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.
what did freud compare the human mind to
an iceberg
what are the 3 parts of the personality
the id, ego and superego
what is the id
the inconscious mind, contains the most basic human instincts, developed at birth
what is the ego
the rational part of the personality, tries to compromise with the id, socially acceptable reasonings, developed at around 2 years
what is the superego
moral centre, internalised cultural values taught by role models, developed at around 4 years
what does freud say is necessary for children to develop these personality parts successfully
a stable home environment
what may happed if a child doesn’t have a stable home environment
an id that dominates
how is the superego developed
through taking on the characteristics of their same sex parent
what does identifying mean
taking on someone’s characteristics
what may happen to a child who develops a weak ego
they would find it hard to balance the differing needs of the id and superego which may make criminal behaviour more likely
who proposed the maternal deprivation theory of delinquency
john bowlby
how many juvenile thieves did bowlby study
44
what percent if the 44 juvenile thieves experienced maternal deprivation before the age of 5
39%
who did bowlby compare the juvenile thieves with
a control group of troubled children who had mental health problems but were not delinquents
what percent of the non delinquent children experienced maternal deprivation
5%
what was john bowlby’s overall theory
that a child will struggle to form relationships with others and may develop affectionless psychopathy if they grow up without a close relationship with its primary caregiver
strengths of bowlby’s research
the ideas aknowledge the role of early socialisation on criminality / shows the importance of mother/child bond / has practical applications - shows how separating child and mother can be very damaging.
weakness of freud’s theory
there is no way to prove that the unconscious mind exists / the data is collected from therapy sessions so data is subjective
weakness of bowlby’s study
it was retrospective because the data recollection from the mothers and children may be incorrect as the data is many years old and could easily have been mis-remembered or made up / the other 61% have no mention as to why they’re delinquents / later research buy himself didn’t support his own theory
what is a psychological theory of criminality
when crime is committed due to the individual differences in thinking processes
who created the personality test
hans eysenck
what format was the personality test in
questionnaire
how many questionnaires were completed
700
who completed the questionnaires
soldiers being treated for neurotic disorders at a hospital he was working at
how many dimensions of the personality did he identify
2
what are the 2 dimensions if the personality
extroversion & introversion // neuroticism & stability
whare did eysenck say that most people score on the diagram
the middle of both dimensions
where did eysenck say that criminals score on the diagram
highly on the neuroticism and extroversion
what dimension did eysenck add later
psychoticism
what are psychoticism characteristics
being cold, uncaring and aggressive
fill the gap - eysenck said that we inherit more or less ________ nervous _______ that contribute to our personality type
reactive // systems
strength of the personality test
there have been many other researchers who’s research supports the ideas that personality links with crime such as Center and Kemp (2002) / there are practical applications as we may be able to identify these personality traits in order to prevent crime
weaknesses of the personality test
the test needs people to be self aware and to tell the truth meaning that there is a risk of a social desirability bias as people may lie to seem more normal / establishing cause and effect as the crime may cause the personality not vice versa / farrington’s research disapproves of this research and days there is no link between personality sand crime
