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Psychology of Crime > Quiz 2 - Chapter 3 > Flashcards

Quiz 2 - Chapter 3 Flashcards

1
Q

How do people learn antisocial attitudes and behaviours or develop antisocial personalities in response to their environment?

A

Lack of parental supervision, pro-criminal role models, positive reinforcement from peers

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2
Q

Psychodynamic theories of crime

A

Crime results from inadequate control over internal aggressive and sexual impulses

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3
Q

Example of psychodynamic theory of crime

A

Homicide is not “a clearly defined impulse to kill” but the result of a killer being “intensely tormented” by conflicts rooted in childhood trauma, which they repress and then project/release

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4
Q

Learning theories

A

Crime results from learning responses through direct environmental influence (e.g., punishments, rewards)

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5
Q

Give two examples of famous cases where crime resulted from issues during psychosexual development

A

Norman Bates from Psycho
Ed Kemper

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6
Q

Freud and antisocial behaviour

A

Humans are inherently antisocial
Experiences (especially during early childhood) promote or prevent the ego and superego’s ability to control the id’s pleasure-seeking and destructive impulses

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7
Q

Freud’s three components of the theory of personality structure

A

Id, ego, superego

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8
Q

Id

A

Seeks immediate gratification regardless of consequences
Pleasure principle (sexual and aggressive)
Present at birth

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9
Q

Ego

A

Mediates between id’s primal needs and societal expectations (e.g., by delaying gratification)
Balances id and superego
Operates on reality principle
Develops throughout childhood

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10
Q

Sublimation
Example

A

Channel sexual and aggressive impulses into work
How civilization developed
E.g., da Vinci and repressed homosexuality

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11
Q

Superego

A

Internalization of societal expectations, as conveyed primarily by parents
Regulates behaviour according to moraliy

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12
Q

Conscience

A

Tells us right from wrong

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13
Q

Ego-ideal

A

Represents socially accepted standards we aspire to

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14
Q

What three variants of the superego can result when we fail to identify with prosocial parental figures

A

Harsh superego
Weak superego
Deviant superego

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15
Q

Harsh superego

A

Neurotic criminal who subconsciously punishes oneself to resolve guilt
Parents who were too strict and unloving, subconsciously want to be caught

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16
Q

Weak superego

A

Psychopathic criminal without conscience who can’t regulate id’s impulses
Egocentric, impulsive, don’t feel guilt/shame or empathy

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17
Q

Deviant superego

A

Deviant identification with criminal parents
View them as good role models

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18
Q

Unravelling Juvenile Delinquency by Glueck & Glueck (1950)

A

500 justice-involved and 500 non-justice-involved boys in Massachussetts
Attributed differences to parenting factors

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19
Q

Juvenile delinquency study findings on parenting factors

A

Parents of justice-involved boys had more emotional disturbances, cognitive impairment, alcoholism, and criminality,
Were less educated, less likely to stay together, and less ambitious
Showed greater carelessness in the supervision of their children and often appeared neglectful
Families lacked cohesiveness and warm and respect for integrity of members
Children were less affectionately attached to parents, especially their fathers

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20
Q

Broad views on juvenile delinquency study

A

Findings were questioned
Overgeneralizations (e.g., can’t use findings to “predict” criminality)
Assumptions about causal ordering

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21
Q

What facts refute the juvenile delinquency study?

A

50% of maltreated children do not become antisocial or criminal
Criminality can reinforce delinquent personality traits

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22
Q

Social control theory

A

Social controls prevent criminality
Delinquency results from weakened or broken bonds to society

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23
Q

4 aspects of social control theory

A

Attachment
Commitment
Involvement
Belief

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24
Q

Attachment
What kind of ego does this relate to?

A

Interest in others (e.g., parents, friends, teachers)
People don’t commit crimes because they value their attachment to others
Ego-ideal
*Attachment to criminal peers can lead to criminality

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25
Q

Commitment
What kind of ego does this relate to?

A

Time and energy invested in conventional behaviour (e.g., education)
People don’t commit crimes because they don’t want to jeopardize such investments
Ego-ideal

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26
Q

Involvement

A

Time and energy used up on conventional behaviour (applies to teens especially)
People don’t commit crimes because they don’t have the time or energy left

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27
Q

Belief
What kind of ego does this relate to?

