Psychological Theories

This 45-minute video featuring neurocriminologist Adrian Raine offers a compelling exploration of how brain structure, genetics, and environment shape violent behavior. It fits well within a criminology module on psychological or biosocial theories. After screening the video in full during class, students can be asked to reflect by selecting one […]

This video explores the dark history of IQ testing and its ties to eugenics and discrimination. In a criminology module on psychological theories, it can prompt critical discussion on how psychological assessments, like those used in risk evaluations or sentencing, may carry historical biases. It encourages students to examine the […]

This video introduces Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, emphasizing how unconscious drives and early childhood experiences influence behavior. In a criminology class, it can be used to explore psychological explanations of criminality, particularly how unresolved internal conflicts or early trauma may contribute to antisocial behavior. The video provides a foundation for […]

This short documentary from the American Museum of Natural History’s Science Bulletins series offers a compelling overview of attachment theory, first developed by psychologist John Bowlby in 1958. It emphasizes how early bonds between parent and child are critical for healthy emotional and physiological development, linking insecure attachment in early […]