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DOI: 10.24234/wisdom.v26i2.1031
THE IMPACT OF BEHAVIORIST THEORIES AND THE LEGAL SYSTEM LAWS DEVELOPED FROM THEM
Serine PETROSYAN2 *
1 Institute of Literature after M. Abeg-hian ofNAS of RA, Yerevan, Armenia
2 Yerevan State University, Yerevan, Armenia
* Correspondence Serine PETROSYAN, Deghatan 10, app. 6, Yerevan 0025, Armenia E-mail: serine.petrosyan@ysu.am
Abstract: The theories, which stress how environmental cues act as catalysts for criminal action, are based on ideas of imitation and learning. To comprehend criminal behavior as a learned or copied reaction to societal and environmental stimuli, this research emphasizes the significance of psychological deviations. The macro and micro layers of crimes are the main topics of this study's investigation of psychological theories of the criminal justice system. In order to understand how societal and environmental factors affect individual criminal conduct, sociological and psychological perspectives on crime are used in this analysis. The idea of a mentor or guide is introduced, making the argument that people frequently need assistance and direction to develop their personalities. This research concludes that in the 20th century, blatant crimes such as drug trafficking and gambling undermined the rights of others to life and permanently severed the person from the mental conscious level, transferring him to an unconscious, unreal, obscured, and incomprehensible reality. This article reveals that men struggle more than women to communicate and comprehend their emotions, which makes them more likely to be charged with crimes.
Keywords: behavioral psychology, fiction, crime, society, masculinity, conscious, unconscious.
Introduction
"Psychological factor is the most essential cognitive aspect of any literary work, particularly novels" (Westen, 1999 p. 112). Psychological theories of the criminal justice system are aimed at scrutinizing the analyses of the macro and micro layers of crimes of any legal system. Hence, crime is viewed from the perspective of sociolo-
gy as a psychological macro substratum, the main purpose of which is to expose the social and environmental impulses of society that might affect how criminal behavior emerges in an individual. It is worth mentioning that psychological theories view crime as a manifestation of individual behavior that can cause significant dangers in various situations. However, macro and micro levels of psychological factors equally
contribute to the criminal behavior of an individual. The goal of this study is to examine how behaviorist ideas and the rules derived from them are reflected in the books "An American Tragedy" by T. Dreiser, "The Hoods" by H. Grey, and "The Godfather" by M. Puzo.
The importance of psychological abnormalities and the impact of society expectations are highlighted in psychological theories that link psychological diseases or pathologies to criminal conduct. These theories contend that external cues might act as a catalyst for criminal behavior and are based on the ideas of learning and imitation. Edward Thorndike first proposed the notion of learning and imitation in the 19th century, and psychotherapist Kazdin and many others later explored it.
Some psychological theories propose an interacting link between certain psychological disorders or pathologies and the criminal behavior of an individual. At the core of all this lies some psychological deviation of the individual, as a result of which crime is considered as a way in which an individual has picked something up or copied from the society surrounding him as well as the demands set upon him (Bandura, 1969, p. 78). It is also intriguing that this psychological statement begins with the notion of learning or imitation. This psychological theory is quite popular, especially in the literature, and examines the conditions that lead to a relationship between the response and the external stimuli (Miller & Donald, 1941, p. 58).
This psychological theory was first put forward in the nineteenth century by the American psychologist Edward Thorndike who conducted his initial study and experimentation on cats, demonstrating that food provided outside the box can be the secret to a chained cat's success in removing its shackles. After conducting several experiments, the scientist was convinced that the appeal of external stimuli can operate as a stimulant for the arousal of instincts and the accomplishment of a goal. Thorndike (1898) described this process as a psychological theory of learning and imitation which is similarly expressed in the criminal behavior of humans (p. 22). The psychological theory of imitating criminal behavior was most widely studied by the American psychotherapist Kazdin (1989), who also put forward the "law of effect", which is based on the thesis that the circumstances from which human
behavior arises help to learn or imitate (p. 47). It may be said that we are dealing with such an example in reality in the instance of Clyde Griffiths, the protagonist of T. Dreiser's book "An American Tragedy" who replicates the premeditated and cruel murder that has previously drawn public criticism while also having certain mitigating circumstances.