A

Conviction to the view that people should obey common rules
People don’t commit crimes because they respect moral codes and laws and their purposes
Conscience/superego-ideal

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28
Q

General theory of crime

A

Lack of self-control in the presence of criminal opportunities is the main determinant of crime
Crimes are “short lived, immediately gratifying, easy, simple, and exciting” and therefore appealing to those with low self-control

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29
Q

How does self-control relate to the general theory of crime?

A

Self-control as determined by parental quality
Low self-control is consistently and universally linked to criminality
Poor parental quality predicts poor self-control but self-control only partially mediates link between parental quality and criminality
Only accounts for 19% of the variance in criminal behaviour
Self-control is malleable and can improve with intervention

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30
Q

Learning

A

Change in pre-existing behaviour or mental processes that occurs as a result of experience

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31
Q

Learning relation to criminal behaviour

A

Criminal behaviour is learned through association, rather than prevented or controlled

32
Q

Classical conditioning

A

An automatic conditioned response to a conditioned stimulus is learned after the stimulus is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned response

33
Q

Classical conditioning in relation to crime

A

Sexual arousal and nonconsensual sex
After pornography and sexual arousal are associated

34
Q

Aversive conditioning in relation to crime

A

Offender is exposed to an unpleasant stimulus while sexually aroused in response to deviant source

35
Q

Covert aversive conditioning

A

Offender pairs imagined aversive consequence with deviant fantasies or behaviour

36
Q

Example of covert aversive conditioning

A

Offender listens to a story that contains:
Their preferred deviant stimulus (e.g., nonconsensual sex) with buildup of sexual arousal
An aversive consequence that causes intense disgust, pain, or humiliation (e.g., vomiting, getting caught) (i.e., offender learns to associate the deviant stimulus with the aversive consequence)
Release from the aversive consequence by removing the activity (e.g., while encouraging relaxation) (i.e., offender learns to associate avoidance of deviant activity with feelings of relief)

37
Q

Overt aversive conditioning

A

Offender pairs actual aversive consequence with or immediately after the deviant stimulus

38
Q

Example of overt aversive conditioning

A

Electric shock or foul odour is paired with scenes depicting nonconsensual sex

39
Q

What is overt aversive conditioning usually followed by?

A

Arousal reconditioning to strengthen appropriate arousal (e.g., consensual sex)

40
Q

Operant conditioning

A

Voluntary behaviour as determined largely be environmental consequences

41
Q

How is operant conditioning crucial for criminal justice intervention (4 items)?

A

Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Positive punishment
Negative punishment

42
Q

Positive reinforcement

A

Introduction of pleasant stimulus increases frequency of behaviour

43
Q

Negative reinforcement

A

Removal of aversive stimulus increases frequency of behaviour

44
Q

Positive punishment

A

Introduction of unpleasant stimulus decreases frequency of behaviour

45
Q

Negative punishment

A

Removal of pleasant stimulus decreases frequency of behaviour

46
Q

Generally, is reinforcement or punishment better for criminal justice intercention?

A

Reinforcement

47
Q

Name 3 factors that effectiveness of operant conditioning depends on

A

Immediacy
Consistency
Intensity

48
Q

Immediacy

A

How soon the consequence occurs
Delayed reinforcement or punishment often targets the wrong behaviour

49
Q

Immediacy example

A

Committing crime and onset of jail sentence is usually quite delayed

50
Q

Consistency

A

How frequently the consequence occurs
However, intermittent schedules work best for reinforcement

51
Q

Consistency example

A

When someone commits a crime and gets caught, they usually have committed it many times before

52
Q

Intensity

A

How strong the consequence is

53
Q

Does punishment tend to be effective or ineffective? Why?

A

Ineffective, likely because it is often delayed (e.g., long trials in court), inconsistent (e.g., person is only sometimes caught), and lacks intensity (e.g., relatively humane)

54
Q

According to Jeffrey, why does the decision to commit crimes occur?
Examples?

