Theory of Criminal Personality^ Flashcards
Personality Theory
Eysenck
beh can be presented across 3 dimensions
Introversion-extroversion (E)
- Sociable, impulsive, expressive
Neuroticism-Stability (N)
- Anxious, depressed, low self esteem
Psychoticism-Sociability (P)
- Aggressive, stubborn, manipulative
Bio Basis
Eysenck
Personality traits have bio basis
determined by the type of NS we inherit
Extraverts
Underactive NS
Seek excitement, stimulation
More likely to take part in risk-taking beh
Do no condition well, so less likely to learn from mistakes, so likely to reoffend
Neurotic
High levels of reactivity in the sympathetic NS, so quick to respond to threatening situations (fight or flight)
- Acting before thinking, likely to be neg reaction as they are paranoid
Nervous, anxious and jumpy which makes them unpredictable
Psychotic
High levels of testosterone
Unemotional and prone to aggression
- Likely to commit violent crimes
Role Of Socialisation
Eysenck
personality is linked
offending beh is ‘developmentally immature’
- selfish, concern with immediate gratification
S - teach kids about patient and ‘proper’ interactions
Those with E and N are less likely to respond to conditioning
- more likely to act on impulse
Measuring Criminal Personality
Eysenck’s Personality Questionnaire
- measure E, N and P
- research link between personality type and criminal beh
Measuring Personality
EPQ assess diff in criminal personalities across the dimensions
- convenient, quick, easy, standardised
VS Measuring Personality
personality should not be reduced to a simple score
human mind and beh is too complex
Instead, should be used as a loose guide to determine if more checks are needed
Research Support
Eysenck & Eysenck
2070 prisoner’s scores on EPQ VS 2422 controls
prisoners had higher score average on dimensions than CG
supports the prediction of the theory that offender rate higher than average across the dimensions
VS Research Support
Farrington et al
- meta analysis of relevant studies
- offenders tend to score higher on P, but not E or N
Kussner
- inconsistent evidence on EEG measures that measure cortical arousal between extraverts and intoverts
Some assumptions have been challenged
Too Simplistic
too simplistic that all offending beh can be explained by P traits alone
Moffitt
- drew distinctions between offending beh in adolescence that continued in adulthood
- PT alone is a poor predictor of duration of offending beh
- Persistence in O beh is cause of a reciprocal process between ind PT and envi reactions to those PT
More complex than Eysenck’s idea that offending beh is determined by the interaction between personality and envi
Cultural Factors
Not taken into account as CP may vary between cultures
Bartol & Holanchock
- Studied Hispanic and African American offenders in max security prison in New York
- Divided them into 6 groups based on offences
- All six groups were less extravert than the non-offenders CG
- Eysenck would expect them to be more, but their sample was diff cultural group than those investigated by Eysenck
Determines extend to with CP can be generalised and suggests it may be culturally relative concept
