2.2 Indivulastic Theories Of Criminality

Question 1

Name two psychodynamic theories of criminality

Answer 1

Freud,bowlby

Question 2

Freud key idea

Answer 2

Our early childhood experiences determine our personality and future behaviour including criminality

Question 3

Explain and name freuds parts of personality

Answer 3

ID-present from birth,the pleasure principle,represents our basic needs,requires instant gratification,selfish and primitive

E.g Impulse Buying, Hunger(eating without thinking), Anger Outbursts,laziness,sexual desire

Ego- develops from about 18 months,reality principle,acts as a mediator between the ID and super ego

E.g saving money,temptation,holding back anger,not having fun doing work as it’s due

Superego-develops after completion of phalic stage, The superego is your inner conscience, developed from society’s and parents’ moral standards
It helps you judge whether your actions or thoughts are right or wrong.
If you do something good, the superego makes you feel proud.
And something bad makes you feel guilty

E.g helping a friend,lying,

Question 4

Why is important these parts of the personality are balanced-Freud

Answer 4

The Ego should be strong enough to cope with the demands of the ID and SuperEgo if the ID dominates we may engage in impulsive,irresponsible behaviour leading to crime if the superego dominates we can be be judgemental

Question 5

Freud link to crime

Answer 5

Anti-social behaviour caused by abnormal relationship with parents (neglect or excessively harsh or lax parenting). Conflicts between id, ego, and supergo are unresolved., which leads a to weak, over-harsh or deviant superego.

Question 6

Importance of phalic stage

Answer 6

As we reach the phalic stage at around 3 we go through stages which involves strong love and desire for the opposing sex parents this shifts into the child identifying with the same sex parents and internalising their values and beliefs

Question 7

Strengths of freuds theory

Answer 7

Points to importance of socialisation and early family relationships in understanding criminal behaviour

Some influence on policies for dealing with crime and deviance.

Even though freuds theory is odd it doesn’t make it wrong

Psychodynamic theories have found research about crime due to particular child hood experiences

Question 8

Limitations of freuds theory

Answer 8

Unscientific and subjective - relies on accepting claims of a psychoanalyst about the unconscious mind of someone else. No way to tell if they’re correct

Difficulty in testing unconscious minds and no longer credited as valid

Question 9

Describe John bowlby maternal deprivation theory

Answer 9

Ability to form meaningful relationships in adult hood is dependent upon a child forming warm and continuous relationships with a mother figure

The maternal bond is unique vital to a child’s well being and development
Failure to establish this bond during the first few years of life means a child will face irreversible consequences later in life

Affections mpsychopathy with lack of guilt and sympathy this form of deprivation can lead to delinquency

Question 10

Explain John bowlbys study to support this

Answer 10

Investigated 44 juvenile thieves who were interviewed along with their families

14 of the sample showed personality and behavioural characteristics that could be classified as affection less
psychopathy of this 14,12 had experienced prolonged separation from there mother during infancy

Question 11

Strengths of John bowlby

Answer 11

Backed up with evidence from the 44 thieves study

Shows the importance of parent-child relationships in criminality

Question 12

Limitations of John bowlby

Answer 12

Doesn’t explain why 61% were not delinquent

Sammons and Putwain: maternal deprivation not linked to criminality

Overestimates how far early childhood affects later behaviour

Question 13

Name the psychological theory

Answer 13

Eysencks

Question 14

Name and explain the 5 key words for eysenck

Answer 14

Introvert-directing your interests inwards of to things within yourself
Extrovert- being mainly concerned with and gaining pleasure from thing outside your self
Neurotiscm- to have feelings of anxiety,worry,fear or anger
Stabitly- unlikely to change
Psychoticism- a personality pattern that is aggressive and hostile to others

Question 15

Explain eysencks personality test

Answer 15

Eysenck believes certain traits can cause crime
There was two tests
1st: neuroticism at the top and stability at the bottom
2st: extrovert at the top and introvert at the bottom

Question 16

What scores more likely having criminality personality

Answer 16

High e and n score=criminality personality

He found most normal people score middle for both sides

Question 17

What personality made someone more criminal-eysenck

Answer 17

Extrovert-high level of stimulation from there environment so they constantly seek environment leading to impulsive behaviour
Neuroticism- high anxiety levels prevent learning from punishment

Question 18

Describe the addition to eysencks theory

Answer 18

Psychoticism-high p score more likely to engage in criminality they are generally cruel aggressive and lack empathy

Question 19

Eysenks strengths

Answer 19

Describes how some measurable tendencies may lead to criminality

Studies suggest that offenders to tend towards high E, P and N scores.

Question 20

Limitations of eysencks

Answer 20

Studies show that prisoners are not often extraverted

E measures two separate things - impulsiveness and sociability.
These things don’t always correspond

Personality type and criminality are correlated, but this doesn’t prove personality types causes criminality

Convicted offenders may not be typical of offenders on the whole.

Eysenck used self-report
questionnaires - people may lie making the results invalid.

