Sociology Behind Criminal Minds Essay

The Sociology behind Criminal Minds Criminal Minds is a hit TV show that focuses on the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) in the FBI that creates a psychological profiling to build a profile to help them catch the perpetrator of the crime. Although the focus of the show is psychological, there are abundant elements of Sociology as well. A profile looks at criteria such as the geographic location of the crime and where the criminal lives, the past history of the criminal including past crimes, family structure, the jobs or occupation of the criminal, and finally, the reason why the person commits a crime. In episode 19 of season 4, the episode revolves around a serial arsonist who burns down buildings in the town he was born in killing many people, in order to be with his sister, whom he wanted a romantic relationship with when they were kids, however, the town criticized Tom for his deviant behavior. Tom’s arsonist behavior was to punish the town for making fun of him as a child, and even beating him up over because of his unconventional love for his sister. The Sociological elements within the show is deviance, life chances, the Sociological Imagination, values/norms, order and conflict theory, and finally labeling theory. A key element to this particular episode would be deviance. Deviance is defined by going against the expected behavior of society. Tom, the arsonist, in the show, is described as being “inappropriate” with his sister, Tina, when he tries to kiss her in a movie …show more content…
While psychology is the primary emphasis in the show, sociology also has a large contribution to explain the BAU’s profile, the criminal’s actions, and the affects the crime has on the larger society. Through this analysis, it conveys how sociology can be an applied discipline in even the shows that we watch for