Social Psychology Cognitive Dissonance This Term Paper

With the appropriate controls of variables, the research showed that the recidivism rate of those offenders who got deterrent sentences like 30 months and above, recorded a 29% recidivism rate as compared to those who had relatively shorter terms who had 26% recidivism rates. Proposed herein is the consistency in the punishment handed and not the use of deterrent theory to hand down long sentences or even worse death sentences that gives the criminal no room to reform (Valerie Wright, 2010:8).

There are two basic perspectives that people have towards whatever happens to them in life; the internal and external loci. The people with internal locus of control always take responsibility for whatever happen and see it as a product of their actions, on the other hand, people with external locus of control always view things that happen around them as a result of other people's or external forces prompting (Michael W., 2006). In case of an accident, the person with internal locus will tend to blame their bad driving, lack of control, poor mastery of the road or inappropriate road signs treatment that contributed to the accident.A person with external locus of control will tend to blame the bad construction of the road, other road users, the weather or even a preordained conditionality for the accident.

References

Kevic C.K., (1983). A Critical Appraisal of Criminal Deterrence Theory. Michigan University. Michigan. Pp 1-3. Retrieved July 30, 2013 from http://digitalcommons.law.msu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1036&context=facpubs

Michael W., (2006). Locus of Control in Our Daily Lives How the Concept of Control Impacts the Social World. Retrieved July 30, 2013 from http://www.units.muohio.edu/psybersite/control/overview.shtml

Rudolph F.M., (2013). General Experimental Psychology Cognitive Dissonance Lab. http://www.ithaca.edu/faculty/stephens/cdback.html

Schank, R., & Abelson R., (1977) . Scripts, Plans, Goals and Understanding. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Retrieved July 30, 2013 from http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/rgoldsto/pdfs/schemaforlanguage.pdf

Valerie Wright, (2010). Deterrence in Criminal Justice. The Sentencing Project. Washington DC. Pp 8. Retrieved July 30, 2013 from http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/Deterrence%20Briefing%20.pdf.....