psyc appr

Question 1

general assumptions w/ psyc appr?

Answer 1

-Crime and criminality is, at least to some degree determined by biological dispositions
-Though social exp are not entirely ignored
-Certain behaviors (including those that may influence crime) tend to be learned and reinforced form a very early age
-Criminal behav is result of individual’s personality/psychological makeup
-Shaped by bio and environmental factors

Question 2

intelligence and crime?

Answer 2

-Early positivists examined link of intelligence and crime (IQ)
-Low intelligence is inheritable and a predictor of criminal behav
-Fell out of favor in mid 20th century bc evidence challenged these assumptions
-This link has been reevaluated recently

Question 3

psychoanalysis and crime

Answer 3

-Work of sigmund freud
-Crime understood as the result of various ‘disorders’ of personality, most of which originate in early childhood
-Believed our personalities were made up of and regulated by 3 components: id, ego, superego
-Id: controls unconscious and impulsive bio desires based on ‘pleasure principle’
-Ego: our ‘conscience’ or moral compass which embodies our values and ethics
-Superego: regulator between the id’s desires and the superego’s restraint
-Most interacts with the ‘real’ world based on the ‘reality principle’
-Areas of the personality that are over or underdeveloped can act as a ‘path’ to criminality or other problematic behav
-Weak egos, unrestrained ids, overactive or underdeveloped superegos etc
-All of which are usually formed early on in life
-Can manifest as various personality disorders
-Psychopathy, apd, anxiety disorders etc
-Correlated w/ criminal behav

Question 4

psychopathy?

Answer 4

-Misunderstood, misrepresented and inaccurately applied to several fictional, historical and criminal individuals
-Lack of empathy
Highly successful in their fields
-Many not necessarily violent or ‘criminal’ but environmental factors make the difference
-1% of general population

Question 5

aspd (sociopathy)

Answer 5

-Lack of morality and overt impulsivity and aggression
-Shares many traits w/ psychopaths generally less in control of their impulses and emotions
-‘Created’ via environmental factors (as opposed to psychopaths who seem to be ‘born’ with certain traits)
-All considered psychopaths maybe consider having aspd but not the other way around
-3-5% of general population

Question 6

behav conditioning

Answer 6

-Psychological approach which emphasizes the role of conditioning on our personalities and behav
-Classical conditioning → early roots
-‘Neutral factors’ where paired with desired factors can, over time, ‘condition’ a biological or trained response
-E.g. pavlov’s dogs

Question 7

operant conditioning

Answer 7

-Bf skinner → approach on behaviorism
-‘Rewards and punishment’
-Positive and negative reinforcement
-Can be applied to behave that are criminal or precursors to crime

Question 8

social cognitivism

Answer 8

-Albert bandura
-Modelling: imitating behav by watching others
-Vicarious reinforcement: watching the behaviour of those being rewarded or punished and internalizing it
-Most children emule these behave from adults/teachers/siblings..etc
-Bobo doll experiment