Criminal psychology

• Operant Conditioning


  Theory developed by Skinner (1948) where behaviours are repeated if they are reinforced and are not repeated if they are punished
• Operant conditioning


  Where you become criminal through punishments and rewards
• Positive reinforcement


  You get rewarded for a behaviour
• Positive punishment


  You get punished for a behaviour
• Criminal carries out an act and gets a reward for example if they wash dishes they will get a token and repeat that again
• Negative reinforcement


  • You help a person avoid negative consequences for a behaviour
• Types of positive reinforcers

  • Primary reinforcer
  • Secondary reinforcer
• Primary reinforcer


  A basic biological need, things that motivate behaviour because they satisfy an individual's basic need (e.g. food)
• Secondary reinforcer


  No survival value but we can associate it with survival (e.g. credit card)
• Strengths of the theory

  • It could be used to try and reduce criminal behaviour through the use of token economies
  • Token economies work by rewarding some positive behaviours and getting a reward, like exchanging items for privileges like free time
  • It can explain a wide range of crimes such as stealing, violence, vandalism
• Weaknesses of the theory

  • It is based on nurture (environmental influences)
  • If someone in their family is a criminal, it may pass onto them and seem normal
  • There are alternative explanations of crime that might explain some crimes better, such as committing crime due to poverty or drugs
• Stages of Social Learning Theory

  1. Attention

  2. Retention

  3. Reproduction

  4. Motivation
• Example of vicarious reinforcement linked to criminal behaviour


  • If someone stops fighting and gets a reward it would influence others to stop
• Strengths

  • There is supporting evidence that SLT can cause criminal behaviour from Bandura
  • Bandura found that aggression can have a short term was copied, especially if the role model was the same sex as child, if role mode was rewarded
• Weaknesses


  • There is another theory of criminal behaviour which says that role model behaviour cannot be tested in real life
• Strengths

  The theory has application, we can use it to help children have a good role model so they copy good behaviour
• Weaknesses This theory is based on nurture so it doesn't look at genes are criminality . Brunner People are more criminal because they have a defict in MOA gene
• Strengths - restorative justice 


  • Has a high victim satisfaction rate of 85%, Victims are able to ask questions and communicate their point to the offender which ca make them feel empowered / better
• Strengths - restorative

  Studied show that recidivism falls by 14% when restorative justice is used . This is good as the reduction in reoffending has to undertake restorative justice voluntarily , the offender was contemplating crimeless life
• Weaknesses- restorative 


  Restorative justice can cause distress to the victim and offender because it involves personal contact via a face to face meeting or letter
• Weaknesses- restorative justice 


  Relies on the offender feeling guilty for their crime and being willing to accept responsibility which us a problem as the process can be time consuming and costly, less than the cost involved in dealing with reoffending