A

Because reinforcing stimuli outweigh aversive stimuli
Lack of punishment from parents or legal justice system for stealing
Reward for stealing outweighs fear of punishment or occurs in the absence of disapproval

55
Q

Eysenck’s biological theory of crime

A

Crime may be explained by individual differences in nervous system functioning
People differ in their ability to learn conditioned emotional responses

56
Q

Give example of application of Eysenck’s biological theory of crime

A

People differ in their responses to parental discipline
Scolding (UCS) a child for
Stealing a cookie (CS) elicits
Discomfort (UCR) such that
The child learns to feel discomfort (CR) about stealing

57
Q

Second part of Eysenck’s biological theory of crime

A

Antisocial people show less skin conductance (CR) in response to a tone/noise (CS) after it is repeatedly paired with an electric shock (UCS)

58
Q

What kind of theory is Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory?

A

Social learning theory

59
Q

Give the 9 broad parts to Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory

A

Criminal behaviour is learned
Through interacting with others
Particularly within intimate personal groups
The learning includes: techniques for committing crimes, direction of motives, drives, rationalization, and attitudes (e.g., learning crime is “normal”, fun, and/or rewarding
Direction of “” is learned from defining unfavourable vs favourable legal codes
Excess of definitions are favourable to violating legal codes (e.g., rewards of crime outweigh ideas about values of legal codes)
Differential associations vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity
The learning involves the same mechanisms as any other learning
Criminal behaviour is an expression of general needs and values, but particularly how a person has learned to weigh them in response to social context (e.g., offenders learn that criminal behaviour is more valuable than following the legal code, even though it isn’t objectively speaking)

60
Q

In Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory, how are differential associations affected?

A

How often a person with a group
Length of exposure to definitions
How early in life exposure begins
Prestige/status of group

61
Q

According to research on the differential association theory, what are two of the most powerful predictors for crime?

A

Antisocial attitudes and antisocial associates

62
Q

Why is the differential association theory criticized?
Examples?

A

For lack of explanations regarding “definitions” for favourable vs. unfavourable violations of the law
Determining frequency, duration, priority, and intensity of definitions is subjective and hard to quantify

63
Q

Examples of criticisms of differential association theory

A

What makes breaking a certain law “worth it”?
E.g., to feed their family, to gain membership into a gang for sense of belonging
E.g. what makes a group prestigious/meaningful?

64
Q

Akers’ social learning theory

A

Combines DAT ideas with operant conditioning, as well as observational learning and vicarious conditioning
Criminal behaviour is also learned through observing others and vicariously experiencing their consequences

65
Q

Example of Akers’ social learning theory

A

Happiness through observing parents’ happiness after stealing

66
Q

According to Akers’ social learning theory, what are the most important sources of conditioning?

A

Parents, peers, and the media (e.g., violent video games)

67
Q

According to Akers’ social learning theory, how is crime primarily learned?

A

Through group interactions, because it’s been rewarded (operant conditioning) relative to alternative behaviours
And through observing how significant groups define behaviour as “bad” or “good”

68
Q

What does PIC-R model stand for?

A

Personal, interpersonal, and community reinforcement model

69
Q

What kind of framework is the PIC-R model? What kind of perspectives is it influenced by?

A

Personality and social psychological framework
Influenced by behavioural and cognitive social learning perspectives

70
Q

What kind of classes of factors are involved in the PIC-R model?

A

Antecedent factors
Consequence factors
Sociocultural factors

71
Q

Examples of antecedent factors in the PIC-R model

A

Learned antisocial attitudes (e.g., through classical and operant conditioning)
Encouragement/support from antisocial associates
A mental health problem like substance misuse and/or antisocial personality disorder

72
Q

Examples of consequent factors in the PIC-R model

A

Increased status among peers
Experience of arousal for getting away with crime
A person with ASPD may be motivated by the arousal they experience when getting away with a crime

73
Q

In the PIC-R model, how do antecedent and consequent factors interact?

A

They create personal impressions of antisocial vs. prosocial cognitions

74
Q

Explain how the PIC-R model considers sociocultural factors

A

E.g., SES
How they influence impressions of costs vs. rewards for antisocial behaviour

75
Q

Example of how PIC-R model considers sociocultural factors

A

Someone who grew up in low SES household more likely to learn that stealing is rewarding

Psychology of Crime (4 decks)

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