Psychological Explanations

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Psychological Explanations

• Nurture over nature?

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Micro analysis (soft)determinismmedical
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The Legacy

• Positivism and demonology bad seed concept
• Metaphysical basis
• Role of individual factors
• Work of James Hillman 96
• Modern day versions and the role of religion
• Possession of evil and rationale for punishment!

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Emergence of Psychology Criminality

• G. Aschaffenburg role of heredity
• H. Maudsley - moral degeneracy
• I. Ray - moral insanity
• S. Yochelson S. Samenow there may be a
  criminal personality
• Intrapsychic Explanations
• Freud internal conflicts of early childhood
  experiences (id, ego, superego)
• defence mechanisms, anxieties, neuroses

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• Crime and the uncontrolled ID
• Unconscious need to express guilt
• Repressed memories and act out
• Importance of dreams and messages
• Summary
• Endured years of skepticism and critique
• Recognized both neurological and biological links
  to personality
• Interdisciplinary in many respects

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Learned Behaviour - Cognition

• Environment gt Mind gt Behaviour
• frustration-aggression model
• Road rage
• consequence of frustration
• degree of interference
• risk of apprehension
• cathartic
• copy cat- idols? (Box 6.5)
• Social learning based on cognition

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Learning. Not also with ease
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Moral Development

• no one with a conscience or moral fibre would
• We develop a sense of morality and responsibility
• J. Piaget 4 stages of moral development
• L. Kohlberg - 3 levels and 6 stages do and
  donts societal values universal rights
• how does one measure objectively?
• Moral reasoning and offenders

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Behavioural Explanations

• Environ gt Brain processing gt Beh response
• classical conditioning I. Pavlov
• US CS gt CR UCR
• simultaneous, delayed, trace, backward
• avoidance therapy aversion therapy

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• Operant/Instrumental conditioning B.F. Skinner
• J. B. Watson father of experimental psychology
• conditioning vs. free-will
• behaviour and reinforcement

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• Token economy positive vs. negative
• Schedules
• ratio interval
• behaviour modification
• not dwell on PAST. (applied)
• restorative justice, BM programs

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Summary

• Examine the roots of behaviour
• Objectifying attitudes (evil)
• Crime a product of internal conflict
• Behaviour is cognitive based
• Medical analogy
• but behaviour is more complex

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See you next week...