In general, a man needs to discover his own personality, but he will never succeed alone. There is a point of view in psychology according to which a man must have another man accompanying him, who can be his father, teacher, or leader. A man's path to true masculinity necessarily requires a guide, because a man does not often exercise his will. For instance, in this case, the important leader and teacher of life for the criminal clans is definitely the leader of the mafia.
Numerous psychological theories contend that men commit crimes and murder more frequently than women because men have difficulty expressing and manifesting their sensory fields and comprehending what is required of them next.
Both psychologists and psychiatrists believe that a person's conduct has a direct impact on the environment and society, focusing more on behavioral conditions than motive. Criminal conduct, on the other hand, is influenced by environmental factors and is characterized by them. The qualities of an individual's internal behavior are equally as essential as the interacting stimuli, linkages, and guiding forces of the environment, society, and individual conduct. Needless to say, a person's intrinsic traits matter just as much as external influences. Theorizing how people are seen by others, American psychologist Rotter highlights the role of already learned or imitated behavior in the pattern of interaction between the person and the environment. Additionally, Rotter (1954) places a high value on personal conduct, which is shaped by an individual's unique experiences (p. 125).
Later, the social perception theory advances three tenets based on the social cognition theory, whose fundamental ideas were proposed by American psychologist Bandura:
• Research, symbolic self-identifications, self-
centered promotion, and self-inflicted circumstances
• Environmental conditions
The theory of determinism provides a thorough overview of a person's criminal behavior and the ensuing mutual perception, cognition, and other personal factors that are both directly related to the environment and society and play a significant role in determining each circumstance (Bandura, 1986, p. 45). In order to fully implement the social theory of perception, we may say that both internal and external pressures and impulses play a significant role in the construction of a person's behavior, which in turn influences how that person will act in the future. And it is due to these impulses that a person's illegal behavior develops as a result of causation.
The calamities of the twentieth century forced those who were born and lived through it to pay closer attention to and make better use of historical archetypes. They developed into men's guiding symbols that assisted them in learning a great deal about their own personality and behavior. They became the primary tools that could awaken the dormant untamed nature in a person that could manifest itself at any moment and under any circumstances. This untamed wild nature became an integral part of men, which is not the animal nature of man, but the manifestation of human psychology, which stands close to nature and consists of basic instincts, as a result of which crime is born. The instinctual, predatory, wild impulses that permeate both animal nature and the untamed nature of humans are also a part of who we are; they are the indwelling remnants of prehistoric, uncivilized people.
As is well known, K. G. Jung is the founder of the fundamental theory that describes the universal psychological pictures of the conscious and subconscious, dynamics, and structure that date back hundreds of years. Jung calls those psychological primitives, which owe their existence only to heredity, the archetypes of the collective unconscious.
According to archetypal psychology, if a boy is next to the water archetype, as in the situation with Clyde Griffiths in T. Dreiser's novel, then the man is at the threshold between two worlds; one - imaginary, the other - real. And shortly after, he leaves the imaginary world and enters the real one, where he becomes familiar with all challenges of life. Similar energies connect us to our origins and nourish our imaginations, balancing our vision of reality and our alignment with nature, say all twentieth-century literary critics,
psychologists, and culturalists.
Constantly adhering to one's instincts and being led by historical archetypes puts one in a fight for survival, which may force one to take drastic actions, including murder, to protect his species. All psychological theories that emphasize how a person's external impulses lead to crime take into account the fact that the criminal has significant internal problems. These theories, in particular, include the psychodynamic-psycho-analytic theory and the behavioral personality theory. In the case of the first theory, the fundamental provisions were given by the Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, who argued that a person's personality develops at an early age and consists of three stages: id (identity), ego and superego (Siegel et al., 2006, p. 128). According to this theory, the id represents only the instinctive aspects of the person, the ego is impacted by accepted societal standards, which frequently cause identity damage, and the superego is said to represent moral wisdom. Therefore, crime emerges when one of these three elements is disrupted and when unconscious desires are not met. The conflict between identity and ego is the source of a significant number of external impulses that lead to internal and external contradictions. These impulses have unpleasant effects on the development of personality, which causes a person to shift all internal inconsistencies to the unconscious level (Shoemaker, 2005, p. 14).
