FP - Psychological explanation Flashcards
What does the differential association theory propose?
- Crime is a learned behaviour through associations and interactions with different people with the biggest influence coming from the closest most intimate relationships
- If the number of pro-criminal attitudes an individual comes across outweighs the number of anti-criminal attitudes, they will go on to offend
How does the differential association theory explain reoffending?
- In prison, offenders are spending time with other offenders which can reinforce pro-criminal attitudes outweighing any anti-criminal influences
- Offenders will learn new techniques of crime from others which can result in them adopting more criminal behaviours
Negative evaluation of the differential association theory
- It’s difficult to measure the frequency and intensity of an individuals exposure to criminal attitudes, meaning the theory is difficult to test, weakening it’s credibility
- Incorrect to assume that because an individual has been exposed to more pro-criminal attitude than anti-criminal attitudes that they will automatically become a criminal
Positive evaluation of differential association theory
- It blames the environment not the individual, which promotes rehabilitation unlike the biological explanations
- It can account for both white and blue-collar crimes, unlike many other theories
What does the psychodynamic approach to offending propose?
Proposes that if the superego is somewhat deficient or inadequate then criminal behaviour is inevitable
What is the role of the superego; What are the 3 inadequate superegos and how do they come about?
- The superego is the moral component of the personality
Deviant superego: child internalises abnormal moral standards from criminal same-sex parent
Weak superego: Lack of identification with parent due to absence
Over-harsh superego: Craves punishment due to being accustomed to such feeling because of growing up with over-harsh parents
What are the consequences of having an inadequate superego?
- id has control
-selfish, instant gratification, leading to selfish and impulsive characteristics of a criminal
The maternal deprivation theory explanation for offending
If a child did not form an attachment with their mother during critical attachment period (first two years of life), it will lead to affectionless psychopathy
Negative evaluation of psychodynamic approach to offending
- Freud believed men where more moral due to their stronger superego formed because of castration anxiety. This implies that females should be more prone to criminal behaviour as this assumes they have a more inadequate superego. This is simply not supported by evidence as men commit more crimes than women
- Psychodynamic explanations in general are unfalsifiable as they look into unconscious concepts which cannot be tested scientifically, meaning it lacks validity
What is Eysenck’s personality theory?
Eysenck’s theory of general personality imposed two categories for behaviour representation. These were whether an individual is an extrovert or introvert and whether an individual is neurotic or static. Later on, he discovered another category, psychotic, for the prison population.
What are criminal characteristics according to Eysenck’s theory of personality?
Criminals are said to have high neurotic , psychotic and extrovert scores
What is the biological basis of Eysenck’s theory of personality?
- According to Eysenck, our personality has biological origin and comes from the type of nervous system we inherit
- For example, extroverts inherit an under-active nervous system which means they crave excitement, stimulation and are likely to engage in risk-taking behaviours
Explain the role of socialisation in Eysenck’s theory of personality
- The process of socialisation is one which children are taught to become more able to delay gratification and more socially orientated
- Eysenck believed that individuals with high N and E scores had nervous systems that made them hard to condition which means they are more impatient and crave instant gratification
- Additionally, they would not learn to easily to respond to antisocial impulses with anxiety, thus acting more antisocial when the situation presents itself
What is the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI)?
A psychological test, which measures extraversion and neuroticism and determines a personality type. A later scale was introduced that is used to measure psychoticism.
Negative evaluation of Eysenck’s personality theory
- Oversimplification- It’s unlikely that there is a single criminal personality type
- Reductionist approach, in reality, personality traits can differ depending on who we interact with and what circumstances we are in
- A study on Hispanic and African-American offenders in prison found that they were less extraverted than a non-criminal control group which suggests that Eysenck’s theory is not universal due to cultural differences, questioning the generalisability of his theory.
What are cognitive distortions (Kohlberg)?
- Thought process with logical errors
- Biased ways of thinking which may be used to rationalise or justify offending behaviour
What are Kohlberg’s 3 levels of moral reasoning and what are they based on?
- Pre-conventional: based on reward and punishment
- Conventional: based on external ethics
- Post-conventional: based on personal ethics
Which ‘level’ of moral reasoning do criminals have (Kohlberg)?
Pre-conventional moral reasoning
What is Hostile Attribution Bias (HAB)?
- A type of cognitive distortion
- Judging situations as aggressive and/or threating when in reality they may not be
- May misread non-aggressive cues (such as being looked at) causing a disproportionate, often violent response
What is the research into Hostile Attribution Bias?
- Violent offenders where exposed to facial expressions that were neither clearly hostile or clearly neutral
- Overwhelming majority of offenders viewed the expressions as hostile
What is minimalisation (Kohlberg)?
- A type of cognitive distortion
- Tendency of offenders to downplay the significance of crimes and consequences for victims to use as a coping mechanism for guilt
What is the research into minimalisation (Kohlberg)?
35% of child molesters tried justifying crimes as ‘a way to show affection’
What are two types of cognitive distortions?
- Minimalisation
- Hostile Attribution Bias
Positive evaluation of Kohlberg’s theory
- Kohlberg’s theory can be applied to a rehabilitative setting to improve interventions with prisoners
- Improved the understanding we have of the relationship between cognitive biases and crimes
- The moral dilemmas could be replicated which means it has some reliability
Negative evaluation of Kohlberg’s research
- Moral reasoning does not always translate to moral behaviour, anyone can claim to think a type of way but their actions may say otherwise hence, may lack validity
- People may operate at different levels of moral reasoning depending on circumstance and thus cannot be labelled by slotted into a singular stage
What was the basis of Kohlberg’s level of moral reasoning?
- Kohlberg based his theory on people’s responses to moral dilemmas
