Cognitive + psychological expls of Offending behaviour: FORENSIC

Question 1

who proposed the criminal personality theory ?

Answer 1

Eysenck

Question 2

which dimensions of personality did Eysenck establish in 1947?

Answer 2

Extroversion<—————> Introversion
Neuroticism<—————> Stability

Question 3

which dimension of personality did Eysenck establish after1947?

Answer 3

Psychoticism <—-> Sociability

Question 4

Extraversion characteristics

Answer 4

-Crave excitement
-Often getting involved in dangerous, risk taking behaviour
-Do not easily respond to conditioning
-Typically don’t learn from mistakes
-Very sociable, talkative and comfortable in groups of people

Question 5

Neuroticism characteristics

Answer 5

-nervy+ Anxious
-Their behaviour is difficult to predict
-May be at risk of depression
-React strongly to negative stimuli
-Perfectionism, which causes stress

Question 6

Psychoticism characteristics

Answer 6

-Self-centered
-Cold + lack empathy for others
-Antisocial behaviour
-Show aggression + impulsivity
-Little regard or fear of possible punishment

Question 7

Eysenck developed a

Answer 7

Questionnaire in 1947 focus on neuroticism and extroversion

later added psychoticism in 1966

To identify personality traits

Question 8

The criminal personality is considered to be

Criminals also score highly

Answer 8

Extraverted-Neurotic

Criminals also score highly on psychoticism

Question 9

How did Eysenck link Biology to Extroverts

Answer 9

-Constant need for excitement
-As a result of an underactive nervous system
-therefore, their nervous system needs unusually high levels of stimulation

Question 10

How did Eysenck link Biology to Neurotic indivs

Answer 10

-high level of reactivity in the sympathetic nervous system
-respond quickly to situations of thereat (F or F)
-Also overreact to situations which others may also find less stressful
Behaviour is also unpredictable

Question 11

How did Eysenck link Biology to Psychotic indivs

Answer 11

Has been linked to higher levels of testosterone
-unemotional and prone to aggression
-Due to men having naturally higher levels of testosterone, they are more likely to be at this end of the spectrum

Question 12

The socialisation process

Answer 12

(Eysenck also considered the way a person is brought up will determine whether a person becomes a law abiding indiv or not)

socialisation: Process in which children are taught to become more able to delay gratification + more socially orientated

Question 13

Socialisation of Extroverts

Answer 13

Naturally reward seekers. Less affected by punishment

Question 14

Socialisation of Neuroticism

Answer 14

Interferes with efficient learning, effect their ability to accept rules

Question 15

Level of moral reasoning:

Answer 15

The way a person thinks about right and wrong.

Question 16

Lawrence Kohlberg (1968) was the first researcher to apply the concept of ____ _______to offending behaviour.

Answer 16

moral reasoning

Question 17

Kohlberg suggested that peoples decisions and judgements of right and wrong can be summarised in a stage theory of moral reasoning.

Kohlberg suggested the _______the stage, the more sophisticated the reasoning.

Answer 17

higher

Question 18

Stage 1 of Moral reasoning

Answer 18

Punishment Orientation

Rules are obeyed to avoid punishment

Question 19

Stage 2 of Moral reasoning

Answer 19

Instrumental orientation or personal gain

Rules are obeyed for personal gain

Question 20

Stage 3 of Moral reasoning

Answer 20

‘Good boy’ or ‘Good girl’ orientation

Rule are obeyed for approval

Question 21

Stage 4 of Moral reasoning

Answer 21

Maintenance of the social order

Rule are obeyed to maintain social order

Question 22

Stage 5 of Moral reasoning

Answer 22

Morality of contract and individual rights

Rules are challenged if they infringe on the rights of others

Question 23

Stage 6 of Moral reasoning

Answer 23

Morality of Conscience

Individuals have a personal set of ethical principles

Question 24

Level 1: Pre-Conventional morality

Answer 24

Stage 1: Punishment Orientation

Stage 2: Instrumental orientation or personal gain

Question 25

Level 2: Conventional morality

Answer 25

Stage 3: ‘Good boy’ or ‘Good girl’ orientation
Stage 4: Maintenance of social order

Question 26

Level 3: Post- Conventional morality

Answer 26

Stage 5: Morality of contract and individual rights
Stage 6: Morality of conscience

Question 27

Criminals are more likely to be classified at the______________________ level of Kohlberg’s model.

Answer 27

pre-conventional

Question 28

characteristics of pre-conventional

Answer 28

Need to avoid punishment
Gain rewards
Less mature
Childlike

Question 29

characteristics of conventional + post-conventional

Answer 29

Sympathise more with rights of others
Honest
Generous
Non violent

Question 30

Kohlberg (1973). Research

Answer 30

Kohlberg (1973). Using his moral dilemmas, found that a group of violent youth were significantly lower level of moral development than non-violent youths.

Question 31

Cognitive distortions:

Answer 31

Cognitive distortions: Faulty, biased and irrational ways of thinking that mean we perceive ourselves, other people of the world inaccurately and often negatively.

