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Concerns about Policy Implications

Ethical and moral questions about the theory of personality have been presented leading to unequal and harsh policies (Rafter, 2006).

The common concerns posed against highly deterministic psychological theories are suspicions of policy recommendations requiring medical procedures, drug treatment, or overly restrictive practises (Bartol & Bartol, 2004; Gibbons, 1986; Jones, 2008).

The labeling or stigmatisation of individuals as psychopaths, sociopaths or antisocials raised fears that such labels could lead to severe, unmerited penalties, as such persons would be considered incorrigible (Andrews & Wormith, 1989).

There were worries that trying to label criminals with personality disorders could lead to doubts about how guilty these criminals actually are, leading to leniency (Bartol & Bartol, 2004).

Personality theorists were also blamed for concentrating on dysfunctional people and less on the dysfunctional environments (Jones, 2008; Tannenbaum, 1938). The concern would be that this one-dimensional emphasis on criminal behaviour would lead to policy recommendations that ignored the environmental or social factors that encourage crime (Bartol & Bartol, 2004).