CB social psychological explanations Flashcards
what is the first social psychological explanation of criminal behaviour
differential association theory
what did sutherland propose
differential assoication theory, suggestinng behaviour can be explained in terms of social learning (i.e. learning from others through observation observation and imitation)
what did differential association suggest
people differ in the frequency with which they associate with others who have more or less favourable attitudes towards crime and therefore influence their own attitudes and behaviour.
if someone were to mix with people who had favourable attitude towards crime the ywould them be influenced by them and develop a positive attitude themselves
why is criminal behaviour said to be learned?
(differential association theory)
as a child we learn attitudes towards crime, such as whether it is desirable or undesirable. therefore, potential criminals are those that learn to adopt a pro-criminal attitude. children will also learn what behaviours are more desirable e.g. may learn that burglary is a more acceptable form of crime but that violence is not
who is this criminal behaviour learned from
(differential association theory)
from an individuals intimate personal groups (e.g. family and peer groups) a criminal attitudes are also learned from interacting in one’s local community.
the individuals or social groups do not actually have to be criminals but holding deviant attitudes or an acceptance of these attitudes may be enough to promote criminality
how is criminal behaviour said to be learned?
(differential association theory)
sutherland suggested that the frequency, length and personal meaning of these association will determine the influence. learning is likely to be in line with the principles of Bandura’s social learning theory and the concepts of operant conditioning. a child may be directly reinforced for deviant behaviour through praise, or may be punished for such behaviour by family and peers (this is direct reinforcement through operant conditioning)
role models would provide opportunities to model behaviours and if the role models are successful themselves in criminal activities, this would provide indirect (vicarious) reinforcement.
social group creates a sense of what is ‘normal’ for people to do
strength of the differential association theory explanation 1
(social psychological)
supportive evidence available. Osborn and West found that where there is a father with a criminal conviction, 40% of the sons had also committed a crime by age 18, compared to only 13% of sons of non-criminal fathers
what could the findings of Osborn and Wests research suggest
strength of the differential association theory explanation 1
(social psychological)
these findings could equally be explained from a genetic perspective also. it is highly possible that the shared criminal behaviours seen between father and son could be down to shared genetics. even if this is the case, there is a lack on 100% concordance of criminal behaviours between father and son, so environmental factors must be at least partially involved
what does Osborn and West research suggest
strength of the differential association theory explanation
(social psychological)
there is at least some relevance in further investigating the influence of friends and family members on criminal behaviour, therefore caution should be maintained when determining the exact cause of criminality
what other evidence is available to support the differential association theory explanation
social psychological explanation 1
strength- Akers et al. who surveyed 2,500 male and female adolescents in the US to investigate drink and drug related behaviour.
what did Akers find
strength of the differential association theory explanation
social psychological explanation 1
fiund that the most important influence on this form of criminal behaviour was from peers and differential association, differential reinforcement and imitation combined to account for 68% of the variance in marijuana use and 55% of alcohol use.
criticism of Akers et al. research
strength of the differential association theory explanation
social psychological explanation 1
research in this area has been criticised for its correlational nation whereby we are looking for a relationship between the number of pro-criminal associates one has and their own attitudes towards crime. this means cause and effect cannot be established and it could equally be that criminals seek out friends who are also criminals (peer selection as opposed to peer influence)
weakness of the differential association theory explanation
social psychological explanation 1
this theory cannot account for all kinds of crime. this theory is probably confined to ‘smaller’ crimes rather than violent and impulsive offences such as rape and murder, therefore this can only ever partially account for offending behaviour. although these smaller types of crimes do account for a bigger percentage of the crimes committed rather than violent offences.
PB point of the weakness of the differential association theory
social psychological explanation 1
in England and Wales in 2014, there was about 500 homicides but more than 400,000 burglaries. therefore this explanation may still be worth considerations, an increased understanding of these smaller types of crime could have a big contribution in reducing criminal behaviour overall. this theory also changed peoples perspectives about the origins of criminal behaviour (people started to look at the social factors instead of individual factors when it comes to offenders)
another piece of supportive evidence as a strength of the differential association theory explanation
social psychological explanation 1
farringtons research helps to validate the thoery.
