Psychosocial Approaches Flashcards
What three theories are covered in psychosocial approaches?
- attachment/maternal deprivation hypothesis
- social learning theory
- theory of moral development
What is the Attachment and Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis?
Bowlby (1944)
- the care that a child receives in the first 3 years is critical
- warm, intimate and continuous relationship with caregiver = normal development
- disruption to relationship may result in difficulty forming attachments to other people
- severe maternal deprivation may result in schematic representations of the world as harsh and hostile = child is more likely to react in an antisocial manner (Hollin, 2002)
What is the evidence for the Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis?
Bowlby’s 44 Juvenile Delinquents (1944)
- more likely to have experienced separations from mothers by age 5
- 1/4 experienced major separation in childhood
- subgroup of ‘affectionless’ delinquents (14), 12 experienced maternal deprivation
What are the limitations to the Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis?
- doesn’t take into accounts other attachments (Schaffer and Emerson suggest around 5 more attachments)
- doesn’t suggest cause, only relationship
- deprivation/privation confusion/overlap
- Rutter (1972) suggested Bowlby oversimplified the hypothesis e.g. more complicated backgrounds/histories;lacking in certain intellectual/important developments in childhood
How does attachment cause criminality?
Thornberry, 1999
- 5+ parental disruptions result in criminal behaviour in 90% of youths
Loeber, 2005
- 1500 pts; 2+ parental disruptions by age 10 = twice as likely to commit violent crimes by age 30
Van Ijzendoorn, 1997
- 40 male offenders in mental institutions for serious crimes = most had disorganised attachment and early abuse/trauma
How is attachment related to psychopathy?
Frodi et al 2001
- incarcerated psychopaths interviewed about early attachment
- most reported poor attachment/neglect and physical abuse
- secure attachments in psychopaths were rare
How does child maltreatment result in criminality?
Browne 2013
- 4 out of 5 offenders experienced child abuse or neglect before 5
- 55% had been assaulted numerous times
Intergenerational cycle of child maltreatment:
- in a study of 4100 families, 3.1% had at least one parent who had been abused as a child
- Dixon et al 2005 = abused parent families had higher rates of abusing own infant children (6.7%) than non-abused parents
What is the relationship between psychopathy and child maltreatment?
Luntz & Widom, 1994
- childhood abuse and/or neglect predicts later onset of psychopathy, even when demographic characteristics & arrest history are controlled for
Marshall & Cooke (1996)
- offenders - those diagnosed as psychopathic had a childhood history of poor discipline/supervision and continuous rejection by their parents
- parental behaviour can affect later criminality
What is the Social Learning Theory?
Bandura (1971)
- learning is a cognitive process that occurs in social context
- it can occur through observation, imitation/modelling, or direct instruction
- we can learn new behaviours by observing it. This can be applied to aggression.
How does social learning theory explain criminality?
Aker’s Social Learning Theory of Crime (1990)
Applied four major concepts of SLT to crime:
Differential Association
- groups that provide social context in which behaviour is learned
- major source of reinforcement
= illegal behaviour is normal/favoured
Definitions
- attitudes and meanings that people attach to behaviour
- positive/neutral attitude to crime results in increase of behaviour
Differential Reinforcement
- the balance of reward/punishment as consequence of behaviour
- e.g. peer approval of criminal behaviour
Imitation
- learning behaviour through observation of similar behaviour in others
What is the relationship between SLT and delinquency?
Farrington (2003) The Cambridge Study
- delinquent boys more likely to burgle, rob and steal from vehicles with another peer of same age/sex
- most common reason for offending was desire to have the stolen item/to seek excitement
- associating with delinquent peers at 14 years increased chances of being convicted as adult
- desistence from crime, more likely if bonds with delinquent peers were severed
Influence of peers = delinquency = normalisation through differential association = serious crime
What research is there for SLT and the media? (does viewing aggression in the media lead to delinquency?)
- Hungerford shooting, 1987. Michael Ryan dressed as Rambo, killed 16 and injured 15. Commit suicide.
- James Bulger murder, 1993. Two boys killed a child. At least one watched ‘Child’s Play’, similar to the violence afflicted against James Bulger.
- Columbine high school shooting, 1999. 2 students killed 13, injured 24, commit suicide. both fans of violent video games and film ‘Natural Born Killers’.
Does the media produce violence through SLT?
- not possible to show causal link between media and acts
- young offenders may learn novel forms of violence from violent media, but media does not initiate violence
- children more affected by media violence than adults
- violence committed by respectable figured may have more of an effect than those already labelled as criminal
- media that show aggressors being rewarded for behaviour may be more likely to be imitated
What is the Theory of Moral Development?
- parents are usually children’s initial socialising influence - they teach children norms and rules of society, and right from wrong - moral behaviour is usually driven by parents
- Freud, piaget and Kohlberg have different theories about child development of morals
- Kohlberg (1969) most comprehensible and widely accepted - series of stages of moral development
What is Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development?
1 - Pre-morality;
Stage 1) punishment and obedience orientation
Stage 2) Hedonistic orientation
2 - Conventional Morality
Stage 3) Interpersonal concordance orientation
Stage 4) Law and order orientation
3 - Post-Conventional Morality
Stage 5) Social contract/legal orientation
Stage 6) Universal ethical principles orientation
