Unit 2.2 Flashcards
What was the basis of Freud’s theory?
He used a psychoanalysis theory where he split the mind into the ID, EGO and SUPEREGO.
What do the ID, EGO and SUPEREGO do?
1) The ID: which controls our selfish and animalistic impulses (unconscious).
2) The Ego: mediates between the Id and the Superego.
3) The Superego: our moral sense or conscience.
What are strengths of Freud’s theory?
- The influence of childhood on criminality is still a key point used in most theories.
- Parts of the physical brain links with the ID e.g prefrontal cortex matching with the ID.
What were the issues with Freud’s theory?
1) The theory cannot be tested properly due to it being based on the unconscious part of the mind.
2) The validity is also in question due to Freud using his own interpretations of his own patients memories and dreams.
What was Bandura’s Social Learning Theory about?
The SLT was a theory that was based on children imitating adults behavior, which could be linked to criminal behavior being learnt from parents/guardians.
What are the strengths of Bandura’s experiment?
1) It was well controlled and similar studies have been conducted and have given similar results to the Bandura’s experiment.
2) There was also an obvious relationship between the doll and its treatment by the child which can be physically seen and recorded, making it a more reliable test.
3) One of the strongest theories.
What are the issues of Bandura’s experiment?
1) A weakness of this theory is that the location of the experiment can affect the results as it is in an unfamiliar place and it is not accurately modelling a family environment.
2) Furthermore, Cumberbatch 1997 theory found that children were more likely to imitate the model if they had never seen the doll before.
3) Finally, an ethical consideration of this experiment is that children are expected to reenact violent behaviour which is not ethical as it could reinforce violent behavior.
What was Eyseneck’s study based on?
Eyseneck hypothesized that different personality traits were linked with criminality.
1) Extraversion
2) Neuroticism
3) Psychoticism
What do each of the personality traits mean Extraversion, Neuroticism and Psychoticism?
1) Extraversion - naturally under stimulated, seeks stimulation from external environment, more likely to engage in risky behaviour.
2) Neuroticism, where you not emotionally stable.
3) Psychoticism - Eysenck defines this as cold, uncaring
What were the strenghts of Eyseneck study?
1) Research on soldiers in hospital supported this theory.
2) His personality testing has formed the basis of many personality tests.
What are some issues with Eyeneck’s theory?
1 Two different variables for extraversion which are impulsiveness and sociability, which means offenders can be impulsive, but not sociable
2) Study sample of offenders may not be a good overall picture, due to the fact that low impulsive offenders may be better at avoiding getting caught.
3) Evidence does show a link between personality type and criminality, with this said this does not mean that personality type causes criminality. There is also an argument that prison could cause someone to change their personality
