chapter 2- criminal thinking patterns

How did Piaget devise his theory?

through the study of children during conservation tasks

what did he find?

children could conserve in the pre-operational stage so were more intelligent than other psychologists thought

what does Piaget believe?

the most intelligent individuals have the most developed morals so are least likely to become criminals

At the age of birth-18mnths what stage are you at?
Sensorimotor

What intellectual development at this age?
sense

what moral development do you have at this stage?
no morals

at the age of 18mnths-7yrs old what stage?
pre-operational

what intellectual development at this age(18mnth-7yrs)?
basic rules

what moral development do you have at this age(18mnth-7yrs)?
basic morals

At the age of 7-12years what stage are you at?
concrete operational

what intellectual development do you have?
can adapt rules

what moral development do you have?
well developed morals-minority don't develop e.g bullies

at the age of 12 what stage are you at?
formal operational

what intellectual development do you have?
logic/sophisticated thinking

what moral development do you have?
highly philosophical morals i.e human life more important than the law

what is one strength of this study?

usefulness we can prevent crime by educating children from a young age

what is one weakness of this study?

validity-how do we measure morality?

what does kohlberg believe?
Moral development is based in terms of more advanced understanding. Morality develops through different stages.

What was the aim of his study?
to investigate morality and crime

what method was used for this study?
longitudinal study, over a period of 12years, results obtained with interview

what sample was used for this study?
75 boys from USA, compared in terms of moral development with children from Taliwan,mexico,turkey and Yucatan

What were the results of this study?

all young boys answered interview questions and kohlberg divided them into 3 groups

what were the 3 groups?

level1-preconventional-they wouldn't steal because rule breaking,

level2-conventional-able to judge morally from society/group perspective

level3-post-conventional-follow conscience even if break rules

what was the conclusion of this study?

morality can be linked to criminality

what are 2 weaknesses of this study?

high demand characteristics-self-reports,questionnaire

low EV- a child wouldn't have a wife like the 'Heinz' dillemma

what are 2 strengths of this study?

usefulness- we can apply it to everyday life through teaching in school

shows potential cause of crime

what application can be made from this study?

counsell children who have no morals or little of them, to teach them how to make choices that are beneficial,

what is meant by locus of control?

to what extent do individuals percieve their behaviour to be under their own internal control, as opposed to being controlled by external factors such as luck or authority figures.

what was the aim of this study?

to find out whether locus of control affects the likeliness of a person committing crime

what method was used for this study?

used a questionnaire to test whether people tended to percieve their own behaviour as internal or external control, included 23 forced answer questions

what sample was used for this study?

oppurtunity sample- people available at the time

what were the results of this study?

offenders more likely to veiw behaivour based on external control than non-offenders
japanese people were more likely to blame external control than americans
little difference between european countries. No difference in gender.

what is the conclusion of this study?

people blaming their behaivour on external control were more likely to offend than those blaming their behaivour on internal control.

what are 2 strengths of this study?

Validity-people had time to think carefully about their answers

uniformity- each P given identical questions and answers were multiple choice- could be standardised, interpreting and comparing results easier

what are 2 weaknesses of this study?

people may not give correct answers if they feel they're socially unaccpetable or embarrasing- demand characteristics

P's may not feel any of the available answers accurately described their ideas-lead to bias results

what application can be made from this study?

study used primarily to improve area of health psychology

a mental health scale has been developed from rotter's locus of control scale

a dieting beliefs scale has also been developed

what is the aim of this study?
to analyse criminal personality-they say criminals have quite distinct thinking patterns which differ from the general population

what was the sample of their study?
240 male offenders.

They identified 40 thinking errors, which lead to a distorted self-image, criminal choices and denial of responsibility which 3 categories did these errors fall into?
criminal thinking patterns

automatic thinking errors

crime related thinking errors

whatare criminal thinking patterns?

these are characterised simultaneously by fear and a need for power and control, search for perfection, lying, inconsistencies or fragmentation of thinking

what is automatic thinking errors?

a lack of empathy, trust and failure to accept obligation and a secretive communication style

what is crime related thinking patterns?

optimistic fantasising about specific criminal acts with no for deterrent factors

What is a strength of this study?

large sample-240 male offenders

what is a weakness of this study?

high demand characteristics-interviews

what are yochelson and samenow suggesting?

that criminals are not necessarily impulsive, that they have perhaps planned and fantasised about their actions for a long time

what assumptions did cornish and clarke make?

-offenders seek to benefit themselves, this involve decisions and choices (cost/rewards-piliavin study)

-the decision making process is limited by the time available -limited life span of criminal oppurtunity

-successful criminal activity involves planning ahead

what is determinism versus freewill?
that either criminal behaivour is out of a persons control and is determined e.g a persons brain functions (raine) or they have a choice (free will) whether to behave in criminal ways e.g. cornish and clarke (rationality of choice)
What is the rational choice theory?
when criminal behaviouris reasoned- it makes sense to the criminal

What is moral development?
the learning of correct moral thinking

What is meant by empathy?
how you emotionally feel
what is meant by locus of control?
whether outcomes are controlled by your own actions or external factors such as luck