Theories - LO2 Flashcards
AC2.1 Describe biological theories of criminality. AC2.2 Describe individualistic theories of criminality. AC2.3 Describe sociological theories of criminality.
INDIVIDUALISTIC - What did Sigmund Freud (psychodynamic) believe about the unconscious mind?
He believed that the unconscious mind (the part we can not see) controls our behaviour, including criminality. He also believed that criminality was linked to guilt.
He said that our psyche was comprised of three parts:
•The id represents our desires and urges. It
wants instant gratification, even if it is
considered to be morally wrong.
•The ego represents reality and rationality
when making decisions. It acts as a mediator between the id and the superego.
•The super ego knows what is morally
acceptable and stops us from making bad
decisions (aka our conscience).
These are determined in the first five years of life. A person needs a balance of all three. Otherwise, they may have what is called a “disturbed personality. The root of criminal behaviour can be found during this time period as these parts not being can cause criminal behaviour to occur later in life.
One explanation for criminal behaviour is Freuds reality principle, Children need to progress from the pleasure principle (dominant id) to the reality principle (dominant ego). Criminals are those who do not make this transition.
Another explanation for criminal behaviour could be if a person has a:
•Weak superego: This superego acts as a parental role within the psyche and punishes the ego with anxiety for contemplating immoral behaviour and the id with guilt if that is carried out. People with a weak superego act to satisfy their id, despite any restrains put in place.
•Deviant superego: A child may develop a superego normally, but if the superego itself has deviant values, that person may behave in ways that are not accepted.
•Strong superego: A strong superego may increase a person’s risk of offending, as this may make them experience a lot of anxiety and guilt. This may lead them to commit crimes in order to be caught and punished, easing the guilt put on them by the superego.
INDIVIDUALISTIC - What were the limitations of Freuds theory?
*difficult to test concepts like the unconscious mind
*explains behaviour after it happens, so it is unscientific
*highly subjective, two different people studying one thing could get varying answers
INDIVIDUALISTIC - What was Bowlby’s (psychodynamic) theory on the “affectionless psychopath”?
He said that the ability to form meaningful social relations in adulthood is dependent on a close, warm, and continuous relationship with the mother in childhood. This relationship acts as an example for future relationships. When a person’s ability to relate to others is damaged, this is referred to as “affectionless psychopathy.”
His study ‘ 44 thieves ‘ provided evidence that early maternal deprivation was related to later criminal behaviour as a reported 39% of a population of young criminals have experienced disruption to their attachments with their mother, compared to only 5% of a non-criminal group
INDIVIDUALISTIC - What were the limitations to Bowlbys theory?
*This research has been criticised for unrepresentative sampling (small sample).
*This theory overestimatesthe impact that maternal deprevation has on a child
INDIVIDUALISTIC - What was Megargees (psychodynamic) theory on the ‘overcontrolled’ offender?
Megargee agreed that there was a small group of offenders who shared the inability to express their anger in normal ways, leading to pent-up aggression that is then suddenly released all at once. These people would be regarded as passive and harmless, but then would suddenly ‘explode.’
FOR EXAMPLE - Megargee used the example of an 11 year old boy with no history of aggression who stabbed his brother 34 times with a steak knife.
INDIVIDUALISTIC - What were the limitations of Megargees theory?
•These theories only explain behaviour after it has happened, which makes it
unscientific
unscientific.
• It is highly subjective, Megargee’s approach does not separate
whether such offenders do not experience anger normally or whether they experience it but
do not do not express it.
INDIVIDUALISTIC - What was kohlbergs (Psychological) study on moral development?
Kohlberg looked at moral development using storytelling techniques and observed how people responded to them.
FOR EXAMPLE - his story about Heinz and his wife, he took interest in what participants’ explanations for their answers were, not if they judged the action right or wrong.
From his studies, he identified three levels of moral development, these levels are passed in the order listed, and each new stage is a replacement of the previous one and its reasonings. Each level has 2 substages.
LEVEL 1 - (pre conventional morality) At this level, we have no personal moral code, but rather, it is shaped by the actions of adults.
•Stage 1 (obedience and punishment) this is where the child is good in order to avoid punishment, as this means they must have done wrong.
•Stage 2 (Individualism and Exchange) This is where children realise there are other views than those told to them by authority.
LEVEL 2 - (conventional morality) At this level, we begin to adopt the moral standards of the adults around us. Authority is not questioned
•Stage 3 (Good Interpersonal Relationships). The individual is good in order to be seen as being a good person. Therefore, answers relate to the approval of others.
Stage 4. (Maintaining the Social Order) The individual becomes aware of the wider rules of society, so obeys them
in order to uphold the law and to avoid guilt.
