From individual to social defences in psychosocial criminology

A psychosocial strand of criminology has emerged in recent years, which explores concepts such as fear of crime through analysis of individual biographies, and Freudian perspectives on punitive responses to offenders. It is possible to develop this psychosocial perspective further through an exploration of other central concepts such as conscience and reparation, and of a broader range of psychodynamic perspectives on the origins of anti-social tendencies. Inevitably, this leads beyond the intra-psychic to the interpersonal, with consequences for our view of conventional and restorative justice systems and penal institutions.