7. psychological explanations: cognitive distortions

Question 1

what are cognitive distortions

Answer 1

errors or biases in people’s information processing system characterised by faulty thinking.

Question 2

define and explain hostile attribution bias

Answer 2

Is where people tend to misinterpret the actions of other people - assume others are being confrontational with them when they are not.
Offenders may misread non-aggressive cues, and this may trigger a disproportionate, often violent response.

Question 3

hostile attribution bias

Justye presented 55 violent offenders with images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions. When compared to a non-aggressive matched control group, the violent offenders were

Answer 3

significantly more likely to perceive the images as angry and hostile.

Question 3

minimisation

Studies suggest that individuals who commit sexual offences are particularly prone to minimisation: Barbaree found

Answer 3

among 26 incarcerated rapists, 54% denied they had committed an offence and a further 40% minimised the harm they caused the victim.

Question 3

describe and explain minimisation

Answer 3

Is an attempt to deny or downplay the seriousness of an offence.
e.g. burglars may describe themselves as ‘supporting my family’ as a way of minimising the seriousness of their offences.

Question 4

AO3: give one strength of cognitive distortions

REAL WORLD APPLICATION - therapy

Answer 4

One strength of cognitive distortions is its applications to therapy.
Cognitive behaviour therapy aims to challenge irrational thinking. In the case of offending behaviour, offenders are encouraged to face up to what they have done and establish a less distorted view of their actions. Studies suggest that reduced incidence of denial and minimisation in therapy is highly associated with a reduced risk of reoffending.
This suggests that the theory of cognitive distortions has practical value.

Question 5

AO3: give one limitation of cognitive distortions

TYPE OF OFFENCE - Sheldon

Answer 5

The level of cognitive distortion depends on the type of offence.
Sheldon gathered questionnaire responses from sexual offenders. Contrary to what researchers predicted, they found that non-contact sex offenders used more cognitive distortions than contact sex offenders those who has a previous history of offending were also more likely to use distortions as justification.
This suggests that distortions are not used in the same way by all offenders.