TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY AND CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORY: RETHINKING THE PARADIGM

Abstract

Criminology, like other behavioral/social sciences, has an abundance of causal theories concerning why people do the things they do (or do not do the things that they do not). Also, like the other behavioral/social sciences, theories in criminology have been driven by very narrow and limited paradigms. Consequently, despite all of our theorizing we have been able to arrive at very little in the way of real understanding; begging the question, “where do we go from here?” This article attempts to partially address this question by generally exploring the potential for incorporating the transpersonal psychology (TP) paradigm into criminological theory and criminal justice practice. TP has evolved as an extension and expansion of humanistic and existential psychological perspectives and strives to integrate Western scientific explanations with the more “Spiritual” approaches to understanding characteristic of Eastern consciousness disciplines. It calls for an expanding of our conceptualizations (and approaches to living) beyond basic ego level functioning in order to develop a more complete understanding of the nature of human action and existence. This article offers an overview of the transpersonal approach and in general discusses the potential utility that such a perspective may offer as a model for both criminological theorizing and criminal justice policy making.