pyschological explanations: cognitive theories

2 cognitive theories

1. Kohlberg’s levels of moral reasoning

2. Cognitive distortions

Kohlberg’s levels of moral processing

Moral reasoning- process in which an individual tries to determine the difference between right and wrong in a personal situation by using logic

Kohlberg asked different children ethical dilemmas and monitored their responses over time: this developed a theory about how moral reasoning develops from childhood to adulthood. This involved 3 levels of 6 stages- as you get older you move up the stages. Criminals often sit at lower levels as they demand immediate gratification.

The stages

1. Preconventional morality

   1. Obedience and punishment orientation- rules are obeyed to avoid punishment

   2. Instrumental orientation- rules are obeyed for personal gain

2. Conventional morality

   3. ‘Good boy’ or ‘good girl’ orientation- rules are obeyed for approval

   4. Maintenance of social order- rules are obeyed to maintain social order

3. Post conventional morality

   5. Morality of contract & individual rights- rules are obeyed if they’re impartial

   6. Morality of conscience- individual establishes whether their own rules in accordance with a personal set of ethical principles

Cognitive distortions

Faulty, biased and irrational ways of thinking that means we perceive ourselves, the world and others negatively

There are two types

1. Hostile attribution bias; violence is caused by the perception that other peoples acts are aggressive. (E.g. believing somebody wants a fight because they looked at you)

2. Minimalisation: downplaying the seriousness of an offence (e.g. fraudsters claim that ‘it wasn’t that much money compared to the companies worth)

Strengths of cognitive theories

• usefulness- criminals who suffer with cognitive distortions would be able to get treatments via CBT, this is a talking therapy that deals with the way that we think. This would help criminals to deal with their cognitive distortions and therefore reduce the likelihood of criminality

  CA- this is voluntary therapy that requires engagement from the offender which can be hard to achieve

Weaknesses of cognitive theories

• lack of falsifiability- we cannot access our internal mental processes that are involves with behaviour, such as criminality making it difficult to understand the cognitive aspect to criminal behaviour

• Culture and gender bias- Kohlberg only used a sample of white boys when assessing with ethical dilemmas, which helped develop his theory of levels of moral reasoning. This raises concerns of culture bias and gender bias (androcentrism- psychological theories that represent a male world)