Psychological explanations: Cognitive explanations Flashcards
Who first applied the concept of moral reasoning to criminal behaviour?
What does Kohlberg’s theory suggest about moral reasoning and decision - making?
Kohlberg, he suggested that people’s decisions and judgements on right and wrong can be categorised into stages of moral development - where the higher the stage, the more sophisticated the reasoning
What method did Kohlberg use to study moral reasoning?
He used a series of moral dilemmas, such as the Heinz dilemma, to assess individuals’ moral development
What did Kohlberg et al. find in their study of violent youth
Violent youths had significantly lower levels of moral reasoning than non - violent youths, even after controlling factors like, social background
What is the general relationship between criminal behaviour and moral reasoning?
Studies suggest that criminals tend to have a lower level of moral reasoning compared to non - criminals
At which level of Kohlberg’s model are criminal offenders more likely to be classified?
At which level of Kohlberg’s model are non - criminals generally classified?
The pre - conventional level (stages 1 and 2)
The conventional level and beyond
What characterises the pre - conventional level of moral reasoning?
A need to avoid punishment and gain rewards, associated with less mature, childlike reasoning
Why might adults or adolescents at the pre - conventional level commit crimes?
They may commit crimes if they believe they can get away with it or gain rewards (e.g, money, respect)
What did Chandler find about offenders’ cognitive traits?
Offenders are often more egocentric (self - centred) and have poorer social perspective - taking skills than non - offenders
How do individuals at higher levels of moral reasoning behave?
They are more likely to sympathise with others’ rights and exhibit honesty, generosity, and nonviolence
What are cognitive distortions?
Errors or biases in people’s information processing system, characterised by faulty thinking
When do people typically show evidence of faulty thinking?
When explaining their own behaviour, especially if it was unexpected or out of character
How are cognitive distortions linked to criminal behaviour?
Research suggest that criminals misinterpret other people’s behaviour and justify their own actions using cognitive distortions
What are the two examples of cognitive distortion? (H-A-B + M)
The two main examples are hostile attribution bias and minimisation
What is hostile attribution bias?
A cognitive distortion where individuals misinterpret others’ actions as confrontational or hostile, even when they are not
How is hostile attribution bias linked to criminal behaviour?
Offenders may misread non - aggressive cues (eg. being looked at), leading to a disproportionate, often violent response
What did Schonenberg and Justye find in their study on violent offenders?
These psychologists found when shown emotionally ambiguous facial expressions, violent offenders were significantly more likely to perceive them as angry and hostile than a non - aggressive control group
What study suggests hostile attribution bias may develop in childhood?
Dodge and Frame showed children a video of an ambiguous provocation. Aggressive and rejected children were more likely to interpret the situation as hostile compared to non - aggressive and accepted children
What is minimalisation?
A cognitive distortion where offenders deny or downplay the seriousness of their offences
Give an example of minimalisation in burglary
Burglars may describe their crimes as ‘doing a job’ or ‘supporting my family’ to justify their actions
What type of offenders are particularly prone to minimalisation?
Sexual offenders often use minimalisation to justify or deny their actions
What did Barbaree find in his study of 26 incarcerated rapists?
Barbaree studied 26 incarcerated rapists and found that 54% denied they had committed an offence at all and a further 40% minimised the harm caused to the victim
What did Pollock and Hashmall find about child molesters’ use of minimalisation?
They found that 35% claimed their crime was non - sexual, saying they were ‘just being affectionate’ and another 36% stated that the victim had consented
What is a strength of the cognitive explanation? (application of research)
> Understanding the nature of cognitive distortions has proven beneficial in the treatment of criminal behaviour
> The dominant approach in the rehabilitation of sex offenders is cognitive behaviour therapy which encourages offenders to “face up” to what they have done and establish a less distorted view of their actions
> Studies suggest that reduced incidence of denial and minimalisation in therapy is highly correlated with a reduced risk of reoffending as acceptance of one’s crimes is thought to be an important aspect of rehabilitation
What is a limitation of the cognitive explanation? (individual differences)
> The level of moral reasoning may depend on the type of offence
> Psychologists found that individuals who committed crimes for financial gain (robbery), were more likely to show preconventional moral reasoning than those convicted of impulsive crimes (assault) where reasoning of any kind tended to not be evident
> Preconventional moral reasoning tends to be associated with crimes in which offenders believe they have a good chance of evading punishment
> Psychologists have also suggested that intelligence may be a better predictor of criminality than moral reasoning
> This would explain why groups with lower levels of intelligence are less likely to commit crime despite them also having low levels of moral reasoning
What is an evaluation point of the cognitive explanations?
> Palmer and Hollin compared moral reasoning between 210 female non - offenders, 122 male non - offenders and 126 convicted offenders using the SRM-SF, which contains 11 moral dilemma - related questions such as not taking things that belong to others and keeping a promise to a friend.
> The delinquent group showed less mature moral reasoning than the non - delinquent which was consistent with Kohlberg’s predictions
> Another psychologist suggested that delinquents may show poor moral reasoning development due to a lack of role playing opportunities in childhood
> Such opportunities to develop moral reasoning should therefore be provided
What is a limitation of the cognitive explanation? (descriptive, not explanatory)
> One key failing with the cognitive approach is that, whilst it is good at describing the criminal mind it is rather less successful when it comes to explaining it.
> Cognitive explanations are essentially “after the fact” theories, although they may be useful when predicting reoffending, they tend not to give much insight into why the offender committed crime in. the first place.
> Compared to the biological approach, which is more determinist, identifying the cause of criminal behaviour
