Unit 2 AC2.2 AC3.2 Describe and evaluate individualistic theories of criminality Flashcards
What is the id?
Instinctive ‘animal’ part of mind – selfish, pleasure-seeking.
What is the superego?
Conscience or moral part of mind – acting against it leads to guilt and anxiety.
What is the ego?
Referees the urges of id and superego. Tries to satisfy the id’s urges in a socially acceptable way.
What is a weak superego?
Less guilt feelings and more likely to act on id’s urges.
State four formal sanctions.
Custodial sentences, community sentences, police sanctions, other implications of criminal convictions.
What is a harsh superego?
Craves punishment to release guilt feelings.
What is a deviant superego?
Successful socialization but into deviant moral code.
What is a primary carer?
The main person who looks after the child.
What is attachment?
Describes the relationship between child and primary carer.
What is affectionless psychopathy?
Inability to form meaningful relationships as a result of broken attachment before the age of 5.
What is socialization?
Process of learning norms and values.
What is the key idea of Freud’s psychoanalysis?
Our early childhood experiences determine our personality and future behavior, including criminality.
How does Freud use personality to explain crime?
3 conflicting elements of the unconscious mind – id, ego, and superego.
How does Freud’s theory link to crime?
ASB caused by abnormal relationship with parents. Conflicts between id, ego, and superego are unresolved, leading to a weak, over-harsh, or deviant superego.
State a strength and limitation of Freud’s theory?
Strength: Shows the importance of socialization and has some influence on policies for dealing with crime and deviance. Limitation: Critics doubt the existence of the unconscious mind. Unscientific and subjective.
hat is the key idea in Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?
There is a link between maternal deprivation and deviant or antisocial behavior.
What is his theory of attachment?
A child needs a close, continuous relationship with a primary carer from birth to 5 to develop normally.
How does Bowlby explain separation?
If attachment is broken, even for a short time, it can lead to affectionless psychopathy and criminal behavior.
What evidence did Bowlby use?
Study of 44 juvenile thieves referred to child guidance clinic. 39% suffered maternal deprivation before the age of 5 compared with 5% of the control group of non-delinquents.
State two strengths of Bowlby’s theory.
Backed up with evidence from the 44 thieves study. Shows the importance of parent-child relationships in criminality.
State two limitations of Bowlby’s theory.
Relies on memory, doesn’t explain why 61% were not delinquent, no further evidence of affectionless psychopathy, overestimates how far early childhood affects later behavior (maternal deprivation not linked to criminality).
What is extraversion?
Extraversion refers to an outgoing, sociable, excitement-seeking, impulsive, and aggressive personality.
What is an introvert?
An introvert is a reserved, inward-looking, serious, pessimistic, and self-controlled personality.
Define neurotic.
Neurotic refers to being anxious, moody, depressed, and prone to overreacting.
Define emotionally stable.
Emotionally stable refers to being calm, even-tempered, controlled, and unworried.
Define genetic inheritance.
Genetic inheritance refers to the passing on of traits and characteristics from parents to offspring through genes.
Define psychoticism.
Psychoticism refers to having a personality that is cruel, insensitive, aggressive, and lacking in empathy.
Define correlation.
Correlation refers to the relationship between two variables, but it does not imply causation.
Define validity.
Validity refers to how true or accurate a test or measure is in assessing what it intends to measure.
What is the key idea in Eysenck’s personality theory?
The key idea in Eysenck’s personality theory is that criminality is the result of a highly neurotic and highly extraverted personality type.
What are Eysenck’s personality dimensions?
Eysenck’s personality dimensions are extraversion vs. introversion (E), neuroticism vs. emotional stability (N), and later added psychoticism (P).
How do extraverts link to crime?
Extraverts have a nervous system with a high need for stimulation, leading them to constantly seek excitement through rule-breaking and impulsive behavior, which can be linked to crime.
How do neurotics link to crime?
Neurotics are harder to condition into following society’s rules because their high anxiety levels prevent them from learning from punishment, increasing their vulnerability to engaging in criminal behavior.
How do psychotics link to crime?
People with high psychoticism (P) scores tend to be solitary misfits who are more likely to engage in criminal behavior and may have serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia.
State two strengths of Eysenck’s theory.
Eysenck’s theory describes how some measurable tendencies may lead to criminality, and studies suggest that offenders tend to have high scores on extraversion (E), neuroticism (N), and psychoticism (P).
State two limitations of Eysenck’s theory.
Prisoners are not often extraverted, and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire measures two separate things (impulsiveness and sociability) under extraversion, making it difficult to interpret the results.
Define positive reinforcement
Behavior is strengthened by a positive outcome (reward)
Define negative reinforcement
Behavior is strengthened by removing an undesirable outcome
Define punishment
Behavior is stopped by an undesirable outcome
Define determinism
The idea that our behavior is caused by an external force outside of our control – we have no free will
Define models
People whose behavior we imitate
Define validity
How true a test is – does it actually measure what it sets out to measure?
What is the key idea in Sutherland’s differential association theory?
