Explanations of Offending Behaviour

• One cognitive theory is irrational beliefs
• Cognitive distortions are errors or biases in people's information processing system characterised by faulty thinking
• Describe hostile attribution bias:

  1. violence is caused by the perception that other people's acts are aggressive
  2. People may be perceived as being confrontational when they are not
  3. e.g. 'he was giving me a funny look' as a reason for attacking someone, when no such look had happened
• Describe Minimalisation:

  1. downplaying the seriousness of an offence
  2. 'Euphemistic labelling - labelling them as something that does good not bad - makes it appear positive e.g. burglars are just doing a job or supporting their family
  3. some will underplay their offence e.g. fraudsters may claim 'it wasn't that much money compared to the company's worth'
• A second cognitive theory is moral reasoning
• Moral reasoning is the process by which an individual draws upon their own value system to determine whether an action is right or wrong
• Kohlberg's theory proposed that people's decisions and judgements on issues of right and wrong can be summaries in a stage theory - as someone matures their moral reasoning becomes more sophisticated. He based his theory on people's responses to a series of moral dilemmas
• Pre-conventional stage?

  Infancy and pre-school
• Describe the pre-conventional stage?

  Obedience and punishment morals are based on whether they will or won't be punished. There is no difference at this stage between doing right and avoiding punishment. Entirely driven by self-interest - will is save me/will I get something out of it (own interests), shifts to rewards rather than punishments
• Someone at the Pre-conventional stage might break the law because?

  punishment is not definite
• Conventional age?

  School age
• Describe the conventional stage?

  Driven by interpersonal accord and conformity. Conscious about how they will be perceived (what are others doing/ what will others think of me) and a want to secure approval. Also driven by authority and maintaining social order, realise it is important to follow rules and uphold rules in society
• People at the conventional stage might break the law because?

  If closes people are criminals - crime more likely to occur

  Not sure if the act is illegal - less likely to commit
• Post-conventional stage?

  teens and adulthood
• Describe the post-conventional stage?

  Driven by a social contract - will follow rules if the serve the wider community. By this stage have universal ethical principles. Rules are valid only if grounded in justice. Based on ethical principles e.g. compassion, fairness. They can consider the wider perspective
• People at the post-conventional level might break the law because?

  Adheres to rules but may commit crime in certain circumstances where they feel the law should not apply e.g. punch in self defense. Each individual has their own moral code and may commit a crime if they feel the law is unjust
• Piaget said that moral development is linked to maturation. Individual's moral development is completed by age 9/10
• Kohlberg said that some individuals do not progress past certain levels of moral development
• Kohlberg - criminals have a lower level of moral reasoning than others. Criminals do not progress from the pre-conventional level of moral reasoning - they seek to avoid punishment and gain rewards. They have child-like reasoning. Non-criminals tend to reason at higher levels and sympathise with the rights of others, exhibiting honesty, generosity and non-violence (post-conventional moral reasoning)
• Blackburn said that this is due to their childhood lacking moral role-play opportunities which may have helped mature moral reasoning to develop
• Piaget showed that children of different ages think differently, and he also associated this with different types of moral reasoning, and his work heavily influenced Kohlberg
• What questions has Kohlberg's research and the work it has generated helped to answer?

  1. are there different stages of moral reasoning where the reasons for acting morally - that is doing the right thing - differ between stages?
  2. does the development of these stages occur over time?
  3. if someone has an immature level of moral development for their age does this make them more likely to commit a crime?
• Kohlberg - heavily influenced by Piaget

  believed children's moral development developed through stages

  order of the stages invariant

  individual proceeds through these stages depending on their level of cognitive development - explains why not everyone achieves level 3

  research involved presenting groups of boys with moral dilemmas and the asking the questions about them
• Aim of Kohlberg's research 1963/81?

  To find evidence in support of stages of moral development
• Participants of Kohlberg's research?

  58 boys from Chicago, of working and middle class, aged 7,10,13 and 16
• Methodology of Kohlberg's research?

  each boy given a 2 hour interview with 10 dilemmas that they had to solve. Some of the boys were followed up at 3-yearly intervals up to age 30, making this a longitudinal study. In 1969, Kohlberg also studied children in the UK, Mexico, Taiwan, Turkey, the USA and Yucatan.
• Results of Kohlberg's study?

  Younger boys tended to perform at stages 1 and 2. Older boys were at stages 3 and 4 suggesting support for development through the stages. No support was found for stage 6 in this sample and later, in 1978, Kohlberg revised his view and agreed there might not be a separate stage 6
• Conclusion of Kohlberg's research?

  This pattern was consistent across different cultures