Psychological Explanations - Cognitive Explanations Flashcards
What did Kohlberg propose?
That peoples decisions and judgements on issues of right and wrong cane summarised in a stage theory of moral development. The higher the stage, the more sophisticated the reasoning.
What are criminals more likely to be classified as?
Pre-conventional, characterised by a need to avoid punishment and gain rewards.
What is Level 2?
Conventional morality - the ‘Good Boy/Girl’ orientation where rules are obeyed for approval and maintenance of the social order.
What is Level 3?
Post-conventional, with morality of contract and individual rights. Rules are obeyed if they are impartial and do not infringe on any rights, and Morality of Conscience is where one obeys rules because they align with their own personal beliefs.
What was Kohlberg’s procedure?
He has 72 Chicago boys aged 10-16, 58 of whom were followed up at 3-yearly intervals for 20 years. Each boy was given a 2-hour interview based on the 2 dilemmas. He was not interested in their answer, but in their reasoning behind it. The reasons tended to change and become more sophisticated as they got older.
What was Kohlberg’s procedure?
He has 72 Chicago boys aged 10-16, 58 of whom were followed up at 3-yearly intervals for 20 years. Each boy was given a 2-hour interview based on the 2 dilemmas. He was not interested in their answer, but in their reasoning behind it. The reasons tended to change and become more sophisticated as they got older.
What were Kohlberg’s findings?
He found that a group of violent youths were significantly lower on their moral development than non-violent youths.
What is the limitation - Palmer and Hollin?
There is research evidence to support his theory. They compared moral reasoning between 210 female non-offenders, 122 male non-offenders and 126 offenders using 11 moral dilemma-related questions. This supporting evidence suggests that low levels of moral reasoning are strongly associated with criminal behaviour.
What is the limitation - Thornton and Reid?
They found that people who did crime for financial gain were likely to have pre-conventional moral reasoning. However, crimes that are impulsive were likely have later levels of reasoning. This is a limitation because cognitive theories may not be able to explain all types of behaviour in all types of crime.
What is the limitation - Rosen?
The Heinz dilemma has been criticised as a tool - Rosen argues the scenario lacks validity as the children have no way of assessing their moral reasoning - they have never been married or in this situation. This is age bias, as the situation is too abstract for them to be able to relate it to their lives.
