Criminal Psychology
Learning theories as an explanation of criminality
Operant conditioning
This explains that there are two types of reinforcement – positive and negative, the consequences of which encourage us to repeat a behaviour.
| Positive reinforcement | Negative reinforcement |
| Receiving something pleasant for a behaviour so we repeat it. | The avoidance of something unpleasant so we do it again. |
It also explains that punishment is a consequence of behaviour which means we are less likely to repeat the behaviour again.
| Positive punishment | Negative punishment |
| Receiving something unpleasant for a behaviour so we do not do it again | Removing something pleasant so we do not repeat the behaviour again. |
It also explains that there are two types of positive reinforcers that can be used as a consequence for behaviour to strengthen behaviour
| Primary reinforcer | Secondary reinforcer |
| A reinforcer that satisfies a biological need.E.g. food, water | A reinforcer of no survival value but we have learned to associate it with a primary reinforcer. E.g. school grades, tokens |
Strengths and weaknesses of operant conditioning
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| It can be used to explain a variety of crimes. | Not all crimes are committed because of receiving reinforcement or punishment.It ignores other factors like genetics. |
| It explains that punishment can remove undesirable behaviour. It has also contributed to development of behaviour management techniques such as token economies. | Behaviour can be reproduced in the absence of reinforcement or punishment. It does not consider an alternative motivation for crimes. |
Social learning theory as an explanation of criminality
- It explains that we learn from one another rather than directly from reinforcement or punishment.
- Albert Bandura explains behaviour as a consequence of observing and modelling others around us. This is known as observational learning.
- We do not just copy anyone, we’re motivated to copy those whom we share similar characteristics. This person becomes a role model.
- By observing a model, we learn how new behaviours are performed which is known as modelling.
The identification and modelling process
| Attention In order to learn something new, you have to pay attention to it. |
| Retention You have to remember it |
| Reproduction To model new behaviour that you observed you have to be able to reproduce it |
| Motivation You are more likely to model behaviour you have observed if you are motivated to do so.This could be because a model is rewarded so you want to be rewarded too [Vicarious reinforcement]. |
| Identification Occurs when you adopt the behaviour, beliefs and values of the role model or group. |
Strengths and weaknesses of the social learning theory
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| Lots of evidence to support it.Bandura conducted a series of experiments that exposed nursery aged children to an aggressive role model. He found that aggression was copied especially if the child was the same sex as the model. | Bandura’s study only investigates the short term effects of observational learning as it is unethical to experiment long term, because children would be exposed to aggressive behaviour. It cannot be tested in real life situations. |
| The theory can explain why some people exposed to criminality become criminals and others do not. If they are not motivated they won’t copy it. | Some criminal behaviour can’t be explained by observational learning.E.g. murder |
| Observational learning is one of the main ways children learn behaviour and can explain this behaviour in absence of reinforcement. |
Biological explanations of criminality
- Some have found that criminality has run in families however others would argue this may be because of the same upbringing.
- Twin studies are more reliable. If the monozygotic twins become criminals it could show that criminality has a genetic basis.
- Karl Christiansen found that 35% of identical male twins in Denmark were both criminals compared to 13% of non-identical twins.
- For female twins, 21% monozygotic twins were both criminals compared to 8% for non-identical twins.
- The shared upbringing could explain the higher chance of criminality for monozygotic twins.
Adoption studies
- To rule out potential influence of upbringing is the use of adoption studies.
- Barry Hutchings and Mednick (1975) found that 21% of adopted children also had a biological father who was a criminal. This was compared to 10% who did not have a biological father who committed a crime.
- This could be explained by some other factors so we should be wary when interpreting this as a biological basis.
Personality theory
Personality: characteristics and qualities that make up someone’s individual character.
- Some personality theories believe that our personality is a temperament (the nature someone is born with, which affects their behaviour.
- This can explain how some personality traits can be associated with criminality.
Eysenck (1964) studied different personality traits, he suggested that certain personality traits could be more prone to criminality.
| Extraversion / introversionTwo extreme ends of one dimension of personalityExtraversion: outgoing, sociableIntroversion: reserved and quiet |
| Neuroticism Nervous disposition of someone.If stable, they are calm and don’t over react.If unstable, they tend to be highly emotional and quick to overreact. |
| Psychoticism Lack of empathy towards others. |
Measuring personality
Questionnaire called Eysenck Personality Questionnaire [EPQ]
Each question measures the above traits and gives them a PEN score.
The biological basis of personality
- High PEN score; they seek external stimulation to raise their biological arousal level, they are outgoing and attention seeking
- Low PEN score; avoid thrill and excitement
- Unstable neurotics have high N scores, they tend to overreact.
- Low N score; they are calm under stressful situations
- High P score; a person is cold, lacks compassion and can be antisocial
The criminal personality
- High PEN scores can be used to explain criminality.
- They do not associate antisocial behaviour with the anxiety of being punished.
- They are sensation seeking so antisocial behaviour is exciting to them, they don’t consider other people’s feelings.
Strengths and weaknesses of Eysenck’s theory
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| There is evidence that people with these personality traits are associated with criminal behaviour.David Farrington (1982) found a relationship between high P and N scores and criminality but not for E. | It tends to assume that personality traits are fixed and stable. It is possible to change our behaviour according to the situation we’re in. Criminality may be more about environmental factors rather than personality. Sociologists agree with this. |
| It combines biological, psychological and social factors into one theory.It is holistic | Much of the evidence to support this is based on self-report questionnaires. This evidence can be flawed because people tend to present themselves in the best way with desirable characteristics. Unreliable. |
Understanding the effects of punishment on recidivism
Recidivism: when an offender is punished for their crime but commits another crime when released (reoffending).
