Forensic - cog. explanations Flashcards
What is the basis of Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning?
Proposed ppls decisions and judgement on issues of right and wrong can be summarised in a stage theory of moral development. The higher the stage the more sophisticated the moral reasoning. Based on ppls responses to a series of dilemas.
What is level one of moral reasoning and what are the first and second stages in this level?
Pre-conventional morality
Stage 1: obedience and punishment; beh. driven by avoiding punishment
Stage 2: Ind. interest; beh. driven by self-interest and rewards.
What is the second level of moral reasoning and what are stages 3 and 4?
Conventional morality.
Stage 3: Interpersonal beh. driven by social approval.
Stage 4: Authority; beh. driven by obeying authority and conforming to social order.
What is the third level of levels of moral reasoning and what are stages 5 and 6?
Post-conventional morality.
Stage 5: Social contract; beh. driven by balance of social order and ind. rights.
Stage 6: Universal ethics; beh. driven by internal moral principles.
What levels are offenders likely to be classified on?
Pre-conventional at stages 1-2.
What is pre-conventional characterised by?
- Punishment orientation
- Reward orientation
- Associated w/ immature childlike reasoning
LOM AO3: What supporting evidence is there for this exp.?
Palmer and Hollin (1998) compared moral reasoning between 210 non-offender females, 122 non-offender males and 126 convicted offenders.
11 moral dilemma Qs.
Offenders showed less mature moral reasoning than controls, supports Ks theory.
LOM AO3: Why are there issues w/ ind. diff.s w/ this exp.?
LOM may depend on type offence. Crimes committed for financial gain are likely to be pre-conventional than those convicted of crimes like assault where reasoning of any kind tended not to be evident.
Pre-conventional associated w/ crimes where offender thinks they can get away w/ it.
LOM AO3: Why are these culturally biased?
Gibbs argues LOM should be abandoned as they are culturally biased towards West and do not rep. a global maturational stage of cog. dev.
Proposed 2 diff. levels: mature (empathy, social justice and ones own conscious) and immature (moral decisions guided by avoidance punishment and personal gain)
What are cognitive distortions?
Errors or biases in ppls info processing system characterised by faulty thinking. Research has linked this to the way in which criminals interpret ppls beh. and justify actions.
What is hostile attribution bias?
Suggests violence is often associated w/ a tendency to misinterpret the actions of others ppl and assume others are being confrontational when they are not.
Offenders may misread non-aggressive cues and this may trigger disproportionate often violent responses.
What is minimalisation?
Attempt to downplay or deny seriousness of an offence. Burglars may describe it as going a job or supporting their family to minimise seriousness.
Make reference to victim - they can afford it, they won’t notice etc.
Sexual offenders prone to minimalisation.
AO3: What supporting evidence is there for hostile attribution bias?
Schonenberg and Justye (2014) presented 55 violent offenders w/ images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions. Compared w/ non-aggressive matched control group, violent offenders sig more likely to perceive as angry and hostile.
AO3: How do cog. distortions have real life application?
Understanding cog. distortions proven beneficial in treatment of criminal beh. Dominant appr. in rehabilitation of sex offenders is CBT - encourage them to ‘face up’ to what they have done and establish less distorted view of actions.
Studies suggest reduced incidences of denial and minimalisation in therapy highly correlates w/ reduced risk of reoffending. Key in anger management.
AO3: Why is there an issue of cause and effect in cog. distortions?
Explanation claims cog. distortions cause ind.s to become offenders. Evidence suggests to 2 correspond.
Possible that ind.s who offend dev. cog. distortions as result of their criminal beh.
