psychology revision

crime

an action or omission that constitutes an offence that may be prosecuted by the state and is punishable by law

capital

assets (money, stocks, property) that someone owns

violent offence

aggressive crimes resulting in physical harm or death to the victim

violent offence example

murder

drug related offence

crimes involving trading in or using illegal substances

drug offence example

dealing drugs

acquisitive offence

crimes where capital/ belongings are acquired through illegal means

acquisitive offence example

burglary

sexual offence

crimes wherea victim is forced to commit or submit to sexual acts against their will

sexual offence example

rape

anti-social offence

acts that cause harassment, alarm or distress to people who dont share a home with the perpetrator

anti-social offence example

vandalism

making noise that disturb neighbours

county lines

transportation of drugs, usually by train

social construct

a concept that exists as the result of interactions between people who make up society

subjective

opinion

deviate

going against something

social norm

the acts that are deemed acceptable in a given society eg. queuing

rehab

a course of treatment for drug or alcohol dependence or mentally unstable or criminals

how does culture tie in with social norms?

as culture changes so do the social norms because society decide whats right and whats not based on whats happening at the time

bigamy

having more than one wife- acceptable in Saudi Arabia, unacceptable in the uk

economic needs

laws are enforced to minimise the costs of crime

political viewpoint

citizens have a greater tendency to fear crimes that were the focus of the political climate at the time eg. labour- anti-social crime

self report

a method of collecting data where the participant/ respondent is asked to record their own thoughts and feelings and experiences

questionnaires

set of questions usually in written form

3 measures of crime

• official stats

• offender survey

• victim survey

official stats

reported to the authorities and used to develop crime prevention strategies eg. police stats

offender survey

voluntary self report where offenders describe crimes they have committed and identify risk factors to repeat offending eg.alcohol, co-offenderers

victim survey

questionnaires that ask public if they have been victims of crime or experienced crime sent out to 50000 houses

official stats pro

get to see how many crimes have been committed numerically

official stats con

no description of how the crime happened; only numbers

offender survey pro

• voluntary

• get to see from the criminals perspective

offender survey con

criminal may leave out details to make themselves look better

victim survey pro

mailed straight to their houses; very accessible

victim survey con

• loads of people might ignore it

• might leave out important details

how is behaviour learnt?

through observation and imitation

what happens if the behaviour is rewarded?

more likely to occur

step one of SLT

identification —>we decide if we like the person, respect them and want to be like them

step two

observation —> watch their behaviour and decide if we want to copy depending on how people react

step three

imitation —> copy their behaviour. people recall behaviours and reproduce them in their own actions

direct reinforcement

person gets a reward from the way they behave

vicarious reinforcement

when the person sees another benefitting from the behaviour

internal motivation

copying those around them

low self-esteem

linked with criminal behaviour, less confident people are more likely to imitate

reinforcement

strengthening the behaviour

internalisation

behaviour becomes apart of you (habit) and doesnt need to be reinforced everytime to continue

self-efficacy

an individual's belief in their capacity to act in the ways necessary to reach specific goals.

how many children were tested in the bobo doll experiment?

72 (36 boys, 36 girls)

aggressive objects in the room

• mallet

• dart guns

• bobo doll

non- aggressive objects in the room

• crayons

• dolls

• plastic animals

what did bandura discover?

boys who spectated a male “aggressive“ model would imitate that same behaviour while girls would verbally abuse the bobo doll

nature

relates to behaviours that people are born with or develop naturally

nurture

refers to behaviours that people learn through experience

1 disadvantage of SLT

P- only focuses on nurture ignoring nature

E- there might be a gene that explains why criminals act the way they do

E- nature and nurture might have to interact before someone becomes a criminal

L- might be an alternate explanation for crime

another disadvantage of SLT

P- doesnt explain how it happened in the first place

EL- we cant apply the theory to everyone

another disadvantage of SLT

P- doesnt account for people who turn to crime without having a criminal role model

E- people from law abiding families still commit crime

E- might have parts of their brain that dont function normally

L- there may be differences in the people who commit crime

last disadvantage of crime

P- if SLT is correct it should be easier to reduce crime

E- if its strengthened by reinforcement it should be reduced by receiving and seeing others punished

E- however, many commit crimes despite the negative consequences or re-offend after theyve been punished

L- might suggest its in their nature to be a criminal and cant be changed. we cant use SLT to reduce crime