AC2.2-Describe individualistic theories of criminality

Question 1

What is the overall message of individualistic theories of criminality?

Answer 1

Crime is caused by individual differences based on personality types or experiences that people have.

Root of crime is an individual’s psychological makeup/ the development process they experienced.

Question 2

What is an example of a psychological theory?

Answer 2

Eysenck’s personality theory.

Question 3

What is Eysenck’s personality theory?

Answer 3

Suggests that personality is biologically based and that personality traits include 2 dimensions of extraversion vs introversion and neuroticism vs stability that can be measured using a personality questionnaire. High levels of psychoticism, neuroticism and extraversion can make someone more inclined to commit crime.

Question 4

What was the evidence behind Eysenck’s personality theory?

Answer 4

2000 male prisoners scored higher on extraversion, psychoticism and neuroticism than a non-prisoner control group.

Question 5

What is extraversion vs introversion?

Answer 5

How much environmental stimulation someone needs. Determined by the level of arousal in a person’s central and autonomic nervous system.

Introverts require less environmental stimulation as they are less outgoing.
Extroverts require more environmental stimulation as they are more sociable.

Question 6

How does extraversion link to crime?

Answer 6

People with high levels of extraversion have a low level of arousal, meaning they require more environmental stimulation to fuel their excitement.

Criminals are more likely to engage with others who commit crime as they are
more sociable people.
More likely to be: thrill-seeking, impulsive, and less able to be conditioned to internalise society’s rules.

Question 7

What is psychoticism?

Answer 7

Relates to the degree to which somebody is anti-social, aggressive and uncaring.

Question 8

How does psychoticism link to crime?

Answer 8

People who score highly on P are
more likely to engage in criminal behaviour. High levels can be linked to
psychological disorders such as schizophrenia.
High psychoticism scorers tend to be cold, uncaring, solitary and aggressive.

Question 9

What is neuroticism vs emotional stability?

Answer 9

The stability of personality, a high neuroticism score would represent someone who is more reactive and volatile and perhaps more likely to engage in offending behaviour. measures how strongly your nervous system reacts to adverse stimuli.
The stronger the responses, the more extreme a person’s emotional changes. Emotionally stable are more even-tempered.

Question 10

How does neuroticism link to crime?

Answer 10

This trait reflects a level of emotional instability: neurotics are prone to rapidly changing emotions and over-reacting to situations. They could mislead situations, eg- if someone appears to be judging someone else they could take this very personally and aggressively. High neuroticism scorers are also hard to condition.

Question 11

What are the strengths of Eysenck’s personality theory?

Answer 11

The theory is useful in describing how some measurable tendencies can increase a person’s risk of offending.

Eysenck predicts that high P, E, N scores lead to criminality. Research supports these predictions as offenders tend to be extrovert, neurotic and psychotic.

Rushton and Christjohn- children who reported higher levels of rule breaking also scored higher on the PEN test.

Question 12

What are the weaknesses of Eysenck’s personality theory?

Answer 12

Farrington tested prisoners and found they had high N and P scores but were not extroverted.

Although there is a correlation between personality and criminality, it doesn’t actually show that personality causes criminality. Personality could change as a result of being in prison.

Convicted offenders which the evidence is bases may not be typical of offenders as a whole. Low impulsive offenders are likely to avoid getting caught.

Self-report studies like personality questionnaires are likely to be lied on.

Question 13

What are the 2 psychodynamic theories?

Answer 13

-Freud and the superego
-Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory

Question 14

What is the idea of Freud’s psychodynamic theory?

Answer 14

A healthy personality needs a balance between the three parts of the psyche (id, ego, superego).

Children need to progress from the pleasure principle (id dominated) to the reality principle (ego dominated).

Question 15

What is the Id and when does it develop?

Answer 15

Present from birth, the pleasure principle (eg sleep, sex, food), represents basic needs: requires instant gratification, selfish and primitive.

Question 16

What is the ego and when does it develop?

Answer 16

Develops from about 18 months, the reality principle, practical and acts as a mediator between Ids desires and Superegos demands.

Question 17

What is the superego and when does it develop?

