Psychology

Learning objective New title: Social explanations for criminal behaviour

Learning Outcomes Recap learned behaviour theories Find out about Edexcel’s key themes for social explanations: Divorce Separation for the maternal care giver Family size Parental occupation Family patterns Child rearing techniques Self fulfilling prophecies

Social explanations for criminal behaviour Recap What is classical conditioning? How could it be a theory linked to learned criminal behaviour? What is Social Learning Theory? How could it be a theory linked to learned criminal behaviour? Which is the better explanation for criminal behaviour? Why?

Social explanations for criminal behaviour Divorce Why do you think divorce is considered to be a factor for social explanations for criminal behaviour? (we will NOT spend much time on this).

Social explanations for criminal behaviour Separation / Maternal deprivation This was a theory made by John Bowlby in 1944 and used as government directive in the 1960s as to why women should give up work when they have children. Bowlby found that of a number of male offenders he researched, a large proportion of the boys who felt no guilt had been separated from their mother by the age of 2. Of the criminals who felt guilt, it was the opposite – a small percentage had been separated from their mothers. The rate of criminality did not change – just levels of guilt. Is this good evidence? How does this research still impact us today?

Social explanations for criminal behaviour Family size Farrington (2002) found that families with lots of children, around 6/7, were more likely to show a higher rate of criminality. He felt that it could be linked to variety of factors: Lack of attention Lower incomes, or income that is required to stretch further Fewer educational opportunities

Social explanations for criminal behaviour Parents Occupation In Australia, Western (2003) found that the father’s occupation, even if unemployed, did not have an affect on a child. The mother’s, however, did. Research has found that the role of the father in the home (as in, how much he does, if present) has a greater impact on girl’s self esteem. Why do you think this is?

Social explanations for criminal behaviour Family Patterns Farrington (2002) conducted a longitudinal study on 411 boys ion London. Using interviews they found that the links of the boys turning to crime were: Low supervision by parents Poor housing Parental neglect Harsh or inconsistent parenting Separation of parents * highest link / correlation along with arguing* Low achievement in schools What has been put into place for this?

Social explanations for criminal behaviour http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0072bk8

Social explanations for criminal behaviour Type of research Evidence for social causes Evidence against social causes Classical conditioning Social Learning Theory Divorce Separation / maternal deprivation Family size Parental occupation Family patterns Social explanations for criminal behaviour

Social explanations for criminal behaviour New title: Child rearing as an explanation What do we mean by child-rearing? Think about key words we have used before: Role models Vicarious reinforcement Modelling Identification Observational learning

Social explanations for criminal behaviour Hoffman (1984) identified three childrearing strategies are referred to when parents deal with naughty children. You will need to summarise each of the following: Induction Love withdrawal Power Assertion

Social explanations for criminal behaviour Induction Explaining what the child has done wrong and the consequences. Child develops a sense of wrongdoing. Encourages empathy – as the child learns from another perspective.

Social explanations for criminal behaviour Love withdrawal Here the parents withdraws their affection and makes the child feel guilty. The child’s feelings are manipulated – so they do not develop a sense of individuality and independence because of this rejection.

Social explanations for criminal behaviour Power Assertion – can involve hitting, smacking, criticism, etc. This strategy is most often associated with delinquency and leads to low self esteem, especially if: Punishment is inconsistent. Punishment is severe & lengthy. Threats are not seen through . Parents approach are inconsistent.

Social explanations for criminal behaviour New title: Self fulfilling prophecy What do you think this means? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK3M7RGqJFQ

Social explanations for criminal behaviour Self fulfilling prophecy This is when an expectation has been made on someone so they conform to that image. It is a theory that suggests that what people say of us because of who we are, is a predication of what we will become.

Social explanations for criminal behaviour Self fulfilling prophecy

Social explanations for criminal behaviour

Social explanations for criminal behaviour Do you agree with this statement?

Social explanations for criminal behaviour In education, research by Carol Dweck has introduced the idea of changing mind-sets. Changing how we think of ourselves to alter our futures. Do you experience this in school?

Social explanations for criminal behaviour Self fulfilling prophecy is often linked to negative behaviours, rather than Carol Dweck’s idea of linking it to positive behaviours. Rosenthal & Jacobsen (1968) examined if school achievement could be self-fulfilling. Students took an IQ test and teachers were told which students were average and which were high-achievers. This was a lie. Teachers had lower expectations for average students and gave more attention to ‘high achievers.’ After 1 year, results revealed IQ increases for high achievers and IQ decreases for low achievers. The teachers expectations of the child’s ability, alerted how they were treated and as a result their actual ability.

Social explanations for criminal behaviour Jahoda (1954) conducted a study about names of children (that in the town were linked to the day they were born and found that names and days of birth were linked: Similar to our poem:

Social explanations for criminal behaviour

Social explanations for criminal behaviour

Social explanations for criminal behaviour

Social explanations for criminal behaviour

Social explanations for criminal behaviour

Social explanations for criminal behaviour

Social explanations for criminal behaviour

Social explanations for criminal behaviour

Social explanations for criminal behaviour

Social explanations for criminal behaviour

Social explanations for criminal behaviour

Social explanations for criminal behaviour

Social explanations for criminal behaviour

Social explanations for criminal behaviour

Social explanations for criminal behaviour

Social explanations for criminal behaviour What’s wrong with this style of research? Do you think Jahoda (1954) has created some good research which we can replicate and copy? Does this predict your behaviour?

Social explanations for criminal behaviour New title: Comparing theories of criminal behaviour Read pages 174 – 175 and then copy down the grid on page 174