Explanation of crime and ASB: Personality explanation

Question 1

Who was the main theorist of criminal personalities?

Answer 1

Eysenck

Question 2

Define personality

Answer 2

The combination of traits that are thought to form the distinctive character of a person

Question 3

What were the 2 scales Eysenck belived personality could be measured.

Answer 3

Extraversion - Introversion
and
Neuroticism - Stability

Question 4

How can Extraversion - Introversion account for a criminal personality

Answer 4

Extraverts crave excitement and stimulation so they are prone to dangerous and risk-taking behaviour.

• Don’t condition easy (don’t learn from mistakes)
• Extraverts aren’t affected by punishment as much as introverts

Question 5

How can Neuroticism - Stability account for criminal personalities

Answer 5

Neurotic individuals are nervy and anxious. Their instability makes them dificult to predict.

Question 6

What did Eysenck say was the typical criminal personality

Answer 6

Extravert - neurotic

Question 7

Biological bias:

What is one biological explanation of personality traits

Answer 7

personality traits are based off the nervous system we inherit.

Question 8

Biological bias:

How does the nervous system account for extraverts constant need for excitment?

Answer 8

They have an underactive nervous system - requires high level of arousal

Question 9

Biological Bias:

How does the nervous system account for people high on the nueroticism scale?

Answer 9

act volatile and react strongly to situations others would find less stressful, or even nuetral

Question 10

A third dimension:

What was the third dimension Eysenck eventually developed?

Answer 10

Psychoticism

Question 11

A third dimension, Psychoticism:

What did Eysenck describe psychoticism to be

Answer 11

individuals who are cold, self-centered and lack empathy for others

Question 12

A third dimension, Psychoticism:

What did Eysenck then develop the ‘criminal type’ to be

Answer 12

a person who scored high on all three dimensions, psychoticism, extraversion and nueroticism.

Question 13

The socialisation process:

What did Eysenck say would determine whether someone would become law-abiding or not?

Answer 13

Socialisation process in someones childhood will determine whetehr they are law abiding or not.

Question 14

The socialisation process:

What did Eysenck say about socialisation in extraverts and nuerotics

Answer 14

Extraverts - reward-seekers makes them less receptive to operant conditioning, and therefore less affected by punishment

Nuerotics - nueroticism interferes with efficient learning, nuerotics may find it dificult to learn basic social rules

Question 15

Strength of the theory

Answer 15

Theres evidence supporting the existence of the criminal type

Question 16

Strength of the theory:

Research evidence suggesting prevalence of Eysecks criminal character type

Answer 16

Baduszek et al - investigated prevalence of Eysencks criminal persoanlity type on repeated offenders.

133 violent
179 non - violent
males

Question 17

Strength of the theory:

What did Baduszek et al suggest?

Answer 17

criminal thinking style is correlated with high levels of psychoticism, extraversion and nueroticism

Question 18

Strength of the theory:

What does this evidence from Baduszek et al suggest?

Answer 18

Eysencks theory has validity as the personality he identified are associated with repeated offending

Question 19

What is a weakness of the theory

Answer 19

There is only 1 type of criminal personality

Question 20

Weakness of the theory:

What is an example that has challenged Eysenck’s model of criminal personality?

Answer 20

The five-factor model

Question 21

Weakness of the theory:

What does the five-factor model state?

Answer 21

• Accepts concepts of extraversion and introversion
• adds openness, conscientiosness and agreeableness
• low levels of agreeableness and conscientiosness relate to offending

Question 22

Weakness of the theory:

What does this evidence suggest

Answer 22

Criminal personality may be more complicated than Eysenck originally thought

Question 23

Another strength of theory

Answer 23

criminal personality may be related to activity of the nervous system

Question 24

Another strength of the theory:

Evidence to support the nervous system link to criminal activity

Answer 24

Raine et at (1990) took physiological measures from 15 yr old participants and related these to later criminal status

Question 25

Another strength of the theory:

What did Raine et al (1990) find

Answer 25

those showing more signs of under-arousal in the nervous system at age 15 had more crimes committed 24 years later than non criminals

Question 26

Another strength of the theory:

What does evidence from Raine et al (1990) suggest?

Answer 26

suggests link between biological factors and offending

Question 27

What is a competing factor of Baduszek’s study

Answer 27

evidence for criminal personality is not conclusivem as seen by Farrington et al

Question 28

Competing factor:

Farrington et al findings

Answer 28

little evidence thet Eysenck’s questionnaire was an adaquate measure in predicting criminal behaviour in juviniles or adults

Question 29

Competing factor:

what do Farrington’s findings suggest

Answer 29

That Eysencks original idea of the nature of a criminal personality may lack some validity.