C3 - CB : Individual Differences Explanations Flashcards

Question

What types of crime are likely to happen at each level of moral reasoning?

Answer 1

Pre - Burglary, theft, fraud Conventional - Self-defence, defending a family member, speeding to a hospital Post - Protesting, releasing animal test subjects

Answer 2

Chen and Howitt (2007) Male offenders in youth correctional facilities and controls from schools in Taiwan self reported their criminal histories that were classified according to their crime. Overall, the offenders were significantly less mature despite their age being higher on average

Answer 3

- Supporting evidence (Kohlberg)

Answer 4

Chen and Howitt (2007) Male offenders in youth correctional facilities and controls from schools in Taiwan self reported their criminal histories that were classified according to their crime. Overall, the offenders were significantly less mature despite their age being higher on average

Answer 5

EYSENCK'S CRIMINAL PERSONALITY THEORY Three personality dimensions - Extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism Biological basis of criminal personality: Criminals inherit a type of nervous system that affects their ability to learn and adapt to the environment Extraversion - inherited an under-aroused nervous system so seek stimulation to restore optimum level Neuroticism - Unstable and overreact to stimuli, so quick to anger or fear Psychoticism - Related to high levels of testosterone Links to criminal behaviour: Psychoticism - Lack of self-control leads to impulsive crimes e.g. violent crimes Extraversion - More arousal needed, so seek out dangerous situation, more impulsive actions e.g. theft, robbery Neuroticism - More reactive to stressful situations, therefore more likely to commit violent crimes as they may be quick to become angry e.g. murder, assault Role of socialisation: Eysenck believed that criminal behaviour could be explained through a combination of innate personality traits and socialisation. People high in extraversion and neuroticism are less easily conditioned that bad behaviour is bad. Therefore they aren't scared of the consequences, so don't follow rules **Eysenck & Eysenck - 2070 male prisoners and 2442 male controls aged 16 to 69 did the Eysenck personality questionnaire. Scores fell with age and prisoners scored higher on every category**

Answer 6

EYSENCK'S CRIMINAL PERSONALITY THEORY - Supporting research (Eysenck and Eysenck) - 2070 male prisoners and 2442 male controls aged 16 to 69 did the Eysenck personality questionnaire. Scores fell with age and prisoners scored higher on every category. **However, the supporting research was carried out by the same person who came up with the theory, so there may be researcher bias in the results as Eysenck may have interpreted the results to support his theory** - Considers nature and nurture (socialisation + genetics) - Someone may have been born with an under aroused nervous system, which leads to extraversion, however they may not be socialised in a way that means the under-aroused nervous system becomes a problem - Issues with measuring personality - Since Eysenck's personality questionnaire is a self-report measure, SDB may be in effect as they may answer in a way to appear a better person. Eysenck included lie scales to see when someone is inputting false data, so he discarded these data points

Answer 7

EYSENCK'S CRIMINAL PERSONALITY THEORY Biological basis of criminal personality: Criminals inherit a type of nervous system that affects their ability to learn and adapt to the environment Extraversion - inherited an under-aroused nervous system so seek stimulation to restore optimum level Neuroticism - Unstable and overreact to stimuli, so quick to anger or fear Psychoticism - Related to high levels of testosterone Role of socialisation: Eysenck believed that criminal behaviour could be explained through a combination of innate personality traits and socialisation. People high in extraversion and neuroticism are less easily conditioned that bad behaviour is bad. Therefore they aren't scared of the consequences, so don't follow rules **Eysenck & Eysenck - 2070 male prisoners and 2442 male controls aged 16 to 69 did the Eysenck personality questionnaire. Scores fell with age and prisoners scored higher on every category** COGNITIVE FACTORS Moral reasoning: Most criminals are in preconventional stage of Kohlberg's moral reasoning levels as they have low levels of morality (crime is acceptable if they don't get caught) Preconventional - Burglary, theft, fraud Conventional - Self-defence, defending a family member, speeding to a hospital Postconventional - Protesting, releasing animal test subjects Age of criminal responsibility in UK is 10. At this age, 60% are in stage 2 of morality **Chen and Howitt (2007) - Male offenders in youth correctional facilities and controls from schools in Taiwan self reported their criminal histories were classified according to their crime. Overall, the offenders were significantly less mature despite their age being higher on average** Cognitive distortions: HAB - When someone has a leaning towards always thinking the worst e.g. someone smiles at you, but you think that person is actually thinking bad thoughts about you. May lead to criminal behaviour as leads to increased levels of aggression by overreacting Minimalisation - Having a lowered perception of the consequences of their actions Criminals underplay the consequences of their actions, meaning that criminal behaviour can be engaged in without guilt and other negative emotions

Answer 8

EYSENCK'S CRIMINAL PERSONALITY THEORY - Supporting research (Eysenck and Eysenck) - 2070 male prisoners and 2442 male controls aged 16 to 69 did the Eysenck personality questionnaire. Scores fell with age and prisoners scored higher on every category. **However, the supporting research was carried out by the same person who came up with the theory, so there may be researcher bias in the results as Eysenck may have interpreted the results to support his theory** - Issues with measuring personality - Since Eysenck's personality questionnaire is a self-report measure, SDB may be in effect as they may answer in a way to appear a better person. Eysenck included lie scales to see when someone is inputting false data, so he discarded these data points COGNITIVE FACTORS - Supporting evidence (HAB and minimalisation) HAB - Schonenberg and Justye (2014) - 55 violent offenders were shown images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions. They found that the offenders perceived the images as angry and hostile more than a matched control group Minimalisation - Pollock and Hashmall (1991) 35% of a sample of child molesters said that their crime was non-sexual. 36% said that the victims had consented - Limitations of Kohlberg's research - Kohlberg's theory is on moral **thinking**, not moral behaviour, so may not be applicable to cognitive factors. Additionally, Kohlberg's research only used male participants, so cannot be generalised to female behaviour

C3 - CB : Individual Differences Explanations Flashcards

(32 cards)