cognitive distortions

• HOSTILE ATTRIBUTION BIAS

  a tendency to interpret neutral/friendly behaviour of others as menacing, aggressive and dangerous

  this in turn can lead to individuals with HAB being extremely confrontation and looking out for threatening behaviour

  this is one type of cognitive bias as they do not grasp an aspect of reality
• MINIMALISATION

  this is when offenders tend to downplay their offences to reduce feelings of guilt/shame

  it is a type of cognitive bias that makes an individual self-denying in their actions as a coping mechanism

  prevalent amongst sex offenders - hashmall and pollock found 35% of child molesters they studies did not believe they were committing a malicious act, and 36% of child molesters believed they didn't commit a crime and believed the child consented
• A03

  +research into cognitive distortions can have real world practical application - for example, minimisation used by sex offenders can be targeted through cognitive therapies such as cbt. this can allow processes such as reality testing and arguments to take place to allow offenders to process their actions, aswell as the consequences of them which can therefore reduce recividsm rates. thus, this offers a more beneficial alternative than normal methods of punishment which provides an individual with more intellectual stimulation and insight into the affects that their actions have on people
• A03

  + high predictive validity - minimisation can be used as a way to predict whether a criminal is likely to reoffend. for example, if they take account for their actions and feel remorse it suggests that are less likely to reoffend, whereas those who don't show remorse means they are likely to reoffend. this therefore may be beneficial for the economy as they can predict what funding is needed for prison systems through being able to predict the likelihood that criminals will be imprisoned again
• A03

  -Attempting to quantify and measure cognitive distortions is problematic: thoughts are subjective and open to interpretation plus using self-report methods is at risk of e.g. social desirability bias/response bias, self-serving bias. this therefore means HAB and minimisation lacks validity as it may be inaccurate and lack sufficient insight.