AO3

• One strength of cognitive distortions as an explanation for offending is its application to therapy.
• Cognitive explanations for offending offer a potential treatment for crime, as changing cognitions should alter behaviour. This is often done through CBT or restorative justice programmes.
• Gudjonsson & Bownes (2002) found that violent criminals and offenders showed a strong consistency in the way they attributed blame to their crimes.
• One limitation of the idea of cognitive distortion depends on the type of offence that has been committed, as many distortions are not used in the same way by all offenders.
• Minimalisation does not explain the cause of offending behaviour, but rather is used to justify it and remove guilt. This is a coping strategy that can differ between individuals.
• Most research into the cognitive explanations of crime use hypothetical situations/ scenarios which lack ecological validity, as there are no consequences in such cases.
• Cognitive theories help us understand how some offenders think, but they rely on the self-reported information from offenders themselves which may be subjective.
• Cognitive theories do not help predict future offending behaviour, so may not be that useful in helping reduce crime.