Psychological explanations:Eysenck’s theory -A-Level Psychology

Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality:

General personality theory-Eysenck proposed that behaviour could be represented along two dimensions:Extraversion/introversion (E) and neuroticism/stability (N).These dimensions interact to form a variety of personality characteristics/traits.Eysenck added a third dimension-psychoticism (P).

Biological basis-Eysenck suggested that personality traits are biological in origin and arise from the type of nervous system inherited.So ,all personality types such as the criminal personality type have an innate ,biological basis.Extraverts have an underactive nervous system which means that they constantly seek excitement,stimulation and are more likely to take part in risk-taking behaviours.They tend to not condition easily so do not learn from their mistakes.Neurotic individuals are nervous and over anxious.Their general instability means that their behavior is difficult to predict.

The criminal personality-Neurotic-extravert .Eysenck suggested that the typical offender will also score highly on measures of psychoticism -cold,unemotional and prone to aggression.

The role of socialisation-Eysenck described how personality is linked to criminal behaviour via socialisation processes.Eysenck saw that criminal behaviour is immature and selfish,concerned with immediate gratification(impatient).The process of socialisation is when children are taught to become more able to delay gratification and more socially oriented.Eysenck believed that those with high E and N scores had nervous systems that made them difficult to condition,so they would not learn easily to respond to antisocial impulses with anxiety.They would be more likely to act antisocially in situations where the opportunity presented itself.

Measuring the criminal personality-Eysenck developed the EPI which was a form of psychological test that locates people along the E and D dimensions in order to determine their personality type.A later scale included psychoticism.

Evaluation:

Supporting evidence-Eysenck compared 2070 male prisoners scores on the EPI with 2422 male controls.The groups were split into age groups from 16-69 .On measures of psychoticism,extraversion and neuroticism across all age groups ,the prisoners scored higher than controls .However,Farringtion et al reviewed multiple studies and reported that  offenders tended to score high on P measures but not on E and N.There is also little evidence of consistent differences in EEG measures between extraverts and introverts which causes doubt over the psychological basis of Eysenck’s theory.
Cultural bias-Bartol and Holanchock looked into cultural differences.They studied Hispanic and African-American offenders in a maximum security prison in New York.They divided them into 6 groups based on their criminal history and the nature of their offence.In all 6 groups ,they found that the criminals were less extravert than a non-criminal control group.Barot et al suggested this was due to the fact that their sample was a very different cultural group than the one investigated by Eysenck.This questions the generalisability of the criminal personality.