. In such a case, a person may commit homicide if he values the outcome of the same. Studies show that majority of the people who commit homicide do it either to get material things, popularity or even freedom. In cases where the act is committed to close family members or even spouses emphasizes that human behavior is highly influenced by the expected reward.

In some instances, homicide has been as a result of biased perceptions where people react aggressively to people or situations that do not necessitate or require aggression. This occurs due to previous influences on mental development. A good example of such a case is where the act is committed to an already familiar person. In some of these cases, the criminal behavior is not usually preplanned but happens instantly after the criminal is stimulated by either a specific situation or the behavior of the victim and hence commits the crime with the aim of self defense (Dechant, 2009).

Some psychologists suggest that the personality traits have got a lot to do with the behavior of a person. Personality traits are divided in to two main groups, the introverts and the extroverts. Introverts are the more stable while extroverts are mostly unstable. The reason as to why more extroverts engage in the criminal behavior is because they always look for stimulation unlike the introverts who are always over aroused and avoid at all costs engaging in criminal activities like homicide. Moreover, there some people who commit such crimes because of underdeveloped super ego as illustrated in the Freuds theory. Such people suffer from guilt and anxiety. Due to this, they commit crimes so as to get punished and relieve their guilt conscious.

Studies have suggested that some cases of homicide have been committed by people who suffer from mental disorders. Such people have got poor reasoning and their judgment capability is usually incapacitated. Due to such disabilities they can commit any crime including homicide even if the reason behind is not worth the act. There are also those who are usually unemotional, with basically no love for humanity .Such people are usually referred to as psychopaths. Due to the fact that they are unemotional they usually get involved in homicide and other criminal acts.

Conclusion
Homicide, as any other criminal act is multifaceted and it requires a lot of study as well as a lot of research to understand it fully. The current and the available research reveals that the main cause of such behaviors is mostly related to either the personality of a person which is usually affected by the development process of individuals. Failure to achieve a fully developed conscience is among the major contributing factors.   It is also well illustrated that people who engage in criminal activities have a problem with perceptions, judgment and reasoning. The early experiences especially during developmental stages unconsciously commit crimes to suppress their emotions. However, there are those people who commit homicide due to selfish desires while others just do it due to the fact that they cannot just control their emotions.

There is need for more research on the psychological causes of criminal behavior like homicide. This is more so because the available research does not explain fully how certain attributes lead to criminal behavior but only illustrates the relationship. Due to this, psychological approach has not only been criticized but also overshadowed by the sociological approaches.