psychological explanation- forensic psychology Flashcards
what is the personality theory
eysenck- important figure in personality and intelligence research during middle of 20th cent
proposed behaviour represented along two dimensions-introversion-extraversion and neuroticism-stability
two dimensions combine to form variety of personality characteristics or traits
later added thrid dimension-psychoticism-sociability
what is the biological basis
personality traits biological in origin and come about rhrough type of nervous system inherit
personlity types including criminal personality type have innate biological basis
extraverts-underactive nervous system constantly seek excitment stimulation and likely to engage in risk taking behaviours, tend not to condition easily and dont learn from mistakes
neurotic- high level reactivity in sympathetic nervous system respond quickly to situations of threat tend to be nervous jumpy and overanxious general instability means behaviour difficult to predict
psychotic- higher levels testosterone unemotional and prone to aggression
what is the criminal personality
neurotic-extravert-psychotic
neurotics unstable and prone to overreact situations of threat
extraverts seek arousal and engage in dangeriys activity
psychotics aggressive and lack empathy
what is the role of socialisation
personality linked offending behaviour via socialisation processes
saw offending behaviour developmentally immature selfish and concerned with immediate gratification offenders impatient and cant wait for things
process socialisation children taught to become more able to delay gratification and more socially orientated
believed people with high E and N scores had nervous systems made them difficult to condition- less likely learn anxiety responses to antisocial impulses and more likely act antisocially situations where opportunity presented itself
what is measuring criminal personality
notion personality can be measured one that is central to theory
developed eysenck personality questionnaire form of psychological test which locates respondents along E N and P dimensions determine personality type
measurement of personality important part in theory enabled conduct research relating personality variables to other behaviours
what is the research support (eysenck theory)
evidence support criminal personality
eysenck and eysenck compared 2070 prisoners scores of EPQ with 2422 controls
measures of extraversion neuroticism and psychoticism acorss all age groups that were sampled prisoners recorded higher average scores than controls
agrees with predictions of theory offenders rate higher than average across three dimensions eysenck identified
farrington conducted meta analysis relevant studies and reported offenders tended score high on measures of psychoticism but not extraversion and neuroticism
inconsistent evidence of differences on EEG measures between extraverts and introverts catss doubt on physiological basis of eysenck theory
some central assumptions of criminal personality challenged
what is too simplistic (eysenck theory)
all offending behaviour explained by personality traits alone
moffitt-drew distinction between offending behaviour only occurs in adolescence and that which continues into adulthood
personality traits poor predictor of how long offending behaviour would go on for in the sense of whether someone is likely to become career offender
considered persistence in offending behaviour to be result of reciprocal process between individual personality traits and environmental reactions to traits
presents complex picture than eysenck course of offending behaviour determined by interaction between personality and environment
what is cultural factors (eysenck theory)
cultural factors not taken into account
criminal personality according to culture
bartol and holachock studied hispanic and african american offenders in max security prison in new york
researchers divided offenders in 6 groups based on offending hisory and nature of offences
found 6 groups ess extravert than non offender control group but eysenck expect to be more extravert
suggested this was because sample different cultural group from investigated by eysenck
questions how far criminal personality can be generalised and suggests may be culturally relative concept
what is measuring personality (eysenck theory)
offers way to measure personality through use of psychological test EPQ
see how criminal personality differs from rest of pop. across different dimensions
personality type may not be reducible to score in this way
suggestion that personality too complex and dynamic to be quantified
would also apply to personality deemed to be criminal
what is moral development
kohlberg- first researcher apply concept of moral reasoning offending behaviour
proposed peoples decisions and judgements on issues of right and wrong can be summarised in stage theory of moral reasoning
higher stage more sophisticated reasoning
kohlberg based theory of peoples responses to series of moral dilemmas
studies suggested that offenders tend to show lower level of mroal reasoning than non offenders
kohlberg found group of violent youths were significantly lower level of moral developent than non violent youths even after controlling for social background
what is link with criminality
offenders more likely to be classified at pre conventional level non offenders generally progressed to conventional level and beyond
preconventional level characterised need to avoid punishment and gainr rewards and associated with less mature childlike reasoning may commit crime if can get away with it or gain rewards in form of money increased respect etc
assumtion supported by studies suggest offenders more egocentric and display poorer social perspective taking skills than non offender peers
individuals who reason at higher levels tend to sympathise more with the rights of others and exhibit more conventional behaviours such as honesty generosity and non violence
what is cognitive distortions
errors or biases peoples info processing system characterised by faulty thinking
occasionally show evidence faulty thinking explaining own behaviour
research linked to the way offenders interpret other peoples behaviour and justify their own actions
eg hostile attribution and minimalisation
what is hostile attribution bias
evidence suggests propensity for violence associated with tendency to misinterpret actions of other people
assume others are being confrontational when not
offenders misread non aggresive cues and may trigger disproportionate response
schonenberg and jusyte present 55 violent offenders with images of emotioanlly ambigious facial expressions
when compared non aggressive matched control group that violent offenders more likely perceive images as angry and hostile
roots of behaviour apparent in childhood
dodge and frame showed children vid of ambigious provacation
children had been identified as aggressive and rejected prior to study interpreted situation as more hostile than those classed as non aggressive and accepted
what is minimalisation
attempt to deny or downplay seriousness of offence and has elsewhere been referred to as application of euphemistic label for behaviour
burglars describe themselves as doing a kob or supporting my family as way of minimising seriousness of offences
studies suggest individuals commit sexual offeces partucularly prone to minimilsation
barbaree found 26 incarcerated rapists 54% denied they had committed offence at all and further 40% minimised harm caused victim
what is the research support
link between level of moral reasoning and crime
palmer and hollin compared moral reasoning in 332 non offenders and 126 convicted offenders using socio moral reflection measure short form contains 11 moral dilemma related questions
offender group showed less mature moral reasoning than non offender group
consistent with kohlbergs predictions
what is type of offence
level of moral reasoning may depend on offence
thornton and reid found people committed crimes for financial gain more likely to show preconventional moral reasoning than convicted of impusive crimes
pre conventional moral reasoning tends to associated with crimes offenders believe they have good chance of evading punishment
suggests kohlbergs may not apply all forms of crime