Cognitive explanations of offending Flashcards
What are the 2 cognitive explanations of offending?
Level of moral reasoning and cognitive distortions
Who proposed level of moral reasoning?
Kohlberg
What is level of moral reasoning?
Some individuals do not progress past certain levels. These individuals are more likely to commit a crime than others.
This explanation therefore suggests that criminals have a lower level of moral reasoning than non-criminals.
What are the 3 stages of moral reasoning?
Pre conventional, conventional and post-conventional
What stage are criminals typically at?
Criminals do not progress from the pre-conventional level of moral reasoning - they seek to avoid punishment and gain rewards. They have child-like reasoning.
What stage are non-criminals typically at?
Non-criminals tend to reason at higher levels and sympathise with the rights of others, exhibiting honesty, generosity and non-violence (post conventional moral reasoning)
How do individuals at the pre-conventional level approach a moral problem?
From the concrete interests of the individuals involved in a situation
What will an individual at the pre-conventional levels concern be in the Heinz situation?
Whether Heinz will be punished for stealing and whether he will be able to live without his wife
How do individuals at the conventional level approach a moral problem?
As a member of society and take into account what the group or society expects an individual to do within its moral norms
What will an individual at the conventional levels concern be in the Heinz situation?
- Whether a loving husband would do whatever he could to save his wife
- Whether he could get help from the authorities and what would happen to society is all its members broke the laws
The concern is to protect society as well as ones own interests.
How do individuals at the post-conventional level approach a moral problem?
A moral problem is considered from an above society perspective. The person at this level sees beyond the current laws and norms of society and thinks about the principles upon which a just society can be based.
What will an individual at the post-conventional levels concern be in the Heinz situation?
They will consider whether the attempts to save a life would be interpreted as breaking the law.
Another consideration would be to decide what kind of system could both prevent the loss of innocent life and protect the druggist’s right to property.
Who gave research support for level of moral reasoning?
- Palmer (2003)
- Ashkar and Kenny (2007)
What research support did Palmer give for level of moral reasoning?
→ Looked at the association between moral development and offending behaviour
→ Suggested that it is specific moral values that are associated with offending and that there is a relationship between the two
→ This knowledge can have important implications
What did Palmer find out about intervention programmes?
Intervention programmes should incorporate training to increase offenders’ levels of reasoning and theoretically this would lead to lower levels of offending
It could also be taught in schools in areas where crime levels are high - this ,might prevent youngsters turning to crime - rather than having to rehabilitate them afterwards.
What research support did Ashkar and Kenny give for level of moral reasoning?
→ Compared the moral reasoning level of juvenile sex and non-sex offenders
→ Found that both groups had a pre-conventional level of moral reasoning
→ However, they showed higher (conventional) levels when they were asked about their reasoning in contexts related to their crimes
→ These findings suggest that moral reasoning varies by context and that offenders have a lower level of moral reasoning which is specific to their offending type
What are cognitive distortions?
Cognitive distortions are faulty, biased or irrational ways of thinking that make people perceive themselves or others in an inaccurate way
What is hostile attribution bias?
When an individual distorts ambiguous events/social interactions to think someone is acting in a hostile way towards them
What does hostile attribution bias lead to?
This leads to the individual feeling angry or upset.
An offender is more likely to misinterpret cues from behaviour, this then can lead to a hostile response and, if the situation allows, an aggressive act.
What did Orobio de Castro do?
→ Did a meta-analysis of 41 attribution studies
→ Concluding that the bias had a very strong relationship with aggressive behaviour among children and adolescents
What did Bailey’s 2002 research show?
Demonstrated that the strong relationship with aggressive behaviour holds in to adulthood
What is minimisation?
This distortion can be described as self-deception, where the offender does not accept the full reality of the situation and attempt to rationalise what they have done. This helps deal with the guilt they experience.
What did Barbaree find?
In a sample of paedophiles and rapists, Barbaree (1988) found that a substantial number denied their involvement and approximately 40% went on to minimise the seriousness of the offence or the extent of their culpability
What did Alvaro and Gibbs find?
Found a strong relationship between the level of antisocial behaviour and minimisation in anti-social young adults - supporting the idea that offenders use minimisation with negative behaviours
What did Maruna and Mann do?
→ Considered how treatment programmes in prisons often try to challenge minimisation in their inmates
→ They argue that the focus should be on the offender taking responsibility for the future rather than for past demeanours, and that minimisation is seen as a psychologically healthy strategy in non-offending contexts
→ This means that rather than being seen as an explanation for why someone commits a crime, minimisation is more to do with how they cope afterwards
→ However, by downplaying crimes, the likelihood of reoffending increases
What does impulsive aggression appear to be more closely linked to?
Hostile attribution bias, whereas premeditated acts designed to be aggressive do not seem to be underpinned or susceptible to hostile attribution bias
What did Holtzworth-Munroe do?
→ Found a link between hostile attribution bias and domestic violence
→ They found that men who had been violent towards their wives were more likely to think that the woman was being negative towards the husband and that her intentions were hostile
→ This seems to demonstrate a cognitive style that might underpin their violent and aggressive acts
