Cognition

Question 1

YOCHELSON AND SAMENOW 1984
(Outline one piece of research into criminal thinking patterns)
Background

Answer 1

Criminal behaviour can be explained by cognition in terms of criminals having different thinking patterns to non-criminals. Therefore having the assumption that these criminal thinking patterns are responsible for criminal behaviour.

Question 2

YOCHELSON AND SAMENOW 1984
(Outline one piece of research into criminal thinking patterns)
Aim

Answer 2

To understand the make up of criminal personality, establish effective techniques to alter personality disorders that produce crime.

Question 3

YOCHELSON AND SAMENOW 1984
(Outline one piece of research into criminal thinking patterns)
Method

Answer 3

Self report using interviews over several years. Not standardised so could be considered large collection of case studies.

Question 4

YOCHELSON AND SAMENOW 1984
(Outline one piece of research into criminal thinking patterns)
Participants

Answer 4

225 male offenders residents at psychiatric hospital in America and judged either NGRI or incompetent to stand trial. No control group.

Question 5

YOCHELSON AND SAMENOW 1984
(Outline one piece of research into criminal thinking patterns)
Procedure

Answer 5

Freudian based therapy that attempted to find the root cause of their criminality in their past lives. By discovering this and facing it they were expected to improve their behaviours.

Question 6

YOCHELSON AND SAMENOW 1984
(Outline one piece of research into criminal thinking patterns)
Results

Answer 6

Only 30 completed programme and only 9 genuinely changed as a result.
They found criminals are: restless, dissatisfied and irritable, set themselves apart from others, lack empathy, feel under under no obligation to anyone except their own interests and are poor at responsible decision making.
Criminal personality was characterised by 52 thinking errors that fall into three categories:
1. Criminal thinking patterns: simultaneous fear and need for power/control
2. Automatic thinking errors: lack of empathy and failure to accept obligations.
3. Crime related thinking errors: optimistic fantasising about criminal acts with no regard for deterrent factors.

Question 7

YOCHELSON AND SAMENOW 1984
(Outline one piece of research into criminal thinking patterns)
Conclusion

Answer 7

The errors in thinking were thought to be displayed more by criminals, but aren’t unique to criminals. Also found high success rate in getting offenders to accept they have ‘criminal personality’ and changing their thinking but also concluded that these criminals were essentially in control of their lives and their criminality was the result of choices made from an early age.

Question 8

KOHLBERG 1963
(What does research into moral development tell us about criminal behaviour?)
Background

Answer 8

There is the assumption that criminal behaviours are the result of poor moral development. Kohlberg developed a theory of moral development, that states all children go through stages in the same order and that progression depends on the stage of their cognitive development.

Question 9

KOHLBERG 1963
(What does research into moral development tell us about criminal behaviour?)
Aim

Answer 9

To find evidence in support of progression through the stages of moral development.

Question 10

KOHLBERG 1963
(What does research into moral development tell us about criminal behaviour?)
Method

Answer 10

Longitudinal research using self report(interviews).

Question 11

KOHLBERG 1963
(What does research into moral development tell us about criminal behaviour?)
Participants

Answer 11

58 boys from Chicago
Working and middle class
Aged 7, 10, 13, 16.

Question 12

KOHLBERG 1963
(What does research into moral development tell us about criminal behaviour?)
Procedure

Answer 12

Each boy given two hour interview with ten dilemmas that they had to solve (Heinz dilemma most typical).
Some boys followed up at 3 yearly intervals to to ages of 30-36.
Kohlberg also studied children in UK, Mexico, Taiwan, Turkey and Yucatan.

Question 13

KOHLBERG 1963
(What does research into moral development tell us about criminal behaviour?)
Results

Answer 13

Younger boys tended to perform at stages 1 and 2.
Older boys tended to perform at stages 3 and 4.
Suggested development of morality in stages.
Patterns were consistent in cross cultural studies.

Question 14

KOHLBERG 1963
(What does research into moral development tell us about criminal behaviour?)
Conclusion

Answer 14

No support for stage 6 and Kohlberg agreed so revised theory. Replications with criminal samples have suggested that criminals committing crimes for financial gain show more immature reasoning than those committing violent crimes, suggesting Kohlberg’s stages can be applied to certain types of criminality.

Question 15

GUDJOHNSSON AND BOWNES 2002
(Describe how social cognition can explain criminal behaviour)
Background

Answer 15

The role of social cognition in criminals behaviour assumes that it is the way in which offenders interpret other people’s behaviour and how they process information in a social context that leads to crime.
Attribution is a process of social cognition that is concerned with attributing causes for events. Two ways of attribution:internal and external.

Question 16

GUDJOHNSSON AND BOWNES 2002
(Describe how social cognition can explain criminal behaviour)
Aim

Answer 16

To examine the relationship between the the type of offence and the attributions offenders make about their criminals acts.

Question 17

GUDJOHNSSON AND BOWNES 2002
(Describe how social cognition can explain criminal behaviour)
Method

Answer 17

Quasi experiment

Question 18

GUDJOHNSSON AND BOWNES 2002
(Describe how social cognition can explain criminal behaviour)
Participants

Answer 18

80 criminals serving sentences in Northern Ireland split into three naturally occurring groups:
Violent offences
Sexual offences
Property offences

Question 19

GUDJOHNSSON AND BOWNES 2002
(Describe how social cognition can explain criminal behaviour)
Procedure

Answer 19

42 item Blame Attribution Inventory (GBAI) used to measure offenders attributions of blame on three dimensions:

1. Internal/external attributions-attributing cause of behaviour to within themselves or to social/environmental factors.
2. Mental elements-attributes cause of behaviour to their mental state at time of crime.
3. Guilt-the offenders remorse about the offence.

Question 20

GUDJOHNSSON AND BOWNES 2002
(Describe how social cognition can explain criminal behaviour)
Results

Answer 20

External:
Violet offenders=most likely to give external attributions
Sexual offenders=least likely to give external attributions.
Mental element:
Violent and sexual= most likely to attribute to their mental state at time.
Guilt:
Sexual=most remorse
Property=least remorse

Question 21

GUDJOHNSSON AND BOWNES 2002
(Describe how social cognition can explain criminal behaviour)
Conclusion

Answer 21

Different types of offenders tend to have different types of attributions.