psychological explnantions - eysecks theory Flashcards
personality theory
proposed that behaviour could be represented along two dimensions
introversion-extra version
neuroticism-stability
two dimensions combine to form a variety of personality characterisitcs or traits
ps§§psychotic is- socialbility
biological basis
personality traits are biological
come about through the type of nervous system we inherit
all personality types including the criminal personality types have an innate biological basis
extraverts - have an under active nervous system which means they constantly seek excitement stimulation and are likely to engage in risk taking behaviours also tend not to condion easily and therefore do not learn from their mistakes
neurotic - indivuals have a high level of reactivity in the sympathetic nervous system
respond quickly to situations of threat (fight or flight)
tend to be nervous jumpy and over anxious
behaviour is had to predict
psychotic - individuals are suggested to have higher levels of testosterone and are unemotional and prone to aggression
the criminal personality
neurotic-extravert-psychotic
neurotics are unstable and therefore prone to overreact to situations of threat
extraverts seek more arousal and thus engage in dangerous activities
psychotics are aggressive and and lack empathy
the role of socialisation
personality is linked to offending behaviour via socialisation processes
offending behaviour as developmentally immature
selfish and concerned with immediate gratification
offenders are impatient andf cannot wait for things to
process of socialisation is one in which children are taught to become more able to delay gratification and more socially orientated
people with high e and n scores had nervous systems that made them difficult to condition
meaning they are less. likely to learn anxiety responses to antisocial impulses
they would be ,ore likely to act anti socially in situations where the opportunity presented itself
measuring the criminal personality
eysenck peronality questionnaire
form of psychological test which locates respondents along with the e n and p dimensions to determine their personality type
measurement of personality enabled eysenck to conduct research relating peornality variables to other behaviours such as criminality
strength
research support
evidence to support the criminal peronality
eysenck and eysenck compared 2010 prisoners scores on the EPQ
with 2422 controls
measures of extra version neuroticism and psychotic is across all the age groups that were sampled
risonersd recorded higher average scores than the controls
agrees with the predictions of the theory that offenders rate higher than average across the thee dismensions
limitation
too simplistic
the idea that all offending behaviour can be explained by peirnality traits alone
Moffitt drew a distinction between offending behaviour that only occurs in adolescence and that which continues into adulthood
argued that peronality traits alone were a poor predictor of of how long offending behaviour would go on for
in the sense that whether someone is likely to become and offender
considered persistence in offending ehvaiour to be the result of a reciprocal process
presents a more complex picture that eysenck suggested
that the course of offending behaviour is determined by an interaction between peronality and th environment
limitation
cultural factors
criminal peronality may board according to culture
barton andf holanchock
studied hispanic and african-american offenders in a maximum security prison in new york
researchers divided these offenders into 6 group
based on their offending histories and the nature of their offenders
found that all 6 grouos were less extracert tan a non-offender control group
whereas eysenck would expect them to be more extrovert
barton and holanchock suggested that this was because the sample was a very different cultural group from that investigated by eysenck
questions how far the criminal personality can be generalised and suggested it may be a culturally relative concept
