AC2.2 Individualistic theories of crime

• What are the 3 individualistic theories of criminality?

  1. Social learning theory
  2. Psychodynamic theories (Freud)
  3. Psychological theories (Eysenck)
• What is the social learning theory?


  The social learning theory suggests that people learn through observing and imitating the behavior of others, as well as through the consequences of their own actions.
• What is vicarious reinforcement?


  Vicarious reinforcement is the process of learning by observing others being rewarded or punished for their behaviour. It is an indirect form of learning
• Bandura's Bobo doll study


  1. Experiment on small children

  2. Adult in the room with a child and other toy (e.g. Bobo doll)

  3. Adult viciously beats up the doll, shouting, screaming, hitting with a hammer for 10 minutes

  4. Children left in the room with the same toys after watching the adult

  5. Every child copied the adult's behaviour, closest imitation when child watched an adult of the same sex

  6. Another group watched an adult play gently, then played calmly with the doll, showing no sign of aggression
• Idea at the time

  Watching violence reduces aggression by purging negative emotions
• What the children saw, they did
• What were the key findings of Bandura’s study?

  • Children learn social behaviour through observation of watching the behaviour of another person
  • Boys were more likely to imitate same sex models than girls, in terms of physical aggression boys imitated more physical acts
  • Also links to the Jamie Bulger case, apparently the young boys watched Child’s Play 3 (Chuckie) the night before
• What did Osborn and West (1979) find?


  They looked at sons and criminal a non - criminal fathers. They found where the father had a criminal conviction, 40% of the sons acquired one by the age of 18. However, where there was no conviction, only 13% of sons had one
• What is differential association?


  It is when a person learns criminal attitudes and behaviours through those around them

  • Sutherland said that people learn their values and techniques for criminal behaviour through those around them.
• What is the psychodynamic theory of criminality?

  • Unconscious conflicts. most of our mind. is unconscious- these are biological drives that determine our behaviour and personality, including criminality
• What is Frued’s theory of criminality?

  Said that our psyche is composed of 3 parts:

  • Id
  • Ego
  • Superego
• What is the Id?

  • The Id is the primitive and instinctual part of the mind that operates on the pleasure principle/ the need for immediate gratification
  • It is formed from birth-18 months and is the unconscious part of the mind
• What is the superego?

  • It represents our sense of morality and thought, tells us all the things we shouldn’t do or the duties and obligation of society
  • It is the conscious part of our psyche, develops from our parents initially and society
  • Develops 3-6
• What is the ego?

  • The id and the superego are in constant conflict - as a result we develop an ego
  • The ego is the part of our psyche that mediates between the id and the superego and it operates on the reality principle
  • It develops form 18 months - 3 years