Individualistic Theories

Question 1

What is the Operant Conditioning Theory

Answer 1

believes our behavior is shaped by
reinforcements and punishments.

Behavior that results in a reward
is likely to be repeated – positive reinforcement

Behavior leads to an undesirable
outcome is not likely to be repeated – punishment

Question 2

What is behaviorism in operant conditioning

Answer 2

The cause of someone’s behavior lies in the reinforcements and punishments that shape it.

Question 3

How does Operant conditioning explain the causes of criminality

Answer 3

Skinner

All behavior good and bad, is the result of reinforcements and punishments, therefore operant conditioning must also explain criminal behavior

Differential reinforcement theory

If crime has more rewarding consequences than punishing ones for an individual, they are more likely to engage in criminal behavior.

Question 4

Strengths of operant conditioning

Answer 4

Skinner’s studies of learning in animals show that they learn from experience through reinforcement. Some human learning is also of this kind.

This can be applied to offending. Jeffery states that if crime leads to more rewarding than punishing outcomes for an individual, they will be more likely to offend.

Question 5

Limitations of operant conditioning

Answer 5

Operant learning theory is based on studies of learning in animals. This is not an adequate model of how humans learn criminal behavior.

Humans have free will and can choose their course of action. For example, we can choose to do something that causes us suffering in order to help someone else.

Question 6

What is the Social learning theory

Answer 6

it believes that very young children imitate the behavior they see in social situations.
The people children imitate are ‘models’, they model their behavior on how they see them behaving.

Question 7

How does the social learning theory explain the causes of criminality

Answer 7

Bandura believed that we learn aggressive behavior – by imitating other people.

Vicarious reinforcement - Whether we imitate mainly depends on the
consequences of that behavior.
If we see a model being rewarded for their behavior, we are more likely to imitate it.

Question 8

What was Banduras experiment

Answer 8

The Bo-Bo doll experiment

Children watched as an adult used their hands and equipment to hit a Bo-Bo doll, the children were then allowed into this room and repeated the adults actions

Question 9

Strengths of the Social learning theory

Answer 9

Unlike Skinner, Bandura takes account of the fact that we are social beings. We learn from the experiences of others, not just from our own direct experience.

Bandura shows that children who observed aggressive behavior being rewarded, imitated that behavior. This shows the importance of role models in learning deviant behavior.

Question 10

Limitations of the Social learning theory

Answer 10

The theory is based on laboratory studies. Laboratories are artificial settings and findings may not be valid for real-life situations.

The theory assumes people’s behavior is completely determined by their learning experiences and ignores their freedom of choice. This also conflicts with legal views of crime, which assume that we have free will to commit crime.

Question 11

What is the differential association theory and its 2 factors

Answer 11

believes that criminal behaviour is learnt largely through family and peer groups.

2 key factors

Imitation – individuals learn criminal skills and techniques by observing those around them

Learned attitudes – socialization into attitudes and values about the law and the CJS.

Question 12

How does the differential association theory link to the causes of criminality

Answer 12

Anti-crime attitudes would reduce the likelihood of
criminal behaviour.

Pro-crime attitudes – If exposed to these values, they
may go on to offend.

If pro-crime attitudes outweigh anti-crime then more likely
to offend.

Question 13

Strengths of the Differential association theory

Answer 13

Matthews found that juvenile delinquents are more likely to have friends who commit anti social acts, suggesting that they learn their behavior from peer groups.

The attitudes of work groups can normalize white collar crime, enabling offenders to justify their behavior.

Question 14

Limitation of the Differential Association theory

Answer 14

Not everyone who is exposed to ‘criminal influences’ becomes criminal. They might learn from family or peers how to commit crime, but never put this into practice.

Question 15

What is Freuds Psychodynamic Theory

Answer 15

THE PSYCHODYNAMIC MIND

Freud suggested that the part of the
mind we know about is simply ‘the
tip of an iceberg’. Most of our mind
is unconscious – these are biological drives that determine our behavior & personality. These unconscious forces drive all behavior – including criminality.

