Psychological explanations of offending: Eysenck theory

Question 1

Basic idea

Answer 1

Criminals have a specific set of personality traits that lead to criminal behaviour. Eysenck (1947) proposed that personality could be defined by three factors: Introversion/extroversion, neuroticism/stability & psychoticism.

Question 2

Extroverts

Answer 2

have an under-active nervous system which means they seek excitement, stimulation and are likely to engage in risk taking behaviour.

Question 3

Neurotic individuals

Answer 3

are nervous, jumpy and unstable, and their behaviour is difficult to predict.

Question 4

High psychoticism scorers

Answer 4

are cold, unemotional, manipulative and prone to aggression.

Question 5

Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ)

Answer 5

stated that the ‘criminal personality’ was one that scored highly on the above traits.

Question 6

Personality as a biological basis

Answer 6

our personality traits are based on our nervous system and our emotional responses to events (temperament), both of which have an innate, inherited component.

Question 7

Personality as a socialisation basis

Answer 7

Criminal behaviour is immature behaviour, based on not being able to control our selfish wants and desires, socialisation is the process by which we overcome this and learn to delay gratification. Eysenck believed that high E & N scores find it harder to learn from the consequences of their actions.

Question 8

Evaluation strength: Eysenck & Eysenck (1977)

Answer 8

compared 2070 prisoners with 2422 controls and found that all prisoners scored higher than the controls on all three measures identified by Eysenck.

Question 9

Evaluation weakness: Farrington et al (1982)

Answer 9

carried out a meta analysis of several studies and found little evidence of crime being linked to E & N scores. They also found little evidence of the different cortical levels you would expect to find in extraverts. (reduces the validity)

Question 10

Evaluation weakness: reductionist & oversimplified

Answer 10

Digman (1990) proposed a five factor model: openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism.

Question 11

Evaluation weakness: cultural bias

Answer 11

Bartol & Holanchock (1979) studied Hispanic and African-American prisoners in New York and found that all six sub-groups they studied were less extroverted than a non-criminal control group.

Question 12

Evaluation weakness: biological determinism

Answer 12

It implies that your innate physiology will determine your personality and therefore your behaviour. This ignores factors such as free will and upbringing.