7.3 Forensics - Eyesenck's theory or crime

Question 1

General personality theory

Answer 1

Proposed that behavior can be represented in two dimensions. Introversion/extroversion (measured by the e scale) and Neuroticism/stability (measured by the n scale) which cross and combine to from a variety of personality characteristics. He later on added the P scale going through Choleric and Phlegmatic

Question 2

Biological basis

Answer 2

According to Eysenck our personality traits come via the nervous system (hereditary) so have an innate basis. Extraverts are argued to have an underactive nervous system so they have low levels of arousal so seek excitement to a more severe degree, meaning they are more likely to engage in risk taking Neurotics tend to be anxious, touchy, unstable and generally unpredictable in their behavior

Question 3

The criminal personality

Answer 3

An individual that scores highly on Psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism are said to have a PEN personality, they cannot be easily conditioned and are very cold and unemotional, being prone to aggression. They are known as chloric and more likely to engage in offending behavior.

Question 4

The role of socialization

Answer 4

Immediate gratification; being unable to wait for what you want. Delayed gratification; being able to wait for what you want. Criminals are more likely to seek immediate gratification and taught this by how they socialize. Eysenck said criminal behavior is developmentally selfish, immature and concerned with immediate gratification. By the process of socialization, children are typically taught delayed gratification, when children act in immature ways they are punished consequently so come to associate anxiety with anti-social behavior.

Question 5

Strengths of Eysenck’s Theory of crime

Answer 5

• Assessed 2000+ prisoners with the EPI who were then compared to 2400+ control group males/ On measures of PEN, prisoners recorded higher scores than the control group which supports the theory as he suggested higher scores mean criminal behavior is more likely.
• The use of a questionnaire to gather data is a strength because large quantities of quantitative data can be gathered making findings much more reliable and valid due to this larger sample size, helping to establish a detailed cause and effect

Question 6

Limitations of Eysenck’s Theory of crime

Answer 6

• Supporting research is Androcentric which lowers the generalizability
• Only conducted in the USA so ethnocentric
• Reductionist because it limits complex behaviors of criminals down to a few factors, fails to consider the potential role of the brain, upbringing and so on.
• Questionnaires used which leaves the data vulnerable to leading questions, social desirability and a lack of understanding all leading to false answers potentially which reduces the validity and reliability