criminal psychology

What type of crime is not included in the CSEW/national crime survey?

-sexual crime

-cyber crime

-victimless crime (e.g. possession of drugs)

What is Social Learning Theory (SLT)?

We learn criminal behaviour from those around us who act as role models. Social learning theory assumes that nurture plays the largest part in determining behaviour.

We see criminal behaviour being rewarded and this acts as vicarious reinforcement.

We start to imitate the behaviour we have seen, and the rewards gained from this provide direct reinforcement.

After time, these behaviour become internalised and we do not need to gain reward in order to carry out the behaviour – it has become part of us.

Aim of Cooper and Mackie (1986)

To investigate whether computer-generated games depicting a lot of violence affected children and whether they affected boys and girls differently.

Cooper and Mackie (1986): research method and design

1) lab experiment with an independent measures design

2) observation was used to gather data in the experimental section

3) self-report method was used to gather other data (questionnaires -video gaming experience, perception of video games, interpersonal aggression measures)

Cooper and Mackie (1986): IV and DV

IV

• whether participants were placed in the high aggression, low aggression or control group (participants only took part in one condition)

• whether participants were players or observers (not both)

DV

• levels of aggression

Cooper and Mackie: sample

84 children (40 females, 44 males), ages 9-11, from New Jersey, USA

Cooper and Mackie: procedure

• Participants were split into pairs

• Each pair was randomly allocated to one of three games. One participant played the game for 8 minutes, whilst the other participant observed

• Players went to toy room with the four toys and told to play with what they liked while the experimenter left the room. The experimenter observed the child

• Observer measured interpersonal aggression

• They then swapped over after 8 minutes and did the same. They then had to fill out a questionnaire

Cooper and Mackie: results

• 73/84 children had played video games before (17/40F, 34/44M)

• Boys had more previous experience with video games than girls

• Boys enjoyed playing more, girls enjoyed observing more

• Whether children played or observed had little effect on interpersonal aggression

What were the three games in Cooper and Mackie?

-Missile Command (high aggression)

-Pac-Man (low aggression)

-Maze game (pen and paper) (control)

What were the four toys in Cooper and Mackie?

-robot (aggressive toy)

-basketball set (active toy)

-pinball (skill toy)

-lego (quiet toy)

Cooper and Mackie: conclusions

• Whether the children played or observed had no impact on their behaviour/aggression.

• Playing or observing didn’t affect interpersonal levels of aggression.

How are prisons used as punishment?

• takes away freedom, rights and privileges

• used as a way to punish criminals to stop them reoffending

How are fines used as punishment?

• used for minor crimes (e.g. traffic offences)

• loss of money is used as a deterrent

How is community service used as punishment?

• offenders give up their time to contribute to the community (e.g. litter picking)

• the orange vest draws attention to the public that they are doing community service so the guilt, embarrassment and shame should stop them from reoffending (the orange vest acts as a deterrent)

Name three ways a person can be punished

• prison (major/serious crimes)

• fine (minor crimes)

• community service (other)

What is a deterrent?

something that reduces the likelihood of a crime being committed again

pro-social behaviour

behaviour that involves us being caring, helpful and sharing

anti-social behaviour

behaviour that causes alarm and distress to someone who lives outside of your household

What are positive role models?

If a criminal sees another criminal changing their behaviour in a positive way and gaining respect for it, they will copy this behaviour because of vicarious reinforcement

What is restorative justice?

A conservation between the offender and the victim, where the offender is held accountable and apologises for their crime

It promotes prosocial behaviour because offenders are encouraged to repair the harm they’ve done (e.g. apologising)

What is meant by a criminal personality?

A set of innate characteristics (e.g. personality) that make someone more likely to become a criminal

What are the three traits linked to a criminal personality?

Extroversion, neuroticism and psychoticism.

What is extraversion?

How loud and outgoing you are

How does extraversion link to criminality according to neuropsychology?

