PSYC39 –Psychology and Law: Lecture 4
Theories of Crime: Learning and Environment (Chapter 3)
Monday, October 1, 2012
Theories
Psychodynamic theories (inner drives of individuals)
Learning theories (conditioning)
Social learning theories (social setting)
Psychodynamic Theories of Crime
Basic Psychodynamic Concepts
Humans are inherently anti-social; driven by pleasure-seeking and destructive impulses
Crime occurs when impulses are not adequately controlled
Personality Systems
Id: pleasure principle; present at birth; represents primitive, instinctual desires
Ego: reality principle; suppresses id’s impulses, allows people to function in socially acceptable ways
Superego: conscience and ego-ideal; moral regulator; internalizes group standards
Personality Development
Freud: psychosexual stages (oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital)
Problems in superego formation affect one’s behaviour
3 Hypothesized Sources of Criminal Behaviour:
1. Harsh superego: guilt; criminal behaviour as a way to invite punishment Does this make sense???
2. Weak superego: failure to regulate the id Circularity?
3. Deviant superego: superego standards reflect deviant identification How does that happen?
Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation
Children need maternal care to develop normally OK
Lack of maternal care the child does not develop means to control his conduct
o Limited empirical support for this theory
Juvenile Delinquency (Glueck and Glueck)
Parenting key in superego development
Delinquent families:
Negative parenting variables:
o Lack of warmth, Emotional disturbances, Greater carelessness in supervision of children
Prediction of juvenile delinquency based on physical, attitudinal, psychological, socio-cultural data
Hirschi’s Control Theories
Social Bond Theory:
o People with well developed social bonds do not violate the law
o Social bonds promote conformity
o Types of social bonds:
Attachment
Commitment
Involvement
Belief
Gottfredson & Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime
Level of self-control is determination of crime
Low self-control + opportunities to commit crimes propensity to criminal behaviour
Level of self-control depends on quality of parenting in early years Learning Theories and Crime
Classic Conditioning
Stimulus response
Associative learning
o Conditioning as a factor shaping human behaviour
Eysenck’s Biosocial Theory of Crime
Individual differences in functioning of nervous system
Different degree of learning from environmental stimuli
Antisocial individuals are deficient in classical conditioning (“conditionability”)
Conscience as set of classically conditioned emotional responses
Operant Conditioning
Thorndyke’s “Law of effect”:
o Behaviours followed by positive consequences will recur with greater frequency
o Behaviours not followed by positive consequences will recur less frequently
Criminal behaviour is determined by its environmental consequences (reinforcements and punishments)
Factors impacting reinforcement/punishment effectiveness: immediacy, consistency, intensity
What are the Definitions/Differences between:
o Positive Reinforcement
o Negative Reinforcement
o Punishment
Different Types of Reinforcement and Punishment (and Their Associated Behavioural Outcomes)
Stimulus
Added Subtracted
Pleasant Positive reinforcement Negative punishment
Stimulus (behaviour increases) (behaviour decreases)
Valence Aversive P
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