The individual then develops defensive mechanisms as coping methods to deal with all the internal and external inconsistencies they experience, but these tactics also cause the person to develop problematic behavior which finally results in delinquency. In essence, we may say that criminal activity is seen as an outward sign of psychological disorders that exist within.
Of course, studying a number of psychological theories of personality behavior, we can state that based on psychological perception and psychoanalytical theories, we can also draw parallels with the criminal outcomes of our literary characters. In light of this, the main characters' criminal activity in H. Grey's 'The Hoods," M. Puzo's "The Godfather," and T. Dreiser's "An American Tragedy" all clearly result from conflicts with their socio-economic environment on outside, which feed their inner criminal and motivate them to do specific crimes. Definitely sharing psychoanalyst Z. Freud's opinion, criminal
behavior is formed from childhood, when the child's identity is guided exclusively by instincts, and when the instinctive needs are not satisfied, then an internal battle of the ego occurs, as a result of which the person tries to find the best and easiest way to satisfy the needs which is very oftentimes the crime itself. Since childhood Clyde from T. Dreiser's "An American Tragedy", Noodles and his friends from H. Grey's "The Hoods", and of course Don Corleone and his family members from M. Puzo's "The Godfather" have been at the center of external conflicts with the socio-economic environment. Unlike the latter, where the concepts of mafia and don go through the full-fledged legal norms of family legacy, in the case of the first two examples, the criminal behavior of the characters is really formed by the contradictions of external and internal impulses with society, the constant complex conflicts of survival and living, and the reaction of society to not being perceived and accepted. Childhood hardships for Clyde, Noodles, and Don Corleone as well as the disregard of society for their needs directly influenced the criminal lives that these characters went on to build. The characters' constant comparisons of their families and society pose troubling issues, the solutions to which are buried deep inside the psychological underpinnings.
That is why it is more reasonable to first understand where the first delinquency of mankind originates and what branches it later dropped. Since the crimes and sins, laws and punishments in all three aforementioned novels are viewed in the context of American and Jewish law, it is, therefore, more reasonable to present the first crime of mankind from the Bible, which we will also try to scrutinize from the point of view of both American and Jewish law.
In the Bible, Cain killed Abel, marking the beginning of the collapse of brotherhood and the end of the cessation of responsibility. This is the first recorded crime committed by humans.
Conflict and sibling rivalry are painful realities of life. Siblings always vie with one another for many things. However, occasionally rivalry goes too far and crosses the line of what is acceptable. When Hamlet's uncle Claudius kills his own brother to become king, he confesses, "O, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven. It hath the primal eldest curse upon 'it, A brother's
murder". 1 And it is because of this rivalry that the Bible describes fratricide as the first human crime. Cain killed Abel because he was envious of him and filled with resentment since God had always chosen Abel's sacrifice.
