2.2 - Describe Individualistic Theories Of Criminality Flashcards
LEARNING THEORIES
What do learning theories state?
Criminal behaviour is learnt due to influence of our immediate social environment (family and peers)
LEARNING THEORIES
What is Sutherlands differential association theory?
Individuals learn behaviour through family and peers as a result of imitation and learned attitudes.
LEARNING THEORIES
What does Sutherland use as an example?
White collar crime - found group attitudes in the work place normalise criminal behaviour which made it easier to justify it. “Everyone’s doing it”
LEARNING THEORIES
What is the Operant learning theory?
Criminality happens due to an imbalance between reward and punishment.
LEARNING THEORIES
Operant learning theory - skinner
If behaviour is rewarded it will be repeated and if it’s punished it won’t be
(Behaviourism)
LEARNING THEORIES
Operant learning theory - Jeffery
Argues that if crime has more rewarding consequences than punishing ones the individual will be more likely to engage in criminal behaviour
LEARNING THEORIES
What does Bandura argue? (Social learning theory)
We learn much of our behaviour through imitating and watching others.
LEARNING THEORIES
What was Banduras study called?
The Bobo Doll Experiment
LEARNING THEORIES
What was the Bobo Doll experiment?
3 groups of 4/5 year olds.
Group 1 - model was rewarded
Group 2 - model was punished
Group 3 - model was neither rewarded or punished
LEARNING THEORIES
What were the results of the Bobo Doll experiment?
Group 1 - imitated the behaviour
Group 2- least likely to imitate
Group 3 - imitated behaviour but to a lesser extent than group 1.
LEARNING THEORIES
What did Banduras experiment conclude?
Behaviour will be imitated based on the consequence.
PYSCHODYNAMIC THEORIES
What are psychodynamic theories?
They see our personality as containing active forces that cause us to act as we do.
These include powerful urges, feelings and conflicts within the unconscious mind.
PYSCHODYNAMIC THEORIES
What did Freud believe (psychoanalysis)
Our early childhood experiences determined our personality and future behaviour - they determine if we will go on to act in anti-social ways.
PYSCHODYNAMIC THEORIES
According to Freud, what were the three elements of the human personality?
The id
The superego
The ego
PYSCHODYNAMIC THEORIES
What is the id?
- Unconscious
- Contains selfish, pleasure seeking needs and drives such as the desire for food, sex and sleep.
- “pleasure principle” - blind desire to satisfy all urges immediately.
PYSCHODYNAMIC THEORIES
What is the superego?
- Conscience
- Feelings of guilt and anxiety.
“nagging parent” which makes us think from wrong and right.
PYSCHODYNAMIC THEORIES
What is the ego?
- Reality principle
- Seeks to find a balance between the id and the superego.
PYSCHODYNAMIC THEORIES
What is Bowlby’s material deprivation theory?
There is a link between maternal deprivation and deviant or anti-social behaviour. If a child 0-5 is separated from their mother it can leave the child unable to form meaningful emotional relationships with others and can lead to criminal behaviour.
PYSCHODYNAMIC THEORIES
What did Bowlby base his study on?
44 juvenile thieves, 39% of whom had suffered maternal deprivation compared to just 5% of a control group of non-delinquents.
PYSCHIOLOGCAL THEORIES
What was Eysenck’s theory called?
Eysenck’s personality theory.
PYSCHIOLOGCAL THEORIES
What does Eysenck’s theory state?
There is a certain personality type which are more likely to commit crime.
PYSCHIOLOGCAL THEORIES
According to Eysenck’s theory, why do people with a certain personality type are more likely to commit crime?
They are slow to learn that crime has bad consequences.
PYSCHIOLOGCAL THEORIES
What did Eysenck study?
700 soldiers wo were being treated for neurotic disorders.
PYSCHIOLOGCAL THEORIES
What did Eysenck’s study conclude?
There are 2 dimensions to the personality.
E scale and N scale
PYSCHIOLOGCAL THEORIES
According to Eysenck’s study, most people had personalities in the middle of the E-scale and N-scale. Where were criminal personalities?
High on both E and N scale.
PYSCHIOLOGCAL THEORIES
Why do criminals have high personalities on both the E and N scale according to Eysenck?
This is due to conditioning (learning form experience) and genetic inheritence.
