individualistic theories of criminality

• SLT

  bandura bobo doll study

  behaviour is learnt vicariously via observing and imitating role models
• strength of SLT

  bobo doll study showed role model affected childs behaviour. study has been replicated with slight changes and found similar results increasing reliability
• weakness of SLT

  research was lab experiments so low mundane realism, situation involved child and adult role model they didnt know in limited situations, cant generalise to everyday situations or how behaviour is learnt within households
• OC

  learn via reinforcement and punishment

  reinforcement increases likelihood of behaviour being repeated

  punishment decreases likelihood of behaviour being repeated

  SO reinforce wanted behaviour and punish unwanted behaviour
• freud psychodynamic approach

  personality consists of id, superego and ego

  id is pleasure principle,irrational and primitive, seeks immediate satisfaction and is innate

  superego is moral principle which makes us feel guilty or proud about what we do, develops through identification with parents

  ego is reality principle, logical and rational, balances id and superego and finds acceptable solutions to meeting ids needs
• strength of freud

  theory is holistic, nature and nurture elements, id is innate, ego + superego develop through socialisation, may be better explanation than just biological or social theory alone
• weakness of freud

  theory based predominantly on case studies of upper class viennese women in a paternalistic and repressed society so cant be generalised to wider population
• eysenck personality theory

  personality consists of extraversion (how outgoing you are), neuroticism (how stable you are) and psychoticism

  believed high PEN scores made a criminal personality
• strength of eysenck

  supported by research, rushton and christjohn(1981) compared PEN scores with self report delinquency questionnaires of students and found those who scored high in delinquency had high PEN scores, correlation is consistent to eysenck increasing credibility

  suggests criminal tendencies can be detected in childhood, interventions and programmes can be put in place to reduce likelihood of child turning to criminality
• weakness of eysenck

  used self report questionnaires as methodology, people may lie due to social desirability, reduce validity and lack reliability as answer may be different each time

  personality isnt fixed, fails to consider personality can be situation specific and results may differ due to situation a person is in or how a question is phrased