Criminal psychology (topic 6)

Question 1

what is operant conditioning?

Answer 1

—A method of learning where the consequences of a response, determines the probability of it being repeated

—Behavior which is reinforced (rewarded) will likely be repeated, and behavior which is punished is likely to occur less frequently

Question 2

what are the kinds of reinforcement and what is done

Answer 2

—Positive reinforcementis the addition of a reward following a desired behaviour

—Negative reinforcementis the removal of something negative following a desired behaviour

Question 3

what is primary and secondary reinforcers

Answer 3

—A primary reinforcer is one which is necessary for survival

—Secondary reinforcers are those which provide the means to obtain a primary reinforcer

Question 4

what are the kinds of punishment?

Answer 4

—Positive punishmentis the addition of something unpleasant after a behaviour, so we are less likely to do it again

—Negative punishmentis the removal of something pleasant after a behaviour, so we are less likely to do it again

Question 5

what are the strengths of operant conditioning?

Answer 5

—explains a wide range of crime
— explains that punishment can remove an undersirable behaviour

Question 6

what are the weaknesses of operant conditioning?

Answer 6

— reductionist. doesnt take genetics into account - not alll crimes are commited because of recieving reinforcement or punishment
—behaviour can be reproduced in the absence of reinforcement or punishment

Question 7

what is the social theory of criminality?

Answer 7

—Social learning theory believes that we learn behaviours by imitating a role model – modelling

—Modelling can only take place where someone identifies with another person (a role model) in some way

—Learning new behaviour through watching and modelling a role model is referred to as observational learning

—A person can directly or indirectly observe the criminal behaviour, in real life or viathe media so that it can be remembered or reproduced

Question 8

what is the identificaion and modellign process of the social learning theory?

Answer 8

— attention: in order to learn something new you need ot pay attention to it
—retention: for learnign to take place you must be able to store and retain the new behaviour in your memory
—reproduction: to be able to model the new bahaviour learnt you need to reproduce it.
—motivation: you are more likely to model a behaviour you have observed someone do it you are motivated to reproduce it. e.g., if someone steal soemthign and gets complimented you are likely ot be motivated to be complimented. this is known as vicarious reinforcement.
—identification: occurs when you adopt the behaviour, belief and values of a role model or group

Question 9

strengths of the social learning theory of criminality

Answer 9

-bandura et al is evidence for this theory
-can explain behaviour in absence of a reinforcement and punishment. (you can learn a bahaviour by simply watching ant through consequences)
- explains why some poeple exposed to criminality becomes a criminal

Question 10

what are the weaknesses of the social learning theory for criminality?

Answer 10

-reductionist: doesnt take genetics into account
-we cannot ethically test this as it goes against ethicak guidelines (protection of the ppt)
- some crimes cannot be explained by social learning theory such as murder

Question 11

bandura (1961)

what were the aims of the study

Answer 11

—The main aim was to see if children will imitate aggressive and non-aggressive role model behaviour, even if they are not rewarded for it

—To see if the children would be more likely to copy same-sex role models than opposite-sex role models

—To see if boys would be more aggressive than girls, particularly if exposed to the aggressive male role model condition

Question 12

bandura (1961)

what was the procedure

Answer 12

72 children (36 were boys and 36 were girls)

—Children were aged between 37 and 69 months old and all from Stanford University nursery school

—Two adults (one male and one female) acted as the role models

—The researchers pre-tested the children for how aggressive they were by observing the children in the nursery and judged their aggressive behavior on four 5-point rating scales

—It was then possible to match the children in each group so that they had similar levels of aggression in their everyday behavior

Question 13

bandura 1961

what happened during stage 1 (modelling)

Answer 13

—24 children (12 boys and 12 girls) watched a male or female model behaving aggressively towards a toy called a ‘Bobo doll’. The adults attacked the Bobo doll

—Another 24 children (12 boys and 12 girls) were exposed to a non-aggressive model who played in a quiet and subdued manner for 10 minutes (playing with a tinker toy set and ignoring the bobo-doll)

—The final 24 children (12 boys and 12 girls) were used as a control group and not exposed to any model at all

Question 14

bandura 1961

what happened during stage 2 (aggression arousal)

Answer 14

—The participant was subjected to mild aggression arousal

—The participant was taken to a room with new and interesting toys

—As soon as the child started to play with the toys, the experimenter told the child that these were the experimenter’s very best toys and she had decided to reserve them for the other children

Question 15

bandura 1961

what happened during stage 3 (test for imitation)

Answer 15

—The child was taken to another room containing some aggressive toys and some non-aggressive toys.

—The child was in the room for 20 minutes, and their behavior was observed and rated though a one-way mirror. Observations were made at 5-second intervals, therefore, giving 240 response units for each child

—Other behaviors that didn’t imitate that of the model were also recorded e.g., punching the Bobo doll on the nose.