Question 32

Two examples of cognitive distortions are:

Answer 32

Hostile Attribution bias

Minimalisation

Question 33

Hostile Attribution bias:

Answer 33

The tendency to judge ambiguous situations, or the actions of others as aggressive or threatening when in reality they may not be.

Question 34

Hostile Attribution bias – Schonenberg and jusyte (2014)

Answer 34

sample: 55 violent offenders

Method: present with images of ambiguous facial expressions.
Asked to say if they were angry

Findings show that violent offenders were significantly more likely to perceive the images as angry or hostile compared to the matched control group

Question 35

Hostile attribution bias Dodge and Frame (1982) `

Answer 35

Method: showed children a clip of an ‘ambiguous provocation’ , intention was neither clearly hostile or clearly accidental.

Experimental groups: Agressive + rejected , non gressive + accepted

Findings: aggressive and rejected interpreted the situation as more hostile.

Question 36

Minimalisation

Answer 36

Minimalisation: A type of deception that involves downplaying the significance of an event or emotions. It is used as a common strategy when dealing with feelings of guilt.

Question 37

Barbaree (1991)

Answer 37

Found among 26 incarcerated rapists, 54% denied they had committed an offense at all and a further 40% minimised the harm they had caused to the victim.

Question 38

Pollock and Hashmall (1991)

Answer 38

Reported that 35% of child molesters argued they crime was non-sexual (they were just being ‘affectionate’), 36% stated that the victim had consented.

Question 39

Differential Association Theory:

Answer 39

An explanation for offending which proposes that. Through interactions with others, individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques and motives for offending behaviour.

Question 40

Similarly, to _______ _______ ________the differential association model believes that criminal behaviour is learned from interactions with others.
This theory is heavily influenced by E_______
S________

Answer 40

Social Learning theory

Edwin Sutherland.

Question 41

Scientific basis quote - Sutherland

Answer 41

‘The conditions which are said to cause crime should be present when crime is present and they should be absent when crime is absent’ (Sutherland, 1924)

*Differential association theory is designed to discriminate between individuals who become offenders and those who do not, whatever their social class or ethnic background.

Question 42

Offending as a learned behaviour

+ predictability

Answer 42

Offending behaviour is learned from the people we interact with. Learning occurs most often through interactions with significant others who the child values most and spend the most time with.

Differential association theory suggests we can predict how likely it is that an individual will commit offences based on different pieces of information:

Duration, Frequency, Intensity

Question 43

Learning Attitudes

DAT

Answer 43

When socialised into a group an individual will be exposed to the values and attitudes towards the law. Some will be pro-crime, some will be anti-crime.

Sutherland argued that if the pro-crime attitudes outweigh the anti-crime attitudes then a person will go onto offend.

Question 44

Learning Techniques

DAT

Answer 44

As well as learning pro-crime attitudes the person is also exposed to particular techniques for committing offences.

Question 45

Socialisation in prison

DAT

Answer 45

Sutherland also explained how when in prison inmates will learn specific techniques of offending from other, more experienced offenders that they may put into practice when released.

Question 46

Two psychodynamic explanations of offending:

Answer 46

Inadequate superego

maternal deprivation theory

Question 47

what are PSYCHODYNAMIC explanations :

Offending beh

Answer 47

a perspective which describes the different forces (dynamics), most of which are unconscious, that operate in the mind and direct human behaviour

Question 48

two psychodynamic expls of offending beh

Answer 48

-Inadequate superego

-Theory of maternal deprivation

Question 49

Blackburn (1993) ARGUED

Answer 49

if superego is somehow deficient or inadequate, then offending behaviour is inevitable as the ID is given ‘free rein’ and not properly controlled

Question 50

3 types of inadequate superego

Answer 50

-Week superego

Deviant superego

Over-harsh superego

Question 51

Role of emotion in psychodynamic approach to offending behaviour

Answer 51

Effect of superego is to allow for primitive, emotional demands to become uppermost in guiding moral behaviour

Question 52

When considering the development of offending behaviour, how does the inadequate superego expl differ from any other

Answer 52

It considers the role of emotion and an individuals emotional life

Question 53

The weak superego expl of offending beh

Answer 53

-If same gender parent is absent during phallic phase, child cannot internalise fully formed superego as there’s no opportunity for identification.

This would make immoral or offending behaviour more likely

Question 54

The Deviant superego expl of offending beh

Answer 54

if superego that a child internalises has immoral or deviant values, this would lead to offending behaviour

Question 55

The Over-Harsh superego expl of offending beh

Answer 55

-Healthy superego is based on identification with parent who has firm rules but forgives transgressions.
-In contrast, an excessively punitive or overly harsh parenting style leads to a child with an over-harsh superego who is crippled by guild and anxiety.
-This may drive the indiv to perform criminal acts in order to satisfy the Superego’s overwhelming need for punishment

Question 56

Bowlby stated Maternal deprivation leads to

Answer 56

-Low IQ / mental retardation

-Affectionless psychopathy

Question 57

Findings + method of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study

Answer 57

interviewed thieves and their families

14 p.p showed personality and behavioural characteristic’s that could = affectionless psychopathy

Out of this 14, 12 had experienced prolonged separation from their mother in first 2 years of life

In non criminal group, only 2 had experienced similar early separation