Criminal behaviour Flashcards

Question

Amygdala and fear conditioning

Answer 1

How does crime start? One argument is that amygdala dysfunction might lead to problems with processing fear. Gao et al (2010) - children inhibit aggression through fear conditioning - learn that aggressive behaviour leads to punishment. Amygdala dysfunction - don't link punishment to aggressive behaviour - continue to behave in this bay.

Answer 2

Longitudinal study, 1795 ppts.- Tested for fear conditioning at age 3- Measure was physiological arousal (indicated by sweating) in response to painful noise. 20 years later -looked at which ppts were involved in criminal behaviour. Those who committed crime at age 23 showed no fear conditioning at 3 years old - they were fearless.

Answer 3

COCCARO ET AL. (2007) - studied people with IED- Viewed images of faces while having a fMRI scan- IED ppts showed high amygdala activity when viewing angry faces compared to controls- Association between amygdala dysfunction and processing of aggression. Evaluation - High validity - angry facial expressions area every day signal of threat High vadlity - use of brain scans (fMRI)

Answer 4

Amygdala is part of limbic system - doesn’t operate on its own. Raine et al (1997) - murderers showed high activity in amygdala but low activity in prefrontal cortex (self control, regulates impulsive behaviour). Amygdala alone over simplified - neurology is complex.- CB likely to an outcome of many brain structures - amygdala alone too simplistic.

Answer 5

Is it that the defects in amygdala function occur first, and this causes the criminal behaviour? Or is it that the criminal behaviour causes changes to the amygdala? Coccaro et al (2007) - differences in amygdala activity in IED - were these high levels because of amygdala damage or effect of being criminal? If due to amygdala alone - why does it run in families? What causes amygdala damage in the first place? Genetics? Prenatal factors?

Answer 6

Objective and scientific explanation - use of brain scans (e.g. Coccaro et al., 2007 used fMRI scan). High validity - compare brain activity using scientific measurements. Evidence from longitudinal studies. Gao et al (2010) - Those with no fear conditioning due to amygdala dysfunction at age 3 had committed crime at age 23.- Suggesting that it is amygdala dysfunction that leads to crime and not vice versa, allowing us to establish cause and effect (COUNTER CAUSE&EFFECT) Powerful support for role of amygdala in aggression - especially due to its predictive validity.

Answer 7

E argued that criminals have a personality type that differs from non criminals- argues difference in personality has a biological basis but also moderated by environment- CP characterised by high scores on extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism

Answer 8

Bio basis- level of arousal of individuals' central and autonomic nervous system- high E= low levels of arousal- need more stimulation- introverts are already over- aroused- avoid stimulation Link to CB- seek arousal by engaging in risky activities- could involve comitting criminal behaviour

Answer 9

Neurotics experience negative emotional states rather than positive ones Bio basis- Determined by the stability of an individuals central nervous system- high in N have a high degree of instability Link to CB- Neurotics have an unstable nervous system- prone to overreacting to situations in threat- more likely to respond w/ fight

Answer 10

Psychotics= aggressive, impulsive, lack empathy Bio basis- Eyesnck was less clear on how P related to the functioning of the nervous system- but is linked to high levels of testerone- can explain why males are more likely to commit crime Link to CB- aggressive, impulsive, lack empathy- more likely to commit crime- little remorse

Answer 11

Explained criminality in terms of the outcome between innate personality (nature) and socialisation (nurture)- person is born with a certain personality traits but interaction w / environment= key in development of CB- normal person wrongdoing= avoided due to previous punishment (operant)- but Eyesnck stated those w/ high E and N were less easily conditioned- didn't learn society's rules easily- personality types more common in criminals

Answer 12

Eyesnick prepared 2070 male prisoners' scores on Eyesnick's personality questionaires- w/ 2422 male controls- groups= subdivided into age groups- range from 16 to 69 years- in line w/ theory prisoners across all age groups scored higher on psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism- suggesting personality types could be a cause of crime- But- Farrington- -several studies-offenders scored high on p but not E/N

Answer 13

Takes into account both nature and nurture- Eyesnck says E,N and P are determined largely by genetics- 67% in variation due to nature- believed people w/ high E and N scores inherited certain type of nervous system- difficult to condition- so socialisation= more difficult- (nurture)- interactionist- more valid than bio/ social exp alone- more hollistic

