1 - 11: Recap

Question 1

Psychoanalytic theory

Answer 1

Freud
Crime results when the ego and the superego cannot control the antisocial instinct of the id. This occurs because the individual has not been adequately socialized in early childhood.

Question 2

Evolutionary theory

Answer 2

Cosmides, Tooby
Through natural selection, traits that have helped humans to survive and reproduce are genetically passed on to the next generation. Criminal behaviour may have served an adaptive function for prehistoric humans.

Question 3

Moral development theory

Answer 3

Piaget, Kohlberg
Each individual mush go through a sequence of moral development. Those with high level of moral development will be more likely to make responsible choices when faced with the opportunity to get involved in criminal behaviour.

Question 4

Personality theory

Answer 4

Eysenck
Law-abiding people must develop conditioned fear of deviance. Those who become delinquents and criminals do not develop this fear because of poor conditioning by their parents, or because they are less susceptible to conditioning.

Question 5

Social learning theory

Answer 5

Bandura
Deviant behaviour such as aggression can be learned through direct experience or through modelling the behaviour of others.

Question 6

Operant conditioning theory

Answer 6

Skinner
Individual behaviour is shaped through both reinforcement and punishment. Behaviour that is rewarded will tend to be continued; behaviour that is punished will cease.

Question 7

Psychopathy

Answer 7

Cleckley, Hare
Psychopaths seem to lack empathy for their victims and not not feel guilty about their crimes. They neither learn from their experiences nor fear the consequences of their behaviour.