2.2 Individualistic theories Flashcards
Psychodynamic
Personality contains active forces (urges within unconscious mind) that causes actions -> criminal behaviour result of failure to resolve inner conflicts in socially acceptable way
Freud’s psychoanalysis
Early experiences determine our future behaviour
Super ego
Conscious/moral rules learnt through early socialisation
Ego
Learns through experiences & satisfies id’s desires in a morally acceptable way
Id
Contains pleasure-seeking/urges to do things without consequence
How deviant behaviour forms (Freud)
- Weakly developed superego - less guilt about anti-social behaviour
- Harsh/unforgiving superego - extreme guilt leads to craving punishment
- Deviant superego - no guilt for immoral acts due to moral code
Strengths of Freud
Useful (importance of early childhood & family relationships in understanding criminality - use as parents)
Limitations of Freud
Validity (unscientific & objective - reliance on psychanalyst’s claim)
Credible (no longer accredited by psychologists due to difficulty testing concepts such as unconscious mind)
Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation theory
Link between lack of relationship with mother & deviant behaviour
Affectionless psychopathy
Broken attachment -> inability to feel guilt/empathy & form meaningful relationships
Bowlby’s study (MD)
44 thieves (39% experienced maternal deprivation before age of 5 compared to 5% in control group)
Strengths of Bowlby
Credible (44 thieves study - 39% delinquents experienced maternal deprivation, 5% control group)
Limitations of Bowlby
Validity (retrospective study involving recall - issues/later study of 60 children - no evidence of affectionless psychopathy)
Eysenck’s Personality theory
Criminals have personality types of extroversion (outgoing, charismatic) & neuroticism (impulsive) -> score highly on scales
Explanations of Eysenck
- Conditioning (seek pleasure & avoid punishment)
- Genetic inheritance (a nervous system that causes development of criminal personality)
Added characteristics to Eysenck
Psychoticism - prone to risk taking & engagement in deviant behaviour, lack empathy & are aggressive
Strengths of Eysenck
Useful (describes how measurable tendencies could increase risk of offending)
Limitations of Eysenck
Credibility (Farrington - examined studies and found prisoners were N & P but not E - contradictory)
Social Learning Theory
Observational learning by observation & imitation
- Modelled
- Identify (w/role model)
- Observed (ARRM)
- Imitated
Vicarious reinforcement
Watching someone else being reinforced - imitate the behaviour
Strengths of social learning theory
Reliability (replicated with slight changes and similar results were found)
Limitations of social learning theory
No practical application (lab studies - artificial & not valid for real-life situations)
Operant conditioning
Behaviour is learnt through consequences
Strengths of operant conditioning
Supporting evidence (Skinner’s studies of animals can be applied to offending according to Jeffery)
Limitations of operant conditioning
Reductionist (ignores internal mental processes -> thinks of rewards/punishments only as an explanation of criminality)
Ungeneralisable (animal studies -> inadequate model of human behaviour)
