criminal psychology

criminal

a person that commits an act which is punishable by law

deviant

act or behaviour that does not conform to social norms or expectations

operant conditioning

learning through consequences

positive reinforcement

being rewarded

negative reinforcement

repeating a behaviour to avoid consequences

positive punishment

receiving a punishment

negative punishment

having something get taken away

strengths of operant conditioning

application: can be used to apply to crimes and explain behaviour

reliable: lots of research evidence

weaknesses of operant conditioning

valid: not all crimes are committed because of our environment

serial learning theory

we observe the behaviour of the people around us and we are motivated to imitate and copy them

observational learning

we copy our role models

social learning theory and agression

1. observing

2. pay attention to role model

3. observes consequence of aggressive behaviour

4. child learns whether a behaviour is worth repeating

5. motivation to do the behaviour through reinforcement

identification

adopting the beliefs of the role model

vicarious reinforcement

motivated to copy a behaviour because you’ve observed someone getting pleasure from doing the behaviour

strengths of social learning theory

reliable: lots of research to support (bandura)

application: can explain why some people become criminals

weaknesses of social learning theory

reductionist: does not consider biological factors

validity: not all criminal behaviour can be explained by social learning theory

Bandura, Ross and Ross

transmission of aggression through imitation of role model

Bandura, Ross, Ross aims

• would a child imitate aggression that was role modelled?

• would a child imitate the same sex more?

• would aggression influence males more?

Bandura, Ross and Ross procedure

• 72 children split into 3 different conditions

• 24 in aggressive role model, 24 in non aggressive role model and 24 in controlled group with no model

• watch either male or female model (6 girls and 6 boys in both)

Bandura, Ross and Ross findings

• children in aggressive condition displayed more aggressive behaviour

• boys were more likely to imitate physical aggression with same sex model but girls were more likely to imitate verbal aggression

Bandura Ross and Ross conclusion

children learn through observation

strengths of Bandura

reliable: strong controls and standardised procedures

valid: match pair design used

weakness of bandura

validity: demand characteristics as children may have believed they were expected to copy the aggressive role model

ethics: exposed to aggression and could have long term effects on the child

reliability: lack ecological validity, unfamiliar enviornment

charlton et al

children’s behaviour across five years of broadcast television

charlton et al aims

researchers visited islands of St helena where there is no access to television

• used natural study to investigate whether television would cause children to become more aggressive

charlton et al procedure

• visited island and recorded behaviour 4 months before tv

• Set up video cameras in the primary schools to observe playground behaviour of children between 3 and 8 over 2 weeks.

• They used a playground behaviour observation schedule. (PBOS) to examine pro social and anti social acts.

• They returned to the islands 5 years afterwards and filmed similar aged children again but they were different children.

• Researchers gathered 344 minutes of footage.

findings of charlton et al

• no significant differences in results

• levels of antisocial behaviour remained low

• children displayed almost twice the amount of prosocial behaviour

strengths of charlton et al

valid: same school used

reliable: naturalistic experiment

weakness of charlton et al

unreliable: varying results across similar experiments

unreliable: extraneous variables, tv programs could have been less violent

recidivism

rate criminals reoffended

rehavilitative

program to help offenders rather than punish them

strengths and weaknesses of prisions

strengths:

• removes criminals from society

• keeps public safe

weakness:

• ineffective for prisoners as they are exposed to criminal role models

• ethical issues

community sentencing

requires unpaid work in community rather than prison sentencing

(including curfew, restricted from areas and report to community manager)

strengths and weaknesses of community sentencing

strengths:

• offenders given second chance

• less likely to reoffend

weakness:

• some views as soft

• low success rate

restorative justice

offenders meets with victim they have harmed to help them relise their actions

strength and weaknesses of restorative justice

strength:

• high satisfaction rate

• reduction in recividism

weakness:

• distress victim na doffender

• time consuming and costly

biological explanation strengths and weaknesses

strengths:

• monozygotic twins more likely to be criminals

• evidence from adoption studies

weaknesses:

• upbringing might account for criminal families

• socially sensitive

personality theory

personality is a set of characteristics, and criminal personality is caused by internal biological factors

Hans Eysenck

how a criminal thinks

psychoticism

lack of empathy

extroversion and introversion

extroversion: outgoing and sociable

introversion: reserved and quiet

neuroticism

personality trait associated with negative emotions

PEN score

Some studies suggest that criminals tend to score high on all three dimensions

(Psychoticism (P), Extraversion (E), and Neuroticism (N).)

who is likely to be a criminal?

Psychotic

• High P score = person is cold, lacks compassion and anti-social.

Extrovert/Introvert

• High E score = nervous system that has a low arousal level

• Low = high arousal – avoid thrill and excitement.

Neurotic

• High N score = unstable – nervous system responds quickly to stressful situation and over react quickly.

• Low N = unreactive nervous system and calm under stress

PEN score and how we are raised

• High PEN score have a biological nervous system that is more difficult to socialise because they do not associate antisocial behaviour with the anxiety of being punished. They are quick to react, sensation-seeking and lack empathy. So antisocial behaviour is exciting and they are not concerned for others

• Punishment is not effective in controlling their behaviour.

evaluation of PEN (strengths and weaknesses)

strength:

• evidence

• combines biological, physiological and social factors

weakness:

• assumes that personality traits are fixed

• self report questionnaires

token economy

• form of behaviour modification

• behaviours strengthened when reinforced (prisoners are given tokens for prosocial behaviour as reward)

strength and weakness of token economy

strengths:

• evidence

• easy to do

weakness:

• low prevention of reoffending

• rewards must be rewarding enough

anger management

1) cognitive preparation : offender reflects on anger

2) skills acquisition: offenders learn new skills to help them control anger

3) application practice: practice new skills in anger triggering situations

strengths and weaknesses of anger management

strengths:

• can use skills outside prision

• high risk offenders less likely to reoffend

• easy to be applied to by staff

weakness:

• not all violent crimes are due to anger

• offenders can abuse programme