Criminal psychology

• What is operant conditioning as an explanation of criminality

  Learning from the consequences of actions
• What is positive reinforcement

  Receiving something pleasant for a behaviour, so we repeat it
• What is negative reinforcement

  The avoidance of something unpleasant, so we do it again
• What is positive punishment

  Receiving something unpleasant for a behaviour, so we do not do it again
• What is negative punishment

  Removing something pleasant so we do not repeat behaviour again
• What are the two types of reinforcements in operant conditioning

  1. Positive
  2. Negative
• What is reinforcement and punishment in operant conditioning

  Reinforcement achieves desired behaviour and punishment prevents undesired behaviour
• What is positive and negative in operant conditioning

  Positive is adding something which encourages behaviour

  Negative is taking away something which discourages behaviour
• What are primary reinforcers

  A reinforcer that satisfies a biological need (eg. food)
• What are secondary reinforcers

  A reinforcer of no survival value, but we have learned to associate it with a primary reinforcer (eg. school grades)
• Strengths of operant conditioning

  • It can be used to explain a wide range of crimes. Explains theft and how social approval can be a strong reinforcer that encourage theft through positive reinforcement. It can also explain some murders. A man may find out that his friend is stealing from him so he kills the friend. This is negative reinforcement.
  • Explains the punishment can remove undesirable behaviour which can be used in the justice system where offenders' civil liberties are taken away. It has also contributed to the development of behaviour management techniques like token economies
• Weaknesses of operant conditioning

  • Does not explain all crimes that are committed. The theory neglects other factors that can cause criminal behavior like someone's personality or their genetics
  • Behaviour can be reproduced in the absence of reinforcement or punishment. Someone can choose to commit a crime because of the way they think or different form of motivation than reward. Eg. an employee may choose to steal from their employer to get back at their employer
• What is social learning theory

  Behavior is learned through the observation and imitation of role models
• What is modelling

  Learning a new behaviour through paying attention to, retaining, and reproducing the behaviour of a role model
• What is observational learning

  Learning new behaviors through watching and modelling a role model
• Albert Bandura (1977) said that behaviour is a consequence of observing and modelling others, known as observational learning.

  We are motivated to copy those with whom we share similar characteristics, which are called role models.

  From observing a role model, we can learn how new behaviours are performed which may or may not lead to a change in behaviour
• What are the 5 parts of the modelling process

  1. Identification
  2. Retention
  3. Reproduction
  4. Motivation
  5. Identification
• What is vicarious reinforcement

  Motivation to model the behaviours of others who we see being rewarded for their behaviour
• What is attention in the modelling process

  When you learn something new, you must be able to and want to pay attention to it
• What is retention in the modelling process

  For learning to take place, you must be able to store or retain a new behaviour in your memory
• What is reproduction in the modelling process

  Able to model the new behaviour that you have observed, you need to be able to reproduce it.
• What is motivation in modelling process

  You are more likely to model behavior you have observed someone do if you are motivated to reproduce it. The motivation can be intrinsic which means that you game pleasure from copying it. It could also be that you see the role model receiving a reward for this behaviour so you copy in order to receive the same award which is known as vicarious reinforcement.
• What is identification in modelling process

  When you temporarily adopt the behaviours, beliefs, and values of the role model or group
• How can social learning explain criminal behaviour

  If a person is exposed to criminality, like a child living in a violent household, they're more likely to pay attention and retain this.

  Parents and television characters can be strong role models. If a child is exposed to criminality they are more likely to model the behaviour, particularly if the role model appears to be rewarded for their activities
• Strengths of social learning theory

  • There is evidence to support social learning of aggressive behaviour. Bandura conducted a series of experiments that expose nursery children to an aggressive role model. He found that aggression was copied, especially if the role model was the same sex and if the role model was rewarded for their aggression.
  • Observational learning is one of the ways children learn new behaviour and can explain this behaviour in the absence of reinforcement. Some behaviour does not become learned through consequences, we simply watch and imitate.
• Strengths of social learning theory (2)

  • It explains why some people exposed to criminality become criminals and others do not. It shows that the motivation to model the behaviour must be present
• Weaknesses of social learning theory

  • Although some studies have shown our children learn aggressive behaviour, the studies can only measure the short term effect. Exposure to aggression cannot be ethically tested because they will have long-term effects. Therefore, the theory cannot be tested in real life situations.
  • Some criminal behaviour like murder cannot be explained by observational learning because it is not often witnessed in real life. It also cannot explain opportunistic crime like fried it has not been observed by the criminal
• Biological explanations of criminality do not take learning experiences into account. Instead, they explain criminality as a result of our biological systems, such as our brain and nervous system, genes and hormones.
• Early theories of biological explanations believed that criminals had certain body types and facial characteristics that indicated whether they were criminal and what type of crime they would be likely to commit. There are still explanations for criminal behaviour that examine whether crime runs in families. There are also theories that link certain genes to aggression.
• Karl Christiansen (1977) found that 35 per cent of identical male twins recorded in Denmark were both criminals compared to 13 per cent of non-identical male twins.

  For female twins, the figures were 21 per cent of identical twins and 8 per cent of non-identical twins. However, identical twins are likely to be raised in a more similar way than non-identical twins (who may be a different sex). This shared upbringing could explain the slightly higher percentage of identical twins who are both criminals compared to non-identical twins.
• One way to rule out the potential influence of upbringing is to use adoption studies. We can assume that any similarity between the biological parent and child is inherited. Hutchings and Mednick (1975) found that 21% of adopted children who went on to commit a crime had a biological father who was convicted of a crime. This was compared to 10% of children whose biological father was not convicted of a crime but the adoptive father had a criminal record. However, it could be some other tendency or attribute that has been inherited, which may explain why some adopted children turn to crime.
• What is personality

  Characteristics and qualities that make up someone's individual character
• What is temperament

  The nature someone is born with, which affects their behaviour
• Eysenck (1964) suggested that certain personality traits could be more prone to criminality
• What is extraversion

  Behaviour that is outgoing, sensation seeking, and sociable
• What is introversion

  Behaviour that is reserved, calm, and quiet
• What is neuroticism

  The nervous disposition of someone
• What is stable neuroticism

  A personality trait associated with being unreactive in stressful situations and emotionally unaffected
• What is unstable neuroticism

  A personality trait associated with someone being overreactive in stressful situations, over emotional, and anxious
• What is psychoticism

  A personality trait that is cold, lacks empathy, is antisocial, and can be aggressive