LEVEL 3- (Post-conventional morality) - Moral reasoning is based on individual rights and justice. Only 10-15% are
capable of stage 5 or 6. Most people take their moral views from those around them, and only a minority think
through ethical principles for themselves.
Stage 5. (Social Contract and Individual Rights) The individual becomes aware that while rules/laws might exist for
the greater good, there are times when they will work against the interest of certain people. E.g. in Heinz’s dilemma
the protection of life > breaking the law against stealing.
Stage 6. (Universal Principles) People at this stage have developed their own set of moral guidelines, which may or
may not fit the law.
INDIVIDUALISTIC - What were the limitations of Kohlbergs study?
•The dilemmas are not real. E.g. Heinz study- the boys asked about this were never married or probably had never
been if a life situation like this in their life, so how could they make that decision?
•The sample is biased- it was an all-male sample and a female’s view might have been very different.
INDIVIDUALISTIC - What was eysencks (Psychological) theory on the criminal personality?
Eysenck believe that some personality types are more likely to commit crimes than others as they crave excitement but learn that crime has consequences later on.
He based his results on analysis of responses to a personality questionnaire. He carried out the questionnaire on 700 soldiers who were being treated for neurotic disorders. He believed that the answers suggested that there were several different
personality traits that were being revealed.
People with high E (extrovert) scores are sociable, sensation seeking, and can get bored very easily.
People with high N (neuroticism) scores are very anxious and irrational. Where N is low, the person is considered to be stable,
whereas a high N score results in a high degree of instability.
People who score high on P (psychoticism) are aggressive, antisocial, cold, and selfish.
He predicted that people with high E N P personalities are more likely to offend as its difficult for them to control their immature impulses.
INDIVIDUALISTIC - what we’re the limitations of eysencks theory?
•Research relies heavily on Eysenck and colleagues. Some have suggested that they subject to response
bias.
• There is no consistency in people’s behaviour, it changes all the time.
• Eysenck’s theory tells us the traits of a criminal, but not why they commit the crime
INDIVIDUALISTIC - what was Banduras social learning theory?
Bandura believed that we learn by watching the behaviour of others and modelling what we observe (people pay attention to models and copy their behaviour). Children will either reject a behaviour if it is punished or accept a behaviour if it is rewarded.
PROCEDURE and FINDINGS -
•Bandura conducted a series of experiments involving a Bobo doll. He tested 72
children in nursery (36 boys and 36 girls aged between 3-6). An aggressive model was shown to 24 children, a non-aggressive model was shown to 24 children, and no model was shown to 24 children (control group).
•He found that children who observed aggressive behaviour would model that behaviour and even come up with new ways to hurt the doll. Children who observed non-aggressive models demonstrated less aggression.
This study showed that criminal
behaviour can be learnt from those around us and through observation. This is known as ‘observational learning’.
This is where we learn behaviour from watching others and may imitate them.
INDIVIDUALISTIC - what we’re the limitations of banduras theory?
• other researchers found that children who had not played with a Bobo Doll
before were ×5 as likely to imitate the aggressive behaviour than those who
were familiar with it; he claims that the novelty value of the doll makes it more
likely that children will imitate the behaviour.
• behaviours are measured almost
immediately, and so we can not know if little exposure has long-term effects.
• ETHICAL ISSUES. For example, there is the
problem of whether or not the children suffered any long-term consequences as a
result of the study.
BIOLOGICAL - what was Jacobs’ (genetics) XYY study?
This theory suggested that some crime might be down to a chromosomal abnormality.
Jacob (1965) suggested that men with the XYY syndrome were more aggressive than “XY” men, it is suggested that this is due to the extra Y chromosome that means these men are more inclined to be violent (due to increased testosterone) and commit violent crimes.
There are also some studies that suggest XYY men are over-represented in the prison population: as studies have show that XYY males were 10 times more likely than XY men to be found in criminal populations.
*15 per 1,000 in prison
*1 per 1,000 in the population
BIOLOGICAL - what were the limitations of Jacobs XYY study?
- REDUCTIONIST - XYY men tend to commit non-violent crime, not violent crime as the XYY study suggests. We must take into account other factors too such as psychological, environmental and social factors that can cause someone to commit crime.
BIOLOGICAL - what was Lange et al (genetics) twin study?
Twins are typically raised in the same social environment, and so the impact this environment has on these twins is seen as equal and controlled.
PROCEDURE and FINDINGS -
Lange took out a study on 30 pairs of twins (of the same sex). 17 were dizygotic (DZ) twins and 13 were monozygotic (MZ) twins. At least one of each pair were known to have committed a crime.
