Psychology (Criminology - 3 Explanations of Crime) Flashcards
What is Antisocial Personality disorder?
ASPD or otherwise known as sociopathy, is a mental disorder in which a person consistently shows no knowledge of / ability to distinguish right from wrong and ignores the feelings of others. Individuals with ASPD often violate the law, ultimately becoming criminals.
What are the symptoms of ASPD?
Symptoms may include:
Disregard for right and wrong
Persistent lying or deceit to exploit others
Disrespectful to others
Using charm or wit to manipulate others for personal gain or personal pleasure.
Genetic factors for antisocial personality disorder
The MAOA gene codes for the enzyme that metabolizes Norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine.
Anti social personality disorder evaluation
MS Jan 2018
AO1
Anti-social personality disorder can be caused by brain
abnormalities.
Real life applications such as therapies e.g CBT
Anti-social personality disorder is a form of innate pathology in
brain functioning such as the prefrontal cortex.
Social learning theory would suggest criminal and anti-social
behaviour is learned from role models.
Criminal and anti-social behaviour may be a result of
unresolved psycho-sexual stages in childhood.
AO3
Yang (2008) found that anti-social individuals had impaired
amygdala-hippocampal systems in brain, therefore ASPD can
be linked to criminal behaviour because of reduced emotional
responses.
The labelling of an individual as pathologically criminal could
lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, which could actually be what
causes criminal behaviour.
Bastian et al found out that playing violent video games increases the persistence to being antisocial which would suggest
the criminal and anti-social behaviour is a result of media
rather than ASPD.
Freud claimed that the death instinct of Thanatos explains
motivations that underpin aggressive, criminal and anti-social
behaviours, so it is not a personality disorder.
What does Social learning theory suggest about criminals?
Criminal behavior is learned according to the principles of social learning theory.
By certain reinforcement, positive rewards for example and less chance of punishment, behaviour is more likely to be copied / mimicked. If this behaviour is continuously reinforced, we eventually internalise the behaviour and it will become an integral part of our personality.
If you see the person committing the crime as a role model, you identify with that role model, observe it further / study their behaviour, reproduce the behaviour (and then it depends on past, present, and anticipated future rewards or punishments for their actions if they are willing to continue or desist from committing the crime in the future.)
Social learning theory Application to theory
Copy cat killers
Social learning theory evaluation
MS Jan 2017
Social learning theory
explains learning behaviour as a process of observation, identification and reproduction.
• Few negative consequences of violence are seen in the
media.
• Learning theories suggest behaviour is learnt from
reinforcement, and video games actively reward game
players for violent, anti-social acts.
• Role models are popular, powerful and likable so more
likely to be modelled.
AO3
Bastian et al. found aggression levels to
increase when playing more violent video games,
so the media is a key influence.
Charlton et al (2000) contradicts the theory that television
leads to aggressive behaviour, suggesting the media is not
the main influence.
Jahoda (1954) found that boys born on a Wednesday are
more aggressive than those born on a Monday so it could
be a self fulfilling prophecy not the media.
Bandura’s research findings from studying aggressive role
models supports the idea that the media could be the main
influence on anti-social behaviour.
What is Self-fulfilling prophecy?
Is when a label is applied to a person, and the person acts accordingly, and later internalises that label exhibiting exactly that behaviour.
Self-fulfilling prophecy Evaluations
Strengths
Rosenthal and Jacobson found that students labelled as bloomers had improved IQ scores and continued to thrive for the next 2 years in comparison to other students in the class. This suggests the ‘prophecy’ came true because the teachers responded differently to them.
Jahoda found Ashanti Males born on Wednesday had a significantly higher arrest rate (22%) than males born on Monday (6%). This is a self fulfilling prophecy because boys born on Mondays are named KWADWO (Considered to be mild mannered) whereas boys born on a Wednesday are named KWADKU (considered to be aggressive and short tempered). This is valid data as it comes from crime records, however it has not been replicated so this may just be a one off.
Weakness
Studies are correlational - they show a link between expectations and outcome but cause could be due to any amount of reasons.
Also a lack of ecological validity – research cannot always be applied to real-life due to the amount of other influencing variables involved in experiments.
Not everybody conforms to the label they have been given and may do the opposite to prove that person wrong.
We cannot experimentally test the effects of SFP due to ethics - to create criminals by treating them differently would be immoral.
