criminal psychology Flashcards
operant conditioning
learning from consequences of actions
positive reinforcement
receiving something pleasant for a behaviour, so we repeat it
negative reinforcement
the avoidance of something unpleasant, so we do it again
postive punishment
receiving something unpleasant for a behaviour, so we do not do it again
negative punishment
removing something unpleasant, so we do not do the behaviour again
primary reinforcer
reinforcer that satisfies a biological need
secondary reinforcer
reinforcer with no survival value, but we learn to associate it with a primary reinforcer
strengths and weaknesses of operant conditioning
strengths
- explains criminal behaviour, such as why social approval can be a reinforcer that encourages deviant behaviour.
- explains that punishment can remove undesirable behaviour, which is done in the criminal justice system.
- has contributed to development of token economies, where prisoners are rewarded with tokens that can be exchanged for goods.
weaknesses
- neglects other factors (such as personality or genetics) that explain criminality as not all crimes are commited because of reinforcement or punishment
- doesn’t consider alternate motivations (such as feeling undervalued) as behaviour can be reproduced without reinforcement or punishment
social learning theory
behaviour is learnt through observation and imitation of role models.
modelling
learning a new behaviour through paying attention to, retaining and reproducing the behaviour of a role model
observational learning
learning new behaviours through watching and modelling a role model
role model
a person who we admire or with whom we share similar characteristics
identification + modelling process
- attention: must pay attention to learn something
- retention: behaviour must be retained in memory in order for learning to take place
- reproduction: must be able to reproduce the behaviour such as learning necessary skills to imitate it.
- motivation: more likely to imitate behaviour if motivated. or has seen role model get rewarded (vicarious reinforcement)
- identification: temporarily adopting behaviour of role model or group
strengths and weakness of social learning theory
strengths
- evidence to support theory (bandura)
- explains behaviour in absence of reinforcement
- explains why some people exposed to criminality are more likely to be criminals than others, as they won;t replicate behaviour if not motivated
weaknesses
- cannot ethically test exposure to aggression (bandura) no way to test theory in real life situations
- doesn’t explain some crimes such as murder which is rarely witnessed and fraud which is driven by financial gain
monozygotic twins
twins developed from one fertilised egg that has split into two; genetically identical
dizygotic twins
twins developed from two different fertilised eggs during the same pregnancy; not genetically identical
genetic explanation for criminality
christiansen found that in males:
- 35% of identical twins were both criminals
- 13% of non-identical twins were both criminals
christiansen found that in females:
- 21% of identical twins were both criminals
- 8% of non-identical twins were both criminals
however, identical twins are likely to be raised similarly compared to non-identical twins, showing upbringing is a affecting factor
hutchings + mednick found that:
- 21% adopted children who committed crimes had a biological father who were convicted of a crime.
- 10% adopted children who committed crimes had an adoptive father who had a criminal record
however, other factors could have been inherited
personality
characteristics and qualities that make up someone’s individual character
temperament
the nature someone is born with, which affects their behaviour
extraversion
behaviour that is outgoing, sensation-seeking and sociable.
introversion
behaviour that is reserved, calm and quiet
unstable neuroticism
personality trait associated with being over-reactive in stressful situations, over-emotional and anxious
stable neuroticism
personality trait associated with being unreactive in stressful situations and emotionally unaffected.
psychoticism
personality trait that is cold, lacks empathy, antisocial and aggressive
eysenck’s personality questionnaire
questionnaire that measures extraversion, introversion, neuroticism and psychoticism.
biological basis or personality
- people with a high e score have a nervous system that has a low arousal level so they seek external stimulation to raise their biological arousal level by being outgoing and sociable
- people with a low e score have a nervous system with high arousal level so they avoid thrill and excitement to dampen their biological arousal levels.
- people with high n score have a nervous system that responds very quickly so they are overreact quickly.
- people with a low n score have a nervous system that is unreactive which is why they’re calm under stressful situations.
- people with high p score are cold, lack empathy, antisocial and aggressive
the criminality personality
- has high PEN score
- difficult to socialise as they don’t associate antisocial behaviour with the anxiety of being punished.
- they are quick to react, sensation-seeking, lacks empathy
- therefore punishment is not effective
strengths and weaknesses of eysenck’s personality theory
strengths
- evidence to support that PEN is associated with criminals (farrington found a link between high P and N scores to criminals, but no E.)
- combines multiple factors such as biological, psychological, social factors into account. holistic as it explains something as a whole.
weaknesses
- assumes that personality is fixed and stable. personality can change depending on situation we are in
- evidence from self-report questionnaires which tend to be unreliable as desirable characteristics are used.
- evidence gathered from offenders who were caught and not successful ones, thus unreliable.
recidivism
when an offender is punished for their crime but commits another crime when released.
rehabilitative
a programme designed to help offenders rather than punish them
detention/custody
a prison sentence
humanitarian
concern with the welfare of humans
community sentencing
when an offender serves a sentence in the community rather than in prison; they pay back in the community by doing jobs such as removing graffiti.
curfew
having to be home at certain times
strengths and weaknesses of prison as a deterrent to reoffending
strengths
- removes criminal from public so they cannot commit crimes. however recidivism rates in uk are 25% within first year of release.
- keeps public safe as criminal is locked away, ensures civil order as it reinforces the idea the crimes will be punished.
weaknesses
- prisoners are exposed to criminal role models who they can imitate and commit crimes within prison (social learning theory)
- prisoners may find it difficult to get a job because of their criminal record, so they turn to crime as a way to financially support themselves.
