What is character? What types of character exist and how are they classified?
Le Senne himself defines characterology as “the methodical knowledge of men, while each one is distinguished from the others by its originality.” This concept will help us understand the behavior of particular groups and various individuals.
In simple words, Characterology is the discipline that studies character and its classification Therefore, it is evident that the study of character is of vital interest for the study of the genesis and dynamics of the most common criminal phenomena to the extent that character is a criminogenic factor.
In Psychology, as a science, many concepts are created that serve to summarize sets of behavioral patterns in descriptive terms. These concepts, which are called psychological constructs, can be more or less concrete, ranging from the description of specific actions, such as self-harm, to the more abstract, such as the tendency toward neuroticism. Character is part of this second group.
Thus, character is a concept that attempts to explain groups of very diverse behaviors and they are expressed in a wide variety of situations. Therefore, its study provides general patterns of behavior, although to know the details you have to refine more and go to the “micro”, something that in turn is somewhat easier to study if you start from those”macro” concepts to Know where to start and what type of hypothesis to test.
Characterology and its importance in criminological study
For the characterology applied to the study of the criminal (the so-called criminal characterology) The individual predisposition to commit a criminal act is represented by the hypertrophy of characterological mechanisms of a consecutive atrophy of the other mechanisms, which then lose their power of neutralization.
Benigno Di Tulio, eminent scholar of criminology, pointed out that there are dispositions and aptitudes specific to each criminal that make him feel attracted to a certain form of crime, which in certain cases make the offender reject other criminal manifestations. For example, people with fetishistic traits (who commonly tend to be of sanguine character) who enters houses exclusively to steal women’s clothing, but not other goods.
Character and predisposition to criminal behavior
On the other hand, Presten already adequately pointed out two points:
1. Certain characterological mechanisms predispose a subject to crime so character can be an endogenous criminogenic factor.
2. The criminogenic “power” of a mechanism would seem to be directly linked to its hypertrophy which can be global or selective (in relation to the three constituent factors of this)
Criminal Characterology: Character Classification
The characterological typology studied by Le Senne proposes the following classification with a total of eight character profiles
1. Nervous character (emotional, inactive, primary)
Emotional above all, he keenly feels each and every stimulus from the outside world, The slightest touch is enough to excite your hyperesthetized sensitivity Being inactive, it has a high energy potential, which, when not discharged by persistent activity, remains available to antisocial drives, instincts and tendencies. When it reaches its maximum point, it reacts instantly without measuring the consequences of its actions. The most criminogenic of all characters.
2. Passionate character (emotional, active, secondary)
Is about a subject par excellence related to the so-called “passionate” crimes, despite the fact that it has a weak criminogenic incidence. The dangerous element of the passionate character comes from the fact that his emotions, affected by his secondary nature, continue over time and are sometimes organized on a basis of hatred and/or jealousy that, linked to the activity he has, facilitates his actions and that They could easily transform into actions with homicidal intentions. Acquired hypertrophy is the consequence of a derivation of psychic energy that uses the outlet that best favors the perpetration of homicide, caused by hatred, jealousy or revenge. Paranoid states occur quite frequently and easily guide the passionate mechanism towards aggressive antisocial behavior.
3. Choleric character (emotional, active, primary)
Easily observable in this type that emotionality transforms into reaction. The choleric mechanism easily conditions initiative, combativeness, aggressiveness: these behavioral traits easily run the risk of being directed against people, turning into antisocial acts. The need for action gives rise to certain tendencies such as greed or sexuality and even expressiveness. This choleric mechanism favors injuries and fraud more than robbery
4. Sentimental character (emotional, inactive, secondary)
Heymans, Wiersma and Resten point out that This character does not predispose to crime The sentimental person is restrained in the expressiveness of his emotions by his secondary nature, which draws in front of him perspectives that are distant from his behavior, and also by his inactivity, which very rarely leads him down the path of crime. However, its secondary nature can organize emotions on a passionate topic, the basis of which can be hatred, resentment, envy, etc. Hence, violent, aggressive and unusual reactions, most of the time, are directed against people. Like the classic example of some guy who overnight decided to murder his entire family or cause a shooting at a school, and who subsequently commits suicide. This fact can only be explained by a momentary eclipse of the sentimental mechanism that gives way to a nervous mechanism.
5. Sangre character (non-emotional, active, primary)
The sanguine tends to quickly and completely satisfy the demands of your body: eating and drinking greedily for example, also trying to satisfy their sexual appetite. It intervenes relatively little in crimes against property (such as theft for example), however it has a certain impact on sexual crimes and violence against people.
6. Phlegmatic character (non-emotional, active, secondary)
Individuals generally cold, calm, punctual, orderly, truthful and thoughtful Little participation in crimes. However, their intellectual and meticulous traits can mean that when the phlegmatic person chooses to turn to crime, they carry out long-considered, carefully prepared and carried out antisocial behaviors, unlike, for example, the nervous or choleric person who can commit crimes due to outbursts of impulsiveness. They are commonly associated with highly intricate intellectual crimes such as bank robberies, white collar crimes, etc.
7. Amorphous character (non-emotional, inactive, primary)
Its dominant trait is extremely radical laziness He lives in the immediate present and is not usually reflective about the consequences of his actions, he only attends to his needs to always satisfy them with minimal effort. The amorphous is easily influenced into crime by the influence of others since he does not have the ability to resist suggestions from a group. The case of those who are only secondary collaborators in a crime (for example in a kidnapping: the one who keeps the victim in the house and feeds him).
8. Apathetic character (not emotional, inactive, secondary)
Characterologically poorly equipped and difficult to adapt to the environment Sometimes they have mental weakness of some kind with failures in the moral and volitional sphere. With notable deficiencies in education. Especially a participant in sexual crimes against minors, given his multiple difficulties in establishing relationships with other individuals.
Character and prevention of aggressive and criminal behavior
Finally we want to indicate that crime prevention must start with the clinic: for the early discovery of the aggressive or antisocial tendencies of young people and the character needs of each individual. Early diagnosis of these needs will allow pertinent and proactive relationships to be established on re-education and biopsychosociological intervention.
