Criminal Psychology Fundamentals Flashcards
what are the 5 types of crime
violent, sexual, acquisitive, anti-social & drug related
what is an anti-social crime
criminal acts that cause harassment, alarm or distress to people who don’t share a home with the perpetrator
what do some people believe about crime, making it hard to define?
that criminal behaviour is subjective rather than objective and that crime is a social construct
what does crime being a social construct mean?
its a concept that exists as the result of interactions between people who make up a society
define deviation from the norms
when an act or behaviour goes against the accepted standards of society
define culture
a collective set of norms and values that determine the way of life of a group of people
how is crime measured
official statistics
whats the problem with official statistics
not all crimes are reported, some take place without being detected. This is why researchers rely on self-report surveys
what is self report
a method that involves participants reporting on themselves through answering questionnaires
whats the definition of the social learning theory
its a theory that explains behaviour in terms of observation and limitation
whats a role model
a person held in esteem by another
whats imitation
a process where people recall behaviours and reproduce them in their own actions
whats observation
the process where people pay attention to behaviours and retain them in memory
whats vicarious reinforcement
when a behaviour is strengthened by an individual observing this same behaviour being rewarded in another
describe the social learning theory.
it starts w/ a role model. we go through a process of identification, where we decide we want to be like these people, we then observe them and try to copy them. this is observation and imitation. We see these people being rewarded for their actions and decide we want the same reward (vicarious reinforcement)
whats direct reinforcement
when a behaviour is strengthened and likely to be repeated due to positive outcomes for the individual
whats internalisation
the process whereby a behaviour becomes an integral part of an individuals personality due to continuous reinforcement
what do some psychologists believe about nature
behaviour and personality is inherited from parents, also part of our behaviour can be attributed to human nature and evolution
what do some psychologists believe about nurture
other psychs such as behaviouralist John Watson (lol) , believe we are born a ‘tabula rasa’ meaning a blank slate and our behaviour and personality is developed through experience and interaction with ourenvironment.
what are the 4 criticisms of the social learning theory
only focuses on the role of nurture, ignoring the role of nature in explaining criminal behaviour.
(some psychs believe in a criminal gene and that w/out it people cannot learn to be criminals)
doesn’t explain how behaviour starts in the first place.
(if everyone is learning from prev gens there must be a starting point)
doesn’t account for people who turn to crime , even though they’ve not been exposed to criminal role models
(evidence shows criminals from good law-abiding families , in some cases this is better explained by nature)
if social learning theories correct it should b easier to reduce crime
(if its strengthened through reinforcement then it should be reduced by being/seeing others be punished however many re-offend / still commit crimes after seeing consequences, suggesting nature)
what was the DESIGN of the Cooper and Mackie study
laboratory experiment using independent measures
what was the INDEPENDENT & DEPENDENT VARIABLES of the Cooper and Mackie study
I- the type of game played or observed
D- measured aggression levels after playing or observing the game
what was the SAMPLE of the Cooper and Mackie study
the target population was a set of schools in the suburbs of New Jersey, USA.
the sample was 84 nine -> eleven-year-olds whose parents had given consent to take part in the study.
what were the cooper and mackie children given a week before the experiment
a questionnaire to assess their experience of videogames
for this experiment (c&m) children were put into ____ so they were the same sex. one child would ______ while the other would _____
pairs
play the game
observe
what was the procedure for the Cooper and Mackie study
Condition 1: participants played or observed an aggressive game (missile command) which another group of students had deemed violent
Condition 2: participants played or observed a non-aggressive video game (pac-man)
Condition 3: played or observed paper and pen maze games (control)
all participants played/observed for 8 minutes to avoid extraneous variables. Pairs were split up and one was taken to a playroom while the other was taken to a room to do a test
in play room there was an aggressive toy(figure) , a an active toy (bball set ), a skill toy (building blocks)
in test room each participant performed an activity to measure their level of interpersonal aggression, they were asked how badly theyd punish a child who had behaved badly and how much theyd reward a good child using a buzzer that was timed for how long they pressed it
then the ppts were swapped around , as a control sometimes player was tested first and other times it was obsserver, this is counterbalancing.
they were then given a questionnaire