- ethical issues as civil liberties are removed. humanitarian views argue that rehabilitation is better than imprisonment.
strengths and weaknesses of community service
strengths
- offenders can be given a second chance to make up for their crimes by giving back to the community
- suitable punishment than imprisonment for minor offenses. offenders are less likely to reoffend as they have avoided prison (negative reinforcement)
weaknesses
- viewed as a ‘soft option’. recidivism rates over 30% suggest it is ineffective. offender is still able to commit crimes as they are not locked away.
- low success rate as 10% fail to complete community sentencing. this could be because of breaking curfews, failure to show up, etc.
restorative justice
when a victim and offender meet; it is a process used to help a victim recover and make an offender understand the impact of their crime.
strengths and weaknesses of restorative justice
strengths
- high victim satisfaction rate of 85% however, is more beneficial to victim than a way of reducing recidivism
- 14% reduction in recidivism rates show it is effective. however, restorative justice is taken voluntarily and criminals may have already been contemplating a crime-less life.
weaknesses
- can cause distress to offender and victim. however, a mediator is there to deem the interaction safe.
- time-consuming and costly. however, cost of restorative justice is less than the cost of dealing with reoffending.
token economy programme
programme designed to reward prisoners for prosocial behaviour; prisoners collect tokens that can be exchanged for privileges.
strengths and weaknesses of token economy programme
strengths
- evidence of short-term increase in prosocial behaviour within a prison. hobbs and holt found prosocial behaviour increased in prisons using token economies compared to prisons that weren’t
- economical and easy to administer by prison staff, compared to other forms of rehabilitation
weaknesses
- only controls behaviour and not reduce recidivism as tokens are not found in everyday life, so there is limited rehabilitative value.
- commitment from prison staff is needed to work. failure to give tokens can result in antisocial behaviour.
anger management programme
cognitive behaviour treatment for violent offenders to help them control their anger.
psychopath
a person who is characterised by a lack fo guilt and emotion, anti-social behaviour and selfishness
anger management stages
cognitive preparation- offender reflects on anger, why, what, how they feel angry and how feeling angry may be counter-productive
skills acquisition- offender learns necessary skills to control anger, including breathing techniques and assertiveness training
application practice- role playing anger-triggering situations to put skills into use
strengths and weaknesses of anger management programmes
strengths
- offenders are carefully selected to receive anger management
weaknesses
- assumes there is a link between anger and violent crimes
- offenders can abuse programme by using the skills learnt to commit crimes more effectively. rice suggested that psychopaths were more likely to reoffend the anger management programme because they used the skills learnt to manipulate others better.
- mixed findings. some studies find little to no improvement using anger management programmes whilst other studies showed evidence in improvement.
- offender needs to be motivated, have good insight and understanding of themselves in order for anger management programme to work.
aims of bandura et al.
- to investigate if children would imitate aggression that was role-played by an adult
- and to see if the sex of role model and child affects whether they imitate aggression or not
procedure of bandura et al.
- 36 girls and 36 boys aged 37-69 months from stanford nursery were recuited
- they were divided into three groups: aggressive role model, non-aggressive role model, and a control group.
- children were matched based on aggression levels
- experimenter placed children in a room with the role model who played with toys including the bobo doll
- for the aggressive group: role model kicked, punched and hit the bobo doll with a mallet.
- after 10 mins, children were taken to another room with nice toys but were told they weren’t allowed to play with it.
- they were then taken to another room with a bobo doll to observe and record behaviour through a one-way mirror.
results of bandura et al.
- children exposed to aggressive role model displayed more aggression than control group or non-aggressive group.
- boys were more physically aggressive when imitating same-sex models compared to girls
- girls were equally as likely as boys to imitate verbal aggression of a same-sex role model.
- non-aggressive group: girls spent more time playing with dolls and tea sets, boys with toy guns.
conclusion of bandura et al.
- children imitated aggression from role models by observing.
- children learn through observations in absence of reinforcement, and provided evidence for social learning theory
- children learn aggression from adult role models, especially if they are same-sex as the child.
- shows that aggression can be imitated from any aggressor as role model was unknown to child.
strengths and weaknesses of bandura et al.
strengths
- standardised procedure, children received same conditions which makes it very easy to replicate. thus making findings reliable.
- children were matched based on aggression levels so one was not more or less aggressive than another group, preventing extraneous variables
weaknesses
- children were placed in an unfamiliar environment so they may have guessed the aims of the study. one child said “that was the adult we were supposed to copy” which creates demand characteristics
- unethical as they were no protection of participants: children were exposed to aggression which could have long-term effects
aims of charlton et al.
- to investigate effect of television on children’s behaviour
- particularly if it made them more aggressive
procedure of charlton et al.
- researches came to st. helena 4 months before television would be introduced to record (using video cameras) behaviour of children in playgrounds of two primary schools over a 2 week period.
- children were aged 3-8
- 5 years later, researchers returned to st. helena to record the behaviour of similar-aged children in the two primary schools
results of charlton et al.
- no change in antisocial behaviour
- boys had a tendency to show more antisocial behaviour but is not significant
conclusion of charlton et al.
- television had little effect on behaviour of children as they weren’t imitating behaviour from television
- however, environmental conditions could have explained why they didn’t imitate aggression
- such as close-knit nature of community and high adult surveillance over the children
strengths and weaknesses of charlton et al.
strengths
- same primary school was used in observations before and after television was introduced. although different children were observed, this minimised the differences
- natural experiment means IV was not manipulated and conducted under naturally occuring circumstances. this means children’s behaviour is natural and not artificial
weaknesses
- findings may be limited to this specific community. research in other communities have not been able to replicate these findings. williams found an increase in aggression in children when exposed to television in canadian communities
- television programmes were different from mainstream television and may have contained less violence. e.g. teenage mutant ninja turtles were not broadcasted.
