individual differences of criminal behaviour Flashcards
2 explanations?
- eysenck criminal personality
- cognitive factors
what is cognitive factors focused on ?
focused on the way thinking affects behaviour, criminals suffer from several cognitive distortions these don’t represent reality
what is attribution ?
refers to how we interpret the cause of our own as well as others behaviour.
what is internal attribution?
when we think the cause of someones behaviour is down to them, if we blame ourselves we are less likely to behave in antisocial ways due to taking accountability and apologising
what is external attribution?
is when someone blames their criminal behaviour on external factors such as society and circumstances. blaming everyone else is more linked to criminal behaviour
what is hostile attribution bias ?
when individuals lean towards interpreting others behaviour in a negative way. such as is someone smiles at you, you think they’re secretly making fun at you. this likely leads to an aggressive response and a violent crime action
what is minimalisation/ magnification ?
refers to the consequences of the situation in which we find ourselves in, criminals are prone to minimalistic thinking as they underplay the consequence of their actions meaning criminal behaviour can be engaged without guilt.
example of minimisation / magnification?
a person parking their car accidentally bumps a car and has to decide whether to leave their number
3 levels of moral reasoning ?
hollin et al found:
1. preconventional stage
2. conventional stage
3. postconventional stage
pre conventional stage ?
breaking the law can be justified if the punishment can be avoided and the benefits outweigh the costs
conventional stage ?
breaking the law is justified if it maintains relationships or society
postconventional stage ?
breaking the law is justified if it maintains human rights or further social justice
level of moral reasoning - hollin stated ?
crimes are more likely to be committed by people at a lower level of moral reasoning, so offenders are characteristically less mature
4 evaluation points for cognitive factors ?
- research support
- issues of cause and effect
- gender bias
- limitations of kohlbergs theory
research support for cognitive factors ?
- hostile attribution - Schoenberg shown emotionally ambiguous faces to 55 antisocial violent offenders in prison and compared their responses to a matched control group of normal PT. the faces showed angry, happy and fearful emotions in different levels of intensity. The offenders were more likely to interpret any picture that had some anger and expression of aggression. this may explain aggressive impulsive behaviour in susceptible induviduals
- minimisation - pollock and hasmall found 35% of child molesters attempted to justify their crimes as non malicious and simply a way of showing affection whilst 36% did not accept committing a crime at all they perceived the child as consenting. suggesting that sex offenders and other offenders attempt to protect themselves by blaming events on external sources
issue of cause and effect - cognitive factors?
although theres evidence that supports the notion that criminals have distorted thinking and lower moral reasoning. however, theres limitations such a cause and effect issues. is it distorted thinking that leads to criminal behaviour or is it the criminal behaviour that leads to disordered thinking. additionally this explanation doesn’t explain why cognitive errors occur is it nature or nurture
gender bias - cognitive factors ?
research support for many of the cognitive factors have been carried out on males including kohlbergs research therefore findings are gender biased and can only explain male criminal behaviour and isn’t generalisable to females. Gilligan suggested the theory is focused on a male perspective of justice whereas females focus on caring. it could be females reasoning for carrying out criminal acts may be different
limitations of kohlbergs theory ?
link between moral thinking and criminal behaviour may not be able to explain all crimes. for example Thornton found impulsive crimes appear to be carried out by offenders with no moral reasoning as it was impulsive behaviour. therefore can’t be a stand alone explanation
what is eysencks theory of personality ?
this theory suggests criminals have a particular personality type and differ from the innocent in certain aspects
what are the 3 aspects of criminal personality ?
- extraversion
- neuroticism
- psychoticsm
extraversion link to criminal behaviour ?
extraverts condition much more slowly , this lack of conditioning results in poor socialisation and increases likelihood of criminal behaviour…
neuroticism link criminal behaviour ?
people high in neuroticism are prone to over reacting in threatening situations which may explain some criminal behaviour as they are prone to anxiety and depression
psychoticism link to criminal behaviour ?
high in psychoticism are more willing to break rules and are tough minded, inconsiderate and hostile leading to impulsive behaviour. this is biologically related to higher levels of testosterone resulting in criminal behaviour due to aggressiveness and lack of empathy
evaluation for eyesneck theory ?
personality theories assume that personality is consistent however a wast amount of psychologists support situational perspective, suggesting people may be consistent in similar situations but not all. for example someone could be relaxed at home buy neurotic at work. mischel has supported the situational theory through a study askinging family, firends and strangers to rate 63 students in a variety of situations and found almost no correlation between traits displayed
