Cognitive explanations of offending behaviour

    Cards (29)

    • Rational
      (in classical economic theory) economic agents are able to consider the outcome of their choices and recognise the net benefits of each one
    • Rational agents will select the choice which presents the highest benefits
    • Producers act rationally by

      Selling goods/services in a way that maximises their profits
    • Workers act rationally by

      Balancing welfare at work with consideration of both pay and benefits
    • Governments act rationally by

      Placing the interests of the people they serve first in order to maximise their welfare
    • Rationality in classical economic theory is a flawed assumption as people usually don't act rationally
    • Demand curve shifting right
      Increases the equilibrium price and quantity
    • If you add up marginal utility for each unit you get total utility
    • Han loved Emmy very much but sadly Emmy was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer and didn't have long to live
    • There was a pharmacist who had invented a drug called psycbustium that could totally cure Emmy
    • The pharmacist owned all the rights to this medication and decided to sell it at a high markup, 10 times the cost price of 200 pounds
    • Han didn't have enough money to pay the 2,000 pounds for the drug
    • Han tried fundraising to cover the costs but only managed to gather 1,000 pounds which wasn't enough
    • Han begged the pharmacist to sell it at a reduced price but the man refused
    • Desperate and running out of time, Han broke into the pharmacy after hours and stole the drug
    • Researcher Kohlberg: 'Described a theory of moral reasoning suggesting there are three levels that we can pass through during our moral development'
    • Pre-conventional level

      People only consider how their actions will affect them personally
    • Punishment orientation stage

      People think correct behavior is whatever they won't get in trouble for
    • Reward orientation stage

      Correct behavior is simply whatever is the most rewarding
    • Conventional level

      People accept society as an authority and conform to its expectations
    • Post-conventional level

      People consider their own personal ethical principles and will obey or disobey depending on deeply felt beliefs
    • Kohlberg suggests around 90% of people are not really going to get beyond stage 4 (social obedience)
    • Cognitive distortions
      When our mind fails to accurately perceive the true reality of the world around us because this thinking is fundamentally irrational
    • Hostile attribution bias
      We automatically assume that the other person has had negative intentions
    • Minimization
      We see our own behaviour as less serious than it really is
    • Research by Holland and Palmer found male offenders had lower moral reasoning than non-offenders
    • Kohlberg's theory is limited by being based on responses to hypothetical dilemma questions rather than real-world behaviour
    • Kohlberg's theory was biased towards a male ideal of justice, minimizing the importance of female perspectives focused on caring
    • Cognitive behavioural programs that challenge irrational thinking, like anger management, could reduce reoffending
    See similar decks