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Psychology 5: Criminal > biological explanation of crime: personality > Flashcards

biological explanation of crime: personality Flashcards

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1
Q

what is meant by personality?

A

the relatively stable characteristics of a person which makes their behaviour consistent across situations

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2
Q

what are some characteristic traits of a criminal?

A
  • aggressive
  • impulsive
  • extrovert
  • lacking empathy
  • cold and calculated
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3
Q

summarise Eysenck’s personality theory of crime

A
  • combines biological and social factors
  • personality is determined by genes but the effects are exerted under the influence of social factors
  • criminal behaviour results from failure to learn that immature tendencies should be controlled
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4
Q

what are the three concepts of Eysenck’s personality theory?

A

extroversion
neuroticism
psychoticism

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5
Q

describe ‘introversion’

A
  • shy
  • reserved
  • pessimistic
  • reliable
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6
Q

describe ‘extroversion’

A
  • outgoing
  • spontaneous
  • low arousal in cerebral cortex so need more stimulation
  • stronger dopamine reward system so respond more positively to things like money
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7
Q

describe ‘neuroticism’

A
  • oversensitive
  • unstable
  • anxious
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8
Q

describe ‘stability’

A
  • calm
  • level headed
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9
Q

describe ‘psychoticism’

A
  • high testosterone
  • lack empathy
  • isolated
  • aggressive
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10
Q

how did Eysenck measure personality?

A
  • personality questionnaire
  • measures extroversion and neuroticism
  • high scores = hard to learn social behaviour
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11
Q

what is the RAS?

A

reticular activating system
- maintains optimum arousal level
- excites or dampens sensory info

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12
Q

what is the link between extroversion and ARAS?

A

extroverts are under aroused so ARAS inhibits impulses. therefore extroverts try to increase arousal levels so might be risk takers as the external stimulus arouses the ARAS

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13
Q

what is the link between introversion and ARAS?

A

introverts are over aroused so there is a lack of inhibition from ARAS. when the brain receives too much stimulation, they prefer calm and quiet

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14
Q

what is the ANS?

A

autonomic nervous system

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15
Q

what is the role of the ANS?

A
  • maintains stability and mood
  • balances the parasympathetic and sympathetic divisions so response isn’t too fast or slow
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16
Q

what are the two divisions of the ANS?

A

parasympathetic = calming
sympathetic = arousing

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17
Q

what is the relationship between psychoticism and hormones?

A
  • men have high testosterone and low cortisol
  • therefore more aggressive
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18
Q

define ‘delayer of gratification’

A

resisting the impulse to take the immediately available reward in the hope of obtaining a more valued reward in future

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19
Q

what is Eysenck’s theory of socialisation, including how this impacts children?

A
  • criminal behaviour is selfish and concerned with immediate gratification
  • socialisation during childhood will determine whether someone abides law
  • a child is conditioned (socialised) to learn the difference between right and wrong and to control impulses
  • if successful, antisocial behaviour produces anxiety so it is avoided
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20
Q

how do people with high E and N scores relate to criminal behaviour in terms of socialisation?

A
  • extraverts seek reward
  • less receptive to operant conditioning and less affected by punishment
  • more likely to behave antisocially
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21
Q

why does a high extraversion score link to criminality?

A

drive for thrill enhancing behaviours

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22
Q

why does high neuroticism link to criminality?

A

more likely to act emotionally and less able to learn consequences
- fear conditioning and poor socialisation

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23
Q

describe the sample of Eysenck’s study

A
  • 156 prisoners
  • 18-38
  • divided into 5 groups
  • violent, property, fraud, inadequate and residual crimes
24
Q

describe the procedure of Eysenck’s study

A
  • EPQ
  • psychological measures eg skin conductance, EEG, eye blink response
25
Q

describe the results of Eysenck’s study

A
  • psychosis score low for fraud crimes
  • neuroticism score low for property and violent crimes, high for inadequate and residual
  • extroversion score low for inadequate and property, high for violent and residual
26
Q

what is a strength of Eysenck’s personality theory (PEE)?
- supporting evidence: Rushton and Christjohn

