criminology

Question 1

3 ways behavior is learnt (learning theories)

Answer 1

1. operant conditioning (reward and punishment)
2. social learning theory (role model)
3. classical conditioning (learning through association)

Question 2

Positive reinforcement

Answer 2

when we receive a pleasant reward for displaying a desirable behaviour and as a result, this behaviour is likely to be repeated because we would want to get something nice. In terms of criminal behaviour, if one gets something nice from a criminal activity e.g. stealing, they are likely to repeat this because of the reward/s they will get. ​

Question 3

Negative reinforcement

Answer 3

involves the removal of undesirable behaviour. A person avoids an aversive or unpleasant experience. A person is likely to engage in behaviour that gets rid of something unpleasant​

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Question 4

Positive punishment

Answer 4

involves directly applying an unpleasant stimulus like a shock after a response. In terms of criminality going to jail for committing an offence would be positive punishment​

Question 5

Negative punishment

Answer 5

it involves taking a pleasant stimulus to punish undesirable behaviour e.g. deducting someone’s pocket money. In a criminal situation, it may involve taking away someone’s driving license for being careless. Negative punishment is also known as punishment by removal. ​

Question 6

what are the 2 types of positive punishment reinforces and what are they?

Answer 6

Primary reinforcers: these tend to satisfy basic biological needs e.g. food and water. In criminal situations, there are some people who may be forced to commit a crime i.e. Steal to satisfy a basic need like the need for food. This could be as a result of extreme poverty​.
Secondary reinforcers: these are commonly used e.g. tokens, gifts etc. They have survival value but can easily be associated with a primary reinforcer, for example, a gift voucher may not have an intrinsic value but it can be used to buy food which in turn satisfies a basic need. ​

Question 7

strengths of operant conditioning

Answer 7

Operant conditioning can be used to explain the acquisition of a wide range of crimes for example it can be used to explain how social approval can be a strong reinforcer in groups that would encourage behaviors such as stealing through positive reinforcement. keeps the individual motivated to steal more.

The principles of operant, e.g. Positive and negative punishment have been used in the criminal justice system to try and remove undesirable criminal behaviour. Positive reinforcement has been used to manage prisoners’ behaviour through the tokens i.e. In for of rewards for good behaviour, which are then exchanged for bigger rewards e.g. Longer visiting hours with family, more time in the gym, T.V privileges etc​.

Question 8

weaknesses of operant conditioning.

Answer 8

Operant conditioning fails to offer an adequate explanation of individual differences in criminal behaviour.we don’t commit crimes based on reinforcement or punishment. therefore there could be other factors involved in criminality e.g., our cognitive thought process and genetic factors.​

Another weakness is that behaviour can be displayed in absence of reinforcement or punishment. People may choose to commit a crime because of the way they think e.g. if a person feels undervalued they may decide to commit a crime to get back at others. In this case, operant conditioning does not consider the alternative motivation for crimes.​

you cant be sure that it is operant conditioning as the participants are not studies from birth so we cannot be sure that it is due to the reward and punishment system.

Question 9

external motivation

Answer 9

when a crime is rewarded by external factors such as the money received from a robbery

Question 10

internal motivation

Answer 10

it happens if the crime is motivating or satisfies a need such as the thrill from commiting the crime

Question 11

4 stages to the process of modelling and describe them

Answer 11

ATTENTION- you must be able to pay attention to the behavior
RETENTION- you must be able to remember the behaviour you have watched.
REPRODUCTION- you need an opportunity to copy the behavior you have observed.
MOTIVATION- you are likely to reproduce a behavior if you want to do it. reason may be because of an award.

Question 12

identification

Answer 12

the person finally develops the beliefs and behaviors of their role model.

Question 13

strengths of social learning theory

Answer 13

1. there is a lot of proof to support this theory such as the Bandura et al study where he found that the nursery aged children were more likely to copy aggression if exposed to the aggressive role model.
2. It can be unlearnt by getting good role models as mentors. This means social learning theory can be applied to real life and be used to rehabilitate offenders.
3. it is not as reductionist as other theories as it looks at both environmental(observing) and our thoughts (retention) so it looks at multipke factors that could cause crime.

Question 14

weaknesses of social learning theory

Answer 14

1. SLT does not look at genes as an explanation of criminality; brunner found that some people are criminals because they have a deficit in their MOA gene.
2. the theory is only looked into in short term aggression and therefore cannot be used in real life. eg banduras study was only done in a short term period and therefore does not tell us the repercussions from over a period of time as that goes against the code of ethics.
3. Not all crimes can be explained by slt as people are less likely to witness murder but people still kill.

Question 15

genetic explanation- twins

Answer 15

monozygotic twins are more likely to commit similar crimes than dizygotic twins.
in 1977; Christiansen found that a sample of 3586 pairs of twins, if an identical twin was a criminal 52.5% of the time the other twin was likely to be a criminal too. 22% times in a dizygotic twin.

Question 16

genetic explanation- adopted families

Answer 16

Another way of determining the genetic factor is by looking at adopted families. If a child is adopted early in life any similarities that may occur are a result of similarities between the biological parent and the child.​

Studies done by Barry Hutchings and Sarnoff Mednick(1975) found that 21% of adopted children who went on to commit a crime had a biological father who was convicted of a crime. ​
This was also compared to 10% of children whose biological father was not convicted of a criminal offence but the adoptive father had a criminal record. Adopted children and their biological fathers share genes but not the environment, so in these cases, we can be sure that genetics are the cause of criminality.​ Family members are raised together and treated in a similar way, so therefore social learning theory could explain their criminal behaviour.​

Question 17

define personality

Answer 17

this is a set of characteristic and traits and determine what or who we are like; theorists can define personality as a temperament biological basis. this explains why some peoples personality is more likely to be associated of being a criminal while others are not.

Question 18

Eysenck’s personality theory (1964)

Answer 18

This theory states that whether we become criminals or not is hard-wired into us as part of our personality; essentially we are born with a tendency to become criminals or not.​
He argues that a genetically inherited nervous system which is under or over-aroused may cause criminality​.

Question 19

what is the PEN score about

Answer 19

Measuring personality:​

Eysenck developed a psychometric test for measuring personality-Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ)., which measured people on Introversion-extraversion(E), Neuroticism(N): stable/unstable and Psychoticism (P) and are given a PEN score​

Question 20

Personality traits

Answer 20

1.extraversion/introversion- extraverts are oygoing and social while introverts are more reserved and quiet. extraverts are more likely to be criminals because Extraverts are difficult to condition. Being chronically under-aroused are more likely to be risk-seeking and engage in an anti-social activity such as crime.​
2. Neuroticism: refers to the nervous disposition of someone. Neurotics are likely to become criminals as a reaction to an emotional event or as a habit they find hard to break. if they are unstable, they often act impulsively, tend to overreact, are highly emotional and show violence more quickly.
3. Psychoticism: this is the type of personality where the person shows no empathy towards others. They tend to be uncaring, insensitive and do not feel guilty or remorse, so committing a crime may come easy as they will not worry about it or the effects it has on others​

Question 21

recidivism

Answer 21

this is the rate at which a criminal is likely to re-offend. Once an offender has been charged, convicted and imprisoned for committing an offence and serves his sentence, we always expect that he is rehabilitated, he is likely not to re-offend and so reduce the rate of recidivism.​