Topic 3: Individualistic Theories of Crime Flashcards
What do learning theories suggest about crime?
That individuals learn through social interaction
What is the main idea of social learning theory?
That individuals learn through observation and imitation
What is ‘vicarious reinforcement’?
The idea that people can also learn through observing others being punished
What was Bandura’s aim of social learning theory?
To investigate the extent to which children would imitate the aggressive behaviour of adults
What was the aim of the bobo doll experiment?
To see whether or not there was a correlation between observing and carrying out violent behaviour
What was the closest imitation of the bobo doll experiment?
When a child observed an adult of the same sex
What were the key results of the bobo doll experiment?
Children who were exposed to violent behaviour played violently, children who were exposed to gentle behaviour played gently– the experiment demonstrated that children are able to learn through social behaviour such as aggression (observation and imitation), supporting Bandura’s theory
Give 2 advantages of the bobo doll experiment
- Carried out in a lab, therefore reducing the risk of outside factors, so they won’t influence the outcome
- Controlled group so everything is fair
Give 2 disadvantages of the bobo doll experiment
- Ethical issue (wrong to use children– risk of trauma)
- No long term evidence to back it up
How can social learning theory explain why people commit crime?
Criminals are conditioned to believe violent behaviour is normal and therefore if children see violent behaviour happening around them, then they may do the same because they believe its normal
How can social learning theory be applied to the Fred and Rose West case?
Both individuals grew up in physically and sexually abusive households from young ages, perhaps they grew up believing that these types of behaviour are normal
Summarise Sutherland’s theory of differential association
Sutherland stated that individuals learn criminal behaviour through peer/family influence and that people commit crime when they have learned more attitudes that favour criminal behaviour than those that oppose it
-Essentially people are more likely to be criminal if they have grown up around criminal behaviour
Summarise Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning
Comes from the idea of behaviourism, which suggests that behaviours can be conditioned through the use of reward and punishment, individuals learn that if they engage it good behaviour it will be rewarded and so will repeat the behaviour, and bad behaviour will result in punishment and therefore be less likely to repeat the behaviour
What is meant by the ‘iceberg’ analogy?
Freud says that the mind is like an iceberg in which the tip can only be seen, the part that can be seen is the conscious mind (the smaller part) and the part that cannot be seen is the unconscious mind (the bigger part)
According to Freud, what are the 3 parts of the mind?
The id, the ego and the superego
Describe the id
Represents the earliest desires, impulses and the need for gratification– the pleasure principle (like the devil on your shoulder)
Describe the ego
Represents reality and the ability to delay gratification (controlled/rational decisions), meditates the id and the superego– reality principle
Describe the superego
Represents moral and social constraints and controls the id’s impulses, it is the moral conscience that believes society determines how we behave (the angel on our shoulder)
What does it mean if someone has a dominant id?
It is hard to control the mind and resist impulses, therefore leading to criminality
What does it mean if someone has an overly dominant ego?
They are a perfectionist who can be judgemental
What does it mean if someone has an overly dominant superego?
They are rational– leads to living a fixed lifestyle
How could Freud’s theory explain criminal behaviour?
Freud believed that children need to progress from the pleasure principle where the id dominates to the reality principle where the ego dominates and to do this they need a stable, loving home
What do psychodynamic theories focus on?
The interactions of drives and forces within a person- particularly the unconscious mind
What is psychoanalysis (Freud)?
A type of therapy that is used to access the unconscious mind through dream analysis and letting your thoughts flow freely
What is maternal deprivation?
Maternal deprivation is where a child is separated from the mother, therefore not getting enough affection from them
Who did Bowlby study and what did he find?
44 juvenile delinquents–39% had experienced complete separation from their mothers during for more than 6 months for the first 5 years of their life
Define ‘affectionless psychopathy’
An inability to convey empathy, particularly if your the one causing that person’s problems
How does Bowlby provide support for Freud’s theory?
That an unstable early home life can be associated with criminality
What was Eysenck’s theory of criminal personality?
He stated that an individual’s personality type can lead to them being more likely to become a criminal
What method was used by Eysenck to determine personality types?
He completed a personality questionnaire on 700 soldiers with neurotic disorders and found that behaviour can be separated into two dimensions
What were the 2 dimensions that Eysenck identified?
Introversion/extraversion and neuroticism/stability
What was the later dimension?
Psychoticism
What does introversion/extraversion refer to?
Refers to the amount of stimulation (encouragement) people need
What are people with high levels of extraversion like?
Extraverted–tend to be talkative, sociable, at ease when in groups, outgoing and get bored easily with a lack of stimulation
What are people with low levels of extraversion like?
Introverted–less likely to engage in social activities, more quiet, uncomfortable with talking to strangers, they are in control of their emotions and are more reliable
What does neuroticism/stability refer to?
Refers to the level of emotional stability a person has
What are people with high levels of neuroticism like?
Find it harder to cope with stressful situations–experience high levels of anxiety
What are people with low levels of neuroticism like?
More emotionally in control and tend to be calmer
What is psychoticism
An extreme form of neuroticism which indicates a lack of empathy leading to colder, more aggressive behaviour
According to Eysenck’s PEN model, which individuals are most likely to commit crime?
Extraverted, neurotic individuals because they enjoy the thrill, as well as individuals who suffer with psychoticism (aggressive and violent tendencies)
Name an individualistic theory that suggest behaviour is a result of nature
Freud–analyses the mind, something we don’t have control over
Name an individualistic theory that suggest behaviour is a result of nurture
Social learning theory (Bandura, Skinner and Sutherland)–something that is being taught
Name an individualistic theory that applies to the Fred and Rose West case
Freud– due to their unstable childhoods, they didn’t transition successfully from the pleasure principle into the reality principle
Name an individualistic theory that applies to the Columbine High School Shooting case
Eysenck–both offenders showed neurotic personality traits and they both had mental illnesses
Name an individualistic theory that applies to the Nick Leeson case
SL Differential association–Leeson was associated with other individuals who were involved in similar fraudulent activities at the bank
Name one theory that can be applied to the Robert Napper case
Bowlby maternal deprivation–he was separated from his mother at a young age, leading to ‘affectionless psychopathy’, he was placed in foster care as a child