Cain killed his brother Abel for a number of reasons in the biblical narrative. The most obvious explanation was the envy of his brother who constantly received acclaim for making the greatest sacrifices. Cain cannot accept the thought that his sacrifice as the oldest brother is lesser to Abel's since he has a position of power and respect among his siblings. God gives first priority to Abel and thus the hierarchical position of the brothers is violated as Cain finds retribution for murder. This biblical episode testifies to the consequences of the violation of the hierarchy, which was later to be found among all mankind. In the Bible, it is typical for the older generation to reign over the younger; Isaac and Ish-mael, Jacob and Isaiah, Rachel and Leah, and Joseph and his brothers are just a few striking instances. However, all these examples do not have the tragic ending that happened in the case of Abel and Cain. God's preference for Abel's sacrifice was merely the first impulse by which Cain committed the first crime of mankind. However, like every criminal, Cain also yearns to rightly face justice and confess what has already been irrevocably done. This inversion of roles adds depth to Cain's response when God asks, after the murder, "Where is your brother Abel?" Cain replies, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?" (Hendel, 2012, p. 75). The elder children in the household should be responsible to look after the younger ones, according to the Book of Genesis. However, Cain absolves Abel of guilt, breaking the law and incurring a penalty. God is able to comprehend what has been done because of the blood, as is the case with every crime. Cain is cursed and expelled from Paradise, which marks the beginning of wicked humanity. Reuben, Jacob's first son, persuaded his siblings in the Book of Genesis not to kill Joseph, the youngest brother, in contrast to Cain. He urges, "Let us not take his life... Shed no blood" (Hendel, 2012, p. 75). But Cain's consciousness and mind were dulled by envy and malice, and that is why he shed blood and became the prototype of mankind's first criminal
1 William Shakespeare "Hamlet", Act 3, Scene 3
and the first transgressor of God's commandments and laws (especially the commandment "Thou shalt not kill"). When Cain took from the soil the excellent things meant for sacrifice, he later nourished the same soil with blood and was cursed by God, turning it back into the soil. After the curse, Cain transforms from a rebel to a vagabond who leaves the fruitful region and makes his home in the land of the degenerates. After Cain loses his house, livelihood, and family, he is driven out and reduced to criminal behavior. Cain goes where there is no rule of law, no morals, and no values, abandoning the chance to dwell under God's protection and the capacity to follow divine rules and commands. So, he complains to God: "Anyone who meets me may kill me" (Hendel, 2012, p. 75). Given that Cain is among those who are continually surrounded by an environment of terror, dread, and worry, this is undoubtedly the realization of retribution and the repetition of the crime. Cain also understands that his crime served as the catalyst for the emergence of subsequent crimes in the world, i.e. there was a transference of inherited guilt. On God's part, this is Cain's punishment, but in his case, the retribution is not the execution of a crime against himself, but God's mercy to Cain, by which he simply lives and drags out his own miserable existence. He loses sight of the good, the excellent, and the beautiful as his life and existence are cast in the shadow. It should be emphasized, nevertheless, that Abel's passing has an intriguing undertone. The Hebrew meaning of the name Abel is "breath, infinity". Despite Abel's brief life, he is still well-known today. According to the Bible, this indicates that each human has a finite time on earth and an infinite time in the heavenly kingdom. But each of us also carries Cain's hereditary sin gene, and therefore we are all capable of sin and irritable because we can situationally manifest our personality and become criminals by accident. We are the bearer of our moral and immoral responsibilities as our consciousness guides us. Perhaps it is correct to mention that we are the spiritual and intellectual heirs of two biblical figures who are guided by the moral standards of life, believing that one day we may end up in Eden. Therefore, it is not unexpected that the act of inherited guilt, which allows crimes to be committed from generation to generation, is entrenched in the consciousness of crime and gangster clans.
God's retribution, or punishment, for Cain, was expulsion from Heaven. In the legal world, murders are typically characterized as evil and horrifying realities that haunt the criminal's disposition. However, in this case, if we look at Cain's criminal act as a requirement for evidence of purpose and knowledge, then we will understand that he simply had an extreme indifference to human life as a value.
The law defines the transition from felon to premeditated murder as a crime "without malice aforethought" often referred to as a situational crime committed under the influence (Hendel, 2012, p. 45). Cain's murder, however, was unquestionably premeditated rather than an act of hate or everyday envy. A crime that is spontaneously performed while under the influence, however, may have a mitigating or exculpatory impact. When a criminal commits a crime out of an emotional state of mind, the victim may occasionally be deemed the crime's initiator under American law. Following this rule, we can see Abel as the perpetrator of crime who offers his lambs as sacrifices to God. That is to say, in the instigator's psychology, Abel was aiming for perfection and being first with God, which undoubtedly fueled Cain's zeal and led him to commit a crime.