Question 16

bandura 1961

what were the findings

Answer 16

—Participants in the aggressive groups reproduced more physical and verbal aggressive behaviour than those in the non-aggressive groups

—Boys imitated more physical aggression than girls. There was no significant difference in the imitation of verbal aggression between the sexes

—Boys imitated more physical and verbal aggression after being exposed to the male aggressive role model than to the female aggressive role model

—Participants in the non-aggressive conditions engaged in significantly more nonaggressive play activities or sat quietly.

Question 17

bandura 1961

what was concluded?

Answer 17

—Bobo doll experiment demonstrates that children are able to learn social behavior such as aggression through the process of observation learning, through watching the behavior of another person

—This learning occurred without reinforcements being given

—The findings supportBandura’s Social Learning Theory

—This study has important implications for the effects of media violence on children.

Question 18

bandura 1961

what were the strengths of the study?

Answer 18

— generalisable: a lot of ppt. there was boys and girls
–standardised procedure

Question 19

bandura 1961

what were the weaknesses of this study??

Answer 19

— it is unethical (protection of ppt)
— it was a lab experiment. this means that there may be innatural behaviour as the children were in an unfamiliar environment
—

Question 20

charton et al 2000

what were the aims if the study?

Answer 20

—to examine the impact of TV on the social behaviour of young children

Question 21

charlton et al 2000

what was the procedure of the study?

Answer 21

—A random sample of the school population of children aged between 3 – 8 years old were observed (from 2 different primary schools)

—Prior to the introduction of television to the island, the free-play behaviour of children was video recorded during the morning, lunch and afternoon play over a two week period

—This was repeated in 2000, after the introduction of television

Question 22

charlton et al 2000

what were the findings?

Answer 22

—Analysis was based on the mean number of the pro- and anti-social behaviours, giving a total of 64 items to be compared analysed

Only 9 significant findings were seen:
–2 decreases in anti-social behaviour
–5 decreases in pro-social behaviour
–2 increases in pro-social behaviour

—Boys displayed more anti-social behaviour

—Pro-social behaviour was detected twice as much as anti-social behaviour

Question 23

charlton et al 2000

what was concluded about the study?

Answer 23

—Findings failed to support other studies’ claims of adverse viewing effects of television

—Following the introduction of television little change in pro- or anti-social behaviour had occurred

—This may be explained by environmental factors such as the close-knit community of the island

—However, they did conclude that boys are more anti-social in their play, but this does not appear to relate to television

Question 24

charlton et al

what were the strengths of this study?

Answer 24

—Same schools were used (before and after) – increasing consistency / reliability

—Avoidance of demand char.

—Natural experiment = natural behaviour. A High ecological validity

—Inter-rater reliability – reduces bias / subjectivity

Question 25

charlton et al

what were the weaknesses of the study

Answer 25

—Ethics – children not aware they were observed and did not take part in the design of the study
—Unique community – so findings may not be generalisable to other settings.
—Differences in programs broadcast on the island – i.e.: Turtles (external validity)

Question 26

genetic explanation of criminality

cesare lombroso’s theory?

Answer 26

cesare lombroso explained that you could identify criminals by facial features

discredited

Question 27

genetic explanation of criminality

christainsen 1977 study?

Answer 27

Christiansen examines over 3,500 twin pairs in denmark and identified concordance rates of criminal behaviour.

—-male—-
monozygotic twins: 35%
dizygotic twins: 13%

—-female—-
monozygotic twins: 21%
dizygotic twins: 8%

Question 28

genetic explanation of criminality

hutchings and mednick: adoption study

Answer 28

examined a sample of 1145 male adoptees in denmark 1924-1947

found that 21% of adopted children who had commited a crime had a biological father who had comitted a crime: compared to 10% of the children who biological father had not been convited of a crime

Question 29

genetic explanation of criminality

what is the MAOA gene? what is the relationship between MAOA and criminality?

Answer 29

–monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) is an enzyme that breaks down neurotransmitters (e.g., dopamine and serotonin)

–low MAOA (MAOA-L) has a correlation with aggression

Question 30

genetic explanation of criminality

brunner et al 1993: family studies

Answer 30

–conducted analysis on a family in Netherlands who had been responsible fot a variety pf criminal and anti-social behaviour.

–found that males in the family had a genetic condition affecting MAOA production

–this cindition is associated with aggression and low intelligence

–the conclusion is that individuals can inherit genetic conditions which can make them prone to anti-social behaviour.

Question 31

genetic explanation of criminality

Adrain Raine et al 1997: brain differences

Answer 31

–compared the brains of murderers ro a control group of poeple who had not committed murder

–found thst the offender group showed reduction iactivity in areas of the brain such as the prefrontal cortex and the corpus collosum.

Question 32

genetic explanation of criminality

hans eyesenck’s personality theory

Answer 32

eyesencks theory was based on biological factors. he argued that individuals inherit a type of nervous system that affects their ability to learn and adapt to the environment and hence some personality types have an increased likelihood to engage in criminal behaviour

Question 33

genetic explanation of criminality

what are the personality traits according to eyesenck’s theory

Answer 33

—introverts: typically reserved and reflective
—extraverts: sociable and crave excitement. tend to be impulsive
—stabitity: refers to someone who is calm and unworried
—neurotics: tends to be anxious, worryign and moody. overly emotional.
–psychotisim: refers to lack of empathy. likely to be reckless or disregards the conventions of society

Question 34

genetic explanation of criminality

what is EPQ?

