unit two - ac2.2

Question 1

what are learning theories

Answer 1

• based on the assumption that criminal behaviour is learned behaviour due to the influence of our immediate social environment, family and peer groups

Question 2

what is social learning theory - individualistic theory

Answer 2

• if children watched adults gaining pleasure from an activity or being punished they will repeat or reject those behaviours
• findings show that violence and aggression are produced by, an arousal event, learned aggressive skills,expected success and rewards, pro-violence value

Question 3

what is sutherland’s differential association theory - individualistic theory

Answer 3

• argues that individuals learn criminal behaviour largely in the family and peer groups
• result of imitation, criminal skills and techniques acquired through observing those around them
• result of learned attitudes, socialisation within the group exposes the individual to attitudes and values
• 40% criminal concordance rate between fathers and sons by 18

Question 4

what is operant learning theory - individualistic theory

Answer 4

• if a particular behaviour results in rewards, it is likely to be repeated
• behaviour that resolves in an undesireable result is likely to not be repeated

Question 5

what is bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory - individualistic theory

Answer 5

• argues that there is a link between maternal deprivation and deviant or anti-social behaviour
• child needs a close, continuos relationship with their primary carer from birth to the age of 5
• if the attachment is broken for even a short time period the child can be left unable to form meaningful emotional relationships with others ‘affectionless psychopathy’
• found 39% of juvenile delinquents had maternal deprivation

Question 6

what is frued’s iceburg model of the mind - individulatistic theory

Answer 6

• sees the human psyche as three parts which makes demands upon us, incompatible with the other two

Question 7

what is the id (freud’s iceburg model)

Answer 7

• primitive and instinctive component of personality
• engages in primary process thinking, no comprehesion of objective reality, selfish and wishful in nature
• operates on pleasure principle, not affected by reality, logic or the everyday world
• compromises eros and thanatos, eros helps individual survive, thanatos is a set of destructive forces

Question 8

what is the ego (freud’s iceburg model)

Answer 8

• modified by the direct influence of the external world
• only part of the conscious personality
• decision making part of the personality
• operates on the reality principle, considers social realities, norms, etiquette, rules

Question 9

what is the superego (freud’s icebueg model)

Answer 9

• moral component of the psyche
• operates on the morality principle
• seen as the purveyor of rewards and punishments
• controls the id’s impulses and persuades ego to turn to moralistic goals

Question 10

what is a weak superego

Answer 10

• the individual will feel less guilt about anti-social actions and less inhibition about acting on the id’s selfish or aggressive urges

Question 11

what is a too harsh or unforgiving superego

Answer 11

• creates a deep-seated guilt feelings in the individual who then craves punishment as a release from these feelings
• person may engage in compulsive repeat offending in order to be punished

Question 12

what is a deviant superego

Answer 12

• where the child is successfully socialised but into moral deviant code

Question 13

what are cognitive theories

Answer 13

• where we can develop theories about how people’s minds work by comparing input and output

Question 14

criminal personality theory (individualistic theory)

Answer 14

• the key idea that criminals are prone to faulty thinking
• lying, secretiveness, need for power, control, super-optimism, failure to understand others’ postitions, lack of trust in others, uniqueness and victimstance

Question 15

Kholberg’s moral development theory (individualistic theory)

Answer 15

• how we develop our moral thinking, our ideas of right and wrong develop through a series of levels and stages from childhood to adulthood
• children define right and wrong in terms of what brings punishment or reward, by adulthood our ideas of right and wrong involve an understanding of underlying moral principles and values

Question 16

Eyesenck’s personality theory (individualistic theory)

Answer 16

• Eyesenck personality questionnaire, E scale and N scale
• extroverts need a high level of stimulation from their environment, constantly seek excitement leading to impulsive, rule-breaking behaviour
• neurotics are harder to condition into following societies rules, high anxiety levels prevent them learning from punishment from their mistakes
• psychoticisms tend to be solitary misfits, cruel, insensitive, aggressive and lacking in empathy