Eysencks theory

• Eysenck proposed that behaviour could be represented along three dimensions:

  • Introversion-extraversion
  • Neuroticism-stability
  • Psychoticism-sociability
• • According to Eysenck our personality traits are biological in origin and come through the type of nervous system we inherit
• The criminal personality:

  • an individual who scores highly on measures of extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism
  • Cannot be easily contained, cold and unfeeling and likely to engage in offending behaviour
• Extraverts

  • have an underactive nervous system
  • meaning they constantly seek excitement, stimulation and engage in risk-taking behaviours
  • tend to not be conditioned easily so do not learn from mistakes
• Neurotic

  • High levels of reactivity in the sympathetic nervous system
  • they respond quickly to situations of threat
  • Tend to be nervous jumpy and overanxious
  • Instability makes them hard to predict
• Psychotic

  • individuals are suggested to have higher levels of testosterone
  • unemotional and prone to aggression
• Criminal personality type is neurotic-extravert-psychotic

  • Neurotics are unstable so overreact in threatening situations
  • Extraverts seek more arousal and thus engage in dangerous activities
  • Psychotics are aggressive and lack empathy
• The role of socialisation

  • offending behaviour is linked through socialisation processes
  • Eysenck saw offending as developmentally immature, in that it is selfish and demands immediate gratification- offenders are impatient
  • Process of socialisation is one in which children are taught to become more able to delay gratification and become socially orientated
  • Eysenck believed people with high E and N scores were difficult to condition
  • So were less likely to have learnt this, so are more likely to act antisocially when the opportunity presents itself
• Measuring the criminal personality

  • 'Eysenck personality questionnaire' EPQ
  • A psychological test that locates respondents along the E,N and P dimensions to determine their personality type
  • This measurement was important to Eysencks theory because it enabled him to compare it to levels of criminality
• A03: Research support

  • Eysenck compared 2070 prisoners scores of the EPQ with 2422 controls
  • On measures of Neuroticism, extraversion and psychoticism, across all age ranges, prisoners scored higher than the control
  • this agrees with the predictions made by the theory that offenders rate higher across all 3 dimensions
• CC:

  • Farrington conducted a meta-analysis and reported offenders scored highly on psychoticism and not so much extraversion and neuroticism
  • There is also inconsistent evidence for EEG measures which are used to measure cortical arousal between extraverts and introverts
  • Casts doubt on the physiological basis of Eysencks theory
• A03: Too simplistic

  • Offending behaviour cannot be explained by personality alone
  • Moffitt drew a distinction between offending behaviour that occurs in adolescence and that which carries on into adult hood
  • She argued personality traits alone were a poor predictor of how long offending behaviour would go on for
  • Considered the effects of the environment in the persistence of offending behaviour
  • Paints a more complex picture than Eysenck suggested
• A03: culture-bound

  • Criminal personality may vary according to culture
  • Bartol and Holanchock studied Hispanic and African-American offenders in a maximum security prison in New York
  • Researchers divided offenders into 6 groups based on offending history
  • Found all 6 groups were less extraverted then control groups of non-offenders
  • Questions the generalisability of Eysencks theory
• A03: Measuring personality

  • Personality type may be too complex to simply reduce to a score
  • Also too dynamic to quantify