FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY - Psychological explanations: Eysenck's theory

Question 1

What did Eysenck suggest about criminal behaviour?

Answer 1

Criminal behaviour may be influenced by personality characteristics that are linked to biological differences between people.

Question 2

What are the three dimensions that can be measured in Eysenck’s theory?

Answer 2

Extraversion-introversion
Neuroticism-stability
Psychoticism

Question 3

What is extraversion-introversion in Eysencks theory?

Answer 3

Where extroverts are sensation seekers and introverts prefer to avoid sensation

Question 4

What is neuroticism-stability in Eysenck’s theory?

Answer 4

When neurotics are those who are emotionally unstable and very reactive in the sympathetic nervous system.

eg nervous, anxious

Question 5

What is psychoticism in Eysenck’s theory?

Answer 5

People have higher levels of testosterone and are unemotional and prone aggression.

Question 6

What did Eysenck believe about the three dimensions in his theory?

Answer 6

They have a biological basis and that predisposition to certain traits was inherited.

Question 7

What is the criminal personality type?

Answer 7

neurotic-extravert-psychotic

Question 8

Explain the role of socialisation.

Answer 8

Conditioning:

Children taught to delay gratification and become more socially orientated.

Eysenck believed that people with high E and N scores had nervous systems that
made it difficult for them to learn.

They are therefore, less likely to learn anxiety responses to antisocial impulses.

Question 9

How is the criminal personality measured?

Answer 9

EPQ - Eysenck’s personality questionnaire = locates respondent along the E, N and P dimensions to determine their personality type.

Question 10

Give strength of Eysenck’s theory?

Answer 10

+RESEARCH SUPPORT = evidence to support the criminal personality.
Eysenck + Eysenck (1977) - compare 2070 EPQ scores with 2427 control groups.
FINDINGS = PRISONERS RECORDED HIGHER AVERAGE SCORES THAN CONTROLS. This agrees with the theory that offenders right higher than average across three dimensions.

Question 11

Give limitations of Eysenck’s theory?

Answer 11

• COUNTERPOINT - Farrington et al (1982) = conducted a meta analysis = found that offenders scored high on psychoticism but not for extraversion and neuroticism = challenges the central assumptions of the criminal personality.
• TOO SIMPLISTIC = MOFFITT (1993) = personality traits alone were a poor predictor of how long offending behaviour would carry on for. Persistence in offending behaviour could be the result of reciprocal process between personality traits = This is a more complex picture.
• CULTURAL FACTORS = Bartol + Holanchock (1979) => studied Hispanic and african-American offenders = found that they were all less extrovert than a control group. This is because the sample was from a different cultural group. Lowers external validity as criminal personality can’t be generalised to other cultures.
• measuring personality type cannot be reducible to a ‘score’ because personality is too complex and dynamic to be quantified.