Lesson 6: Cognitive Explanations

Question 1

Who devised the stages of moral development?

Answer 1

Kohlberg (1973)

Question 2

Stages of moral reasoning

Answer 2

Pre-Conventional (Age 3-7) – Individuals show concern for self-interest and external rewards and punishments (most criminals are in this stage). Criminals are concerned with what can be gained or lost.

Conventional – Individual does what is expected of them by others

Post-Conventional – Individual develops more autonomy and decision making is based on principles of right and justice.

Question 3

Strengths of Kohlberg’s model

Answer 3

• Palmer and Hollin (1998) compared the moral reasoning of 210 female non-offenders, 122 male non-offenders and 126 convicted felons using 11 moral dilemmas. For example, not taking things that belong to others. Offenders showed less mature moral reasoning than the non-offenders

Question 4

Weaknesses of Kohlberg’s model

Answer 4

The level of moral reasoning may depend on the type of offence. Thornton and Reid (1982) found that individuals who committed crimes for financial gain, like robbery were more likely to show pre-conventional reasoning compared to those who were convicted of impulsive crimes like assault, where no reasoning was evident

Question 5

What are cognitive distortions?

Answer 5

Dysfunctional or biased perception of their offence which may legitimise their behaviour and maintain a positive self-image.

Question 6

Hostile attribution bias

Answer 6

An offender may misinterpret a social cue and as a result, attribute the cause of their subsequent offence to their victim. For example, an assault may be attributed to a perceived act of provocation on the part of the victim, in which the offender then retaliated to. Offenders tend to judge ambiguous situations or the actions of others as aggressive or threatening when they are not.

Question 7

Minimalisation

Answer 7

Offenders may justify their offence to themselves by playing down the significance of their actions. They nay justify an assault to themselves by thinking that their victim’s injuries were mild. This bias acts to reduce the offender’s feeling of guilt. A burglar may same they are just ‘doing a job’. Sex offenders are prone to this

Question 8

Strengths of cognitive distortions

Answer 8

Understanding the nature of cognitive distortions has proven beneficial in the treatment of criminal behaviour. The dominant approach in rehab of sex offenders is CBT. This encourages offenders to face their crimes and establish a less distorted view of their actions. A reduced incidence of cognitive distortions in therapy is correlated with a reduced risk of offending

Question 9

Weaknesses of cognitive distortions

Answer 9

• Hostile attribution bias can explain aggressive behaviours better than pre-medicated or planned aggression
• Minimisation can describe how an offender rationalises and interprets their behaviour and actions after the event, but does necessarily explain the initial cause of the offending
• On key failing with the cognitive explanation is that it does not account for the source of these thoughts. People may be born with cognitive distortions, or may be the result of traumas
• Cognitive distortions cannot be observed or measured. Psychologists have to rely on self-reports or their own inferences to determine what someone is thinking. This means that this approach is not particularly scientific