Unit 2 - AC2.2 - Describe individualistic theories of criminality Flashcards
define individualistic theories of criminality
Individualistic theories of criminality focus on something about the individual as an explanation for criminal behaviour, such as their personality or learning environment.
what are the three types of individualistic theories.
learning theories // psychodynamic // psychological
what do behaviourists believe ?
that all behaviour is learned from our environment apart from a few basic instincts
what does the social learning theory suggest
human behaviour is learned through the imitation of role models
what is observational learning
observing and imitating the behaviour of others
what did BANDURA theorise
children would be much more likely to imitate a behaviour if they saw it rewarded — VICARIOUS REINFORCEMENT
what did bandura use in the experiment
bono dolls
overview of banduras experiment
he used a 3-5 year old sapless from stanford bing uni nursery / children put into 3 groups / group one watched a video of an adult assaulting a bobo doll and were shown the male role model being praised for it/ group 2 were shown the video and the male being criticised / group 3 were shown the video with no comment
what happend 10 minutes after the children enter the observation room
a researcher enters and tells them they will be given JUICE and a STICKER BOOK if the imitate the behaviour shown
what are the three learning theories
social learning theory / operant conditioning / differential association theory
what happened after the children were incentivised
the aggression levels rised
was there much difference once the children were told there would be a reward for the aggression
no
what can we conclude from the experiment
seeing aggressive behaviour punished acts as a deterrent, but that seeing it rewarded is not necessary for behaviour to be imitated.
what is operant conditioning
when behaviour is more likely to be repeated if it is reinforces in some way through a reward
who proposed the idea of operant conditioning
B.F Skinner
overview of bf skinner’s experiment
he put hungry rats in a box and once they figured out that pressing the leaver released food, the rat did it more
what can we gather from this experiment
gaining a reward for a criminal activity will lead to it being repeated
what is the differential assosciation theory
the theory proposes that criminal activity is learned from our environment
who proposed the differential association theory
sutherland
what are learned attitudes
shared values and attitudes about the law amongst a group of people who associate
what is internalisation
when someone may be inclined to copy and believe the same actions and beliefs of the group they’re around do and believe those same things
weakness of using lab experiments
the behaviour observed is not the same as the behaviour in the real world as people may be more relaxed in familiar environments and some children had seen the bobo doll before making them 5 times less likely to imitate the aggressive behaviour
what does psychodynamic mean
the psychology of emotions and behaviours developed especially in the childhood
what was said according to sigmund freud
much of our behaviour is dictated by our unconscious mind.
