Crime and the Subconscious Mind (How Hidden Childhood Memories Trigger Violent Behaviour)
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Crime is often understood through conscious intent, rational decision-making, and environmental influences, yet a substantial body of psychological and neuroscientific research demonstrates that many criminal behaviours originate from subconscious processes shaped during early development. Subconscious or implicit memories—formed through nonverbal, emotional, and sensory experiences—persist outside conscious awareness but continue to influence perception, affect regulation, and behavioural responses. Traumatic childhood experiences, insecure attachment, and chronic stress become encoded in these implicit memory systems, creating automatic patterns of reactivity that can manifest as aggression, impulsivity, or compulsive offending in adulthood.
This review synthesizes findings from developmental psychology, neurocriminology, trauma science, and psychodynamic theory to explain the mechanisms through which subconscious memory contributes to criminal behaviour. These mechanisms include pattern completion, where present cues reactivate emotionally charged childhood templates; amygdala-driven threat responses that precede conscious awareness; and repetition compulsion, in which individuals unconsciously re-enact unresolved trauma. Neurobiological studies further show that offenders with trauma histories often exhibit hyperreactive limbic systems and reduced prefrontal regulatory control, increasing vulnerability to trigger-driven violence.
Beyond causation, this review highlights important forensic implications, including the need for trauma-informed assessments, recognition of dissociation and emotional triggers, and careful interpretation of memory reports in legal contexts. Additionally, emerging therapeutic approaches—such as EMDR, reconsolidation therapies, and emotion regulation interventions—offer promising pathways for rehabilitation by targeting the implicit memory networks that underlie maladaptive behaviour.
Overall, understanding the subconscious foundations of crime expands the scientific and forensic perspective, emphasizing early intervention, psychological integration, and evidence-based rehabilitation to reduce recidivism and promote long-term behavioural change.
Article Details
Copyright (c) 2025 Pandey N, et al.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Schacter DL. Searching for memory. New York: Basic Books; 1996. Available from: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1996-97906-000
Siegel DJ. The developing mind. 2nd ed. New York: Guilford Press; 2012. Available from: https://books.google.co.in/books/about/The_Developing_Mind_Second_Edition.html?id=lF-BA_cdEO0C&redir_esc=y
van der Kolk BA. The body keeps the score. New York: Viking; 2014. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Body_Keeps_the_Score
LeDoux J. Anxious: Using the brain to understand and treat fear and anxiety. New York: Viking; 2015. Available from: https://cmc.marmot.org/Record/.b49001401
Perry BD. Examining child maltreatment. J Pediatr. 2009;153(6):S6–S12. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/15325020903004350?urlappend=%3Futm_source%3Dresearchgate.net%26utm_medium%3Darticle
Teicher MH, Samson JA. Childhood maltreatment and brain development. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2016;55(8):578–597.
Bloom SL. Creating sanctuary: Toward the evolution of sane societies. New York: Routledge; 2013. Available from: https://www.routledge.com/Creating-Sanctuary-Toward-the-Evolution-of-Sane-Societies-Revised-Edition/Bloom/p/book/9780415821094
Schore AN. The effects of early relational trauma. Infant Ment Health J. 2001;22(1–2):201–269. Available from: https://www.allanschore.com/pdf/SchoreIMHJTrauma01.pdf
Ecker B. Memory reconsolidation. Clin Psychol Rev. 2018;63:17–85.
Main M, Solomon J. Disorganized attachment. In: Greenberg MT, Cicchetti D, Cummings EM, editors. Attachment in the preschool years. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1990;121–160.
Herman JL. Trauma and recovery. New York: Basic Books; 1992. Available from: https://beyondthetemple.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/herman_trauma-and-recovery-1.pdf
Andrews DA, Bonta J. The psychology of criminal conduct. 6th ed. New York: Routledge; 2019.
Bargh JA, Morsella E. The unconscious mind. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2008;3(1):73–79. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6916.2008.00064.x
Bowlby J. A secure base: Parent-child attachment and healthy human development. New York: Basic Books; 1988. Available from: https://www.increaseproject.eu/images/DOWNLOADS/IO2/HU/CURR_M4-A13_Bowlby_(EN-only)_20170920_HU_final.pdf
Bremner JD. Traumatic stress: Effects on the brain. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2006;8(4):445–461. Available from: https://doi.org/10.31887/dcns.2006.8.4/jbremner
Bushman BJ, Anderson CA. Is it time to pull the plug on the hostile versus instrumental aggression dichotomy? Psychol Rev. 2001;108(1):273–279. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.108.1.273
Cacioppo JT, Freberg L. Discovering psychology: The science of mind. Boston: Cengage Learning; 2018. Available from: https://archive.org/details/discoveringpsych0000caci_a0y1
Cicchetti D, Toth SL. Child maltreatment. Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 2005;1:409–438. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.144029
Craik FIM, Squire LR. Memory and the brain. Sci Am. 2004;290(1):76–83.