Answer 14

Cannot be established if having bio tendencies of crim personality causes crim behaviour or if learning crim behaviour affects their personality- Eyesnck proposes extraversion neuroticism and psychoticism are all innate and 67% of variance of the traits are genetic factors which suggests having crim personality causes CB because if inherited nervous system doesn't determine personality type then this takes away free will- undermines crim justice system

Answer 15

Personality tests may not be reliable - when a person answers the EPQ they are responding to the demands of the questionnare- are asked to select traits that apply to them but their responses may not represent 'reality'- eg 'are you rather lively'- most would answer 'sometimes' but Q is yes or no- also people may not be truthful- socially desirable answers- so personality scores= unlikely to enable identification of criminals.

Answer 16

Cog distortion is a form of irrational or inaccurate thinking, perception or belief- distortions happen when reality has become twisted- what is perceived no longer represents what's actually true- their perception is wrong but they think it's true- can explain how criminals justify their behaviour- 2 cog distortions= hostile attribution bias/ minimalisation

Answer 17

Attribution- what we think when we observe someones actions/ draw inferences of what they mean- hostile attribution bias- tend to interpret ambiguous behaviour as hostile/ negative when it's not intended in that way- negative interpretation may lead to anger- feel victimised and that aggression= justified- result in CB

Answer 18

Schonberg and Justice- showed emotionally ambiguous faces to 55 prisoners compared to control- showed angry, happy or fearful emotions in varying levels of intensity or emotion - prisoners more likely to recognise anger compared to controls- misinterpretation of non verbal cues- could explain aggressive behaviour- crime

Answer 19

Minimising or downplaying severity of a situation or their behaviour- link to CB- offenders use minimalisation to help them justify and accept the consequences of behaviour reduce guilt and placing blame on victim Research support-Kennedy and Gaubin- suggested victims behaviour contributed to crime/ denied the crime

Answer 20

Kohlberg suggested that individuals have different levels of moral reasoning have different levels of moral reasoning- 3 levels- criminals likely to be at pre-conventional level- characterised by need to avoid punishment/ gain reward- at this stage crime may be commited if criminal thinks they would get away w/it- or if it brings a big enough reward to outweigh the costs- also means offenders will focus on their own selfish needs- less concerned w/ rights of others

Answer 21

Non criminals tend to be atb higher levels of conventional level or postconventional level- at a more sophisticated level there are considerations of factors eg relationships and human rights- Kohlberg used moral dilemma technique- found group of violent youths were significantly lower in moral development than non violent youths- even after controlling for social background.

Answer 22

Schochenberg and Justice- supports hostile attribution bias- showed emotionally ambiguous faces to prisoners compared to control- what it showed....eval- high realism- everyday form of attribution- inferring facial expressions

Answer 23

Exp too simplistic- criminals show minimalisation by downplaying behaviour- but suggested this is a part of normal behaviour- 'non criminals' exhibit this way of thinking too- also ignores social,biological and cultural factors- reduces behaviours to thinking patterns- more holistic exp needed- counter has been successfully applied to therapy - CBT via anger managment- shows changing thinking patterns can help modify crim behaviour- adds credibility

Answer 24

unclear as to whether cog factors are the cause of crim behaviour or if carrying out crim behaviours causes change in cognition- but most researchers would probably argue that at least some cog factors are actually a cause- eg hostile attribution bias- - cog attribution has been criticised- can only explain the proximal causes of crim behaviour rather than origin of the behaviours- what causes cog differences in criminals in first place- should be cautious about cog approach as single exp for CB

Answer 25

Kohlberg's theory concerns moral thinking rather than behaviour- Krebs and Denton- suggests moral principles are only one factor in moral behaviour- may be overriden by more practical factors eg personal financial gain- also Kohlberg's research affects only males- theory= gender biased- findings of Kohlberg's theory cannot be generalised to anyone other than males from western cultures- but prison pop= predominantly male- theory can benefit from being androcentric

Answer 26

Sutherland (1939)- proposed DAT- said offending behaviour was due to social learning- eg observation/ imitation- contrasting previous exps- theory is very much on nurture side -suggests criminals are made not born