- 10 /13 MZ twins were both known as criminals, compared to only
2 / 17 DZ pairs.
*the chance of one twin taking part in criminal behaviour when the other twin was criminal was 50% among the MZ twins but only 20% among the DZ pairs.
BIOLOGICAL - what were the limitations of Lange’s study (twin)?
*It is difficult to separate the influence of genetics from the influence of social factors.
* MZ twins treated the same
*small sample size
BIOLOGICAL - what were the adoption studies (genetics)?
In adoption studies, the behaviour of the adopted child is compared with the effects of their adopted and biological parents. The aim is to separate out the impact of the environment (adopted parents) from the influence of genetics (biological parents).
NATURE vs NURTURE
A study in Sweden showed that if a biological background of crime existed, then there was an increased risk of criminal behaviour in the adopted children. This supports the theory that criminal behaviour is linked to inheritance.
BIOLOGICAL - what were the limitations of adoption studies?
*criminal behaviour is also dependent on social and environmental factors, and so this explanation for criminality is reductionist.
*These studies are difficult to conduct, which makes them rare.
*Adoption records are often confidential and difficult to access.
*Adoption process isnt random and so could end up with a family similar to biological family.
BIOLOGICAL - What was Lombroso’s (physiological) theory on criminal characteristics?
He said there were several ‘atavistic’ characteristics, such as large jaws, large ears, larger hands and monobrows which were clear signs that someone was a criminal. He also argued that criminals were a separate, less developed, species. he concluded this through comparing physical characteristics of Italian prisoners to Italian soldiers and concluded that the prisoners were physically different.
Lombroso also thought that tattoos were seen as signs of a born criminal as they show an insensitivity to physical pain. Lombroso called these abnormalities ‘stigmata’
*males who had five or more of these characteristics were seen to be criminal
*females who had three of these features were seen as criminal.
BIOLOGICAL - What were some of the limitations of Lombroso’s theory?
*too simplistic, we know there are many more factors that can cause crime then just your genetics.
*he did not use a control group in his research
*gender bias, unrepresentative.
BIOLOGICAL - What was Sheldon’s (physiological) body type theory?
He stated that people can be classified into three body shapes, which correspond with three different personality types. And that criminal behaviour links to a person’s physical form.
1) Endomorphic (fat and soft physical frame) and they tend to be sociable, tolerant and relaxed.
2) Ectomorphic (thin and fragile frame) and they tend to be self-conscious, and withdrawn.
3) Mesomorphic (muscular and hard frame) and tend to be assertive, competitive, dominant, and aggressive.
FINDINGS -
*many convicts were mesomorphic and they were least likely to be ectomorphic ( this could be because a mesomorphic build reflects high testosterone levels).
BIOLOGICAL - What are the limitations of Sheldon’s theory?
*Does not take into account that a persons somatotype is not fixed.
*does not really explain why endomorphs and ectomorphs can also be criminal.
SOCIOLOGICAL - what is functionalist theory?
Functionalists such as Durkheim believed that crime and deviance were an inevitable and integral part of a healthy society. he argued that they served functions such as:
PROMOTING SOCIAL SOLIDARITY - this is were an event takes place and bring a community together, as they experience shared outrage, fear or panic that leads to the formation of a collective conscience. This leads a community to control itself, using sanctions to ensure that anyone who steps out of line knows it is wrong.
BOUNDARY MAINTENANCE - Crime and deviance show members of society where the boundaries of right or wrong are, through publicly punishing those who stray beyond these boundaries. Such punishment will involve agencies of social control (e.g. the police) and they will identify deviance and control it through sanctions.
STUDY (public shaming) - Studies show that the decline of techniques such as public flogging and hanging occurred at the same time as the development of newspapers, tv and social media. These now perform the role of public condemnation as boundaries have changed over time, and so do public reactions.
ANOMIE -For Durkheim, a small amount of crime and deviance prevent anomie, as long as it is punished. If this behaviour goes unpunished, or if the value consensus breaks down, this can result in a breakdown of social order and lead to a state of anomie. As normal order is removed and anomie happens, this may lead to an increase in deviant behaviour such as looting, violence and suicides. Anomie may occur if:
*If there is a sudden change of government e.g. a revolution
*If there is a disaster which leads to the destruction of order e.g. New York on 9/11
*If there is a major economic upheaval e.g. a recession.
SAVETY VALVE - Functionalist believes deviance can function as a ‘safety valve’- allowing an individual/group to ‘let off steam’ to prevent worse deviance.
SOCIALOGICAL - evaluate Durkheim’s functionalist theory.
he doesn’t explain:
*Why it happens
*Why some people do it more than others
*Why different people are deviant in different ways.
