Police and Criminal Psychology are two aspects of Forensic Psychology that have a nuanced interplay with one another. Putting morals and ethics aside for a moment, the differences between both forms of thinking/behaving have different theories regarding justice, methodologies for what each respected psychology regards as success, and both are groups of outliers. Meaning that most people of the general public are not police officers, and most people of the general public are also not criminals. However, despite their relative makeup of society, they have disproportionate effects in the maintenance and development of society.

The text first describes Police Psychology. More than simply describing the general psychology of police officers, the police mission is given careful attention and development. Police officers and correctional officers have demanding professions due to the dangerous and stressful environment that the job entails. These professions have some of the highest amount trauma exposure; things that general people consider a low point in their individual lives are commonalities among officers who have to intervene when a situation becomes unstable or encompasses a breach of law. Violence, emotional outbursts, rampant crime, petty disputes, and more heinous crimes such as child pornography, sexual assault, graphic murder, and the like.

It is no wonder as to why stress in this field is a large problem, sometimes with dire consequences. On some cases, police officers may fall victim of Police Trauma Syndrome, which is described as a phenomenon where, “a cluster of symptoms demonstrated by police and correction officers suffering the effects of accumulated stress”[ CITATION Har16 \l 1033 ]. To be clear, Police Trauma Syndrome (PTS) is not recognized in the DSM-5, but it resembles similar symptoms and causes the like of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

To elaborate on these symptoms, it is important to recognize the development of PTS as a progression of stages as described by Dr. Beverly Anderson. The Five Stages of Police Trauma Syndrome include the Rookie Stage, the John Wayne Stage, the Professional Stage, the Burnout Stage, and lastly, the PTS Stage[ CITATION Har16 \l 1033 ]. This paradigm attempts to present a model of development that, as a foundation, has the officer repress emotions in order to accommodate into the police force (culture). Different defense mechanisms may arise as the progression into PTS occurs, such as denial, suppression, then disassociation to the point where inadequate job function is apparent, and intervention is most likely to occur.

There is no question that this vocation has its challenges, especially when having these descriptions of stress laid out. One may argue that a job is a job, and that argument certainly has some merit, but it doesn’t explain why some are willing to endure this form of stress. Let us not forget that the recruitment of officers is rigorous and selective. Over the decades, some psychological testings have shown positive correlations with improving the selection of recruits. It is not only important to have what is regarded as “normal” personality characteristics, but also a lack of abnormal characteristics, specifically a like the ones common is individuals active in criminal activity.

As far as the personality of criminals is concerned, various theories have been developed over the years; specifically made up of the biological, psychological, and sociological school of thought. As of today, the biopsychosocial model is the most comprehensive schema used in Forensic Psychology; which is, in essence, a collaboration of each school of thought and their most empirically supported models of interpretation that help identify the characteristics of personality that may provide insight into understanding criminals and its sociological implications.

The social structural theories of crime take society as the main component regarding the amount of crime. The text mentions Durkheim has one of the first theorists; naming collective consciousness as what we consider to be normal behavior in a society and its dissolve as “anomie”[ CITATION Har16 \l 1033 ]. His argument, in essence, is that “organization of society’s institutions—family, schools, churches, economic and political institutions—serves to regulate and control the behavior of its members. The more highly organized these institutions are in a city or neighborhood, the less deviance that can be expected”[ CITATION Har16 \l 1033 ]. Building on this theory, Robert Merton proposes the concept of social strain, which is “the experience of the individual in a disorganized society… and the compelling nature to seek alternative methods to alleviate the strain through various methods, including crime”[ CITATION Har16 \l 1033 ].

He describes Conformity, Ritualism, Innovation, Retreatism, and Rebellion as methods to address this strain. To summarize, an individual may accept or reject society’s notion of success and its path to achieve it. If one wishes to be successful by the standards of society, but rejects the means of achieving that success, that is usually correlated with crime. Same if one rejects society’s notion of success and also rejects the means to achieve that success. The variation lies in how strong that correlation is and the type of crime that is performed by the adaptation style of the individual.

The Psychological Model regards internal motivations as the precursors to social behaviors, and thus, regards the individual as the main point of reference. The famous Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud provided the foundation for these theories, specifically regarding the Id, Ego, and Superego. Freud describes the Id as the individual’s instinctual desires/motivations. He regarded the sexual impulse and the aggression impulse as the two main motivations of human nature. This theory has its flaws and tearing it apart is not my concern at the moment; but it certainly shines regarding criminal behavior. The schema with these concerns as axioms for the nature humans makes it possible to interpret in a somewhat successful manner the pitfalls of selfish desires, defense mechanisms, and temptations that are usually repressed in the common individual. Although the text does not discuss Carl Jung, I think the Shadow has a place in the discussion of criminal behavior regarding psychoanalytic thought.

The text describes criminals and police officers as an us and them dichotomy. Evident by the lack of biopsychosocial analysis of police officers. I don’t think it is strange to think that police officers should be under the same analysis as the way was do criminals. Are they not both extroverted and willing to do difficult things outside of the social norm? From what I can tell, they are more alike than we are willing to admit.

Perhaps my thinking may be skeptical; but there are police officers who commit crimes, and there are good people who break the laws; and both usually think that they are doing the “right” thing. The perception of justice, the system in place that upholds society has the capacity to be tyrannical, or too lenient. We have seen the consequences of both societies in our recent history.

It isn’t clear when one side of the spectrum drifts into dangerous territory, but the solutions has typically been dialogue between parties. Perhaps we can take both sides needs in mind to find the higher values that unite us, and work for that society we would like to bring into being.