Cognitive explanations of offending behaviour Flashcards
What do cognitive explanations focus on
Mental processes and how they influence offending behaviour
What are the 2 cognitive concepts related to offending behaviour
Kohlberg’s moral reasoning - Criminals have less developed reasoning skills
Cognitive distortions - Criminals have faulty information processing systems
Outline Kohlberg’s moral reasoning
Moral reasoning - Individuals draw on their own value system to see if an action is right or wrong
3 levels of moral development with 2 stages each
People progress through each stage/level
Created by interviewing boys in different moral situations
High level = More sophisticated
What is level 1 of moral development
Preconventional morality
Stage 1 - Punishment orientation - Rules obeyed to avoid punishment
Stage 2 - Personal gain - rules obeyed for personal gain
What is level 2 of moral development
Conventional morality
Stage 3 - Good boy/girl orientation - Rules obeyed for approval
Stage 4 - Maintenance of social order - Rules obeyed to maintain social order
What is level 3 of moral development
Post conventional morality
Stage 5 - Morality of contract/individual rights - Rules obeyed if they don’t go against peoples rights
Stage 6 - Morality of conscience - Own rules established to do what they think is ethically correct
How does moral reasoning differ between criminals and non criminals
Criminals have lower levels of moral reasoning due to being egotistical/simple minded
They act for personal gain
Non criminals are more sophisticated and think ethically
What are cognitive distortions
Errors/bias in information processing leading to irrational thoughts
2 examples are hostile attribution bias and minimalization
Outline hostile attribution bias
Misinterpreting actions as hostile/confrontational
Can lead to violent responses
Linked to increased aggression
Linked to childhood
Outline the study related to hostile attribution bias
Schonenberg and Justye
55 violent offenders shown pictures of ambiguous facial expression faces
Offenders found more likely to perceive as angry faces compared to control group
Outline minimalization
Denying/downplaying offences to help accept consequences of actions
Can occur before or after crime
Sex offenders often prone to minimalization
Outline the study related to minimalization
Pollock and Hamshall
35% of sample of child molesters said that the crime they committed was non sexual
36% said victims had consented
Outline the cognitive explanations of offending behaviour
Evidence to support moral reasoning - Palmer and Hollin - Compared moral reasoning between 210 female non offenders, 112 male non offenders and 126 offenders using moral situation questionnaire - found that offenders showed less moral reasoning
Cognitive distortions has real world application - Heller et al - CBT used on group of men reduced arrests by 44$ compared to control group(counter - androcentric)
Gender bias - Gilligan - Males more concerned with justice whereas females more about how their actions affect others(emotional)
