Eysenck's theory Flashcards
What are the 3 parts to a criminal personality
- Neurotic
- Extravert
3.Psychotic
Biological basis to the criminal personality
- Extraverts have a underachieve nervous system
- Neurotics have a overactive nervous system
- Psychotics have high testosterone
The role of socialisation
Criminal behaviour is developmentally immature, criminal type hard too condition, they stay antisocial.
How to measure the criminal personality
Eysenck’s Personality Questionnaire
Introverts
Are reserved, plan their actions and control their emotions. They tend to be serious, reliable and pessimistic
Extroverts
Are sociable and crave excitement and change, and thus can become bored easily. They tend to be optimistic and impulsive and don’t tend to learn form their mistakes.
Neurotics
Tend to be anxious, worrying and moody. They are overly emotional and fond it difficult to calm down once upset. They are said to have high levels of reactivity in the sympathetic nervous system
Stable
People are emotionally calm, unreactive and unworried
Psychoticism
Aggressive and lack empathy
Results of the criminal personality
Found that scoring high on the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire for Neuroticism, Psychotocism and extroversion increases the likelihood of the person being a criminal/offender
Eysenck’s theory evaluation points- Research support
STRENGTH
Compared 2070 prisoners scores on the EPQ with 2422 male controls.
Prisoners high on extroversion, neuroticism and psychoticism compared to controls
Eysenck’s theory evaluation points- Research support counterpoint
LIMITATION
Offenders high on psychoticism but not extrovsion on neuroticism
Farrington et al
Eysenck’s theory evaluation points- Too simplistic
LIMITATION
Adolescents different from a adults personality and environment interact
Moffitt
Eysenck’s theory evaluation points- Cultural factors
LIMITATION
Hispanic/African-American offenders low Extroversion
Bartol and Holanchock