Question 16

What was Freud’s experiment

Answer 16

One way to access the unconscious
mind is through using inkblot tests.
By giving patients / criminals an
ambiguous picture to analyze the
therapist can make conclusions about that persons personality

Question 17

What are the three principles and what do they mean

Answer 17

ID: Present at birth and operates on the pleasure principle – it gets what it wants.

EGO: Develops at around the age of two and it works on the reality principle. It reduces conflict between the ID & SUPEREGO using
defense mechanisms.

SUPEREGO: Develops around the age of 5 years old and it works on the morality principle. It represents the moral standards of the same-sex parent and is responsible for guilt.

Question 18

How does each overdeveloped principle relate to criminality

Answer 18

ID: A person will act impulsively ‘taking what they want’, leading to criminal behavior.

SUPEREGO: A person will be moralistic and judgmental
when perfection is not achieved.

EGO: Struggle to accept changed and have a fixed / rigid
lifestyle.

Question 19

How do we develop a dominant ID

Answer 19

A person will develop a dominant ID in the event that
children don’t fully develop ego’s and superego’s through
identifying with their same-sex parents.

Question 20

Strengths to Freud

Answer 20

The theory points to the importance of early socialization and family relationships in understanding criminal behavior.

Psychoanalytic explanations have had some influence on policies for dealing with crime and deviance.

Question 21

Limitations to Freud

Answer 21

Critics doubt the existence of an ‘unconscious mind’ - how could we know about it, if it’s unconscious?

Psychoanalytic explanations are unscientific and subjective - they rely on accepting the psychoanalyst’s claims that they can see into the workings of the individual’s unconscious mind to discover their inner conflicts and motivations.

Question 22

What is Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory

Answer 22

He argues there is a link between maternal deprivation and deviant or anti-social behaviour.

In his view, a child needs a close, continuous relationship with its primary carer (Bowlby
assumed to be the mother) from birth to the age of 5 in order to develop normally.

If the mother-child attachment is broken through separation, even for a short period, it can
leave the child unable to form meaningful emotional relationships with others.

In some cases, this can lead to criminal behavior.

Question 23

What was Bowlby’s experiment

Answer 23

Bowlby (1944) studied 44 juvenile delinquents, and compared them to non-criminal juveniles. Of the criminals, 39% had experienced separation from their mothers for
six months or more, during the first five years compared to just 5% of the control group.

Question 24

Strengths to Bowlby

Answer 24

Bowiby’s research showed that more of his sample of 44 juvenile delinquents had suffered maternal
deprivation (39%) than a control group of non-delinquents (5%).

His work shows the need to consider the role of parent-child relationships in explaining criminality.

Question 25

Limitations to Bowlby

Answer 25

It was a retrospective study, where delinquents and their mothers had to accurately recall past events. This can be a problem, especially if it involves recalling emotive experiences.

Bowlby accounts for the delinquency of 39% of the children in terms of maternal deprivation but doesn’t explain why the other 61 % were delinquent. Deprivation cannot be the only cause.

Question 26

What is Eysenck’s personality theory

Answer 26

Eysenck believed that certain personality types were more likely to commit crime because they craved excitement, but are
slow to learn consequences.

Question 27

What was Eysenck’s Experiment

Answer 27

He carried out a questionnaire on 700soldiers who were being treated for neurotic disorders. He used their answers to develop different personality traits.

Question 28

What were the two traits Eysenck focused on, and what do they mean

Answer 28

Extraversion / Introversion: Concerns the amount of stimulation a person needs. Extroverts are sociable but become bored very easily. Introverts need very little stimulation and are often in control of their situations.

Neuroticism / Stability: Neurotics are often anxious and irrational. Whereas stable personalities
worry less and are more emotionally well-adjusted.

