COGNITIVE EXPLANATIONS Flashcards
what is the cognitive approach to offending behaviour?
the cognitive approach aims to discover if criminals have a different way of thinking to non-criminals
what did Kohlberg propose about levels of moral reasoning?
he proposed that peoples decisions and judgements on issues of right and wrong can be summarised in a stage theory of moral development.
what does the moral reasoning mean if its within a higher stage?
the higher the stage, the more sophisticated the moral reasoning.
what did Kohlberg base his theory on?
he based his theory on peoples responses to a series of moral dilemmas.
what level of moral reasoning do offenders have?
offenders have not progressed correctly and therefore have a more immature level of morality than non-offenders.
AO3: how is ‘supporting evidence’ a strength to levels of moral reasoning as a cognitive explanation to offending behaviour?
many studies have suggested that criminals tend to show a lower level of moral reasoning than non-criminals. Palmer and Hollin (1998) compared moral reasoning between 210 female non-offenders, 122 male non-offenders and 126 convicted offenders using 11 dilemma questions such as, not taking things that belong to others and keeping a promise to a friend. the delinquents group showed less moral reasoning than the non-delinquent group which is consistent with Kohlberg’s predictions. HOWEVER, do some criminals who higher levels of morality such as protesters committing a crime for what they believe is the greater good.
AO3: how is ‘internal validity’ a limitation to levels of moral reasoning as a cognitive explanation to offending behaviour?
Kohlberg used artificial moral dilemmas as a predictor of behaviour in real-life situations. this means that people may say would do something, but may not when actually in the situation in real life. People may also not have answered honestly to these as they were showing social desirability bias and not wanting to look bad.
AO3: how is ‘not applicable to all crimes’ a limitation to levels of moral reasoning as a cognitive explanation to offending behaviour?
this may not apply to all crimes as the level of moral reasoning may depend on the type of offence. individuals who commit crimes for financial gain, such as robbery, are more likely to show pre-conventional moral reasoning than those convicted of impulsive crimes such as assault where reasoning of any kind tended not to be evident. pre-conventional moral reasoning tends to be associated with crimes in which offenders believe they have a good chance of evading punishment.
what are cognitive distortions?
these are errors or biases in peoples information processing system characterised by faulty thinking.
what did Gibbs (2003) claim?
he claims that cognitive distortions are related to Kohlberg’s level of moral reasoning and contribute to immature moral reasoning persisting beyond childhood.
what are the two types of cognitive distortions?
hostile attribution bias
minimalisation
what is hostile atribution bias?
it suggests that violence is often associated with a tendency to misinterpret the actions of other people and to assume others are being confrontational when they are not.
how might offenders read certain cues?
offenders may misread non-aggressive cues (e.g. being looked at) and this may trigger a disproportionate, often violence response.
AO3: how is ‘supporting evidence’ a strength to hostile attribution bias as a cognitive explanation of offending behaviour?
Schoenberg and Justye (2014) presented 55 violent offenders with images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions. when compared with a non-aggressive matched control group, the violent offenders were significantly more likely to perceive the images as angry and hostile.
what is minimalisation?
it is an attempt to deny or downplay the seriousness of an offence.
what is an example of minimalisation?
burglars may describe themselves as ‘doing a job’ or ‘supporting my family’ as a way of minimising the seriousness of their offences.
what is the most common type of offence to be prone to minimalisation?
studies suggest that individuals who commit sexual offences are particularly prone to minimalisation
AO3: how is ‘real life application’ a strength to minimalisation as a cognitive explanation to offending behaviour?
understanding the nature of cognitive distortions has proven beneficial in the treatment of criminal behaviour. the dominant approach in the rehabilitation odyssey sex offenders is CBT. this encourages offenders to ‘face up’ to what they have done and establish a less distorted view of their actions. studies suggest that reductions of incidence of denial and minimalisation in therapy is highly correlated with a reduced risk of reoffending (as acceptance of ones crime is thought to be an important aspect of rehabilitation) and this is a key factor of anger management.