If we examine Cain's crime psychologically, we will see that, like many criminals, Cain displays signs of a wounded nature. In other words, the act of committing a crime is motivated by a combination of guilt, jealousy, and humiliation. Rein Nota, a psychology lecturer at Tilburg University, claims that when Cain's sacrifice is rejected, he blushes with shame. He suddenly discovers that the person he thought of as his father and superior had rejected and abandoned him. Humiliation and insult cannot be hidden or suppressed. And being rejected by someone you love is a pretty big blow to a person. And for this reason, Cain portrays God's rejection and humiliation as a crime (Berke, 1986).
It's also intriguing that many literary critics, theological experts, and psychologists initially saw Cain as a psychological drama character who commits the murder out of a mixture of shame and remorse. Crime becomes unavoidable as a result of Cain's declining self-worth in his own eyes and in the eyes of his brother.
The seamless socio-psychological link between the person and society, as well as the con-
scious and unconscious results and repercussions of actual and hypothetical circumstances, are all aspects of life that literature, as we all know, depicts on a fairly wide scale. Since literary works are mostly analogical depictions of life, characters are definitely the result of a number of psychological processes.
The psychological and literary fields offer the chance to study in one instance, and in the other case, to analyze this or that case since human existence is full of fascinating occurrences and situational representations. The spectrum of views of a person's inner and outward worlds may be examined, making psychological issues one of the most significant issues in human life. According to American literary scholars Wellek and Warren (1963), through literary psychology, we can study and analyze the author and the characters he creates as individuals or as a part of the creative process of psychological laws and principles (p. 69).
Another separate psychological theory in the legal system, the cultural reversal paradigm, which holds that interaction with criminals or gang members might result in criminal conduct, is also significant. When there is unequal collaboration, the gangster or mafia don who is the most powerful party can also be seen as the driving force behind the illegal activity of another individual. The idea of American psychologist Skinner, which holds that every illegal act is met with an equal penalty and has many applications in various cultures, is presented here. And it is these penalties themselves that clearly define whether they will be repeated or not in the future. In other words, Skinner (1963) confidently advocates the efficacy of the causal link between crime and punishment, i.e. criminal impulsivity > judicial penalty (p. 503).
Based on Skinner's psychological theory, we can state that M. Puzo's novel "The Godfather" is based on those principles. The characters in this work have a highly complex understanding of love, respect, pride, family connections, and friendship in addition to being members of the mafia and clan psychology and citing instances of violence, murder, crime, retribution, and treachery. Don Vito Corleone, the mafia head, is at the center of everything: "Don Vito Corleone was a man to whom everybody came for help, and never were they disappointed. He made no empty promises, nor the craven excuse that his
hands were tied by more powerful forces in the world than himself. It was not necessary that he be your friend, it was not even important that you had no means with which to repay him. Only one thing was required. That you, you yourself, proclaim your friendship" (Puzo, n.d., p. 6).
In the above-mentioned novels, the problem of alienation of the person from the society is also significant, which has its dominant influence on every character in each novel. It seems that there are no main and secondary characters here, because all of them are revealed in the course of the book as individuals who have grown together from the external impulses of their environment.
These three novels feature a variety of characters, you might even call them individual characters, who have their own personal, psychological and why not also mental problems. All of them embody the unhealthy cream of the spoiled society of the twentieth century, who are the same in their strange appearance, but have different quirks, problematic interests and many unsolved questions.
The people in the stories try their best to keep up with the world and the pleasures that everyone finds appealing, but they also want to learn more about themselves and look for something new. They are constantly in search, thanks to which they must establish themselves. It is along this path of establishment and self-affirmation that Freud depicts the separation of the superego from the ego, and also seeks to express his own reflections and psychological views along the path of the characters' inner discoveries. In light of this, he says that a person seeking psychological understanding who is confronted with a variety of internal and external socio-psychological issues goes through a major "personal crisis," which is somewhat challenging to characterize in the empirical domain (Shoemaker, 2005, p. 25). Perhaps, as in the case of the characters in T. Dreiser's novel "An American Tragedy," a person encounters the tragedy of his or her own fate while en route to that "personal crisis".