Answer 17

Final part of the personality, emerging between the ages of 3 and 5-phallic stage, We internalize morality of biological parents- superego acts as our conscience; it is our moral compass that tells us how we should behave.

Question 18

Which element of personality links to criminal behaviour?

Answer 18

The Id

Question 19

What is a weak superego which can link to crime?

Answer 19

This is when the person cannot control the impulsive demands of the Id- they do not feel guilty when doing something wrong.

Can be caused if same sex parent is absent during the phallic stage so the child has no one to identify with/no morality to internalize

Question 20

What is a deviant superego which can link to crime?

Answer 20

This is when a child internalised criminal morals from a parent.

Child identifies to the same sex parent but that parent is a criminal- child develops same morality as a criminal.

Question 21

What is a harsh and unforgiving superego which can link to crime?

Answer 21

This is when the child has a strong identification with a strict parent, causing excessive guilt and anxiety.

Question 22

What are the strengths of Freud’s psychodynamic theory?

Answer 22

Highlights the importance of early socialisation and family relationships in understanding criminal behaviour.

This approach has been used to influence policies for dealing with crime and deviance.

Question 23

What are the weaknesses of Freud’s psychodynamic theory?

Answer 23

Research is largely based on the ‘unconscious mind’, but it is impossible to measure the unconscious.

Unscientific and subjective: relies on accepting psychoanalyst’s claims to see how the mind works, cannot uncover the inner workings of the mind.

Question 24

What is Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?

Answer 24

Bowlby believed children need a primary carer, who would be a mother figure to love them in early childhood so they learn how to develop normal emotional attachments.

If children were separated from their mother before the age of 3 (critical period for attachments to form), even for a short period of time, they would not be able to develop properly.

Question 25

What is deprivation?

Answer 25

When they are separated for a long period of time and have no primary carer to support them during their development.

Question 26

What is separation?

Answer 26

Short term, with a primary carer substitute.

Question 27

What is privation?

Answer 27

When the child has never had a primary care giver, so they cannot form a positive attachment to support them through development.

Question 28

What is the evidence behind Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?

Answer 28

He compared 44 young thieves with 44 other young people who had not committed crime: 39% of thieves experienced early separation before age of 5- compared with 5% in controlled group of non-delinquents.

Question 29

How can Bowlby’s theory link to criminal behaviour?

Answer 29

If someone does not have attention when they are developing, they can resort to other means to find it when they are older (eg gangs).

Likely to experience ‘affectionless psychopathy’ when unable to form a bond which is the inability to feel remorse or guilt. Can lead to criminal behaviour without feeling guilty.

Question 30

What are the strengths of Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?

Answer 30

This theory highlights the need to consider the role of parent-child relationships in explaining criminality.

His research shows that more children who suffered maternal deprivation went on to commit crimes (39%) than out of those who had less maternal deprivation and did not commit crime (5%).

Question 31

What are the weaknesses of Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?

Answer 31

His study was retrospective so mothers and children were expected to accurately recall details from their childhood, which may not have been accurate.

Although 39% of children who experienced maternal deprivation went on to commit crime, there is no explanation for the other 61% who also went on to commit crime without deprivation.

In later research, Bowlby also discovered no evidence to support his earlier claims, leading him to admit that he had overestimated the importance of childhood experiences on future behaviour.

Question 32

What are the 2 cognitive theories?

Answer 32

Kohlberg
Yochelson and Samenow

Question 33

What is Kohlberg’s cognitive theory?

Answer 33

Criminals do not develop their moral thinking, they are stuck as a less mature level than everyone else. They think in terms of whether their actions will lead to reward or punishment and not about the impact their actions might have on other people. Their lack of ability to engage in moral reasoning causes them to offend.

Question 34

What is pre-conventional morality?

Answer 34

A child-like approach to right and wrong, avoid punishment/get reward, requires immediate gratification.

Question 35

What is post-conventional morality?

Answer 35

By adulthood a sense of right and wrong is determined by our own deeply held moral principles which are seen as more important than the laws of the land.

Question 36

What are the strengths of Kohlberg’s theory?

Answer 36

Studies show delinquents are more likely to have immature moral development as the theory predicts.

Question 37

What are the weaknesses of Kohlberg’s theory?