Criminality is the result of imitation and learned attitudes in groups that favor law-breaking
What were Sutherland’s findings?
Group attitudes in the workplace often normalize behavior. Members are able to justify their crimes – everyone else is doing it
State two strengths of Sutherland’s theory
Crime often runs in families; juvenile delinquents are more likely to have friends who commit anti-social acts – they learn from peer groups
State a limitation of Sutherland’s theory
Not everyone exposed to criminal influences becomes criminal
What is the key idea in Skinner’s operant learning theory?
If a behavior results in a reward, it will be repeated. If it results in an undesirable outcome, it will not
How does Skinner’s operant learning theory link to crime?
Jeffrey’s differential reinforcement theory (DRT) suggests that crime must, therefore, have more rewards for criminals than punishments
State two strengths of Skinner’s operant learning theory
If a behavior results in a reward, it will be repeated. If it results in an undesirable outcome, it will not; DRT suggests that crime must, therefore, have more rewards for criminals than punishments
State two limitations of Skinner’s operant learning theory
Animals are not the same as humans; the theory ignores mental processes such as thinking, attitudes, and values; it ignores free will of humans - deterministic
What is the key idea in Bandura’s social learning theory?
Much of our behavior is learned from imitating others (models)
What does Bandura mean by imitation?
We are more likely to imitate people of higher status than us, and if we see them being rewarded
What evidence does Bandura use to support his study?
Bobo doll study. Children are most likely to imitate a violent adult model when they saw them rewarded
State two strengths of Bandura’s research
Takes account of our social nature – we learn from others’ experiences; Bandura’s study shows the importance of role models in learning deviance
State two limitations of Bandura’s research
Based on lab studies so lacks validity; not all observed behavior is easily imitated – we may see criminals rewarded but lack the skills to copy; it ignores free will of humans - deterministic
Define cognition
Thinking/mental processes such as attitudes, beliefs, reasoning, decision-making, self-concept, and how we interpret the world around us
Define cognitive theory
The idea that how we think, interpret a situation will affect how we respond
Define CBT
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy – treatment to ‘correct’ faulty thinking patterns
Define PICTS
Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles – a questionnaire aimed at revealing criminal thought patterns
Define representative
If the results of a study can be generalized to the whole population
What evidence does Bandura use to support his study?
Bobo doll study. Children most likely to imitate violent adult model when they saw them rewarded.
State two strengths of Bandura’s research.
Takes account of our social nature – we learn from others’ experiences.
State two limitations of Bandura’s research.
Based on lab studies so lacks validity. Not all observed behavior is easily imitated – we may see criminals rewarded but lack the skills to copy. Ignores free will (deterministic).
Define cognition.
Thinking / mental processes such as attitudes, beliefs, reasoning, decision-making, self-concept, and how we interpret the world around us.
Define cognitive theory.
The idea that how we think and interpret a situation will affect how we respond.
Define CBT.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy – a treatment to ‘correct’ faulty thinking patterns.
Define PICTS.
Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles – a questionnaire aimed at revealing criminal thought patterns.
Define representative.
If the results of a study can be generalized to the whole population.
Define attrition rate.
The number of participants who drop out of a study.
What is the key idea in Criminal Personality Theory?
Criminals are prone to faulty thinking, and this makes them more likely to commit crime.
How did Yochelson and Samenow carry out their study?
They studied 240 male offenders, most of whom had been committed to a psychiatric unit.
How do thinking errors link to crime?
Criminals show a range of biases and errors in their thinking and decision-making, which may lead to crime (e.g., lying, secretiveness, the need for power and control, super-optimism, lack of trust, lack of empathy, uniqueness, and a victim stance).
State two strengths of Yochelson and Samenow’s research.
This has led to other research (e.g., PICTS). Successful treatments (e.g., CBT) have been developed from these ideas.
State two limitations of Yochelson and Samenow’s research.
They didn’t use a control group of non-criminals to compare thinking errors with. The sample is unrepresentative, as it only includes males and mostly those in psychiatric hospitals.
What is the key idea in Kohlberg’s moral development theory?
Our ideas of right and wrong develop through a series of levels and stages from childhood to adulthood.
How does moral development theory link to crime?
Criminals are stuck at a less mature level of moral development and are likely to think only of reward and punishment, not about how their behavior will affect others.
How does Kohlberg’s theory link to CBT?
Cognitive theories (including Kohlberg’s theory) have led to the development of CBT as a possible treatment for criminal behavior.
State two strengths of moral development theory.
Some studies support delinquents having a less mature stage of moral development. The theory has found to be truer for planned crimes such as theft and robbery than impulsive crimes like violence.
State one limitation of moral development theory.
It focuses on moral thinking rather than moral behavior. Someone may be perfectly capable of thinking morally while acting immorally.
Why have individualistic theories been accused of artificiality?
Behavior in lab experiments is often not the same as in real-life situations.
Why have individualistic theories been accused of sample bias?
Studies are often only conducted on convicted criminals, who may differ from those who don’t get caught.
Why have individualistic theories been accused of neglect of social factors?
They ignore social factors that may cause criminality, such as poverty and discrimination.