A

a strength is the supporting study by Rushton and Christjohn. they compared PEN and self reports of delinquency for schoolchildren and students. they found that high delinquency positively correlated with high PEN scores. therefore, it is consistent with Eysenck’s predictions

27
Q

what is a weakness of Eysenck’s personality theory (PEE)?
- opposing study: Gale and Edwards

A

a weakness is the opposing study by Gale and Edwards. they found no difference in EEG measures of cortical arousal between introverts and extroverts. therefore, this is not consistent with the prediction that extroverts are under aroused.

28
Q

what is a weakness of Eysenck’s personality theory (PEE)?
- opposing study: Bartol and Holanchock

A

a weakness is the study by Bartol and Holanchock. they studied Hispanic and African American offenders and found that they were less extravert than a control group. therefore, this suggests that Eysenck’s personality cannot be generalised to other cultures as the sample was very different to Eysenck’s.

29
Q

what is a weakness of Eysenck’s personality (PEE)?
- opposing study: Hollin

A

a weakness is the study by Hollin. they found that offenders showed higher N and P but not necessarily E scores. therefore, the relationship between E and offending is unclear and inconsistent. additionally, E scales measure sociability and impulsiveness but criminality is only associated with impulsiveness.

30
Q

what is a strength of Eysenck’s personality (PEE)?
- supporting evidence: McGurk and McDougall

A

a strength is the supporting evidence from McGurk and McDougall. they used a personality questionnaire to compare students identified as ‘delinquent’ and ‘not delinquent.’ In the delinquent sample there was high PEN scores however in the non delinquent sample, the percentage of those with low NE scores was significant. therefore, these results align with Eysenck’s predictions that high PEN relates to aggression.

31
Q

what is a strength (PEECA)
- compliment and criticism of evidence

A

a strength is that the evidence for Eysenck’s theory makes the prediction that compared with non offenders, offender samples should have higher PEN scores which makes it easy to test. however, it is argued that data is flawed since the research relies heavily on self report measures of personality devised by Eysenck. a high PEN personality might lead to scapegoating or impact on parole. therefore, this scales are subject to response bias which can significantly reduce the internal validity and whether these changes to treatment should be made.

32
Q

what is a weakness (PEE)?
- criticism (offender type)

A

a weakness is that the research makes comparisons between convicted offenders and the general population. for example, the only offenders in the samples are those who have been caught and convicted of crimes. therefore, many of the studies may only provide data for personality characteristics of unsuccessful offenders.

33
Q

what is a weakness (PEE)?
- criticism (consistent personality)

A

a weakness is that Eysenck conceived personality as a set of stable traits which cause people to act consistently. however, Mischel (2008) argued that consistent behaviour is an illusion which arises from observing people in similar situations. therefore, this suggests that the existence of stable personality characteristics is questionable.

34
Q

what is a strength (PEE)?
- application

A

a strength is that the theory has applications which point in the direction of preventing crime. for example, pre screening can lead to early intervention, anger management programmes can be put in place and job interviews could use the questionnaire to identify suitable candidates. therefore, these factors can help to improve the quality of the persons life as well as make society safer.

35
Q

what is a weakness (PEE)?
- deterministic

A

a weakness is that the theory is deterministic. this is because it doesn’t consider the factor of free will. therefore, it says that those with high PEN personalities will become a criminal no matter what.

36
Q

what is Freud’s theory of personality focused on?

A

early childhood experiences

37
Q

describe the superego

A
  • forms at end of phallic stage
  • works on morality principle
  • punishes ego with guilt
  • rewards ego with pride
38
Q

how does a weak superego develop?

A

absence of same sex parent during phallic stage so we fail to internalize moral values of this parent

39
Q

what is the consequence of a weak superego?

A
  • morals not learned
  • more likely to act on pleasure principle as superego does not enforce guilt
  • behave to gain immediate reward as we don’t know right and wrong
  • lead to crime as won’t feel guilty
40
Q

how does an excessively strong superego develop?

