crime - individual: cognitive Flashcards
(3 cards)
supportive evidence
P: Supportive evidence of hostile attribution bias
E: Schönenberg and Justye compared 55 antisocial violent offenders and a control group of non-offenders. Shown emotionally ambiguous faces depicting varying intensities of anger, happiness or fearful emotions. Found offenders were more likely to interpret ambiguous expressions with traces of anger as aggressive. Misinterpretation of nonverbal cues suggests hostile attribution bias.
T: This is a strength because study provides clear evidence linking how cognitive distortions like hostile attribution bias leads to the aggressive interpretations that violent offenders have - increasing the validity of the explanation
COUNTER: lack of content validity as it won’t explain non-violent crime like transactional vice which doesn’t have a violent component
kohlberg
P: A weakness of the individual differences explanation is that Kohlberg’s theory focuses on moral reasoning rather than behavior.
E: Krebs and Denton (2005) found that moral principles are often overridden by practical concerns, such as financial gain, and are sometimes used to justify actions after the fact. This suggests that moral reasoning may not be a reliable predictor of real-life behavior, including offending.
T: This is therefore a weakness because the theory fails to account for the complexity of decision-making in real-world situations. While moral reasoning may influence some actions, it is insufficient on its own to explain why individuals commit crimes. Other factors, such as situational pressures or emotional states, likely play a more significant role.
FURTHERMORE: Additionally, Kohlberg’s research is gender-biased, as it was based on male participants and emphasizes justice rather than care, potentially limiting its applicability to women (Gilligan, 1982)
useful application
P: Strength is that there is practical applications like anger management which is proven to be very effective
E: Taylor and Novaco report 75% improvement rates (based on 6 meta-analyses). These programmes help individuals identify and address cognitive distortions like HAB and help them to reinterpret situations and regulate their responses to perceived aggression.
T: This is a strength as any successful application based off the explanation proves the explanation is high in validity and reliability. The effectiveness of said programmes can help improve not just the individual but also society through promoting safer communities through reduced recidivism.
