Cognitive

Question 1

Cognitive explanation

Answer 1

Look at origins of offending in the mind
Kohlberg- levels of moral reasoning. Crime relates to judgement of whats right and wrong

Question 2

Levels of moral reasoning

Answer 2

Personal draws upon their own value system to determine if an action is right or wrong
Kohlberg made levels of moral reasoning based of judgement of moral dilemmas
Higher the stage, the more sophisticated
Kohlberg-violent youths at a lower level than non violent

Question 3

Link with criminality

Answer 3

Non offenders= higher stages.
Offenders= pre conventional stages(1&2). A need to avoid punishment and get a reward. Children. commit crime if they feel they can get away with it.
Chandler - bad reasoning-more egocentric, less social perspective taking skills.Better reasoning-sympathise more, generous, non-violent

Question 4

Cognitive distortions

Answer 4

Faulty, biased, irrational way of thinking meaning we perceive ourself and others negatively.
Ways of justifying : hostile attribution bias , minimalisation

Question 5

Hostile attribution bias

Answer 5

Judge situations or actions of others as being aggressive when they are not.
Schonenberg and Justye-55 violent offenders more likely to perceive emotionally ambiguous face as angry and hostile

Question 6

Minimalisation

Answer 6

Seriousness of an event is downplayed- common when dealing with guilt
Burgalars say they were ‘doing a job’
Barabee- 54% deny raping. 40% minimise the harm done to the victim

Question 7

Strength- moral reasoning - research support

Answer 7

Link between levels and crime-
palmer and Hollin-compared in 332 non offenders and 126 offenders. Measured moral reasoning, 11 dilemmas
Offender group showed less mature moral reasoning

Question 8

Strength- cognitive distortions- real world application

Answer 8

Application to therapy - CBT- Challenges irrational thinking
Offender is encouraged to face up to what they have done
Harkins-reduced denial and minimil in therapy = reduced reoffending
Part of rehabilitation - practical value

Question 9

Limitation of both- types of offence

Answer 9

Both depend of type of offence
1) Thornton and Reid -crimes for financial gain related to preconventional, impulsive crimes weren’t.
Prevonventional - think they have a good chance of getting away with it
2) Howitt and Sheldon - non contact sex offenders more likely to use cog distortions than contact sex offenders
Those with a previous history were likely to use distortions- not all used in same way