PSYCHOLOGY

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PSYCHOLOGY CRIME

• Social Explanations
• Bernadette Doran
• Tel [phone]
• Email B.Doran_at_liv.ac.uk

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Lecture outline

• 1) Learning Theories
• -Differential association theory
• -Social learning theory
• 2) Parenting styles
• -Punishment and Discipline
• -Supervision
• 3) Labelling theory
• Strengths, Criticisms, and Applications

Peers Self Family
Society
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Learning outcomes

• By the end of this session you will able
• to
• 1) Explain three major social explanations for
  criminal behaviour
• 2) Critique each of these explanations
• 3) Apply explanations to a specific crime

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1) Differential association theory-
Sutherland 1939

• 1) Criminal behaviour is learnt
• 2) The learning is through association with other
• people
• 3) The main part of learning takes place within
• close personal groups
• 4) The learning not only includes techniques
• to carry out certain crimes but also specific
  
• attitudes and motives conducive towards
• committing crime

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Differential association theory cont

• 5) Attitudes favourable to crime must outweigh
  those that promote non-criminal behaviour
• 6) The process of learning criminal behaviour is
  no different from the learning of any other
  behaviour

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Strengths Criticisms

• Neglects personality traits
• Delinquents select delinquent friends (Matthews,
  1968)
• Explains acquisition of tendencies BUT doesnt
  account for the maintenance of criminal behaviours

• Explains the presence of crime in all elements of
  social structure
• Explains onset of criminality

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Social learning theory- Bandura 1963

• Behaviours of any sort (non-criminal / criminal)
  may be learnt by observing others
• Individuals observed known as models
• Model selection depends on age, status and
  ability to provide social reinforcement

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Bobo doll study (1977)
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Social learning theory cont

• Models behaviour imitated depends on consequences
  of their actions (observational learning)
• Reward
  Imitated
• Observed act
• Punishment Not
  Imitated
• 
  
• Criminal behaviour maintained through operant
  conditioning (direct learning)

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Strengths Criticisms

• Concedes that different people may commit the
  same crimes for different reasons
• Individuals motivations and expectations are
  based on their unique learning experiences

• Largely based on lab studies
• Deterministic

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Can watching TV make individuals violent?
YES
NO
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TV and violence cont

• NOT just simple imitation
• James Bulger murder case 1993
• Mr. Justice Morland I suspect that the
  killers exposure to violent video films may in
  part be an explanation (Childs Play 3)

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Research Findings

• Singer Singer (1983) school children TV viewing
  monitored, and behaviour monitored. Link found
• Messner (1986) exposure to TV inversely related
  to rates of violent crime.
• Walters Thomas (1963) participants administered
  longer and more severe shocks after viewing
  violent scenes from movies
• Freeman (1984) argues that such research is
  artificial
• Already violent individuals may seek out violent
  television programmes

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2) Punishment and Discipline Styles

• Hoffman (1977)- Delinquent families more likely
  to use power assertion techniques
• Farrington (1989)- Harsh physical punishment
  predicts violent offending
• Patterson (1982)- Inconsistent punishment
  predicts violent offending

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Punishment and Discipline Styles cont

• Mechanisms of inconsistent punishment
• Aggressive behaviour is positively reinforced and
  negatively reinforced
• Modelling aggression
• Reinforces coercive style of behaviour to be used
  outside of the home

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Parental Supervision

• Monitoring of childs activities
• McCord (1979) Cambridge-Somerville Study. Where
  parental supervision was low delinquency was
  high.
• Wilson (1980) Parental supervision more important
  than parental criminal record in predicting
  delinquency.

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Strengths Criticisms

• Support from studies using cross-sectional and
  longitudinal methods
• Support from studies using both self-report and
  official measures of crime

• Failure to control for variables such as age, sex
  and SES
• Impossible to disentangle genetic and
  environmental factors

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3) Labeling theory- Becker 1963

• People become criminals when members of society
  label them
• No act is inherently criminal (depends on
  societal reaction)
• Does not just focus on the criminal but also the
  actions of police, courts, etc

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Labelling theory cont

• Dramatisation of evil hypothesis
• No longer reacted to as normal by those around
  them but are viewed instead according to their
  labels
• Change in self identity (the way you see
  yourself)
• Self-fulfilling prophecy
• E.g Evil Myra Mythology

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Strengths Criticisms

• Explains the maintenance of criminal behaviour
• Studies demonstrate that labels can bias
  perceptions (Jones, 1986)

• Ignores causes of initial deviance
• Ignores deterrent effect of societal reaction
• Doesnt show how can fight label

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Key points to remember

• Social explanations rarely take into account
  individual differences
• No one social factor can be taken as an
  explanation in itself
• Complex interaction between several factors

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Selected readings

• Blackburn, R. (1995). The Psychology of Criminal
  Conduct Theory, Research and Practice. London
  Wiley.
• Feldman, P. (1993). The Psychology of Crime.
  Cambridge Cambridge University Press.
• Hollin, C.R. (1992). Criminal Behaviour A
  Psychological approach to Explanation and
  Prevention. London The Falmer Press.
• Hopkins-Burke, R. (2003). An Introduction to
  Criminological Theory. London Willan.