farrington conducted a longitudinal study on the development of offending and antisocial behaviour in 411 males. the study started when they were 8 and were all living in a working class deprived area of London. the researcher looked at official records of conviction and self report of offending up to the age of 50. by the end of the study 41% of pps had at least one conviction. the most significant childhood risk factors at age 8-10 for later offending were family criminality, risk-taking, poverty and poor parenting
PB point for Farrington’s research
strength of the differential association theory explanation
social psychological explanation 1
only 41% of this large group actually had at least one conviction meaning 49% didn’t. more research is needed to be done to use this explanation to explain criminality
what is the second social psychological explanation of addiction
gender socialisation
how much of the prison population is males
gender socialisation explanation of criminal behaviour
week beginning 3 Feb 2025
95.5% male and 4.5% female
what is socialisation
gender socialisation explanation of criminal behaviour
the process whereby we learn the norms, customs and skills necessary to participate in society
what did Sutherland claim
gender socialisation explanation of criminal behaviour
claimed that during socialisation, boys are encouraged to be risk takers and to be tough, whereas girls are not. during socialisation, girls are also more closely supervised and controlled than boys. society expects girls to show greater levels of conformity than boys
how might the differences in socialisation result in greater criminality in boys
gender socialisation explanation of criminal behaviour
the risk boys might take may lead to criminal behaviour (taking a risk but not expecting to be caught, not thinking about potential consequences) boys are encouraged to be tough-more aggressive fits into criminal behaviour.
girls show greater levels of conformity, follow the rules more often so less likely to commit crimes
what did bandura suggest about role models and the SLT
gender socialisation explanation of criminal behaviour
SLT suggests we learn about gender behaviours through the observation and imitation of role models.
for girls, key role model is their mother and for boys it is their father
what did Cohen suggest
role models
gender socialisation explanation of criminal behaviour
it is a more difficult process for boys than it is girls. girls have easy access to their mothers, whereas traditionally, fathers have been more elusive role models and are less frequently available for their sons
as a result, boys rebel against the socialisation offered by their mothers, especially if that socialisation needs any particularly feminine traits. in addition boys pursue any opportunities that offer them the chance to develop their masculinity. Boys and young men seek out all male peer group. These peer groups may reward demonstrations of masculine behaviours such as aggression risk taking and rule breaking (these behaviours may lead to criminal behaviour)
differences in social groups
gender socialisation explanation of criminal behaviour
patriarchal societies impose greater control of women. This reduces the opportunity that women have to commit crimes. According to Heindensohn women are controlled at home at work and in public. in the home as daughters girls are dependent on the care from their father. Daughters are not able to stay as late as sons, are required to do more chores, therefore girls learn to develop socialising opportunities which can take place in the home, e.g. sleep over.
why do women have fewer opportunities to commit crimes as adults
gender socialisation explanation of criminal behaviour
as adults women have a few opportunities to commit crimes because of the greater time and movement restrictions placed on them by their domestic role. E.g. young children.
In the workplace, ‘the glass ceiling ‘ prevent women from rising into senior positions and having few opportunities to commit white collar crime.
In public, the way the media reports and crimes such as rape controls women by increasing the fear they have for being out alone at night . This causes women to stay at home and have less opportunity to commit crimes.
how is the manner in how media reports on female crimes controlling
gender socialisation explanation of criminal behaviour
Women who commit crimes are risking double jeopardy, not only by failing to live up to society norms and value, but also rejecting their own femininity
weakness of the gender socialisation explanation of criminal behaviour
the chivalry hypothesis
what is the chivalry hypothesis
weakness of the gender socialisation explanation of criminal behaviour
proposes that because of their perceived vulnerability as victims of male violence, female criminals are treated differently than males by criminal justice systems. it suggests that police officers, prosecutors, judges and juries are more likely to treat female officers with leniency due to their gender
PB point of the chivalry hypothesis
weakness of the gender socialisation explanation of criminal behaviour
however a study by Heidensohn that looked at 35 countries including England and Wakes found no evidence that female offenders were consistently treated more lightly than male offenders
what does the chivalry hypothesis suggest in terms of the gender socialisation explanation of criminal behaviour
suggests that the gender of those serving in the criminal justice system may be responsible for the lower levels of females represented in criminal statistics therefore there are flaws in the hypothesis. doesn’t offer a full explanation as to why men commit more crimes than women, a very outdated outlook
what is the strength of the gender socialisation explanation of criminal behaviour
can be seen in the practical applications available
what is the Man up project
strength of the gender socialisation explanation
a research programme exploring how masculinity promotes crime, interviews were conducted across 3 prisons with a total of 12 pps, findings found it was a positive experience, found there was a 40% reduction in re-offending between programme pps and their counterparts who did not participate. they expressed how their strong masculine identities were challenged
what do practical applications like the man up project derived from the gender socialisation explanation suggest
strength of the gender socialisation explanation
if we change male stereotypes we can begin to change socialisation and perhaps reduce the instances of crime.