Answer 34

eyesenck’s psychometric test

PEN score:
introversion–extraversion(E),
emotionalstability–neuroticism (N) and
psychoticism (P)

Question 35

genetic explanation of criminality

results of EPQ (PEN score- what does it mean?)

Answer 35

–(P) high p scorers are often uncarign of others, insensitive ans do not feel guilt. commiting a crime is easy as they dont care about the effect on others. can harm others without feeling remorse

–(E) high e scorers dont easily learn to avoid bad feelings. Extraverts chronically are under-aroused, more likely to be risk-seekign and engage in anti-social behaviour

–(N) high n scorers are more likely to become criminals due to their reaction to an emotional event. Neurotic individuals are unstable and often act impulsively and show violence more quickly

Question 36

genetic explanation of criminality

personality ans criminal behaviour

Answer 36

– high PEN scores are uncommon and have been used to explain criminality

–eyesenck’s personality theiry states thr biological make-up alone doesnt accound for criminality alone, instead it is the interaction between PEN traits and how we are raised and taugh tto behave (socialisation)

Question 37

genetic explanation of criminality

eyesenck’s personality theory: strengths

Answer 37

– holistic approach. cosiders both environmantal and genetic factors affecting criminality
–higher validity than environmantal and genetic explantions alone

Question 38

genetic explanation of criminality

eyesenck’s personality theory: weaknesses

Answer 38

–personality could change especiallu depending on living conditions such as poverty
– evidence is mostly self-report. may not completed truthfully. lacks validity

Question 39

what is recidivism?

Answer 39

recidivism is when a person re-offend even after recievign punishment

Question 40

forms of punishment

prisons

Answer 40

–removes civil rights such as freedom
–main purpose is the belief that the time time spent in jail acts as a deterrent to future recidivism
–princliple of operant conditions suggest that prison sentencing prevents criminal behaviour from re-occuring

Question 41

strengths of using prison as a form of punishment

Answer 41

–prison acts as a retribution as criminal suffers by losing their freedom
–keeps society safe
–there may be opportunity for the criminal to reform - gain eduction/ learn new skills

Question 42

weakness of using prison as a form of punishment

Answer 42

–not effective from humanitarian point of view.
–prison could have the opposite effect
–criminals may learn other criminal skills as they live with other criminals. could lead to reoffendign after release
–expensive form of punishment

Question 43

forms of punishment

community sentencing

Answer 43

–community snetencing is when offenders are given duties to serve the communiyt instead of a prison sentence
– there is a curfew

Question 44

strengths of using community sentencing as a form of punishment

Answer 44

–more humane, gives second chance bu doign something beneficial with their time.
–helps with the cost, e.g., no payment to remove graffitti
–more appropraite for minor crimes

Question 45

weakness of using community sentencing as a form of punishment

Answer 45

–curfew rules may not be followed.
–criminals still in society potential safety issues
–high level of recidivism, maybe even more serious crimes

Question 46

forms of punishment

restorative justice

Answer 46

–brings the victim and criminal together
–allows victim to express hoe they feel.
–enebles criminal to reflect on how they have behaved and help them take responsibilty for their actions

Question 47

strenghts of restorative justice as a form of punishment

Answer 47

–evidence of reduced recidivism
–victims get closure
– more humanitarian form of punishment as it is giving the criminal a chance to learn

Question 48

weaknesses of restorative justice as a form of punishment

Answer 48

–the criminal avoids enterign prison and they have a chance to repeat the crime
–could lead to altercations between the victim and criminal
–could be distressign for the criminal

Question 49

Treatments to rehabilitate and reduce criminal behaviour and increase prosocial behaviour

what is the token economy programme?

Answer 49

–controlled, institutional setting with close and consistant monitoring
–prison settin , tokens are given to prisoners which theu can then exchange for television time, food, exercise time etc.
–pro-social behaviour is achieved by gradual reduction of tokens, resultin gin a learned behaviour changing to a more desired behaviour

Question 50

strengths of token economy programmes

Answer 50

–effective in reducing anti-social behaviour in prison
–economical- can be followed by prison guards

Question 51

weaknesses of token economy programmes

Answer 51

– doesnt translate to the outside word. doesnt reduce recidivism
–guards need to be consistent in following the rules of the programmes. if not ineffective and could lead to antisocial behaviour.

Question 52

Treatments to rehabilitate and reduce criminal behaviour and increase prosocial behaviour

what do anger management programmes do?

Answer 52

–addresses an offenders level of anger/aggression (not effective for all crimes)
–aim to change reactions of the offender to a trigger by drawing on cognitive behavioural techniques (it is believed that abger is caused by faulty cognitions)
–no reaction to triggers = prosocial behaviour

Question 53

strengths of anger management programmes.

Answer 53

-evidence suggests that it is an effective method in reducing recidivism