psychological explanations for offending

• main assumption of eysenck's criminal personality theory

  people with certain personality traits are more prone to offending behaviour
• define extraversion

  outgoing, impulsive and seek immediate gratification
• define neuroticism

  people who are easily anxious or aroused which leads to emotional instability
• define psychoticism

  tendency toward aggression, cruelty and antisocial behaviour
• explain eysenck's theory of criminal personality

  • criminals score high on extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism
  • individuals have a lower level of conditioning and less responsive to punishment
  • less likely to learn socially acceptable behaviours
• what do cognitive explanations focus on?

  individual's thought patterns and mental processes
• what are the 2 cognitive explanations?

  1. kohlberg's level of moral reasoning
  2. cognitive distortions
• outline kohlberg's level of moral reasoning

  offenders operate at pre-conventional morality rather than higher stages of moral reasoning
• define pre-conventional level

  individuals justify their crimes by focusing on the benefit to themselves or avoiding punishment
• define post-conventional level

  actions are based on universal ethical principles
• outline cognitive distortions

  • hostile attribution bias - interpret ambiguous situations as aggressive or threatening
  • minimisation - downplay seriousness of crimes and rationalise behaviour to reduce feelings of guilt or shame
• who proposed the differential association theory?

  sutherland
• main assumption of the differential association theory

  criminals are exposed to pro-criminal attitudes and values
• key concepts of the differential association theory

  • frequency - more exposure to criminal attitudes, more likely to engage in criminality
  • duration - longer exposure, more likely it will be adopted
  • priority - early associations are more influential
  • intensity - greater importance of source, the stronger the impact
• what is the psychodynamic explanation based on?

  freud
• main assumption of the psychodynamic explanation

  unconscious conflicts and early childhood shapes criminal behaviour
• key concepts of the psychodynamic explanation

  • id - unconscious part of personality, responsible for desires and impulses
  • ego - rational part that mediates between the id and reality
  • superego - moral conscience, developed through socialisation
• explain the role of the id, ego and superego in criminal behaviour

  • dysfunctional superego fails to regulate the id's impulses which leads to criminal behaviour
• strength of eysenck's theory - evidence

  • empirical support
  • eysenck & eysenck - criminals score higher on E, N and P compared to non-criminals
  • personality traits are linked to offending behaviour
• weakness of eysenck's theory - incomplete

  • oversimplification
  • ignores social, economic and environmental influences
  • biological determinism
• weakness of eysenck's theory - validity

  • methodological issues
  • use of self-report methods and correlational data
  • social desirability bias
• strength of cognitive distortions - relevance

  • practical application to treatment
  • loza & loza-fanous - offenders receiving CBT showed improvements in self-control and reduced criminal thinking
  • helps prevent reoffending
• weakness of cognitive distortions - causality

  • reliant on thought patterns
  • ignores socioeconomic status, trauma and peer influence
  • limited causality
• weakness of cognitive distortions - effectiveness

  • cultural bias
  • hostile attribution bias and minimisation are based on western models of psychological development
  • limits generalisability
• strength of differential association theory - evidence

  • empirical support
  • shaw & mckay - crime is higher in areas with high levels of social disorganisation
  • criminal behaviour is learned through interactions and associations
• weakness of the differential association theory - simplistic

  • overemphasised social learning
  • underestimates individual differences e.g. genetics or personality
  • doesn't account for complexity
• weakness of the differential association theory - limited

  • doesn't account for cultural and situational variations
  • some cultures have types of crime that are acceptable whilst in others they are discouraged
  • less applicable
• strength of the psychodynamic explanation - insight

  • valuable insight into early childhood
  • criminal behaviour results from unresolved conflicts between id, ego and superego that developed during childhood
  • deep understanding of impact
• weakness of the psychodynamic explanation - evidence

  • lack of empirical support
  • based on subjective case studies which lack scientific evidence
  • difficulty with falsifiability
• weakness of the psychodynamic explanation - incomplete

  • overemphasis on internal conflicts
  • neglects important social and environmental factors
  • fails to be comprehensive