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Psychology A2 > Forensics - Social/Psychological Explanations of Offending Behaviour > Flashcards

Forensics - Social/Psychological Explanations of Offending Behaviour Flashcards

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1
Q

what is eyesenck’s criminal personality theory?

A

the criminal personality type is innate and comes about via the type of nervous system we inherit.

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2
Q

what are the original 2 scales eyesenck used to determine personality type?

A

introversion/extraversion

neuroticism

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3
Q

which scale was added later to determine personality type?

A

psychoticism/normality

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4
Q

what type of personality did eyesenck say criminals have?

A

neurotic, psychotic extroverts

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5
Q

what is neuroticism?

A

tendency to experience negative emotions eg anger, anxiety, depression

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6
Q

what is extroversion?

A

outgoing with positive emotions however may get bored easily

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7
Q

what is psychoticism?

A

egocentricity, impulsivity and lacking of empathy

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8
Q

how is personality type measured?

A

using the eyesenck personality inventory (EPI)

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9
Q

what is the biological basis for extroversion?

A

chronically under-aroused nervous system

constantly seek excitement, stimulation and are likely to engage in risk-taking and dangerous behaviours

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10
Q

what is the biological basis for neuroticism?

A

more reactive sympathetic nervous systems

unstable and so react and get upset easil

may therefore overreact to situations of threat

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11
Q

how can psychoticism be linked to offending behaviour?

A

they are aggressive and lack empathy

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12
Q

what is the process of socialisation?

A

children taught to delay gratification and become socially oriented via conditioning

punished for anti-social behaviours and so even thinking about them creates anxiety

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13
Q

how did eyesenck view offending behaviour?

A

developmentally immature

it is selfish and concerned with immediate gratification.

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14
Q

what did eyesenck would happen to extroverted and neurotic people during socialisation?

A

their nervous systems make them difficult to condition

do not easily learn to respond to antisocial impulses with anxiety

more likely to act antisocial and criminal

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15
Q

what are the advantages of eyesenck’s theories?

A

research support - eysenck compared male prisoners’ scores on EPI with male controls - found to be more psychotic, extraverted and neurotic than controls

used a lie scale on questionnaire to account for social desirability bias

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16
Q

what are the disadvantages of eyesenck’s theories?

A

used a questionnaire as the EPI - social desirability bias

personality not consistent - unreliable as people would score different on different days

determinist - assumes all criminals are extroverted and neurotic, shown that some are introverted and stable

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17
Q

what are cognitive distortions?

A

faulty, biased and irrational ways of thinking

we perceive ourselves, other people and/or the world in a way that does not match reality + is usually negative

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18
Q

what are 2 cognitive distortions that can explain crime?

A

hostile attribution bias

minimalisation

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19
Q

what is hostile attribution bias?

A

tendency to misinterpret other people as aggressive, provocative and/or threatening

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20
Q

how does hostile attribution bias contribute to offending behaviour?

A

rationalises offending behaviour by blaming other factors for it e.g. the victim

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21
Q

what is minimalisation bias?

A

downplaying seriousness of actions to explain the consequences as less significant

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22
Q

how does minimalisation contribute to offending behaviour?

A

offender accepts consequences of their own offences and reduces the negative emotions associated with crimes as they genuinely think what they’re doing is ok

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23
Q

what is kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning?

A

decisions and judgements on issues of right or wrong can be summarised in a stage theory of moral development

higher stage = better moral reasoning

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24
Q

what are the 3 levels in kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning?

A

preconventional morality

conventional morality

post-conventional morality

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25
Q

what are the two stages in the pre-conventional stage of kohlberg’s theory?

A

punishment orientation

reward orientation

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26
Q

what is punishment orientation?

A

Reasoning based on whether or not the act will lead to punishment

27
Q

what is reward orientation?

A

reasoning based on whether an action will lead to a reward

28
Q

what are the 2 stages in the conventional stage of kohlberg’s theory?

A

‘good boy’/’good girl’ orientation

social order orientation

29
Q

what is ‘good boy/girl’ orientation?

A

Reasoning based on what others expect

30
Q

what is social order orientation?

A

reasoning based on doing duties as a citizen

31
Q

what are the 2 stages in the post-conventional level of kohlberg’s theory?

A

Social contract and individual rights orientation

Conscience orientation

32
Q

what is social contract and individual rights orientation?

A

Reasoning based on what is impartially right

eg democratic rules can be challenged if they infringe on the rights of others

33
Q

what is conscious orientation?

A

Reasoning based on one’s own ethical principles

34
Q

how do kohlberg’s levels of moral reasoning link to offending behaviour?

A

he said criminals more likely to have pre-conventional thinking

non-criminals progressed to conventional or beyond

35
Q

why might criminals commit crime if they have pre-conventional morality?

A

they believe that breaking the law is justified if the rewards outweigh the costs or if punishment can be avoided.

