Criminal psychology

• violent offences


  aggressive crimes resulting in physical harm or death to the victim
• drug related offences


  crimes involving trading in or using illegal substances.
• acquisitive offences


  crimes where capital or belongings are acquired through illegal means e.g. theft.
• sexual offences


  crimes where a victim is forced to commit or submit to a sexual act against their will
• anti-social offences


  criminal acts that cause harassment, alarm or distress to people who do not share a home with the perpetrator
• 4 types of sentences


  prison, community work, fines, discharge
• criminal behaviour is subjective


  it changes over time and can be viewed as a social construct
• what are self-report surveys

  researchers ask members of the public confidentially about crimes they have committed. convicted criminals are asked about additional crimes to the ones they have committed. victims asked about crimes they experiences but didn't report.
• social learning theory


  role model, identification, observation, imitation, internalisation
• role model


  usually, parent, older sibling etc. of same sex. someone you look up to and want to be like.
• identification


  you align yourself with the person and decide you want to be like them
• observation

  you pay attention to the behaviour and memorise it
• imitation


  you recall the behaviours and copy them
• internalisation


  the behaviour becomes an integral part of your personality due to continual reinforcement
• vicarious reinforcement


  process where the observer sees the model rewarded, making the observer more likely to imitate the model's behaviour
• direct reinforcement


  when a behaviour is strengthened and likely to be repeated due to positive outcomes for the individual
• criticisms of social learning theory

  only focuses on the role of nature, ignoring role of nurture

  the theory doesn't explain how criminal behaviour starts in the first place

  the theory doesn't account for people who turn to crime, despite not having any criminal role models

  if the theory is correct it should be easier to reduce crime
• cooper and mackie's study hypothesis

  playing an aggressive video game will lead to increased aggression in children compared to other types of game
• cooper and mackie's study sample

  84 participants, 9-11 years old from New Jersey
• cooper and mackie's study design

  lab experiment, independent measures design
• cooper and mackie's study variables


  IV - type of game played

  DV - aggression levels after playing/observing game
• cooper and mackie's study conditions (procedure)

  condition 1 - aggressive video game (missile command)

  condition 2 - non-aggressive video game (pac man)

  condition 3 - control condition (pen and paper maze game)
• cooper and mackie's study results

  girls in aggressive condition spent more time playing with the aggressive toy. boys no difference.

  type of game played had no effect on interpersonal aggression

  children had higher interpersonal aggression after playing not observing
• cooper and mackie's study conclusions

  measurable consequences of playing and observing video games on girl's behaviour

  playing aggressive video games increases girl's activity and likelihood of playing with aggressive toys

  boys not affected by video games
• cooper and mackie's study criticisms

  sample biased and therefore difficult to make generalisations. age bias and cultural bias.

  study was in an artificial setting leading to low levels of ecological validity
• eyesencks theory


  the impulse to behave in a criminal way is something you are born with
• criminal personality


  a collection of traits that make a person different from 'normal', law-abiding people
• extraversion


  people who score high are outgoing, sociable and confident

  criminals are often extraverts - need a lot of stimulation and are thrill seekers
• neuroticism


  people who score high are anxious, angry and prone to guilt

  criminals are often neurotics - stuck in patterns of behaviour to relieve high stress levels
• psychoticism


  people who score high are impulsive, aggressive and selfish

  criminals are often psychotics - characteristics are directly related to crime
• extraversion biologically


  the RAS is a part of the brain stem that regulates the stimuli sent to the cerebral cortex. in extraverts the cerebral cortex is under-aroused because stimuli is restricted by the RAS. so stimulation is gained by criminal behaviour. also have a stronger dopamine reward system.
• neuroticism biologically

  eyesenck argues that the autonomic nervous system, which is activated during emotional situations and regulates the activity of the limbic system, becomes over-aroused, leading to higher levels of violence
• psychoticism biologically

  an excess of dopaminergic neurones causes an overproduction of dopamine. excess dopamine causes inhibition of impulses in the brain during synaptic transmission
• eyesenck's theory criticisms

  critics say the concept of psychoticism is not useful (they argue it is simply a definition of criminal behaviour)

  eyesenck's theory ignores individual differences
• heaven study hypothesis

  measures of psychoticism, extraversion and self-esteem would be significant predictors of self-reported delinquency
• heaven study sample

  282 adolescents (146 female, 136 male) from two independent Catholic schools in New South Wales, Australia, age range 13-15 years
• heaven study design


  longitudinal study - investigated extraversion, psychoticism and self-esteem at time 1 and whether they were significant predictors of delinquency after 2 years (time2)
• heaven study procedure

  all three questionnaires checked for internal reliability and, apart from psychoticism scale, scored well

  80% participants responded at time 2

  students assured of confidentiality and that nothing they say would be told to school or authorities
• heaven study results

  males more likely to engage in criminal behaviour in times 1 and 2

  positive correlation between delinquency and psychoticism at times 1 and 2

  weaker positive correlation with extraversion at time 2 only
• heaven study conclusions

  aligned with previous research, psychoticism is associated significantly with self reported delinquency

  heaven pointed out that the 3 factors only explained a small percentage of the variance in delinquency

  evidence for influence on delinquency over time was quite weak