4. cognitive explanations - kohlberg’s theory, cognitive distortions, differential association theory, psychodynamic explanations

what was kohlberg’s theory

• his theory of moral development is a developmental theory that looks at the ways in which individuals grow in their understanding of moral decision making and behaviour

• he argues that this happens in a staging process, and where moral reasoning becomes more complex and abstract as a child ages

• he said this was usually completed by the time the individual was 9/10 years old (which is in line with the age of criminal responsibility in the UK, 10)

outline the staging process of kohlberg’s theory of moral development

• level 1: pre-conventional morality - moral code shaped by adults outside the individual

• level 2: conventional morality - moral standard become internalised and authority is not questioned

• level 3: post-conventional morality - abstract consideration of individual ethics

outline level 1: pre-conventional morality

• stage 1: obedience/punishment orientation - a child shows good behaviour in order to avoid punishment and punishment is equated to wrongdoing

• stage 2: individualism and exchange - child begins to recognise that people have different viewpoints and that authorities are not the only ones who are right

outline level 2: conventional morality

• stage 3: good interpersonal relationships - child appears to be good in order to be seen as the good person and will seek approval of others

• stage 4: maintaining social order - child shows awareness of societal rules (laws) and as such good behaviour is a reflection of wanting to avoid wider punishment and maintain the social order

outline level 3: post-conventional morality

• stage 5: social contact and rights - child shows an understanding that rules don’t always apply to every circumstance and that a moral decision isn’t always straightforward

• stage 6: universal ethical principles - individuals develop their own set of moral guidelines, which sony to everyone and about which they are passionate, but which may not fit into the law

what is kohlberg’s assessment of the level of moral reasoning known as

• the ethical situation “heinz dilemma”

outline the heinz dilemma

• heinz wife is dying from cancer and a drug developed by a chemist might save her life

• heinz tries to buy some but the chemist wishes to charge much more than the actual cost

• heinz can only raise half the amount and asks the chemist to give him the drug and he will pay later

• the chemist refuses as he wants to make money from it and from desperation heinz breaks into the chemist’s shop and takes the drug

how does this help us identify levels of morality

• it allows us to explore the different jew points and responses to the consequences of heinz actions

• they are then asked questions like “should he have stolen the drug?” or “if it were a stranger would it make any difference?”

• thus prompts a discussion in the individual and their answers are analysed to unity their level of moral reasoning

how does levels of morality and offending behaviour link

• kohlberg believe that very few individuals reach the highest levels of morality and some may not progress further than the first - which is where offending behaviour is likely to happen

research support

• hollin et al (2002) found that offenders tend to be at a lower level of moral development than non offenders

• thornton and reid (1982) flund that offenders who committed crimes which required some degree of planning such as burglary, were more likely to be in pre-conventional morality, while those who committed crimes such as assault were not

evaluation of cognitive explanations for offending behaviour - all male

• kohlberg has been criticised for using an all-male sample in the initial development of his theory of moral development

• meaning is research is androcentric and not generalisable to women

• gilligan (1972) argues that male views of morality are more likely to be law-based and pragmatic, while female views will be influenced by compassion and care

• this is important because a female response to heinz dilemma may not be influenced by the same moral reasoning

evaluation of cognitive explanations for offending behaviour - research support

• ashkar and kenny (2007) compared the moral reasoning of 16 juvenile sexual and non sexual offenders and found differences in the moral reasoning of the two groups

• more preconventional reasoning was shown within a sexual-offence context by those who had committed sex-offences than the non sex offenders

evaluation of cognitive explanations for offending behaviour - support

• chen and howitt (2007) used a test based on kohlberg’s stages to assess 330 male adolescent offenders (aged 12-18) in taiwan

• those offenders who showed more advanced reasoning were less likely to be involved in violent crimes

evaluation of cognitive explanations for offending behaviour - support

• in a review of 44 studies completed in 26 different cultures around the world, snarey (1985) concluded that there is much support for the cross-cultural universality of kohlberg’s theory

evaluation of cognitive explanations for offending behaviour - limitation/counter

• additionally many may argue that kohlberg’s theory of post conventional morality is culturally biased towards western culture

