Forensics - Cognitive Explanations for Offending Behavior

Question 1

What did Kohlberg suggest?

Answer 1

He suggested that there are 3 universal levels of moral reasoning, each characterised by a certain logic.

Question 2

What are the 3 levels of moral reasoning?

Answer 2

The pre-conventional level (punishment orientation)

The conventional level (maintenance of the social order)

The post-conventional level (morality of contract and individual rights)

Question 3

What level are criminals at? Why is this?

Answer 3

Pre-conventional level. This is because criminals have a child-like- immature sense of reasoning.

Question 4

What moral level are non-criminals at? Why is this?

Answer 4

Conventional or post- conventional. This is because they are able to display more civilised and empathetic behaviours.

Question 5

What are cognitive distortions?

Answer 5

They are examples of dysfunctional thought processing where we show errors in our logic.

Question 6

What are the two main types of cognitive distortions attributed to criminality?

Answer 6

Hostile attribution bias (HAB) and minimisation

Question 7

What is the hostile attribution bias?

Answer 7

HAB is the tendency for offenders to view emotionally ambiguous or non-threatening situations as hostile and threatening .

It is an automatic reaction to novel situations.

Question 8

What did Schonenberg and Justye (2014) find? What could this be a result of?

Answer 8

55 violent offenders were exposed to pictures of facial expressions which were neither clearly hostile nor clearly neutral. The overwhelming majority viewed the images as aggressive or hostile.

This may be the result of being a ‘rejected’ and ‘aggressive’ child, according to Dodge and Frame

Question 9

When is minimisation particularly common?

Answer 9

Amongst sex offenders

Question 10

What is minimisation used for? What is it?

Answer 10

As a coping mechanism for guilt or regret, where offenders will under-exaggerate the significance of their crimes and the emotional consequences suffered by their victims.

Question 11

What did Pollock and Hasmall find in their sample of child molesters?

Answer 11

An astounding 35% of child molesters, attempted to justify their crimes as non-malicious and simply being a way of showing their affection, whilst 36% did not accept committing a crime at all as they perceived the child as consenting.

Question 12

What are limitations of the cognitive explanations for offending behaviour?

Answer 12

• Cognitive theories may not be able to explain all examples of offending behaviour, and specifically not all types of crimes. Impulsive crimes appear to be carried out by offenders with no reasoning whatsoever, whilst middle-class financially-driven crimes are more frequently carried out by offender who display pre-conventional reasoning
• Although Kohlberg’s three stages of moral reasoning are comprehensive, other researchers have suggested a different method of organising and naming these stages. for example Gibbs (1979). His ideas of mature and immature reasoning are very similar to Kohlberg’s levels, with immature reasoning being represented by the pre-conventional level and mature reasoning being represented by the conventional level, whilst the ‘culturally biased’ post-conventional level was removed. Therefore, this suggests that the theoretical basis of Kohlberg’s ideas were sound, but a modern update on the organisation of his theory increases the validity.

Question 13

What is a strength of the cognitive explanation for offending behaviour?

Answer 13

+ An improved understanding of cognitive biases and their relationship to specific crimes has a real-life practical application, particularly in the case of sex offenders. Since such offenders are especially susceptible to using minimilisation to justify their crimes,
cognitive therapies such as CBT specifically tackle this problem and result in reduced recidivism rates. This offers a refreshing alternative to the traditional morality solution to criminality, which involved lengthy incarceration with few opportunities for learning and rehabilitation.

Question 14

When do people progress through the stages of moral reasoning ?

Answer 14

As a consequence of biological maturity and also a consequence of having opportunities to discuss and develop their thinking, such as learning to take the perspective of another person.

Question 15

What do criminals believe?

Answer 15

They believe that breaking the law is justified if the rewards outweigh the costs or if punishment can be avoided . (age 10)

Question 16

What is a major limitation of moral reasoning?

Answer 16

Kolhberg’s theory concerns moral thinking rather than behaviour . Krebs and Denton suggests that moral principles are only one factor in moral behaviour and may be overridden by more practicals factors such as making personal financial gains. They found as well that moral principles were used to justify behaviour after it had been performed.