Social psychological explanations for criminal behaviour
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Course
Unit 6 - Criminological psychology
Institution
PEARSON (PEARSON)
social psychological explanations of criminal behaviour. Psychology year two. AO1 answer for a 10 marks question (Describe one social psychological explanation of criminal behaviour?) Awarded 10/10
Describe on social psychological explanation of criminal behaviour? 10 marks
One social psychological explanation of criminal behaviour is the differential
association theory (DA) that was purposed by Sutherland.
It argues that criminal behaviour is more dominate in individuals who interact
and associate with others who exhibit criminal mind sets and behaviours. He
suggested that the degree of influence is determined by 2 factors (length,
frequency and meaningfulness of interaction). He also stated that attitudes
towards a crime, such as if its desirable e.g., breaking speed or not e.g., violent
crimes and methods of committing it could be learned from internal personal
groups i.e., family and peers.
They may not be criminal themselves but still hold a deviant attitude or
acceptance towards such an attitude. An individual may be directly reinforced
for criminal behaviour through praise or punishment by family or peers in a
process known as operant conditioning and it could be direct or indirect. For
example, role models provide opportunities to model behaviour and it they are
successful themselves in criminal activities this might provide indirect
reinforcement.
Sutherland identified 9 key principles to explain the DA theory. Such as that
criminal behaviour is learned (positive attitudes towards crime). Criminal
behaviour is learned through interactions with other persons in a process of
communication. This could be seen in Osborn and West’s research that found
that 13% of sons with non-criminal fathers hand a criminal record comparing
with 20% of sons with criminal fathers and a criminal record. This explains the
influence of family on individual’s behaviour as they cover all 3 factors
mentioned earlier (length, frequency and meaningfulness of interactions) and
might be linked to the third principle with is that part of learning criminal
behaviour occurs with inmate personal groups.
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