• other pyschologists suggest a distinction between mature and immature may be more applicable across other countries

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outline cognitive distortions

• patterns of negative or exaggerated thought which can reinforce maladaptive behaviour

what are the two cognitive distortions related to offending behaviour

• hostile attribution bias

• minimisation

outline hostile attribution bias

• refers to the extent to which an individual interprets the actions of other hostile

• an individual with high levels of hostile attribution bias is more likely to see the benign actions of others as hostility directed towards them

outline minimisation

• refers to a type of cognitive bias where a person would be more likely to minimise or down play the severity of the circumstances they are in

• it can also be seen as denial or self deception as the downplaying of the situation highlights their non acceptance of what they have done and is perhaps a way of dealing with the guilt

evaluation of cognitive distortions - limitation

• they are more useful as a way of describing the thought processes that criminals go through after a crime has been committed

• for example minimisation accurately describes how a person might deal with their feelings of guilt but doesn’t explain how they got there in the first place

evaluation of cognitive bias - support

• dodge and frame (1982) showed children a video clip of an ambiguous provocation - where the intention was neither clearly hostile or nor clearly accidental

• children who had been identified as ‘aggressive’ and ‘rejected’ prior to this study interpreted the situation as more hostile than those classed as ‘non aggressive’ and ‘accepted’

evaluation of cognitive distortions - real life applications

• although cognitive distortions can’t be used in the identification of criminals or potential criminals, it can be used in treatment this having real life application

• heller et al (2013) worked with a group of young men who were mainly from disadvantaged groups in chicago

• they used cognitive behaviour techniques to reduce judgement and cognitive distortions

• those ps who attended 13 1hr sessions had a 44% reduction in arrests compared to a control group

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outline sutherland’s (1939) differential association theory

• helps us understand how individuals learn to become offenders

• according to sutherland if an individual experiences repeated attitude which are positively associated with crime, rather than negatively (rather than punishment) they are more likely to engage in offending behaviour

how is differential association theory a social learning theory

• because the way a person becomes an offender is through:

• learned attitudes

• imitation of criminal acts

how may a child learn offending behaviour

• a child learns attitudes towards crimes i.e. whether it is desirable or not

• thus a potential criminal is someone who has learned pro-criminal attitudes from those around them

• they learn which types of crime is acceptable within their company and also which is desirable (worth doing) e.g. burglary might be okay but violent crime isn’t

• they also learn specify methods for committing crimes

how are these attitudes learned

• through intimate personal groups such as family and/or peer group

• also through wider neighbourhood - the degree to which the local community supports or opposes criminal involvement determines the differences in crime rates

• individuals or social groups may not be criminals themselves but still hold deviant attitudes or acceptance of such attitudes

what were the factors sutherland identified will determine the degree of influence

• the frequency

• length

• personal meaning… of such social associations

how does operant conditioning impact this theory

• the child may be directly reinforced for deviant behaviours through praise or may be punished for such behaviour by family or peers

• role models would provide opportunities to model behaviour and if the role models are successful themselves in crime this would provide indirect vicarious reinforcement

evaluation of sutherland’s differential association theory- limitation

• it assumes people build up to committing crimes through a process of making favourable associations towards criminality which doesn’t explain impulsive crimes

• this is important as it shows the theory is perhaps incomplete

evaluation of sutherland’s differential association theory- strength

• the theory explains why so many convicts released from prison go on to reoffend

• it is reasonable to assume that while inside prison inmates will learn specific techniques from another and from more experienced criminals

evaluation of sutherland’s differential association theory- strength

• one form of evidence that supports differential association theory is that criminality appears to run in families

• osborne and west (1979) found that where there is a father with a criminal conviction, 40% of the sons had committed a crime by age 18

• this was compared to 13% of sons of non criminal fathers

• however genetics may have some involvement

evaluation of sutherland’s differential association theory- socially sensitive

• it may lead to discrimination by creating a stereotype that you can be perceived as criminal through association

• as his theory suggests certain groups display similar crimes - it could mean there’s a danger of making assumptions that those who come from impoverished, crime ridden backgrounds will inevitably turn to crime

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outline psychodynamic explanations of offending

