Psychological Explanations Of Offending Behaviour: Cognitive Distortions

Question 1

What does the Cognitive Distortions theory suggest?

Answer 1

That criminal behaviour is the result of faulty information processing in the minds of offenders

Question 2

What is hostile attribution bias?

Answer 2

The tendency to misinterpret the actions/cues of others (i.e. assuming others are being confrontational when they aren’t). Therefore ‘blame’ for offending behaviour is placed onto external factors like other people’s actions.

Question 3

What is a strength of hostile attribution bias? (Research support)

Answer 3

55 violent offenders shown images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions — Offenders significantly more likely to perceive images as angry & hostile, compared to matched control group of non-offenders

Question 4

What is a limitation of hostile attribution bias? (Limited applications)

Answer 4

HAB could explain impulsive violence but it’s difficult to explain planned violence (e.g. premeditated murder) — suggests it can’t only explain some types of crime so is a limited explanation

Question 5

What is minimalisation?

Answer 5

Refers to an offender downplaying or denying the seriousness of the offence committed. (Could include downplaying the effects of the crime, rationalising why they did it or trivialising the acts they committed)

Question 6

Which types of offenders are more prone to minimalisation?

Answer 6

Those that commit sexual offences

Question 7

What is a strength of minimalisation? (Research support)

Answer 7

Barbaree (1991) — found among 26 convicted rapists, 54% denied they had committed an offence at all & a further 40% minimised the harm they had caused.

Question 8

What is a strength of minimalisation? (Real-life application)

Answer 8

Used in CBT for sex offenders (who tend to use minimalisation to justify their crimes) — results in reduced reoffending rates

Question 9

What is a limitation of cognitive distortions as an explanation of offending behaviour? (Other factors)

Answer 9

Some criminals don’t exhibit either hostile attribution bias or minimalisation — suggests other factors must be considered for a complete explanation (e.g. biology or learning approaches)