cognitive Flashcards
Level of moral reasoning
Moral reasoning - way a person thinks about right or wrong
The higher the level, the more the behaviour is driven by sense of what is right and the less it is driven by just avoiding punishment or disapproval
Stage theory of moral development
Kohlberg - moral reasoning develops through stages that are progressively sophisticated
Moral dilemmas
Stage indicated by responses to stories such as the Heinz dilemma
Moral development
Kohlberg - people’s decisions summarised in stage theory - group of violent youths significantly lower level of moral development even after controlling social background
Offenders classified as pre-conventional stage eg child-like moral reasoning, follow rules just to avoid punishment and gain rewards
Link with criminality
Offenders more likely to be in stages 1 and 2
Non-offenders generally progressed to conventional level and beyond
Supported by studies which suggest offenders are more egocentric and display poorer social perspective-taking skills (Chandler)
Individuals who reason at higher levels show more sympathy
EVAL - research support
P - strength as evidence for link between level of moral reasoning and crime
E - Palmer and Hollin - compared moral reasoning in 332 non-offenders and 126 offenders using SRM-SF
E - this contains 11 moral dilemma-related questions
L - offender group showed less mature moral reasoning than the non-offender group - consistent with Kohlberg’s predictions
EVAL - type of offence
P - limitation as may depend on the offence
E - Thornton and Reid - people who committed crimes for financial gain - more likely to show pre-conventional moral reasoning than those convicted of impulsive crimes
E - Pre-conventional moral reasoning associated with crimes where offenders believe have good chance of evading punishment
L - Kohlberg’s theory may not apply to all crimes
EVAL - thinking versus behaviour
P - useful as provides insight into mechanics of criminal mind
E - offenders may be more childlike and egocentric when it comes to making moral judgement than the law-abiding majority
E - moral thinking is not same as moral behaviour
L - moral reasoning of the kind Kohlberg was interest in is more likely used to justify behaviour after it has happened
Cognitive distortions
Biased and irrational ways of thinking which may be used to rationalise or justify offending behaviour
Research has linked to way in which offenders interpret other people’s behaviour and justify their own actions
Two examples are hostile attribution bias and minimalisation
Hostile attribution bias
Judging situations as aggressive and/or threatening when in reality they may not be
Associated with a tendency to misinterpret the actions of other people
Schonenberg and Jusyte - presented 55 violent offenders with images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions
- When compared with non-aggressive matched control group, violent offenders significantly more likely to perceive the images as angry and hostile
- Root from childhood - Dodge and Frame - chindren video clip of an ambiguous provocation
- children identified as aggressive and rejective interpreted situation as more hostile as others
Minimalisation
Downplaying the significance of an event or emotion as a means of dealing with guilt
- Application of euphemistic label for behaviour - Bandura
- Studies suggest individuals who commit sexual offences are particularly prone to minimalisation
- Barbaree - among 26 incarcerated rapists, 54% denied they had committed an offence at all and a further 40% minimised the harm they had caused to the victim
EVAL - real-world application
P - strength as applied to therapy
E - CBT aims to challenge irrational thinking - offenders encouraged to face up to what they’ve done
E - Harkins et al - reduced incidence of denial and minimalisation in therapy is highly associated with a reduced risk of reoffending
L - Suggests that the theory of cognitive distortion has practical value
EVAL - type of offence
P - Limitation as depends on type of offence
E - Howitt and Sheldon - questionnaire responses from sexual offenders
E - Found non-contact sex offenders used more cognitive distortions than contact sex offenders - those who had a previous history of offending were also more likely to use distortions as a justificatino
L - Suggests that distortions are not used in same way by all offenders
EVAL - descriptive or explanatory
P - Cognitive theories of offending are good at describing the criminal mind
E - May also help in reducing reoffending eg therapy
E - Cognitive theories do not help in predicting future offender behaviour
L - Just because someone tends to have distorted thinking doesn’t inevitably mean they will become an. offender