It's also intriguing to consider the traits that define 20th-century civilization as a whole. They are troublesome, aggressive, agitated, uneasy, and impatient. As the youth of that century, who hunt for problems everywhere and always, have multiplied thousands of issues at once, so have illegal conduct rules and even lifestyles. In a mafia and gangster society, young people can
hardly escape the criminal lifestyle and unwritten laws that unwittingly lead them to a series of dead ends. They must, however, overcome a tremendous number of psychological obstacles along the way, each of which has the potential to lead to insanity or even unconscious criminality. The main feature of the characters in the novels under our study is that each of them is aware of their final decline and destructive tendencies, but the defense mechanisms mentioned by Freud do not allow to stop and put an end where a new life can begin. Their lives are in the domain of crime and lawlessness, from which there is no way back.
The mafia and its organized crime, which focuses on the rise and fall of power, are most closely tied to the mob and gangster culture in terms of their illegal activity. Such gangs primarily have large piles of money, guns, flashy cars, illegal goods, a group of madmen, crime families, and a central theme plot combined with violence. American gangsters of the 1930s were completely inspired by the newspapers and books of the era. Gangster genre literature was strongly driven by themes such as power, loyalty, betrayal, competition, morality, revenge, masculinity, materialism, etc. In order to give readers effective and descriptive imagery, themes and symbols provide contrasts and certain structures. When seen from an American viewpoint, gangster novels such as H. Grey's "The Hoods" and M. Puzo's "The Godfather" must fulfill the "American dream," which is to be wealthy and successful to the utmost extent possible and do that at any cost. Also, these novels expose the dark sides of the American dream, which include betrayal, revenge, masculinity, morality, and violence. But the three central themes of revenge, masculinity, and the exploration of the glorification of violence are central to the depiction and performance styles and motifs of these two aforementioned gangster novels.
In the case when the gangster gang becomes an authoritative and powerful force in society, as with the portrait of Noodles in H. Grey's novel "The Hoods" and Don Vito Corleone in M. Puzo's novel "The Godfather", intricate psychological complexes are born among individuals in society, and in the midst of overcoming them it is impossible not to face crime and sin.
In particular, the aforementioned two characters become the people who can and even need
to be imitated, duplicated, show certain behavior, and show themselves more boldly. In studying crime and guilt, it is crucial to keep in mind that even though the main character in T. Dreiser's book "An American Tragedy" lacks unique and personal manifestations of masculinity and vengefulness, there is still an insurmountable psychological complex to resemble the social community and seem more powerful.
Characters in these three novels that share the same century and difficulties have a lot in common, including a rough upbringing, social turmoil, poverty, criminal conduct, coolness under pressure, and their own sense of reality. However, the most important issue that unites them is the question of meeting the demands of their souls and bodies that want to explore and discover their inner world, not forgetting about physical pleasures and at the same time forgetting the existence of the other's rights to live and associate. Some theorists contend that criminal behavior's expression and manifestation are mostly related to ignorance and a lack of knowledge, which is not always the same as committing a crime. However, if we take into account the fact that the characters in H. Grey's "The Hoods" and M. Puzo's "The Godfather" did not receive any formal education despite having a strong desire to educate themselves and access to a wealth of knowledge, we can say that criminal behavior first manifested itself when people were ignorant, but after gaining certain knowledge, they strengthened the implementation of crime. In comparison with Clyde, the character of T. Dreiser's novel "An American Tragedy", we can state that despite his high level of education, the manifestation of criminal behavior becomes inevitable, which in turn proves the incorrect equality of his ego and superego struggle. So, after considering several opposing viewpoints, we arrive at the conclusion that criminal behavior is largely dependent on the disproportionate manifestation of the external impulses of society, more than on the calculation of any conscious steps.
It should also be noted that psychoanalytic theory is limited by the absence of certain elements, which prompts the person to oppose and contradict the stabilization of the situation, in order to be able to explain the manifestation of complex and criminal behavior within the context of the usefulness of psychoanalytic theory.
This is seen to be a psychological symptom of an unconscious level that is unrelated to behavior, which is thought to be a sign of a particular mental condition.
