Errors or Biases in people's information processing system characterised by faulty thinking.
All occasionally show evidence of faulty thinking when explaining our own behavior - especially if it was unexpected
Research has linked this to the way in which offenders interpret other people's behavior and justify their own actions
Hostile Attribution and Minimalisation
What is minimalisation?
The attempt to deny or downplay the seriousness of an offence and has elsewhere been referred to as the application of a 'euphemistic label' (Bandura)
Burglars may describe themselves as 'doing a job' or 'supporting my family' as a way of minimising the seriousness of their offences
Barbaree (1991) - people which commit sexual offences are particularly prone to minimalisation -
26 incarcerated rapists = 54% denied they had committed an offence
40% = minimised the damage they caused to the victim
What is the Hostile Attribution Bias
Misinterpret the actions of others - assume they are being confrontational when they are not.
Offenders often misread non-aggressive cues (looked at) which may lead to a disproportionate reaction, often violent.
Schonenberg and Jusyte - 55 violent offenders with images of emotionally ambiguous expressions
When compared to a matched control group, the violent offender were significantly more likely to perceive the images as angry and hostile
What was Dodge and Frame's research into the HAB?
They showed children videos of an ambiguous provocation (where the intent was neither hostile or accidental)
Children who had bee identified as aggressive and rejected prior to the study interpreted the situation as hostile than those classed as non-aggressive and accepted
Showing the behaviour may be apparent in childhood
