Personality as an explanation of crime and anti-social behaviour Flashcards
Who came up with the criminal personality?
Eysenck
What are the two dimensions of personality related to the criminal type?
Extroversion - Introversion
Neuroticism - Stability
How is an extrovert described?
Crave excitement and stimulation.
Tend not to condition so do not learn from their mistakes.
Would not be affected as strongly by punishment.
How would the nervous system of an extrovert differ?
Underactive nervous system which requires unusually high levels of arousal.
How would you describe someone that is neurotic?
Easily agitated and anxious.
General instability means their behaviour is difficult to predict.
What is the third dimension of the criminal personality that Eysenck added later?
Psychoticism
This is seen in people who are self-centred, cold and lack empathy for others.
How did Eysenck measure the criminal type?
By using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), a questionnaire that places respondents along E, N and P dimensions.
What is the socialisation process?
Eysenck’s explanation has a biological emphasis but he also acknowledged that the socialisation process in childhood determines whether a person becomes law abiding or not.
However, extroverts would be less receptive to Operant Conditioning and therefore less affected by punishment.
Similarly, high neuroticism interferes with efficient learning.
Who provided empirical evidence supporting the existence of a criminal type?
Boduszek et al (2013)
Investigated Eysenck’s personality traits in repeat offenders (133 violent and 179 non-violent males in a high security prison).
A criminal thinking style correlated with high PEN scores.
This shows Eysenck’s theory has validity as the personality types he identified are associated with repeat offending.
Who provided a counter argument for the evidence of a criminal personality?
Farrington et al (1982)
They found little evidence that Eysenck’s Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) was an adequate measure for predicting offending.
A weakness of Eysenck’s criminal personality type is the five factor model but what is it?
It accepts Eysenck’s concepts of Extraversion and Neuroticism but also adds openness, conscientiousness and agreeableness (OCEAN).
This shows that personality may be more complicated than Eysenck suggested.
Who provided supported for the biological basis of criminal personality?
Raine et al (1990) BUT not the classic study.
They took measures from participants aged 15 years and related these to later criminal status.
24 years later those who had a criminal record had shown more signs of an underactive nervous system when aged 15.
How can Eysenck’s personality theory be applied to the real world?
Early crime prevention.
Early intervention could modify the socialisation experiences of high risk people to prevent them becoming offenders.
How is Eysenck’s personality theory linked to issues and debates?
Integrates different ways of explaining behaviour.
It acknowledges genetic and physiological factors as well as individual differences in personality and socialisation.
It is a more interactionist approach and recognises that crime is a complex social activity that is likely to have different influences.
