Cognitive explanations for crime Flashcards
Who proposed the idea of Moral Reasoning?
Kohlberg (1973)
What did Kohlberg (1973) propose about Moral reasoning?
That the quality of people’s judgments of right and wrong can be summarised by a stage theory of moral development.
What did Kohlberg (1973) say about offenders in their moral reasoning?
They are more likely to have their moral reasoning classified at the pre-conventional level.
Pre-conventional level
This means that a person is punishment orientated and reward orientated. Individual develops more autonomous decision making based on principles of right and justice.
Punishment orientated
reasoning based on whether or not the act will lead to punishment
Reward orientated
reasoning based on what can be gained
What age range is the pre-conventional level associated with?
It typically lasts from ages 3-7. Teenagers and adults who still reason in this way may commit crime if they can get away with it and/or gain rewards
Convention level
Individual does what is expected of them by others.
Post-conventional level
Individual shows concern for self-interest and external rewards and punishments.
What is the advantage of the idea of Moral reasoning?
Palmer and Hollin (1998) supports it
Palmer and Hollin (1998)
compared moral reasoning between female and male non-offenders, and convicted offenders using moral dilemmas. The offenders showed less mature moral reasoning than the non-offenders.
How many female non-offenders were used in Palmer and Hollin (1998)?
210
How many male non-offenders were used in Palmer and Hollin (1998)?
122
How many convicted offenders were used in Palmer and Hollin (1998)?
125
How many moral dilemmas were used in Palmer and Hollin (1998)?
11
What are the disadvantages of Moral reasoning theory?
May depend on the type of offence, investigated by Thornton and Reid (1982)
What did Thornton and Reid (1982) find?
That individuals who committed crimes for financial gain, were more likely to show pre-conventional reasoning than those convicted of impulsive crimes, where no reasoning was evident.
What are cognitive distortions?
An offender’s biased/dysfunctional thinking about their offence serves to help them legitimise their behaviour and maintain a positive self-image.
What are the types of cognitive distortions?
Hostile attribution bias, Minimalisation
Hostile attribution bias
when offender’s misinterpt social cues and justify their actions to themselves by attributing the cause of their offence to their victim.
What does hostile attribution bias lead to?
Offenders judge ambiguous situations as aggressive and/or threatening when in reality they are not. They misread non-aggressive cues as aggressive and this may trigger a disproportionate, violent, response.
What is minimalisation?
When offenders justify their offence to themselves by playing down the significance of their actions. This bias acts to reduce an offender’s feeling of guilt. Offenders often use euphemisms for their offences.
What is the advantage of cognitive distortions?
It was beneficial in the treatment of criminal behaviour. The dominant approach in the rehabilitation of sex offenders is cognitive behavioural therapy. This encourages offenders to ‘face up’ to what they have done and establish a less distorted view of their actions.
What are the disadvantages of cognitive distortions?
- Can explain reactive aggressive behaviour - Minimalisation doesn’t explain initial cause - CD Cannot account for the source of thoughts - CD can’t be observed
