⚙️ Yochelson and Samenow: Criminal Personality Theory

Question 1

Yochelson and Samenow: Criminal
Personality Theory

Answer 1

Criminals are prone to faulty thinking and this makes them more likely to commit crime

Question 2

Criminal Personality Theory -

Answer 2

240 male offenders, most of whom had been committed to a psychiatric unit.

Question 3

Criminal Personality Theory - Thinking errors: Link to crime

Answer 3

Criminals show a range of biases and errors in their thinking and decision-making which may lead to crime e.g. lying, secretiveness, the need for power and control, super-optimism, lack of trust, lack of empathy, uniqueness and a victim stance.

Question 4

Criminal Personality Theory - strengths

Answer 4

• This has led to other research e.g.
  PICTS
• Successful treatments e.g. CBT have been developed from these ideas.

Question 5

Criminal Personality Theory - limitations

Answer 5

• Yochelson and Samenow didn’t use a control group of non-criminals to compare thinking errors with.
• Their sample was unrepresentative - only males, and mostly in psychiatric hospitals. Can’t account for all crimnals.
• High sample attrition rate - only 30 left in study by the end.