cognitive distortions

Question 1

hostile attribution bias

Answer 1

• tendency 2 intepret other’s bev as hostility towards them even when bev is ambiguos
• eg: when they see person laughing may assume that they are laughing at them
• likely to act aggressive in response, increasing chance that they will engage in violent offences

Question 2

blame attribution index

Answer 2

• influences how a person tries to explain of justify their criminal bev
• one example is mental element attribution are likely to blame their actions on a lack of control or mental illness
• means don’t actually take responsibilty for their actions
• eg: someone may argue that they had a dissocative experience which meant they weren’t aware of what they were doing when they committed a crime & so shouldn’t be punished, associated with violent crimes eg homicide

Question 3

minimalisation + external attribution

Answer 3

• where offender tries to downplay seriousness & consequences of their actions
• links to external blame attritubtion as may try minimise their actions by shifting blame onto other factors
• seen in sexual assault cases where offender may try justify their behaviour by suggesting that victim was ‘asking for it’ due 2 their clothes they were wearing
• won’t feel as guilty so less likely to be motivated to change bev

Question 4

lower level of moral reasoning

Answer 4

• criminals have a preconventional level of moral reasoning which is lower than more adults
• when thinking about whether to commit a crime their main consideration is whether they can avoid punishment or if the rewards outweigh costs, rather than how their actions could impact society
• more likely to committ crime as aren’t necessarily concerned about how their actions could affect others

Question 5

determinstic

Answer 5

• believes criminality is determined by cognitive distortions & a lower level of moral reasoning
• eg: kohlberg found that those at preconvential level don’t have personal code of morality which could lead to them commiting crimes
• suggests social factors don’t play an important role which could lead to gov being less proactive in their efforts to tackle crime
• suggests people have no control over whether they become an offender & thus perhaps shouldn’t be held responsible 4 their crimes

Question 6

interactionist

Answer 6

• cognitive distortions are influenced by our interactions with others which is determined by our environment, but may also be genetically predisposed
• peeps with higher testorone levels are more likely 2 be aggressive which may contiute 2 hostile attribution bias
• BUT still ignores how factors other than moral thinking can affect moral behaviour eg possible financial gain

Question 7

scientific

Answer 7

• schonergb & justye : antisocial offenders likely to interpret any picture with an expression of anger as an expression of agression (than normal ps)
• scientific = falsifiable = can disprove or support theories = allows you to determine their accuracy & thus confidently develop apps
• still difficult to establish cause & effect as don’t whether offenders developed bias before/ after commiting crime

Question 8

application

Answer 8

• insight into how distortions eg hostile attribution bias contrinute to crime has led 2 development of anger management programmes
• helps reduce crime rates by teaching offenders how to better manage their emotions & thus respond 2 situations
• decreases pressure on police which means gov doesn’t have 2 spend as much funding them & can allocate more money to other sectors (eg: health)