Unit 2 AC 2.2 Individualistic theories

What are the key individualistic theories?

• Bandura’s social learning theory

• Freud’s psychodynamic theory

• Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory

• Eysenck’s personality theory

What did bandura suggest?

• We learn behaviour by imitating others.

• We copy those of high status (models).

• Imitating behaviour depends on consequences.

Summarise Bandura’s research.

• 3 groups of children shown a film of an adult model being aggressive to a bobo doll

• 1 saw model rewarded

• 2 saw model punished

• 3 saw model neither rewarded or punished

• Group 1 was most agressive, group 2 the least.

What study supports Bandura’s SLT?

Osborn + West: Where the father had a criminal record, 40% of sons acquired one by the age of 18. Only 18% of sons with no criminal fathers acquired a criminal record.

Strengths of SLT?

• Takes account of the fact that we are social beings + learn from experiences of others, not just our own.

• shows importance of role models in learning deviant behaviour.

Limitations of SLT?

• Based on lab studies - artificial setting

• ignores freedom of choice - conflicts with legal views of crime

• not all observed behaviour is easily imitated. we may see crimes in films that we dont have the skill to carry out.

What does Freud’s psychodynamic theory suggest?

• Our early childhood experiences determine our personality + future behaviour.

• Believed in the unconscious mind + that a criminal thought takes place here.

What does the Tripartite personality consist of?

• The Id

• The ego

• the superego

What is the id?

• Based upon basic needs (hunger, thirst, sleep, sex) — insincts

• Focused on instant gratification- the ‘pleasure principle’

  Would tell us to put off homework + go to a party

What is the ego?

• Mediator between id + superego

• voice of reason and tries to remain realistic

  Would tell us to do homework then party.

What is the superego?

• our conscience

• focused on deciphering between right and wrong — morality.

  Would tell us to do homework instead of party.

How does the tripartite personality explain criminality?

We need a balance between three parts for a healthy personality.

• Weakly developed superego: less guilt for anti social actions

• Harsh or unforgiving superego: guilt feelings in the individual- craves punishment as release

• Deviant superego: child is successfully socialised but into a deviant moral code.

Strengths of freud’s psychodynamic theory?

• Points to importance of early socialisation + family relationships

• Psychodynamic explanations have had some influence on policies for dealing with crime

Limitations of freud’s psychodynamic theory?

• critics doubt existence of unconscious mind. How can you study it if it is unconscious

• Psychodynamic explanations are unscientific and subjective

What does Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory suggest?

• Link between maternal deprivation and deviant behaviour

• Child needs close continuous relationship with primary carer from birth to age of 5.

• If attachment is broken the child may be unable to form meaningful relationships with others

• Bowlby describes this as affectionless psychopathy.

Briefly outline Bowlby’s research.

• Studied 44 juvenile delinquents + compared with non criminals

• 39% experienced complete separation from their mothers for 6 months or more during their first 5 years.

• this was compared to only 5% of the control group.

What is a real life example that supports Bowlby’s theory?

• Ian Brady - murdered + S/Ad 5 children

• Never knew his father and mother was rarely around - gave him up for adoption at 4 months.

Strengths of Bowlby’s theory?

• Bowlby’s research showed that more of his sample of 44 delinquents suffered maternal deprivation

• shows the need to consider the role of parent-child relationships in explaining criminality.

Limitations of Bowlby’s theory?

• Retrospective study

• Doesn’t account for the other 61% delinquents who didn’t experience deprivation

• Bowlby’s later study of 6 children found no evidence of affectionless psychopathy.

• Sammons + Putwain note that the idea of a link between maternal deprivation + criminality is no longer widely accepted.

What does Eysenck’s personality theory suggest?

• criminal behaviour can be identified through personality types.

• this is due to some personality types craving excitement in life.

• However these individuals do not always recognise the consequences of their actions.

How did Eysenck create his theory?

• Looked at personality questionnaires from 700 soldiers being treated for neurotic disorders.

• Eysenck found there was a number of different traits

• from this, he identified 2 dimensions of personalities.

What are the 2 dimensions of personalities?

• Extroversion / Introversion - Amount of stimulation a person needs. Extrovert = sociable + needs stimulation, Introvert = reliable + in control of emotions

• Neuroticism / stability - Emotional stability. Neurotics = anxious + irrational, Stable = calm + in control.

What is the 3rd dimension of personality that Eysenck later added?

Psychoticism - cold, uncaring and aggressive

How can a criminal be identified with Eysenck’s personality questionnaire?

Most people score midway for extroversion/introversion and neuroticism/stability, criminals however score high on both.

Strengths of Eysenck’s theory?

• Useful in describing how some measurable tendencies could increase the risk of offending.

• Eysenck predicts that high E,N,P scores lead to criminality and some studies support his predictions

Limitations of Eysenck’s theory?

• Farrington examined a range of studies which show prisoners are neurotic and psychotic, not extroverted.

• The E scale may be measuring 2 different things (impulsiveness and sociability). offenders score high on impulsiveness but not sociability.

• Evidence on prisoners shows a correlation between personality and criminality but it could be the other way around, prison may cause someone to become neurotic

• Used self report questionnaires. is this accurate?