Answer 37

The theory is truer for crimes such as theft and robbery (which may involve moral reasoning) that for crimes of violence, Thornton and Reid.

Kohlberg focuses on moral thinking rather than moral behaviour, someone may be perfectly capable of thinking morally whilst acting immorally.

Question 38

What is Yochelson and Samenow (1976) cognitive theory?

Answer 38

Criminals are prone to faulty thinking which makes them more likely to commit crime. They studied 240 long term offenders, most committed to psychiatric hospitals. The traits that mean people are more likely to be criminal are:
- Lying, secretiveness, need for power and control, super optimism, failure to understand other’s positions, lack of trust, believed they were unique, gave themselves victim status, blamed others.

Question 39

What is the Heinz dilemma?

Answer 39

Heinz needs a particular expensive drug to help his dying wife. The pharmacist who discovered the drug refused Heinz’s offer to give him all the money he now has, which would be about half the necessary sum, and to pay the rest later. Heinz must now decide whether or not to steal the drug to save his wife; that is, whether to obey the rules and laws of society or to violate them to respond to the needs of his wife. What should Heinz do, and why?

Question 40

What are the 2 learning theories?

Answer 40

Bandura social learning theory

Sutherland differential association

Question 41

What is Bandura’s social learning theory?

Answer 41

Bandura suggested children learn from watching people around them.

1. They OBSERVE behaviour in others.
2. They MODEL themselves on important individuals (role-models).
3. They IMITATE behaviour that seems interesting/ exciting/ different.
   (OMI)

Children can learn by vicarious reinforcement occurs when they observe role models receiving either positive or negative reinforcement.

Question 42

What was the method of Bandura’s study?

Answer 42

3 groups of nursery children watched a film of an adult (the model) kicking and punching a ‘bobo’ doll. 3 conditions given-

Condition 1: children saw violence towards the Bobo Doll being rewarded by another adult.

Condition 2: children saw a second adult telling off the person for the aggressive behaviour towards the Bobo Doll.

Condition 3: the person doing the aggressive behaviour was neither punished nor praised for being aggressive.

children in the reward and control conditions imitated more aggressive actions of the model than did the children in the punishment condition.

Question 43

What are the strengths of Bandura’s social learning theory?

Answer 43

The theory is good as it sees people as social beings, that we learn in a variety of ways,
not just our own experience.

Bandura’s research shows that children who observe aggressive role models being
rewarded are more likely to imitate behaviour. This shows the importance of role models
in learning criminal and deviant behaviour.

Question 44

What are the weaknesses of Bandura’s social learning theory?

Answer 44

Research is heavily based on studies conducted in laboratories. These are artificial
settings and children may not act the same way in real-life.

The theory assumes that the only way we learn is through experiences and ignores the
choices individuals make, the idea of free will is important as not all crimes that are
observed go on to be imitated.

Some behaviours are impossible for us to imitate as we may lack the skills needed to
recreate the behaviour, e.g., a safe cracker being rewarded by cash after breaking in to a
safe.

Question 45

What is Sutherland’s differential association theory?

Answer 45

People learn criminal behaviour through their differential associations (their interactions with others). People learn methods of how to commit crime from those around them, e.g. prisons are called “universities of crime”.

Question 46

What are the strengths of Sutherland’s differential association theory?

Answer 46

The fact that crime often runs in the family supports the theory, people with criminal parents more likely to become criminals, perhaps because they have learned criminal values and techniques in the family.

Matthews found Juvenile delinquents are more likely to have friends who commit anti-social acts, suggesting that they learn their behaviours form peer groups.

Question 47

What are the weaknesses of Sutherland’s differential association theory?

Answer 47

Not everyone who is exposed to ‘criminal influences’ become criminal. They may learn from family or peers how to commit crime, but never put this into practice.

The attitudes of work groups can normalize white collar crime, enabling offenders to justify their behaviour.

Question 48

How does Bandura’s social learning theory link to criminality?

Answer 48

They found that those in the group who saw the model being rewarded were more likely to
repeat the same behaviours, those who had seen the model punished were least likely to repeat the behaviours. Therefore, children imitated depending on the consequences they had observed in the model.