A
  • same sex parent overly harsh
  • crippled by guilt and anxiety
  • commits crime to satisfy need for punishment
41
Q

what is the consequence of an excessively strong superego?

A
  • craves punishment in order to ease guilt
  • or won’t express antisocial influences until they build up until the desire overwhelms the ego and is suddenly expressed
42
Q

how does a deviant superego develop?

A

child internalizes morals of a criminal or deviant same sex parent

43
Q

what are the consequences of a deviant superego?

A
  • child develops skewed morals
  • don’t feel guilt if they believe the behaviour is acceptable
  • superego may not react to criminal acts
44
Q

what is the maternal bond?

A

the ability to form meaningful relationships in adulthood is dependent on the child forming a warm, continuous relationship with a mother

45
Q

what is the consequence of a failed maternal bond?

A
  • forming an affectionless psychopathy personality type
  • lack of guilt and empathy
  • engage in delinquent acts
  • cannot develop close relationships with others
46
Q

summarise Bowlby’s study

A
  • 44 juvenile thieves and families
  • 14 showed affectionless psychopathy characteristics
  • 12 of 14 experienced separation from mother within first 2 years
  • control = 2 had separation
47
Q

what are issues with Bowlby’s research?

A
  • researcher bias = preconceptions of what he expected to find
  • reduces internal validity
  • false conclusions
  • unrepresentative sampling
48
Q

evaluate defence mechanisms (PEE)
- deterministic

A

a weakness is that it is deterministic. for example, it suggests that individuals have no control over their offending and defence mechanisms which cause behaviour are determined by the ego’s response to unconscious conflicts. therefore, this means they have no free will which raises the question as to whether they should be punished.

49
Q

evaluate defence mechanisms (PEE)
- application

A

a weakness is that there is a lack of practical applications. for example, if defence mechanisms were the cause of behaviour, psychodynamic therapy would help overcome the root cause. however, this is time consuming and an impractical way of reducing criminal behaviour which limits the usefulness of this explanation.

50
Q

what is a strength of Freud’s theory (PEE)?
- supporting evidence (Glueck and Glueck)

A

a strength is the supporting evidence from Glueck and Glueck. they compared 500 young people in offender institutions and 500 controls and found that young offenders were 1.5x more likely to have experienced distant relationship with their mother.

51
Q

what is a weakness of Freud’s theory (PEE)?
- unfalsifiable

A

a weakness is that the theory has unfalsifiable concepts. for example, the deviant superego and dominant id cannot be proved true as it is impossible to test scientifically. therefore, this limits the usefulness of the explanation as it lacks validity.

52
Q

what is a weakness of Freud’s theory (PEE)?
- gender bias

A

a weakness is that the theory has gender bias. for example, it suggests that girls have weaker superegos as they are under less pressure to identify with the same sex parent due to lack of castration anxiety. however, the prison population is 95% male which suggests that males show more criminal behaviour, contradicting the prediction.

53
Q

what is a weakness of Freud’s theory (PEE)?
- opposing study (Lewis)

A

a weakness is opposing research from Lewis. for example, 500 young people were interviewed and no reliable link was found between maternal deprivation and criminal behaviour. therefore, maternal deprivation may be only one factor contributing to the likelihood of criminal behaviour.

54
Q

what is a weakness of Freud’s theory (PEE)?
- criticism of methodology

A

a weakness is that the assessment of childhood experiences is difficult as it is retrospective information. for example, self report data is open to distortions. therefore, the evaluation of the relationship between early experience of crime is complicated. additionally, the conclusions are dependent on social and cultural ideologies of childhood/acceptable behaviour; children and parents of different groups interact differently.

55
Q

what is an alternative explanation of criminal behaviour other than personality?

A

social learning theory
- learning by observation of a criminal role model
- vicarious reinforcement
- bobo doll study

Psychology 5: Criminal (23 decks)

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