• Cerebral cortex is underaroused due to the RAS (reticular activation system) restricting messages from senses

• The cerebral cortex craves more stimulation - the person engages in risky activities to reach the optimum level of arousal

• Extroverts also have a stronger dopamine reward system so respond more to pleasurable activities that give dopamine rush, e.g. sex and money

What is neuroticism?

How emotionally stable you are

How does neuroticism link to criminality according to neuropsychology?

• ANS (autonomic nervous system) is overaroused due to the limbic system (which controls your emotions) not working effectively

• They become overwhelmed with their emotions and cannot cope, leading to aggression and an inability to control their behaviours

• They may also turn to rigid routines to cope which may include criminal behaviour

What is psychoticism and how does it link to criminality according to neuropsychology?

• Too many dopaminergic neurons leading to overproduction of dopamine

• This causes too much dopamine in the body, which is linked to aggression and impulsivity

What is psychoticism?

How aggressive and impulsive you are

What is the link between early socialisation and criminality?

Extroverts may be harder to condition (teach right from wrong), so do not learn the correct way to behave unless their parents/caregivers work very hard.

Traits of extraversion

• Confident

• Prone to boredom

• Impulsive

• Sociable

Traits of neuroticism

• Anxious

• Rigid

• Scared

• Aggressive

Traits of psychoticism

• Impulsive

• Aggressive

• Inconsiderate of others feelings

• Cold-hearted

Criticisms of Eyesneck’s Theory

• Ignores individual differences - ‘lumps’ together groups of people into broad categories

  → people who score similarly of questionnaire may have completely different personalities and different reasons for turning to crime

• Deterministic - suggests that people who are born with their personality type and their chance of becoming criminals is driven by biology rather than their own personal choices

  → suggests criminal behaviour is out of control for the offender, making it harder to get the individual to take responsibility

• Heavily emphasises role of nature - suggests that neurotic people are naturally hard to condition

  → labels people as criminals - with the right kind of environment, these people do not have to turn to crime

Define violent crimes

Aggressive crimes resulting in physical harm or death to the victim

Define drug-related crime

Crimes involving trading in or using illegal substances

Define acquisitive crimes

Crimes where capital or belonging are acquired through illegal means

Define anti-social crimes

Criminal acts that cause harassment, alarm or distress to people who do not share a home with the perpetrator

Define sexual crimes

Crimes where a victim is forced to commit or submit to a sexual act against their will

Define social construct

Something that isn’t real but exists because people in society have created it or agreed it’s a ‘thing’

Define deviation from norm

Different from what is normally socially acceptable

Define social norm

What is considered socially acceptable

Methods of measuring crime

• Victim surveys (e.g. CSEW)

• Official statistics

• Offender surveys

Heaven’s Study: Aim

To see if self-esteem, psychoticism or extraversion are significant predictors of delinquency

Heaven’s Study: Sample

• 282 adolescents (146 F, 136 M)

• New South Wales, Australia

• Attended Catholic high school

• Modal age = 14

Heaven’s Study: Materials

• Questionnaire (measured self-esteem, psychotism, extraversion and delinquency)

Heaven’s Study: Procedure

1. Pps completed questionnaire during class time, took around 30-40 mins

2. Most pps returned two years later to complete the questionnaire again

Heaven’s Study: Results

• Psychotism was most positively correlated with delinquency at both time 1 and time 2 - was the strongest predictor of delinquency

• Overall, measures of psychotism did not explain the variance in delinquency over time

• Although this study provides some support for Eyseneck’s theory, other factors (parents, peers) may be better predictors

Criticisms of Heaven’s Study

• Cultural bias - pps were all from same school in New South Wales, Australia so results cannot be generalised to general population

• Correlation - cause and effect cannot be established, so we cannot say for sure that psychoticism causes delinquency

• Self-report - social desirability bias → results lack validity as pps may not have been honest about their low self-esteem

Criticisms of Social Learning Theory

• Reductionist - only looks at the role of nurture in explaining criminal behaviour not nature

• Doesn’t explain the people who don’t turn to crime even if they have criminal role models (and vice versa)

• Doesn’t explain how criminal behaviour starts in the first place - where did first criminal come from if they didn’t have anyone to learn crime from?