Cognitive factors 5

• Preconventional level

  More likely to commit crimes in this level.

  Will commit crimes if the benefits outweigh the cost or they believe they will get away with it.

  Theft, fraud, etc.
• Conventional Morality

  Stronger moral compasses

  Less likely to commit crimes

  Crime is justified if it helps maintain relationships or society

  Stealing for family member, self defence, speeding to hospital
• Post-conventional morality

  Justified to help maintain human rights or further social justice.

  Eg crimes related to protesting, releasing animals from a lab
• Chen & Howitt (2007)

  Male offenders in 6 youth correctional institutions in Taiwan and controls from one junior and two senior high schools participated in the study.

  Self-reported criminal histories classified according to their characteristic offence type (drug, violent or theft).

  Overall moral reasoning development stage were significantly less mature in offenders than in controls despite offenders mean age being higher. Those who showed more advanced moral reasoning were less likely to engage in violent crimes.
• Hostile attribution bias

  A type of cognitive bias where individuals tend to interpret the behaviour of others in various situations as threatening, aggressive or both.
• Applying methods of modifying

  Anger management
• Strengths of cognitive factors theory

  Supporting research

  Practical applications (anger management, teaching moral reasoning)

  Deterministic
• Weaknesses of cognitive factors theory

  Deterministic

  Use of hypothetical dilemmas

  Hostile attribution bias only explains violent crimes

  Origin of hostile attribution bias unknown