In the 1950s, American psychotherapists Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck conducted a psychological experiment on five hundred boys, according to which they separated boys with criminal and non-criminal behavior. According to the results of the experiments, delinquent boys did not seek cooperation in any social relationship, moreover, they were suspicious, more irritable, and more defensive, and, unlike non-delinquent ones, they expressed conscious and unconscious hostile impulses (Glueck & Glueck, 1952, p. 152).
However, the boys exhibiting criminal behavior definitely rejected the hypotheses of the presence of any mental and psychiatric disorders. In addition to all of this, it is possible to observe signs of aggression and low self-esteem in their conduct.
Criminal qualities are frequently defined in psychodynamic-psychoanalytic theory and other psychological theories of conduct, which also give a general explanation of how individual behavior manifests and breaks down. Psychological or psychiatric theories are frequently employed to offer a chance to discover the precise intent, driving forces, and motives of one heinous crime or another.
Psychological theorists undoubtedly have a tendency to believe that a certain mental disorder condition is at the foundation of violent crime.
The only difference that psychoanalysts see in comparison to behaviorism is that psychoanalysts believe that individual behaviorism results from a disruption of the harmonious connection between the inner world of the psyche and the outer world. According to this theory, which is also known as antisocial individuation disorder, the person continually rejects inquiries into his inner life and all of the implications that flow from them. As a result, the person is unable to fully interact in a social setting where he is either clearly or obviously not accepted. Mafia heads, gangsters, and other criminals who are prepared to carry out violent retaliations and crimes are all categorized as having antisocial personality disorder mental illnesses because they violate others' rights to life by disobeying the law, making up their own rules of illegality, and
attempting to legitimize this behavior within the society around them (Blackburn, 1998, p. 142).
The protagonist of T. Dreiser's book "An American Tragedy," Clyde, struggles to cope with society and all the issues caused by his antisocial personality. Similarly, almost all of the main characters in Grey's book "The Hoods" experience conflict between their inner and outer worlds, where the conscious level of the psyche is occasionally replaced by a drug-influenced unconscious level of the psyche and a violent exterior.
Sonny and Michael, who are frequently dazzled by their own fame and prestige and almost always carry out violent retaliation, exhibit antisocial personality disorder symptoms in Puzo's novel "The Godfather" which, however, cannot be said about Don Corleone himself, who is a person endowed with exceptional qualities, whose the conscious and unconscious levels of the psyche are constantly aware of their actions in an interactive way, and even the crimes dictated by him are within the realm of jurisprudentially justified circumstances. He never loses sight of the extent of his anti-social individualization with respect to society, but instead works to forge alliances with it by attempting to enact fair and just rules for the latter.
We believe it is important to add one more observation about the character's behavior, which indicates that Don Corleone placed a high value on legal education and familiarity with the legal system, even to the point of encouraging his eldest son Sonny to pursue a legal career because "Lawyers can steal more money with a briefcase than a thousand men with guns and masks" (Puzo, n.d., p. 187).
This was undoubtedly a psychological ploy used by the father to protect the boy from the harsh grips of his clan activities by using the parent's protective response. And here it is appropriate to mention the words of Don Vito Corleone: "A man who is not a father to his children can never be a real man" (Puzo, n.d., p. 27).
The mental manifestation of criminal behavior is characterized as a socially disruptive individual disorder that results from misperceptions of interpersonal and behavioral characteristics and leads to violations of social and legal expectations and moral norms (Hare, 1998, p. 105). Although it has many manifestations, this illness
is explicitly referred to in the public as a sort of schizophrenia. The absence of emotional and interpersonal connections (lack of empathy, responsibility, emotionality, and self-control) are the primary symptoms of this illness. Premeditated murder and organized crime are examples of mental disease symptoms. Of course, no author in literature has ever hinted that the detective work's protagonists may be sufering from the same mental diseases or acting criminally because they had antisocial personality disorders. However, it must be acknowledged that by analyzing and researching the theories of behavioral psychology and antisocial personality disorders, we come to the conclusion that the characters in the three novels mentioned above exhibit cold-heartedness, retaliatory politics, breaking the law in order to further their own objectives, and of course unconscious illegal counting of steps.
