Cognitive distortions- FORENSICS

Question 1

AO1- hostile attribution bias

Answer 1

• violence often associated with tendency to misinterpret the actions of other people, like to assume they’re being confrontational when they’re not.
• offenders may misread non-aggressive cues and this may trigger a disproportionate violent response.
• HAB is linked to some types of aggression, such as impulsive aggression

Question 2

Research evidence into hostile attribution bias

Answer 2

GUDJONSSON
- created a measure for the attributions which offenders use to apportion blame for their criminal activity
- research using this measure found that offenders differ in their attributions depending on the type of crime they’ve committed.

SCHONENBERG+JUSTYE
- presented 55 violent offenders with pictures of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions
- when compared to a non-aggressive matched control group, the violent offenders were significantly more likely to interpret the images as angry and hostile

EPPS+KENDALL
- college students w a high score on anger and aggression demonstrated high level of hostility when tested for HAB, even when the situation they were tested on was non- threatening

HUTCHINSON
- link between HAB and domestic violence
- showed men pics of difficult marital situations and asked them to rate the women’s behaviour in each case
- men who had been violent towards their wives were more likely to believe that the woman was being negative
- hoed a cognitive style that might underpin aggressive acts

Question 3

AO3- hostile attribution bias

Answer 3

• lots of research supporting link between HAB and offending behaviour, regarded as one of the indicators of aggressive behaviour in children and adults leading to criminal behaviour
• use of hypothetical situations means that the measure lacks predictive validity
• HAB can’t explain all criminal behaviour, mostly just impulsive aggression but can’t explain planned aggression. Not a full explanation

Question 4

AO1- minimalisation

• what is it?
• give an example

Answer 4

1= it is an attempt to deny or downplay the seriousness of an offence
- described as self deception, offender doesn’t accept the full reality of the situation and will attempt to rationalise what they’ve done

2= downplaying the effects of the crime, trivialising the acts, attributing blame to the victim

HELPS OFFENDER COPE WITH THE GUILT THEY’RE FEELING

Question 5

Research into minimalisation

Answer 5

ALVARO+GIBBS
- measured for cognitive distortions in anti-social young adults , found strong link between the level of antisocial behaviour and minimalisation

MARUNA+MANN
- argue that the focus in prison treatments should be on the offender taking responsibility for the future rather than past mistakes.

KENNEDY+GRUBIN
- looked at minimalisation used by sex offenders
- the offenders accounts of their offences were used and researchers rated their accounts for degree of denial.
- most offenders attempted to excuse their behaviour by blaming someone else, usually the victim

Question 6

AO3- minimalisation

Answer 6

• idea of relationship w criminal behaviour is supported by data
• could be argued that it’s a coping mechanism for after a crime has been committed, rather than an explanation as for why someone might commit a crime.
  —–> but by downplaying crimes, the likelihood of reoffending increases
• more evidence for minimalisation in some criminal populations than others, means that its influence on crime may depend on the type of crime.