The contribution of Personality Theory in comprehending criminal behaviour
KOUTOUVIDIS N., MINOGIANNI A., VARSOU SM

Various scientific fields have attempted to trace the roots of criminality, since it poses a problem both for those who manifest it and for the society as a whole. Sociologists ascribe the causes to social and cultural processes, yet the problem is why people behave differently under the same circumstances. Psychologists regard differences in personality and intelligence as the core factors of behaviour and the prevalent approach to the study of personality is that of traits which can predispose people to act in certain ways. Psychodynamic theories and the phenomenological approach refer to the subjective way in which people experience events, while the behaviourist models consider differences on the basis of directed behaviour, and the cognitive approach has brought up cognitive aspects of the psychological functioning. The present study aims to clarify the way in which the personality theory contributes to understanding criminal behaviour. In the first part, the notion "personality" is defined, followed by an overview of the theories of personality. There is a brief mention of Freud's notions, who claims that the internal patterning of the individual Id, the Ego, and the Superego mediates in the clash between biology (the hereditary formation of instincts) and society (the child's social environment). This results in the development of distinct categories of personality types such as the oral, the anal, etc, and each manifests itself in consistent forms of behaviour. In Allport's theory, which focuses on the complete personality of healthy individuals, personal traits or dispositions are the source of consistency in human behaviour and responsible for differences in reaction. They are indirectly located through the frequency and intensity of individual reactions. Personal traits are developed through learning from a complex environment. Physique, disposition and intelligence comprise the hereditary raw material of the traits. In Kelly's Personal Construct Theory, according to which each person's behaviour and personality are the direct results of the way that this person perceives and understands the world and other people, the cornerstones of the theory are termed "personal constructs" and shape the particular working hypotheses that people make about the world. Eysenck's personality theory refers to human types. The type to which a person belongs determines the personality traits he has, which in their turn determine the habitual reactions that he exhibits in various circumstances. In his initial theory of personality, Eysenck puts forth an explanatory figure with three dimensions: Neuroticism-Stability (N), Psychoticism-Superego (P) and Extraversion-Introversion (E). A significant aspect of the theory is the biological basis of personality and the genetic make-up of individuals. DNA via the genetic inheritance influences and determines position that individuals occupy on the dimensions E, N and P. Eysenck's theory regards personal consciousness as a cause of behaviour. A second important aspect of the theory is the control of socialization and the acquisition of inhibitions. In effect, Eysenck's personality theory attempts to trace the routes that connect personality to crime. In the second part, cognitive aspects of the personality are reviewed. Morality is defined as the acquirement of socially compatible ways of behaviour and beliefs through directed behaviour, role modelling or identification. Rotter maintains that individuals differ in terms of causality determination or "locus of control". Comparative studies of offenders and non-offenders consistently demonstrate the existence of negative self-concept, low satisfaction, evaluation and respect among the offenders. Chandler maintains that the incompetence to acquire skills related to the assumption of roles is connected to failure to respect the rights of other people. In the third part, the way in which the notion of personality has contributed to the clinical practice is presented. DSM-III lays emphasis on personality traits, defined as "enduring patterns of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and oneself". A personality disorder occurs when these traits are inflexible and maladaptive. The notion of personality disorder suggests quantitative rather than qualitative deviations from normality. Criminal behaviour is prevalent in persons with antisocial personality disorder, whose core features are failure to form loving relationships, impulsive acts, lack of remorse and failure to learn from adverse experiences. Persons with antisocial behaviour disorder become unsuitable parents to the extent that they neglect or abuse their children. Individuals with borderline personality are characterised by unstable relationships, impulsive self-harming behaviour, volatility in disposition, lack of restraint of anger feelings, repeated suicidal threats or acts, insecurity about their personal identity, a chronic sense of emptiness and transient paranoid ideas. The narcissistic personality disorder is characteristic of individuals with a grandiose sense of personal worth and fantasies of limitless success, power and intellectual superiority. Individuals that fall into different categories of personality disorder can be characterized by predispositions that are harmful for the wider society. Personality theories aim at understanding normal personality. In order to achieve this, the first step is to identify the basic common characteristics of individual personalities. In order to provide interpret criminal behaviour or divergences, they lay emphasis on the notion of divergence from the normality of those traits; in clinical practice, this falls into the study of personality disorders.

Key words: Personality, criminal behaviour, personality theory, personality disorder.