Answer 27

Pro Criminal attitudes- If individual is socialised into a group where there's more pro criminal attitudes than there are anti-criminal attitudes- will go on to offend- pro criminal attitudes may include disrespect for police officers, disregard for law and justification for crimes- consistent exposure- more likely to do crime Learning criminal acts- The potential criminal learns how to carry out criminal acts- eg lock pick- learnt in groups- may happen when in prison- could explain high rates of re-offending when out What crimes are acceptable- eg may learn burglary is acceptable but not murder

Answer 28

Intimate personal groups- family, peer or social groups - Wider neighbourhood- does community support/ oppose CB? Why crime is more prevalent in specific communities Sutherland came up w/ mathematical model- likelihood of becoming a criminal could be calculated based on frequency, duration and personal meaning of interaction w/ people holding pro/ anti criminal views/ behaviours

Answer 29

Learning process is same whether person is learning criminality or conformity to the law People learn behaviours/ values directly- reinforcement/ punishment from peers or family members Punishment- decreases chances of CB- Reinforcement eg praise- steal to make money- positive reinforcement or committing CB to avoid exclusion from group - negative Indirectly- vicarious reinforcement- modelling behaviours of others who we see being rewarded for their behaviour- role models commit crime- behaviour then modelled

Answer 30

Research shows criminality runs w/ families- Osborn and West (1979)- where there is a father with a crim conviction 40% sons committed crime by 18- compared to 13% of sons without crim father- suggests children learn CB from close personal groups via DAT Copunter- can't establish if it runs in families via DAT or shared genes- could be sons inheriting gene variants eg MAO-L that's linked to CB- can't separate nature/ nurture

Answer 31

Exp focuses on nurture- doesn't consider nature- diathesis stress model would suggest DAT should be combined with other factors eg biological to explain crim behaviour fully- genetic vulnerability may predispose certain individuals to be more affected by their social environment- or early experiences may act as vulnerability eg maltreatment- Bowlby's 44 juvenile thieves- relation between early separation and delinquency- so emotional problems may make a child more vulnerable to peer influences in adolescence- social approach alone may be insufficient exp

Answer 32

Data collected is correlational- in terms of peer influences- could be that criminals seek out other criminals- would explain why criminals are likely to have peers who're criminals- suggests criminality is actually a cause of criminal social groups- to fully understand link between crime and social learning- further scientific, well controlled research is needed

Answer 33

Not everyone exposed to Crim influences commits crime- danger within DAT of stereotyping individuals who come from crime ridden backgrounds as unavoidable criminals- no free will- ignores fact people may choose not to offend despite influences Also an issue w/ measuring the effect of no. and strength of associations on attitudes - unscientific- what ratio of favourable to unfavourable influences would tip the balance- cause person to commit crime?

Answer 34

When looking at statistics regarding crim behaviour- one clear finding is the gender difference- most women are in prison for non violent offences- not case for men- more likely to commit/ be charged w/ crim behaviours- 2015- 95% of prison pop were male- suggests gender must be risk factor if not actual cause for CB

Answer 35

Use of anger management w/ prisoners has 2 aims- short term- reduce anger and aggression in prisons- have been described as 'efficient anger factories' due to social climate- also long term- rehabilitation/ reduction of recidivism Criminals have tendency for irrational thinking- often have cog distortions eg hostile attribution bias- always think worst- eg smile- think person is thinking bad thoughts- negative interpretations lead to anger and crime

Answer 36

Novaco- 1975- suggests some violent offences occur as offenders can't deal effectively w/ their anger- anger management= type of CBT- aims to help people manage to control their anger instead of demonstrating their anger in aggressive/ criminal ways Novaco 2011- identified 3 key aims for anger management programme- -Cog restructuring- promote greater self awareness and control over cog dimensions of anger - Regulation of arousal- identify physiological signs of anger and techniques to deal with them - Behavioural strategies- develop problem solving skills, strategic withdrawal etc

Answer 37

Most anger management programmes used with offenders based on Novaco- model is based around stress inoculation training- argued just as people can be innoculated against a flu virus- could also be innoculated against anger- become anger resistant- happens through 3 stages

Criminal behaviour Flashcards

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