Psychological expl - Cognitive explanations Flashcards
Cognitive explanations
suggests that there are ways if thinking, internal mental processes about the world and moral decisions that lead to offending behaviour
What did Kohlberg suggest with levels of moral reasoning
suggests through development we pass through three levels of moral reasoning, at each level we demonstrate greater moral maturity. Criminal behaviour is more likely in people who dont reach the higher levels of moral reasoning
What is the first level of moral reasoning
Criminals argued to be stuck at the first pre-conventional level
Pre-conventional level:
morality is considered only in terms of how their actions effect them.
What are the two stages of the pre-conventional level of moral reasoning
Two stages:
Stage 1: punishment orientation - correct behaviour is whatever will help them avoid punishment, so criminal behaviour will happen if they feel they can get away with the crime.
Stage 2: reward orientation - correct behaviour is whatever will be most rewarding, so criminal behaviour will happen if they feel the reward outweighs the risk
What is the second level of moral reasoning
(DONT need to know)
Conventional level:
criminal behaviour less likely as they consider what is best for their personal relationships and society
What is the third level of moral reasoning
(DONT NEED TO KNOW)
Post conventional level:
people now consider general moral principles and what is fundamentally right or wrong
Cognitive distortions
are failures of the mind in accurately representing reality. Thinking is irrational, leading to misunderstanding what is true about your own or others behaviour. This misunderstanding of reality leads to behavioural responses that can be criminal in nature
Examples of cognitive distortions
Hostile attribution bias and minimalisation
What is hostile attribution bias
when our inferences about other peoples internal mental states are biased to assume they have negative intentions.
These assumptions are made from misreading body language or what someone says as aggressive.
For example someone accidentally bumping into someone in the bar is interpreted as an attack and results in an aggressive response
What is minimalisation
when interpreting our own behaviour is seen as less serious than it really is. They may deny that their actions actually caused harm to the victim or the victim was in some way to blame. This attempts to justify their offending behaviour and reduce personal feelings of guilt.
Cognitive explanations strength
Hollin and Palmer assessed the level of moral reasoning in offenders compared to non delinquents, all were between 13 to 22 years old. Male offenders showed poorer moral reasoning on 10 of the 11 questions compared to male non offenders. Suggesting offenders do have developmental moral deficits
Understanding the link between offending behaviour and cognitive processing means CBT could be used to change offender’s irrational thinking. This application of psychological research could reduce the cost offending has on the economy
Cognitive explanations limitations
Kohlbergs theory is based on the use of hypothetical ‘dilemma’ tasks. Its likely due to social desirability bias, people are unlikely to respond honestly, or even know how they would act. Meaning generalisability to real-life offences is limited
Kolhberg developed his theory using an all-male sample. Kohlberg assumed his theory would apply to women (beta bias). However, when women were tested, they appeared to be less morally developed. As men are significantly more likely to be offenders this suggests Kohlbergs ideas are not generalisable. Gilligan argues Kohlbergs entire theory is gender biased, focusing on male ideas of justice, not female ideas of ‘care’.
