Cognitive Distortions in explaining criminal behaviour
- Created by: hollydavies2
- Created on: 25-04-17 19:51
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- Cognitive Distortions causing criminal behaviour.
- Suggests that criminal behaviour is a result of faulty information processing in minds of offenders.
- Hostile Attribution Bias.
- Refers to the tendency to misinterpret actions of others- e.g. thinking someone is being confrontational when they are not. Therefore blame of offending behaviour is placed on external factors.
- Research suggests that there is a relationship between hostile attribution and aggression. This is due to offenders misreading non- aggressive cues which trigger violent response.
- Eval: Supporting Evidence
- Schonenberg & Justye presented 55 violent offenders with images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions, when compared with a matched control, violent offenders more likely to see image as hostile.
- Crick & Dodge found a relationship between hostile attribution and aggression in children and teens. found in hypothetical and actual situations.
- Eval: Problems using hypothetical situations to measure HAB, this means that the answer given may not be the response that would be given in a real life situation. This means that the research with supports the theory has low mundane realism and ecological validity so as the studies are less valid, this reduces the support of the theory.
- Refers to the tendency to misinterpret actions of others- e.g. thinking someone is being confrontational when they are not. Therefore blame of offending behaviour is placed on external factors.
- Minimalisation
- Refers to an offender downplaying/denying the seriousness of the offence committed. Includes rationalising, down playing the crime.
- Studies suggest that individuals who commit sexual offences are prone to minimisation.
- Supporting Evidence.
- Barbaree found among 26 convicted rapists 54% denied they had committed an offence at all. 40% minimised the harm they cause to victim.
- Hasmall reported 35% of sample of child molesters argued the crime they had committed was non-sexual and 36% stated it was consented.
- Eval: Contradictory.
- Descriptive rather than explanatory. Minimalisationdescribes how offender has distorted view but doesn't explain why committed offence.
- More relevant to certain crimes. There is evidence more for minimalisation in some criminal populations than others, in sex offenders the relationship is strong. Therefore the influences may depend on the type of crime.
- Refers to an offender downplaying/denying the seriousness of the offence committed. Includes rationalising, down playing the crime.
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