Yochelson and samenow criminal personality theory:
KEY IDEA = criminals are prone to faulty thinking and this makes them more likely to commit crime
STUDY = 240male offenders most of whom had been committed to psychward
THINKING ERRORS LINK TO CRIME = criminals show a range of biases and errors in their thinking and decision making which may lead to crime. for example lying, secretiveness and having a victim stance
strengths of Yochelson and Samenow:
has lead to other research such as PICTS
successful treatments. CBT has been developed from these ideas
limitations of Yochelson and Samenow:
they didn't use a control group of non criminals to compare thinking errors with
high sample attrition rate. only 30 left in study by the end
their sample was unrepresentativeness. only males and mostly in psych hospitals. doesn't account for all criminals
general criticisms of individualistic theories
artificiality = behaviour in lab experiments is often not the same as real lifesitutions
sample bias = studies are often only on convicted criminals which may differ from those who don't get caught
neglect of socialfactors = they ignore social factors that may cause criminality such as poverty or decriminalisation
Kohlberg's moral development theory:
KEY IDEA = ideas of right and wrong develop through series of stages from childhood to adulthood
LINK TO CRIME = criminals are stuck at a less mature level of moral development and likely to think only of reward and punishment not how actions can affect others
CBT = cognitive theories have led to development of CBT as possible treatment for criminal behaviour
strengths of Kohlberg:
studies show delinquents having a lessmaturestage of moral development
THORTON AND REID = found the theory to be truer for planned crimes such as theft and robbery than impulsive crimes like violence
limitations of Kohlberg :
focuses on moralthinking rather than moralbehaviour. someone may be capable of thinking morally while acting imorally