assessing the use of individualistic theoriew in informing policy development Flashcards
what is psychoanalysis?
-psychoanalysis sees a weak superego as a cause of criminality since the individual lacks a moral force to stop commiting crime
-it is a therapy where patients verbalise thoughts with an attempt to access the unconscious mind and bring forward repressed trauma and memories to deal with them
is psychoanalysis effective?
it can be but it also brings a lot if memories that are upsetting for the patient which can cause further issues if not dealt with properly
what is token economies?
-this is where an institution attempts to operantly condition prisoners into behaving good
-they write a list of desirable behaviours and then when an offender does one of the behaviours they get a token which can be exchanged for a reward
-this enforces good behaviour making their bad behaviour less likely
is token economies effective?
allyon and milan 1979 stated they work short time while the offenders are in prison but when they leave prison its not likely to carry on
what is aversion therapy?
-this is a therapy that is used on usually sex offenders but has been used on gay people in the past and it is according to eyesencks personality theory that states offenders are strongly extravert and neurotic and therefore need harder punishments to avert them from bad behaviour
-offenders are asked to think of an unacceptable sexual fantasy till aroused and then receive a strong aversive stimulus like electric shock and the process is repeated till they stop offending
is aversion therapy effective?
-it has very limited success and is usually only a short term effect
-when it was used on gay people it was strongly criticised for human rights abuse
CBT therapy in prisons
cognitive theories state that our cognition shapes our behaviour and offenders have a distorted cognition that leads them to offend so CBT programmes are used to change their thought and attitudes to change behvioir
think first programme and its effectiveness
-this is a programme of 1-1 sessions for repeat offenders on probation that aims to enable offenders to think through their actions and learn how to deal with things instead of offending
-they are 30% less likely to offend although there is a higher rate of them not completing the programme
aggression replacement therapy and its effectiveness
-this is a programme that involves interpersonal skills training through role play, anger control techniques where they learn to deal woth emotions instead of violence and have moral reasoning training
-they show lower re conviction rates but usually their thinking skills improve and not their behviour
