Criminal behaviour- Social psychological explanation Flashcards
What are the 2 social psychological explanations?
1- Differential Association theory
2- Gender socialisation theory
What is the first social psychological explanation?
Differential Association theory
Differential association theory
Sutherland designed theory to predict who would become a criminal, using a mathematical formula concerning the frequency, intensity, duration of the individuals social contacts, therefore a scientific basis
What was Sutherlands hypothesis to this theory?
If you mix with more people who hold positive views toward crime, the more likely you are to develop pro-criminal views
- learn how to become an offender through associating with different people and their attitudes
What are the 3 sections to this explanation?
1- What is learned
2- Who is it learned from
3- How is it learned
1- What is learned?
Pro-criminal attitudes are learned from social situations, when a person socialises into a particular group, they are exposed to their values towards the law
- the group may also have its own defined set of morals
If the pro-criminality attitude outweighs the anti-criminality attitude, the person will go on to offend
What can be used as an example to a group having their own defined set of morals?
As a group they may decide which laws are okay to break or houses that are okay to steal from
Example of the attitude then the act
Attitude: it is okay to steal from rich people
Act: breaking into wealthier houses
2- Who is it learned from?
Role models
What makes a person more likely to be a role model according to the Social learning Theory?
Desirable- status
Identification- similar age, gender, status, background
Who is it learned from- key points
Crime breeds amongst certain social groups and communities for example peer groups and families
- the offender learns techniques to commit a particular crime such as how to break into someone’s house through a locked window, how to forge documents
How can people also learn techniques through their neighbourhood?
The degree to which a local community support or oppose criminal behaviour determines the difference in crime rates from one area to another
- groups may not be criminal themselves but they may still hold deviant attitudes
How is it learned?
Sutherland did not specify, however, it is likely to be a result of direct and indirect operant conditioning
How may a person learn through direct operant conditioning?
Reinforcement/punishment for criminal activity
How may a person through indirect operant conditioning?
Vicarious reinforcement- behaviours may be a result of observing and imitating role models when they’re successful in criminal activities
What are the 2 types of reinforcement?
Positive and Negative
Both increase the favourable outcome
Positive reinforcement and how this would increase criminal behaviour
Reward- thrill from shop lifting, sell on the goods, make money
- almost certainly commit the crime again
- receive reward from the behaviour displayed
Negative reinforcement and how this would increase criminal behaviour
Remove something unpleasant- beating up another drug dealer to avoid competition (unpleasant experience)- stimulus
- repeas this behaviour again
Why is punishment used?
To decrease behaviour
What are Sutherland’s 9 key principles of criminality?
1- Criminal behaviour is learned
2- Learned through interactions, process of communication
3- Principle part of learning occurs within intimate personal groups
4- Learning includes a) techniques of committing crime complicated or simple, b) specific direction of motives, attitudes, rationalisations
5- Specific direction of motives learned from definition of legal codes as favourable or unfavourable
6- Become delinquent because of excess of definitions favourable to violation of law
7- Differential associations vary in frequency, duration, priority, intensity
8- Process of learning CB by association with C and AC patterns involves all of the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning
9- Expression of general needs n values, not explained by general needs n values
Evaluation: Differential Association theory
- Explains certain types of criminal behaviour
Can explain white collar crime
- acts against the law committed by those seen as respectable and high social status, encourage each other because they all think it is right
- offers a reason for types of crime which have not been explained by Eysenck’s personality theory
HOWEVER,
X confined to ‘smaller’ or less violent crimes
X rape, murder not easily explained by DA, act alone not in groups
- wider areas of crime committed more frequently, greater percentage accounted for
Evaluation: Differential Association theory
- Supporting Evidence
Osborne and West found that criminality can run in families
- 40% of sons to fathers with criminal convictions engage in criminal behaviour by 18
- if the fathers are seen as role models, the child will imitate the
AKERS- influence of peer group, 55% of alcohol use
- underpins the theory and adds credibility
Evaluation: Differential Association theory
X Issues with the research
X Data collected in support is often correlational
X may be unrelated, cannot establish the cause and effects as the causation could be reversed
X want to commit crime, have a criminal attitude, seek out criminal groups to be a part of
X theory becomes less useful in understanding the cause of criminal behaviour
What is the 2nd social psychological explanation for criminal behaviour?
Gender Socialisation theory