• looks at the influence of etsy childhood experiences and how they impact later development

• freud is the primary researcher behind the theory

• his concepts of the unconscious mind and tripartite system go into how we might understand the development of criminal behaviour in an individual

id

• operated on pleasure principle

• characterised by a drive to satisfy immediate human desires

ego

• operates on the reality principle

• characterised by an ability to balance and delay gratification using defence mechanisms

superego

• operates on the morality principle

• characterised by an internalisation of parental and societal values

outline the inadequate ego - blackburn

• the superego works on the morality principle and exerts its influence by punishing the ego through guilt for wrong doing whilst rewarding it with pride for moral behaviour

• blackburn (1993) argues that if the superego is somehow deficient or inadequate then criminal behaviour is inevitable because the id is given “free rein” and is not properly controlled

what are the three types of inadequate superego

• the weak superego

• the deviant superego

• the over-harsh superego

outline the weak superego

• if the same sex parent is absent during the phallic stage the child cannot internalise a fully formed superego as there is no opportunity for identification

• this would make immoral or criminal behaviour more likely

outline the deviant superego

• if the superego that the child internalises has immoral or deviant values, this would lead to offending behaviour

• e.g. a parent who is not likely to associate guilt with wrong doing

outline the over harsh superego

• a healthy superego is like a kind but firm internal parent - it has rules but is also forgiving of transgressions

• and excessively punitive or overly harsh superego means the individual is crippled with guilt and anxiety

• this many (unconsciously) drive the individual to perform criminal acts in order to satisfy the super egos overwhelming need for punishment

outline bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis

• made use of freud and proposed this own monotropic theory of parent-child attachment

• he argued that significant deprivation of maternal love during the critical period of attachment formation could lead to a negative internal working model for future relationships and a negative understanding of the world

• this makes criminal behaviour much more likely

what was the aim of bowlby’s study

• to look at the effect of early maternal deprivation on the likelihood of children becoming young offenders

method

• bowlby interviews 44 juvenile young people who were at the child guidance clinic where he worked and had been caught stealing

• they were compared to 44 controls who had not engaged in criminal behaviour

• bowlby measured the extent of “affectionless psychopathy” in his sample

• bowlby saw it as a predictor for criminal behaviour

what is affectionless pyschopathy

• a term by bowlby to describe a lack of remorse or concern for others

results

• of those 44 thieves investigated, 14 were identified as affectionless psychopaths

• 12 of those had experienced long term separation from their mother before the age of two

• in comparison there were no affectionless psychopaths in the control group and only 2 of them had experienced significant maternal deprivation

conclusion

• bowlby’s findings suggest that maternal deprivation is a key factor in a child’s development and is a good predictor of offending behaviour later in life

• particularly if such individuals are classed as affectionless psychopaths who are unlikely to show remorse or guilt for their actions

replication of bowlby by loeber et al (2005)

• conducted a longitudinal study of boys from childhood to the age of 30

• found that those who had experienced major changes in their family before the age 10 were more likely to show offending behaviour in adulthood

• this is not necessarily linked to maternal deprivation but shows the important ace of family stability is early life - which is arguably what bowlby found too

evaluation of psychodynamic theories - not falsifiable

• criticised for a lack of falsifiability as freud’s concept of the tripartite system cannot be tested scientifically

• the concept of superego is difficult to test empirically and therefore lacks evidence - yet it is the crucial part of psychodynamic explanations of offending behaviour

• without evidence the theory is inherently flawed

evaluation of psychodynamic theories - limitation of bowlby

• his hypothesis has been critiqued for only considering the effect of the mother being absent

• research by loeber et al (2005) has shown while family change is still related to criminal behaviour - it didn’t have to be a result of maternal deprivation specifically

• this highlights a lack of potential temporal validity in bowlby’s research

evaluation of psychodynamic theories - support for inadequate superego

• greta (1991) assessed 10 offenders receiving psychiatric treatment

• disturbances in superego formation were diagnosed in all 10

• each offender experienced unconscious feelings of guilt and the need for self punishment

• greta concluded that for these offenders, the need for punishment resulting from an over-harsh superego was manifesting itself as a desire to commit crime