Criminal and Forensic Psychology lecture 4 --> Mainstream Theories of Crime: Psychological Theories

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  • Psychological Theories of crime
    • Learning Theories
      • behaviour develops through a series of learning experiences
      • individs change their behaviour according to the response
      • Law of Effect, CC, OC, Social Learning of Personality, SLT
      • SLT - learning = cognitive process taking place in a social context - VR, observational learning, reciprocal determinism
      • imitation
        • imitate live models, instructional models and symbolic models
        • people choose models based on a range of characteristics - looks, status, perceived similarity
          • characteristics effected how deeply the behavs are imitated
        • behaviour reinforced is the reinforcement has values for the observer
      • differential association
        • Through interaction with others, individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques, and motives for criminal behaviour
        • Deviant and conforming behaviour are produced by the same learning processes - just depends on the direction of the influences
        • Akers and Burgess additions, 1966
          • differential reinforcement
            • positive and negative reinforcements
            • social rewards = symbolic
          • social structure and social learning
            • differential social organisation
            • differential location in social structure
            • theoretically defined structural variables
            • differential social location in groups
      • direct VS indirect reinforcement
        • direct eg effects of drug and alcohol
        • indirect eg. anticipation of rewards
        • most important reiforcers tend to be social (status, respect etc)
    • Intelligence Theories
      • Henry Goddard (1914) - ‘feeblemindedness’ of inmates - criminal behaviour was caused by low IQ - however, there is no empirical basis for this claim
      • The Bell Curve (Herrnstein and Murray, 1994)
        • publish finding stating that Black people in the USA score lower than white people on IQ tests
        • then suggest that suggest individuals with a lower IQ are more likely to commit crime, get caught, and be sent to prison
        • misleading conclusions about race, hereditary, intelligence and crime
      • low IQ is now seen as a risk factor as opposed to a direct causal factor
        • studies indicate school performance MEDIATED the effect of IQ on delinquency
      • Hirschi and Hindelang, 1977
        • low IQ increases likelihood for criminality through its impact on school performance -> Poor IQ = poor school performance -> child will drop out -> Poor school performance leads child with little conventional options for jobs and looking for acceptance elsewhere -> delinquency
        • analysis has been extended to include deviant peer pressure and self-control as other mediating factors in the indirect link between IQ and delinquency
      • BUT high IQ -> lack of socialising as they can't understand people around them -> ostracised, can turn to aggression
    • Personality Theories
      • focus on delinquency as an external manifestation of internal pathology
      • Freud
        • conflict in the psyche leads to delinquent behav
        • this is not falsifiable tho
      • Eysneck
        • high extroversion, high neuroticism and high psychoticism = criminal
        • criminal behaviour as developmentally immature -> selfish and concerned with immediate gratification
        • studies + findings regarding this is inconsistent
    • Psychopathy Theories
      • used to describe more serious crimes
        • view serious and persistent crime and delinquency as an outward manifestation of mental illness
      • characterised by persistent antisocial behavior, lack of empathy and remorse, and bold disinhibited traits. Can also appear manipulative and lack the ability to learn from experience
        • may learn to mimic certain behaviours (smiling back at others) but will not learn the rewarding behaviour behind this
      • Etiology
        • linked to prefrontal cortex and reduced amygdala volume
      • antisocial children tend to display characteristics of psychopathy compared to non-antisocial children
      • ASPD
      • 1% of the population, 20% of the prison pop
      • associated with instrumental violence
      • Psychopathy was associated with more offences amongst child molestors (Porter, 2009)
      • reported that offenders with psychopathy (both sexual and non-sexual offenders) are about 2.5 times more likely to be granted conditional release compared to non-psychopathic offenders
      • Examples
        • Ted Bundy
        • John Wayne Gacy
        • Ed Gein
        • Ed Kemper

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