Damasio A. Descartes’ error: Emotion, reason, and the human brain. New York: Putnam; 1994. Available from: https://ahandfulofleaves.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/descartes-error_antonio-damasio.pdf
De Bellis MD, Zisk A. The biological effects of childhood trauma. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2014;23(2):185–222. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2014.01.002
Dutton DG. The abusive personality: Violence and control in intimate relationships. New York: Guilford Press; 2007.
Felitti VJ, Anda RF, Nordenberg D, Williamson DF, Spitz AM, Edwards V, et al. Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. Am J Prev Med. 1998;14(4):245–258. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/s0749-3797(98)00017-8
Fonagy P, Target M. Psychoanalytic theories: Perspectives from developmental psychopathology. Br J Psychiatry. 2003;183(6):567. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.183.6.567-a
Freud S. Beyond the pleasure principle. In: Strachey J, editor. The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud. Vol. 18. London: Hogarth Press. 1955;1–64. Available from: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Freud_Beyond_P_P.pdf
Gershoff ET. Corporal punishment by parents. Psychol Bull. 2002;128(4):539–579. Available from: https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/bul-1284539.pdf
Gilligan J. Violence. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons; 2000.
Goleman D. Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books; 1995.
Hare RD. Without conscience: The disturbing world of the psychopaths among us. New York: Guilford Press; 1999. Available from: https://www.guilford.com/books/Without-Conscience/Robert-Hare/9781572304512
James N, Raine A. The criminal brain. Annu Rev Criminol. 2018;1:29–49.
Janoff-Bulman R. Shattered assumptions. New York: Free Press; 1992. Available from: https://www.scirp.org/reference/referencespapers?referenceid=775382
Jung CG. Aion: Research into the phenomenology of the self. Princeton (NJ): Princeton University Press; 1959. Available from: https://search.worldcat.org/title/Aion-%3A-researches-into-the-phenomenology-of-the-self/oclc/1244225940
Jung CG. The archetypes and the collective unconscious. Princeton (NJ): Princeton University Press; 1968. Available from: https://search.worldcat.org/title/The-archetypes-and-the-collective-unconscious/oclc/1148028326
Kandel ER. In search of memory. New York: W.W. Norton; 2006. Available from: https://wwnorton.com/books/In-Search-of-Memory/9780393329377
Kandel ER, Schwartz JH, Jessell TM. Principles of neural science. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2013.
Kerns JG. Emotion–cognition interactions. Psychol Bull. 2008;134(2):311–352.
LeDoux JE. The emotional brain. New York: Simon & Schuster; 1996.
Linehan MM. DBT skills training manual. 2nd ed. New York: Guilford Press; 2015. Available from: https://www.guilford.com/add/linehan7_old/lin-p-1teaching.pdf?t=1
McCrory E, De Brito SA, Viding E. The impact of childhood maltreatment: a review of neurobiological and genetic factors. Front Psychiatry. 2011;2:48. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2011.00048
Mikulincer M, Shaver PR. Attachment in adulthood. 2nd ed. New York: Guilford Press; 2016. Available from: https://www.guilford.com/books/Attachment-in-Adulthood/Mikulincer-Shaver/9781462533817
Miller A. The drama of the gifted child. New York: Basic Books; 1984. Available from: https://dn720006.ca.archive.org/0/items/the-drama-of-the-gifted-child/The%20Drama%20of%20the%20Gifted%20Child.pdf
Ogden P, Minton K, Pain C. Trauma and the body. New York: W.W. Norton; 2006. Available from: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-12273-000
Perry BD, Szalavitz M. The boy who was raised as a dog. New York: Basic Books; 2006.
Porges S. The polyvagal theory. New York: W.W. Norton; 2011.
Raine A. The anatomy of violence: The biological roots of crime. New York: Pantheon Books; 2013. Available from: https://clcjbooks.rutgers.edu/books/anatomy-of-violence/
Schore AN. The science of the art of psychotherapy. New York: W.W. Norton; 2012.
Tangney JP, Stuewig J, Mashek DJ. Moral emotions and crime. Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 2011;7:349–374.
van IJzendoorn MH. Attachment and deprivation. Child Dev. 1997;68(4):703–717.
Widom CS, Maxfield MG. An update on the cycle of violence. Washington (DC): U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice; 2001. Available from: https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/184894.pdf
Young JE, Klosko JS, Weishaar M. Schema therapy: A practitioner’s guide. New York: Guilford Press; 2003. Available from: https://www.scirp.org/reference/referencespapers?referenceid=80017