Question 29

What was the third trait Eysenck later introduced

Answer 29

Eysenck later added a
third trait: psychoticism. These
people are cold, uncaring and aggressive to others and will
further indicate a tendency to criminality.

Question 30

How dos Eysenck’s theory explain the causes of criminality

Answer 30

Eysenck found criminals score very
highly on extroversion and neuroticism.

Extroverts - nervous system needs a high level of stimulation from their
environment, so are constantly seeking excitement. leads to impulsive, rule breaking behavior.

Neurotics – Are hard to condition into following society’s rule because
their high anxiety levels prevent them from. Learning from their mistakes.

Therefore a combination of the two is likely to lead to criminality

Question 31

Strengths of Eysenck’s theory

Answer 31

The theory is useful in describing how some measurable tendencies could increase a person’s risk of offending.

Eysenck predicts that high E, N and P scores lead to criminality and some studies support his predictions; offenders tend towards being extravert, neurotic and psychotic.

Question 32

Limitations to Eysenck’s theory

Answer 32

Eysenck used self-report questionnaires, which may not produce valid results; people may lie when asked about themselves.

Evidence on prisoners shows a correlation between personality type and criminality, but this
doesn’t prove that personality type causes criminality. It could be the other way round: being in prison might cause people to become neurotic.

Question 33

What is a Cognitive Theory

Answer 33

Cognition refers to thinking and mental processes such as beliefs, reasoning, problem solving, decision making, our self concept and how we interpret the work
around us.

Cognitive theories argue that these mental processes shape our behavior

Question 34

What is the Criminal personality theory

Answer 34

Criminal are prone to faulty thinking which makes them more likely to commit crime

Question 35

What was Yochelson & Samenow’s experiment

Answer 35

They studied 240 long term offenders, most of whom committed to psychiatric hospital

The results showed a range of errors and biases in their thinking & decision, such as: lying, Secretiveness, Need for power and control, Super optimism, Failure to understand other’s positions, Lack of trust, Believed they were Unique, Gave themselves victim status, Blamed others

Question 36

Strengths of the Criminal personality Theory

Answer 36

The idea that criminals’ thinking patterns are different from normal has led to other research.

For example, PICT5 (the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles) is a questionnaire aimed at revealing whether someone shows criminal thought patterns.

Successful treatments, known as cognitive behavioral therapy, have been developed based on the idea that criminals’ thought processes can be corrected with treatment.

Question 37

Limitations of the criminal personality theory

Answer 37

Yochelson and Samenow did not use a control group of non-criminals to see if ‘normal’ people also make the same thinking errors.

Their sample was unrepresentative: there were no women and most of the men had been found insane and sent to psychiatric hospital. Yet Yochelson and Samenow claim that all offenders share the same thinking errors as this sample.

Question 38

What is the Moral thinking theory

Answer 38

Kohlberg believes that our stages of moral development progress through stages as we progress from childhood to adulthood.

Pre-conventional moral reasoning.
Very young children define right and wrong simply in terms whether an act brings punishment or reward.

Post-conventional moral reasoning.
By adulthood of sense of right or wrong is determined by our own deeply held moral principles which
are seen as more important than the laws of the land.

Question 39

How does the moral thinking theory link to criminality

Answer 39

Criminals don’t develop their moral
thinking. They are a stuck at a less mature level than everyone else.

They think in terms of whether their
action will lead to reward or punishment, and not about the impact their action might have on other people.

Their lack of ability to engage in moral reasoning causes them to offend.

Question 40

Strengths to the Moral thinking theory

Answer 40

Some studies show delinquents are more likely to have immature moral development, as the theory predicts.

Thornton and Reid found the theory to be truer for crimes such as theft and robbery (which may involve reasoning) than crimes of violence (which are often impulsive).

Question 41

Limitation of the Moral thinking

Answer 41

Kohlberg focuses on moral thinking rather than moral behavior. Someone may be perfectly capable of thinking morally while acting immorally.