36
Q

what are the advantages of using cognitive distortions as an explanation for offending behaviour?

A

research support for hostile attribution bias - offenders found to be more likely to have an aggressive reaction than a control group

research support for minimalisation - found that sex offenders often downplay their crimes

applications - found to be effective using the theory to treat offenders

37
Q

what are the disadvantages of using cognitive distortions to explain offending behaviour?

A

research support tends to be correlationary only

describes what offenders are doing but doesn’t explain

38
Q

what are the advantages of using kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning to explain offending behaviour?

A

research support - found that offending group had less mature reasoning than a control

39
Q

what are the disadvantages of using kohlberg’s theory to explain offending behaviour?

A

gender bias - theory based on studies on men only

gender bias - he then studied women but showed alpha bias saying they were less morally developed then men

reductionist - looks at thinking not behaviour - environmental factors eg poverty may override moral reasoning

40
Q

what is differential association theory?

A

suggests individuals learn values, attitudes, techniques + motives for criminal behaviour through association and interaction with others

41
Q

what does differential association theory say offending behaviour is dependent on?

A

the criminal norms/values of the offender’s social group

42
Q

what are the 2 ways offending is learnt in differential association theory?

A

Learning attitudes towards crime

The learning of specific criminal acts

43
Q

what are the most powerful sources of learning in differential association?

A

Personally relevant (esp. from role models)

Long-lasting

Salient/extreme

During critical period (IWM)

44
Q

what are the advantages of differential association theory?

A

externally valid + holistic - explains lots of types of crime

accounts for environmental factors

research support - found that where there is a criminal father more sons had committed a crime by the age of 18 than control group

45
Q

what are the disadvantages of differential association theory?

A

environmentally reductionist - ignores biological factors and diathesis-stress

research support correlational

socially sensitive/potentially unethical - stereotyping areas as criminal - determinist - self fufilling prophecy

46
Q

what are the key ideas in psychodynamic theories about offending behaviour?

A

unconscious conflicts rooted in early childhood and determined by interactions with parents drive offending behaviour

47
Q

what are the 2 psychodynamic explanations of crime?

A

inadequate superego

maternal deprivation

48
Q

what is the role of the superego?

A

punishes the ego through guilt for wrongdoing, rewards it with pride for moral behaviour

49
Q

what happens if the superego isn’t working properly?

A

offending behaviour is inevitable because the id is given ‘free rein’ and isn’t properly controlled

50
Q

what are the 3 types of inadequate superego?

A

weak/underdeveloped superego

deviant superego

over-harsh/overdeveloped superego

51
Q

how is the weak/underdeveloped superego formed?

A

same-sex parent is absent during phallic stage

child cannot internalise a fully-formed superego as there is no opportunity for identification

52
Q

how does a weak/underdeveloped superego lead to offending behaviour?

A

little control over anti-social behaviour and likely to act in ways that gratify their instinctual id impulses

53
Q

how is the deviant superego formed?

A

superego that the child internalises has immoral or deviant values (e.g. a child with a criminal parent)

54
Q

how does a deviant superego lead to offending behaviour?

A

child may not associate wrongdoing with guilt

55
Q

how is the over-harsh/overdeveloped superego formed?

A

A child internalises the superego of a very strict same-sex parent

Therefore, they develop an excessively harsh superego.

56
Q

how does a over-harsh/overdeveloped superego lead to offending behaviour?

A

individual is guilty and anxious because any time they act on their id impulses - superego active

This unconsciously drives them to offend with a wish to be caught

satisfies superego’s need for punishment and reduce guilt.

57
Q

what is the maternal deprivation theory?

A

If maternal deprivation occurs during the critical period, then the child will experience long-term consequences

these individuals are likely to offend and cannot develop close relationships with others as they lack necessary early experience to do so

58
Q

what is maternal deprivation?

A

long-term separation or loss of emotional care from the mother or mother-substitute

59
Q

what is the main consequence named by bowlby that will occur if a child has suffered maternal deprivation during the critical period?

A

affectionless psychopathy

60
Q

what is affectionless psychopathy?

A

a lack of guilt, empathy or strong emotion for others and responsibility

61
Q

what are the advantages of psychodynamic explanations to explain offending behaviour?

A

research support for maternal deprivation - 44 thieves study

applications - providing alternate emotional care for children separated from parents to prevent

one of the only explanations that accounts for emotional causes and recognises biological factors - holistic

62
Q

what are the disadvantages of psychodynamic explanations to explain offending behaviour?

A

undermining evidence for inadequate superego - found no correlation between missing same-sex parent and offending behaviour

based on Freud’s work - showed a lot of beta bias and androcentrism

Bowlby’s 44 thieves was correlational

undermining evidence - found most important factors are poverty, personality (eyesenck), family history of offending (genetics), low school attainment

63
Q
A

Psychology A2 (13 decks)

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