Forensics - Cognitive explanation

Question 1

Kohlberg’s levels of moral reasoning

Answer 1

1. Pre-morality
2. Conventional morality
   3 Post-conventional morality

Question 2

Level 1: Pre-morality

Answer 2

Stage 1: Punishment and obedience - doing right because of fear of punishment
Stage 2: Hedonistic - doing right for personal gain/reward

Question 3

Level 2: Conventional morality

Answer 3

Stage 3: Interpersonal concordance - doing right according to the majority to be a good boy/girl
Stage 4: Law and order - doing right because it is your duty & helps society

Question 4

Level 3: Post-conventional morality

Answer 4

Stage 5: Social contract or legalistic - doing right even when against the law because the law it too restrictive
Stage 6: Universal ethical principles - doing right because of our inner conscious which has absorbed principles of justice & equality & sacredness of life

Question 5

Criminals level of moral reasoning

Answer 5

Criminals focus on pre-conventional level 1 - breaking the law is justified if rewards outweigh costs/if punishment can be avoided
- People at conventional level think breaking the law is justified if helps maintain relationships (e.g. family)
- People at post-conventional level think breaking the law is justified if the law violates an individual’s rights

Question 6

Moral reasoning study

Answer 6

72 Chicago boys 10-16
58 followed up at 3 yearly intervals for 20 years
Given interview based on 10 dilemmas
Reasons for each dilemma changed as the children got older

Question 7

Cross-cultural findings - moral reasoning

Answer 7

Stages are universal
Differences in how quickly children progress through the stages
Middle class children in all cultures progressed quicker than lower class children

Question 8

Support: Palmer and Hollin (& Blackburn)

Answer 8

210 female non-offenders, 122 male non-offenders and 126 offenders
11 moral dilemma related questions
Delinquent group showed less mature moral reasoning than non-delinquent
Consistent with Kohlberg’s predictions
Blackburn - Delinquents may show poor moral development due to lack of role playing opportunities in childhood - such opportunities to develop moral reasoning should be provided

Question 9

Moral reasoning advantages

Answer 9

Thorton & Reid: pre-conventional moral reasoning tends to be associated with crimes such as robbery
Understanding this can be useful in shaping intervention programmes

Question 10

Moral reasoning limitations

Answer 10

Level of moral reasoning may depend on the kind of offence committed
Much of Kohlberg’s research focuses on men - beta bias

Question 11

Cognitive distortions - Gibbs

Answer 11

• Error/biases in people’s informational processing characterised by irrational thinking
• Way of thinking so that reality has become twisted, what we perceive no longer represents what is actually true
• Perception of events is wrong but they think it is accurate

Question 12

Two types of cognitive distortions

Answer 12

Hostile attribution bias
Minimalisation

Question 13

Hostile attribution bias

Answer 13

• Misinterpreting social cues & justify their actions by putting cause on the victim
• Violence - perception that other people’s acts are aggressive
• When someone has a learning towards always thinking the worst

Question 14

Hostile faces - Schonenberg & Justye

Answer 14

55 violent offenders shown images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions - violent offenders more likely to perceive images as angry than non-violent offenders

Question 15

Minimalisation

Answer 15

Downplaying the seriousness of an offence
Offenders justify offence by downplaying significance of their act
Bias to reduce feeling of guilt
People who commit sexual offences prone to minimalisation

Question 16

Minimalisation support - Barbaree

Answer 16

26 imprisoned rapists
98% exhibited some denial or minimalisation
54% denying they had committed an offence at all
40% minimising the harm they had caused the victim

Question 17

Minimalisation support - Pollock and Hashmall

Answer 17

35% of child molesters in sample argued their crime was non-sexual
36% claimed the victim consented

Question 18

Cognitive distortions evaluation

Answer 18

HAB:
Explains reactive aggressive behaviour better than pre-meditated planned aggression - misinterpreting social cues can lead to disproportionate violent response & blaming victim - validity

Minimalisation:
Suggests treatment is possible through psychological therapy that challenges cognitive appraisal - reduce recidivism