2.2 Individualistic theories of criminality

Question 1

What are the 3 groups of theories you must know for ‘Individualistic theories’ of criminality?

Answer 1

Psychodynamic
Personality/Psychology
Learning theories

Question 2

What are the 2 psychodynamic theories you need to know?

Answer 2

Freud’s psychoanalysis theory

Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory

Question 3

According to Freud, what are the 3 elements of the human personality?

Answer 3

ID
EGO
SUPEREGO

Question 4

According to Freud, what is the Id?

Answer 4

Located in the unconscious.

Contains powerful, selfish, pleasure-seeking needs and drives, such as a desire for sex, food and sleep.

The id driven by the ‘pleasure principle (blind desire to satisfy urges at any cost).

Question 5

According to Freud, what is the Superego?

Answer 5

Contains our conscience or moral rules (Learnt through socialisation).

The child internalises their parents’ ideas of right & wrong and the superego develops as an internal ‘nagging parent’.

If we act against our superego (following our urges), our superego punishes us by making us feel guilty & anxious.

Question 6

According to Freud, what is the Ego?

Answer 6

It strikes a balance between the conflicting demands.

The ego is driven by the ‘reality principle’ - it learns that our actions have consequences.

The ego seeks to control the id’s urges while still finding ways to satisfy them.

Question 7

According to psychoanalysis, what causes criminality?

Answer 7

Abnormal relationship with parents during early socialisation, for example due to neglect or to excessively laid back parenting or strict parenting.

This can result in a:
-Weak superego
-Overly-harsh superego
-Deviant superego.

Question 8

According to Freud, how does a weak superego lead to criminality?

Answer 8

Individual will feel less guilty about anti-social actions. Less inhibitions about acting on the id’s selfish and aggressive actions.

Question 9

According to Freud, how does a harsh/strict superego lead to criminality?

Answer 9

A person will have deep-seated guilt that craves punishment as a release from their feelings.

People may engage in compulsive repeat offending in order to be punished.

Question 10

According to Freud, how does a deviant superego lead to criminality?

Answer 10

People are successfully socialised as children but, into a deviant moral code.

A son may have a perfectly good relationship with his criminal father and so internalises his father criminal values.

Therefore, his superego would not inflict guilt feelings for contemplating criminal acts.

Question 11

According to Bowlby, what causes criminality?

Answer 11

Maternal deprivation

Broken mother-child bond, which leads to affectionless psychopathy.

Question 12

What is the ‘44 juvenile thieves’ study?

Answer 12

44 juvenile thieves who had been referred to a child guidance clinic.

He found that 39% of them had suffered maternal deprivation before the age of 5, compared with only 5% of a control group of non-delinquents.

Question 13

According to Bowlby, what does ‘affectionless psychopathy’ refer to?

Answer 13

Inability to show affection or concern for others.

Such individuals act on impulse with little regard for the consequences of their actions.

For example, showing no guilt for antisocial behaviour.

Question 14

According to Eysenck, what is the cause of criminality?

Answer 14

An individual’s personality traits.

Specifically anyone who is both highly extraverted and high in neuroticism.

Question 15

Eysenck: What is the E-scale?

Answer 15

The measure of how extraverted someone is on Eysenck’s personality questionnaire.

Introverted at one end and extraverted on the other end.

Question 16

Eysenck: What is the N-scale?

Answer 16

The measure of how neurotic someone is on Eysenck’s personality questionnaire.

Emotionally unstable (neurotic) at one end and emotionally stable on the other end

Question 17

According to Eysenck, who is harder to ‘condition’ and why?

Answer 17

Neurotics are harder to condition into following society’s rules because their high anxiety levels prevent them learning punishment for their mistakes.

Question 18

Describe the 3rd personality dimension according to Eysenck.

Answer 18

P-scale (Psychoticism)

People with a high P score are more likely to engage in criminality.

They tend to be solitary misfits who are cruel, insensitive, aggressive and lacking in empathy.

High P can overlap with serious psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia.

Question 19

What are the 3 key assumptions of learning theories?

Answer 19

1. Criminal behaviour is learned behaviour.
2. We are influenced by our immediate environment, such as family and peer groups.
3. The key roles within the learning process are reinforcement and punishment.

Question 20

What are the 3 learning theories you need to know?

Answer 20

1. Sutherland’s differential association theory.
2. Operant conditioning (Jeffrey’s differential reinforcement theory)
3. Social learning theory

Question 21

In Sutherland’s differential association theory, what is the cause of criminality?

Answer 21

Individuals learn criminal behaviour largely in the family and peer groups (including work groups).

It is the result of two factors: imitation and learned attitudes.

Question 22

According to operant conditioning, what is the cause of criminality?

Answer 22

Reinforcement and punishment.

Question 23

What is Jeffrey’s differential reinforcement theory?

Answer 23

Jeffery argues that criminal behaviour is learned through the reinforcement of particular behaviours.

If crime has more rewarding consequences (such as respect or financial rewards) they will be more likely to engage in criminal behaviour.

Question 24

What is the cause of crime according to Bandura?

Answer 24

Social learning theory

If an individual observes a role model getting rewarded for their criminality, then the individual is likely to imitate the criminal behaviour.

Question 25

In social learning theory, who do individuals observe and imitate?

Answer 25

Role models.

Question 26

In social learning theory, who are seen as role models?

Answer 26

Anyone who is powerful and/or similar.

Question 27

In social learning theory, what is vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 27

When an individual sees a role model being rewarded for their behaviour.

Question 28

Describe Bandura’s study.

Answer 28

Bobo doll experiments with 4-5 year olds.

All 3 groups were shown a film of an adult model being verbally and physically aggressive towards an inflatable Bobo doll.

Group 1: saw a film where the model was rewarded with praise.
Group 2: saw the model being ‘told off’ (punishment)
Group 3: was a control group. The behaviour was neither rewarded nor punished.

RESULTS:
Group 1: Imitated the aggressive behaviour, as they had observed a role model being rewarded.