We can conclude with certainty that Clyde Griffiths' inner tragedy, as shown in Dreiser's book "An American Tragedy," is a result of his persistent rejection of his own individualization, which undoubtedly contributes to a mental sense of discontent and an inferiority complex. It is evident that there is a pattern of crime that is connected to the individual's mental propensity and premeditation (as we recall Griffiths reading in the journal a prototype of the crime he was about to commit) which is related to the individual's mental predisposition and premeditation. If the two chapters in the book completely represent Clyde Griffiths's psychological escape from society and his rejection of taking risky actions in his own life, his relationship with Roberta Alden, as well as all the psychological issues and questions that arose as a result of it all. Chester Gillette, the defendant in the magazine's model crime, was fully responsible for the premeditated murder of Grace Brown because he struck her in the head with a tennis racket and there was sufficient outside proof. In the meanwhile, the author attempted to utilize Clyde Griffiths's psychological issues and mental instability as a justification. The murder scene is depicted as if Clyde is not pushing Roberta on purpose, but Roberta is standing in the middle of the boat preparing to fall off, and Clyde is just trying to give her a light push. To put it another way, it is evident from this that Dreiser does not view the accused Clyde Griffiths as a premeditated murderer but rather as
a guy who has not successfully dealt with a variety of psychological issues and who only happened to find himself at the center of unfortunate circumstances and unconscious thinking.
Conclusion
The tale of Michael Corleone's retribution in "The Godfather" and the characters' journey in "The Hoods" by H. Grey offer light on the unsettling relationship between crime, masculinity, and the conscious-unconscious gap. Given that it is motivated by retribution and success, criminality is viewed by society as a sign of strength and manliness, as demonstrated by Michael's successful return to power. With his vengeance plot in full force, Michael Corleone returned the Corleone family to its old position of dominance in New York's Big Five with a single, devastating blow. In addition to establishing his power and notoriety as a mafia don, Michael also convinced the members of his rival families to support him. This clearly demonstrates that the crime, no matter how abhorrent and repulsive, is seen as the pinnacle of manliness and strength provided it is motivated by acts of retaliation and is efective. On the other hand, the opium-induced unconsciousness of Noodles and Max in "The Hoods" emphasizes the risks and negative effects of acting while unconscious, which can result in agony, misery, and even death. The borders between the conscious and unconscious worlds are reflected in the sharp difference between these two narratives. The novel "The Hoods" by H. Grey likewise shows the stages of retaliation and the pinnacle of masculinity. However, due to their opium usage, the book's characters Noodles and Max spend practically all of their time in the unconscious. In the 20th century, it is possible to act even in an unconscious ecstatic condition, which can result in not only anguish, suffering, and enormous loss, but also death. This seems to demonstrate to us clearly the border between the conscious and unconscious worlds. Because he unintentionally sexually assaulted the girl he loved, Noodles misplaced the key to his happiness. It was undoubtedly a wake-up call for Noodles, who tried his best to assess his criminal dangers in the wake of the occurrence. He was forced to go down a path of atonement and penance since he
was unable to forgive himself for what he did until the very end of his life.
Additionally, the negative effects of crimes like drug trafficking and gambling in the 20th century not only violated other people's rights but also severed people from their mental consciousness, plunging them into an illusory and incomprehensible world. As a result, maintaining social well-being is less important to modern gangsters and clan subcultures than prioritizing the ruin of lives and the pursuit of illegal activities. These stories serve as sobering warnings, reminding us of the terrible effects that crime can have on both particular people and whole societies.
After all, if we look closely, we will see that in the 20th century, unmistakable forms of crime like drug trafficking and gambling undermined the rights of others to live and permanently severed the person from the mental conscious level, transferring him to an unconscious, unreal, obscured, and incomprehensible reality. As a result, messing with other people's lives and destroying them through illicit activities are no longer a priority in gangster and clan subcultures.
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