Kohlberg’s Cognitive Explanation Flashcards
What is moral reasoning
How individuals think about right and wrong and how they apply moral rules
What does Kohlberg suggest about moral reasoning of criminals
Have lower levels of moral reasoning than non-criminals (higher the stage the more sophisticated the moral reasoning)
-classified at preconventional morality level (characterised by avoiding punishment and gaining rewards associated with less mature child like reasoning)
Why does having lower stage moral reasoning lead to criminal behaviour
As more likely to commit a crime if they think they can get away with it/gain something in return, cannot sympathise with rights of others to progress to higher levels
What are cognitive distortion
Habitual ways of thinking that are often inaccurate and negatively biased
What is hostile attribution bias
Tendency to judge ambiguous situations as aggressive/threatening when they’re not which may then trigger an overreaction leading to possible violent response
Cause of hostile attribution bias
Roots in childhood, children deemed as previously classed as aggressive/rejected were more likely to interpret ambiguous scenarios as hostile in comparison to a control group
What is minimalisation
Type of deception that involves downplaying the significance of an event/emotion
-strategy used to deal with feelings of guilt and is a type of euphemistic labelling
Who is minimalisation typically used by
Individuals who commit sexual offences, 35% of child molesters argued that the crime they committed was not sexual and they were just being affectionate
How did Kohlberg measure level of moral reasoning
Using Heinz dilemma to give from level 1 (preconventional morality- obey to avoid punishment/for personal gain) , 2 (conventional morality- obey for approval, to maintain social order), 3 (post conventional morality- establish own set of rules in accordance with own ethical principles)
Expand on strength that there is evidence to support level of moral reasoning
-study compared moral reasoning between offenders and non-offenders using measure which contains 11 moral dilemma related questions eg not taking things that belong to others and keeping a promise to a friend
-delinquent group showed less mature moral reasoning which is consistent with Kohlberg’s predictions, potentially due to a lack of role playing opportunities in childhood
Expand on limitation that there are alternative theories of moral reasoning
-Gibbs proposed revised version comprising two levels of reasoning: mature and immature
-in immature moral decisions are guided by avoidance of punishment and personal gain and in second by empathy, social justice and one’s own conscience
-argued post-conventional should be abandoned as culturally biased towards Western culture and did not represent a natural maturational stage of cognitive development
-challenges validity of three stages Kohlberg proposed
Expand on strength that there are applications of the research
-understanding the nature of cognitive distortions has proven beneficial in treatment of criminal behaviour eg in the rehabilitation of sex offenders using CBT which encourages offenders to face up to what they have done and establishes a less distorted view of their actions
-studies suggest reduced incidence of denial and minimisation in therapy is highly correlated with reduced risk of reoffending, positive real world impact
Expand on limitation that the approach is descriptive not explanatory
-less successful at explaining the criminal mind than describing it
-involves processes which happen after crime committed eg minimalisation
-potentially useful when predicting reoffending but do not give us much insight into why the offender committed crime in the first place and why these processes not found in all criminals unlike biological approach which considers causes such as MAOA and CDH13 genes
