[Cognitive Explanations: Cognitive Distortions] Psychological Explanations Of Offending Behaviour Flashcards
What are cognitive distortions?
An offender’s biased thinking about their offence, legitimising the behaviour and maintaining a positive view of themselves.
What do cognitive distortions allow offenders to do?
Deny & rationalise their behaviour.
What did Gibbs (1995) say about cognitive distortions?
-Criminals think in a way where their reality is twisted, and what they perceive no longer represents what is actually true.
-A person’s perception of events is wrong, but they think it is accurate.
What are the 2 types of cognitive distortions?
-Hostile attribution bias.
-Minimalisation.
What is hostile attribution bias?
When one misinterprets social cues and justifies their actions by attributing cause to the victim.
What is an example of hostile attribution bias?
Violent act is justified on the grounds that the victim initiated the violence.
What characteristic is linked with hostile attribution bias?
Pessimism: always thinking the worst of others.
How did Wegryzn (2017) study hostile attribution bias?
62 males (30 violent, 15 sexual, 17 control) were shown images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions.
Violent offenders were more likely to perceive images as angry than non-violent offenders.
What is minimalisation?
Downplaying the seriousness of an offence.
What is an example of minimalisation?
Suggesting that injuries inflicted in an assault were mild.
Why would an offender use minimalisation?
Reduces the offender’s guilt, while helping them to accept the consequences of their actions.
What type of offender tends to use minimalisation?
Sex offenders.
How did Pollock & Hashmall (1991) study minimalisation?
35% of child molesters in their sample argued that the crime they had committed was non-sexual, and 36% claimed the victim had consented.
Evaluation points for cognitive distortions:
-Quantifying & measuring cognitive distortions is problematic: using self-report methods is rife with social desirability bias.
-Research has found that reduced minimalisation in therapy is highly correlated with reduced reoffending.
-Not a full explanation for offending: minimalisation can’t explain the initial cause of the offending (e.g. underlying biological explanation for aggressive behaviour).