Prison
- This is when a prisoner is placed in a prison and denied civil liberties such as freedom and privileges for a certain period.
- Punishment can be said to be effective because it is based on operant conditioning, demonstrating that positive punishment can be used to stop a behaviour.
- It is also a deterrent for potential offenders so is a form of negative reinforcement; people will avoid prison by abiding by the law.
Strengths and weaknesses of prison as a deterrent to reoffending
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| Effective because it removes criminals from public life so they don’t have the opportunity to commit a crime. | Recidivism rates in the UK show that within the first year of release, 25% of people reoffend. |
| It will keep the public safe while the offender is locked away.This is reassuring for the public and reinforces the moral view that crimes will be punished to ensure civil order. | May be seen as ineffective because prisoners are exposed to criminal role models while serving their sentence. |
| Weaknesses | Prisoners find it difficult to get a job because of their criminal record so will turn to a life of crime to financially support themselves. |
| Prison raises ethical issues because civil liberties are removed from prisoners. This is a moral issue. It is immoral to lock someone up and remove their basic rights.Humanitarian views would argue that rehabilitation is better. |
Community sentencing
- When you are convicted of a crime and have to do community service rather than go to prison.
- It can involve voluntary work or unpaid work in the community, such as litter picking or removing graffiti.
- In addition to this, criminals may be given a curfew, be restricted from certain areas.
Strengths and weaknesses of community sentencing
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| Offenders are given a second chance to make up for their crimes by giving back to the community. | Some view it as a soft option.With a recidivism rate of over 30%, it’s not seen as effective. |
| Suitable punishment for appropriate crimes. This may make offenders less likely to reoffend because they avoided prison; negative reinforcement. | Despite curfews and restrictions, an offender may still be able to engage in criminal activity as they aren’t locked away from society. |
| Prevents criminals from going to prison and making criminal connections and getting involved in serious crimes. | 10% of offenders fail to complete their community sentence. This may be because they fail to show up or break curfew. |
Restorative justice
- A practice that involves the offender meeting up or communicating with the victim or people they harmed because of their crime.
- The offender can realise that their actions had a negative effect on others which may help them accept responsibility.
- For a victim, this discussion can be a relief by asking questions.
- It can cause distress to the offender and victim so it is conducted in an informal and neutral environment where the people involved can feel safe.
Strengths and weaknesses of restorative justice
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| According to government research, restorative justice has a high victim satisfaction rate of around 85%.The victim can ask questions and communicate their POV which may make them feel empowered and more able to move on with their lives. | It may be more beneficial for the victim rather than a way of reducing recidivism. |
| The offender has to take part voluntarily, so reoffending rates may be because the offender was already contemplating a crimeless life. | |
| There is a 14% reduction in recidivism compared to not using restorative justice. | It can cause distress to the victim and offender. However a mediator can help this. |
| Safe environment means that an offender can contemplate their crimes and may lead to a reduction in reoffending. | Time consuming and costly. However, cost involved in using restorative justice is less than the cost involved in dealing with reoffending. |
Treatments to rehabilitate and reduce criminal and antisocial behaviour and increase prosocial behaviour.
Token economy programmes
- These are designed to reduce antisocial behaviour and increase prosocial behaviour within a prison.
- Based on principles of operant conditioning.
- Prisoners are given a token for prosocial behaviour as a reward/reinforcement.
- Tokens are secondary reinforcers.
- Once a prisoner has collected a certain amount, they can exchange for rewards like phone calls, tv time, visits, food privileges.
- For this to work, rewards must genuinely be valued by the prisoner.
Strengths and weaknesses of token economy programmes
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| Designed to control and manage prison behaviour, not to reduce recidivism. Tokens aren’t found in everyday life so prosocial behaviour is likely to be limited to the prison setting. | Compared to other forms of rehabilitation, using counsellors, token economies are fairly economical.They need commitment from prisoners and staff for it to work. |
| Evidence of short term increase in prosocial behaviour in a prison.Hobbs and Holt introduced token economies to three prisons for young offenders. Compared to a control prison which did not use tokens found that pro social behaviour significantly increased. | Other inmates may encourage antisocial behaviour which may be stronger sources of influence than tokens. |
Anger management programmes
- Designed as a form of rehabilitation for offenders who have committed violent crimes because of their anger.
- Involves offenders working with a therapist in small groups.
- Offenders are encouraged to identify triggers to angry outbursts, find ways to cope with their feelings and develop ability to resolve conflict situations.
This is a three stage process:
- Cognitive preparation – offender has to reflect on their own anger
- Skills acquisition – an offender learns new skills to help them control their anger such as relaxation techniques.
- Application practice – involved role playing anger-triggering situations.
Strengths and weaknesses of anger management programmes
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| The treatment assumes that there is a link between anger and violent crimes but not all violent crimes are committed due to anger.However criminals are carefully selected to receive anger management – strength. | Offenders can abuse the programme. It teaches them to control and manage their anger, a skill that may be used to commit crimes more effectively than before.Marine Rice (1997) suggested that psychopaths were more likely to reoffend and become more dangerous after anger management because they learned skills that helped them manipulate others more effectively. |
| Weakness | Evidence supporting it is mixed. This is a serious weakness. Howells et al (2005) found no improvement.Craig Dowden, Kelley Blanchette and Ralph Serin (1999) found that high risk offenders were less likely to reoffend after treatment. |
| Offenders need to be highly motivated, have good insight and understanding of themselves and be able to practise their anger management skills. |
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