Question 21

Name three individualistic social learning theories

Answer 21

Sutherland,skinner,bandura

Question 22

Summarise the Edwin Sutherland differential association theory

Answer 22

Suggests that criminal behaviour is learnt through interactions with others rather then being something people are born with crime is something that Individuals learn from the people they associate with

Question 23

Key concepts that suggest crime is a result of interactions with others(Sutherland)

Answer 23

Criminal behaviour is learnt through social interaction
Learning occurs in social groups
Techniques and motives are learnt
Exposes to favourable and unfavourable parts of law
Criminal behaviour learnt same ways as other behaviour

Question 24

Sutherlands factor influencing crime

Answer 24

The frequency
Duration-longer in environment with criminal behaviour
Priority-the earlier in life the Individual is exposed to criminal behaviour more likely to learn these behaviours
Intensity-more intense or influential

Question 25

Strengths of Sutherlands theory

Answer 25

Crimes often run in families it can explain different types of crimes and crimes committed by people from different socioeconomic backgrounds. It has also changed people’s view of crime from individual (genetic) factors to social factors.

Question 26

Limitations of Sutherlands theory

Answer 26

Not everyone exposed to criminal influences becomes criminal. It also does not explain why crime decreases with age. The theory is difficult to measure and test empirically. It can explain less serious crimes, but not crimes like murder. Finally, it does not account for biological factors.

Question 27

Skinner-describe it and tell the experiment

Answer 27

OPERANT CONDITIONING Skinner believed that the best way to understand behaviour is to look at the causes of an action and its consequences. As a result of skinner operant leaning theory token of economices we’re created which were token received for good behaviour and after a certain amount you can trade it for something rewarding maybe like jobs in the jail or tv in cell .In operant conditioning there are 4 types of consequences of behaviour: • Positive reinforcement is receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed; for example, praise from a teacher for answering a question correctly in class. Negative reinforcement occurs when an animal (or human) avoids something unpleasant. When a student hands in an essay so doesn’t get told off Positive punishment-adding an unpleasant stimulus to deter behaviour(adding more chores if neglected the other chores) Negative punishment-removing a pleasant stimulus to deter behaviour(taking something they like away) In the experiment, a rat or pigeon was placed in a box with a lever or button. When the animal pressed it, it would receive a reward like food or a punishment like a mild shock. Over time, the animal learned to repeat behaviors that got rewards and avoid ones that caused discomfort.(wrong lever-electric shock)

Question 28

Briefly outline two strengths of operant learning theory.

Answer 28

A. Skinner's studies of learning in animals show that they learn from experience through reinforcement. Some human learning is also of this kind. B. This can be applied to offending. Jeffery states that if crime leads to more rewarding than punishing outcomes for an individual, they will be more likely to offend

Question 29

Three limitations of skinner operant learning theory

Answer 29

. A.Operant learning theory is based on studies of learning in animals. This is not an adequate model of how humans learn criminal behaviour B. The theory ignores internal mental processes such as thinking, personal values and attitudes. It explains criminal behaviour solely in terms of external rewards and punishments. C.Humans have free will and can choose their course of action. For example, we can choose to do something that causes us suffering in order to help someone else.

Question 30

According to bandura social learning theory how did individuals learn behaviour

Answer 30

He argued that people learn behaviours through the observations of other epically in social context

Question 31

Identify the four key processes involved in social learning theory

Answer 31

Attention-Individual must pay attention Retention-has to be remembered Reproduction-must be capable to reproduce the behaviour Motivation-must be motivated to perform the behaviour

Question 32

Explain bandura experiment

Answer 32

In the study children observed an adult behaving aggressively toward a bobo doll when the children were later left in a room with the dolls many of them imitated the aggressive behaviour they have seen

Question 33

Strength of bandura

Answer 33

Takes account of our social nature - we learn from others' experiences. Bandura's study shows importance of role models in learning deviance The bobo doll experiment Greater accuracy as there were control variable such as gender of children Replication of this experiment achieved similar results

Question 34

Limitations of bandura

Answer 34

Not all observed behaviour is easily imitated - we may see criminals rewarded but lack the skills to copy. Ignores free will of humans - Lab study lacks validity as it’s not in a natural environment Ethical issues as exposes children to violence

Question 35

Name one cognitive indivuastic theory

Answer 35

Kohlberg

Question 36

Name all the levels and the stages under it and the people who go into the stages

Answer 36

Level 1-obedience and punishment orientation Young children Stage1: Right and wrong is determined by punishment children know what’s wrong by punishment Stage2:-indivualsim and exchange Recognises that others have needs,morality is based on mutual benefits Level 2: Conventional morality Young adults Stage3: good interpersonal reasoning Stage4:maintaining social order Levels 3:post convectional morality Older adults Stage 5: social contract and Individual right (People understand that laws are important for society, but they also know that laws should protect everyone’s rights. If a law is unfair, it can be changed through agreement) Stage 6: universal principle (People follow their own moral principles, even if it goes against the law. They believe in justice,)

Question 37

Explain how Kohlberg theory can lead to criminality

Answer 37

Usually people go through all the stage meaning a higher level of moral reasoning whereas criminals tend to have a lower moral reasoning usually not passing all stages so he suggest the lower the stages you don’t go through the lower moral development more likely you commit the crime

Question 38

Strength of Kohlberg

Answer 38

Some studies show delinquents are more likely to have a immature moral development Thornton and Reid found the theory to be truer for crimes such as theft robbery not violence happens instance and no thinking involved

Question 39

Limitations of Kohlberg

Answer 39

Kohlberg focuses on moral thinking rather than moral behaviour someone may be capable of thinking morally while acting immorally