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Topic 2.2 individualistic theories - Coggle Diagram
Topic 2.2 individualistic theories
Psychodynamic theories
Psychanalysis
Freud
According to freud what determines our personality and future behaviour is the unconscious and this is because the unconscious drives all behaviour including criminality
The three elements of personality Freud identified
The ego: develops around the age of two and it works on the reality principle, it reduces conflict between the ID and Superego using defence mechanisms.
The id: present at birth and operates on the pleasure principle and gets what it wants
A baby will cry to get what it wants such like being fed it will not think how the mother will feel
The superego: develops around the ages of 5 years old and it works on the morality principle, it represents the moral standards of the same sex parent and is responsible for the skill.
psychoanalytic theories: what causes anti social behaviour
Anti social behaviour as caused as an abnormal relationship with parents during early socialisation - for examples neglect or to excessively lax or strict parenting can result in a weak superego, over harsh or deviant superego
Weakly developed superego
individual will feel less guilt about social actions and less inhibition about acting on the ID's selfish or aggressive urges.
Too harsh or unforgiving superego
Creates a deep seated guilt feelings in the individual, who then craves punishment as a release from their feelings. The person may engage in compulsive repeat offending in order to be punished.
Deviant superego
The child is successfully socialised but into a deviant moral code. -- a son may have a good relationship with his criminal father therefore may internalise on his fathers criminal values as a result his superego would not inflict guilt feelings on him for contemplating criminal acts.
Bowlby's maternal deprivation theory
According to Bowlby what causes deviant and anti social behaviour is the parent and child attachment relationship that is disrupted during infancy.
What can happen to a child if they do not form the correct attachment at an early age?
Will develop a dominant ID in the event that children don't fully develop egos and superego through identifying with their same sex parent
Outline the evidence that supports Bowlby's theory
44 juvenile delinquents and compared them to non criminal juveniles. The criminals there was 39% that had experienced seperation from their mothers for six months or more during their first 5 years compared to just the 5% of the control group
Eyenck's personality theory
According to Eyenck, what is criminality the result of?
Certain personality types : craved excitement and slow to learn consequences
Dimensions of personality identified by Eyenck
Extraverted: outgoing, sociable but become bored easily
Introverted: personality reserved, Very little stimulation and often in control of their situation
Neurotic: anxious and irrational
Personality questionaire
Measure peoples personality traits ranking them on a E scale and a N scale. High E is very extraverted and Low E is very introverted
Criminal personality is high E and N
Conditioning: through experience, we learn to seek pleasure (reward) and avoid pain (punishment)
Genetic inheritance can cause criminal personality
Extraverts
A nervous system that needs a high level of stimulation from their environment, constantly seeking excitement - likely leads to punishment
Neurotics
harder to condition into following society's rules because their high anxiety levels prevent them learning from punishment for their mistakes.
additional personality dimension of psychoticism: people with high P score are likely to engage in criminality. They tend to be solitary misfits who are cruel, insensitive, aggressive and lacking in emphathy. High P can overlap with serious psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia.
Learning theories
Operant learning theory
basic idea: work of psychologist Skinner: if a particular behaviour results in a reward, it is likely to be repeated.
first kind - positively reinforced
second: punishment
Behavourism
someones behaviour lies in the reinforcements and punishments that shape it. - focuses on behaviour shaping has led to operant learning theory becoming known as behavourism
Differential reinforcement theory explains criminal behaviour
Skinner argues all behaviour is the result of reinforcements and punishments - must explain criminal behaviour
Jeffery: criminal behaviour is learned through the reinforcements of particular behaviours. If crime has more rewarding consequences than punishing ones for an individual, they will be more likely to engage in criminal behaviour
Sutherland's differential association theory
Where do individuals learn criminal behaviour : largely in the family and peer groups (including work groups)
two factors that result in criminal behaviour according to Sutherland
Imitation: of criminal acts : individuals can acquire criminal skill and techniques through observing those around them.
Learned attitude: socialisation within the group exposes the individual to attitudes and values about the law. Some of these may be favourable to the law and other unfavourable if the individual, internalises more unfavourable than favourable attitudes and values, they are more likely to become criminals.
white collar crime illustrating Sutherlands idea of learned attitudes: Sutherland found that group attitudes in the workplace often harmonised criminal behaviour (e.g claiming everyones doing it) made it easier for individuals members to justify their own criminal behaviour.
social learning theory
Bandura
Learn our behaviour through imitating other people
Models: other people - we model our behaviour on how we see them behaving however, we wont copy just anyones behaviour -- more likely to imitate the models behaviour if they of a higher status than us
Consequences affect our behaviour: whether we imitate their behaviour mainly depends on the consequences of that behaviour. If we see the model being rewarded for their behaviour we are more likely to imitate it than if we see them being punished for it.
BOBO DOLL:
Group 1: rewarded with praise
Aggressive behaviour
Group 2: punished
Less likely to imitate the aggressive behaviour
Group 3: control group : behaviour = neither
Imitated the models - less
Cognitive theories of crime
Criminal personality theory
Yochelson and Samenow
Criminals are prone to faulty thinking and it makes them more likely to commit crime
Thinking errors: criminals show a range of errors and biases in their thinking and decision making
Lying, secretiveness, need for power, control, super optimism; failure to understand other positions; lack of trust in others and victim stance