16 Forensic Psychology

Question 1

Define offender profiling.

Answer 1

Offender profiling is a tool employed by the police to narrow down a list of suspects. It is based on the idea that characteristics of the offender can be deduced from details of the offence and crime scene.

Question 2

Briefly outline top-down approach to offender profiling.

Answer 2

• Templates of organised offender and disorganised offender are pre-existing in the profiler’s mind
• Evidence from the crime scene and other details of the crime, victim and context are used to place the offender into one of two pre-existing categories

Question 3

Describe features of an organised offender.

Answer 3

• Show evidence of planning the crime in advance
• Usually has a preference for a certain type of victim
• High level of control and operate with almost detached surgical precision
• Leaves little evidence behind at crime scene
• Above average intelligence
• Socially and sexually competent
• High-level, skilled profession
• Often married with children

Question 4

Outline features of a disorganised offender.

Answer 4

• Little evidence of planning suggesting it was spontaneous
• Crime scene reflects impulsive nature of the offence
• Body may be left at the scene
• Little control on the offender’s part
• Lower than average intelligence
• Low-skilled profession or unemployed
• History of sexual dysfunction and failed relationships
• May live alone close to the crime scene

Question 5

Evaluate top-down approach with four weaknesses.

Answer 5

DIS 1: Only applies to certain crimes

• Can only be applied to certain crimes such as arson, cult killings, rape etc.
• Or murders involving macabre practices like torture or dissection
• Common offences like burglaries do not lend themselves to top down
• Crime scene reveals little about the offenders

DIS 2: Small sample

• This organised and disorganised distinction was developed based on interviews with 36 serial killers in the USA
• The sample is too small and unrepresentative to based a whole topology system of criminal types on

DIS 3: Invalid self-report data

• Top-down profiling was based on interviews with 36 sexually motivated serial killers including Ted Bundy and Charles Manson
• It is not valid to rely on self-report data from convicted serial killers and create a classification system from it

DIS 4: 4 types of serial killers

• Overly simplistic to categorise offenders into only two categories
• Holmes (1989) suggests four types of serial killers:
• Mission = killing to eradicate a certain group of people
• Visionary = killing because God or the Devil told them to
• Hedonistic = killing for the thrill
• Power = killing to exert control over their victims

Question 6

Briefly describe bottom-up approach to offender profiling.

Answer 6

• Aim is to generate a picture of the offender including their likely characteristics, routine behaviour and social background
• Through systematic analysis of evidence left at the crime scene
• Profile is data driven and emerges as the profiler engages in rigorous scrutiny of details of the offence.

Question 7

What is investigative psychology?

Answer 7

Aims to establish behaviours likely to occur at certain crime scenes to create a statistical database acting as a baseline for comparison

Question 8

Describe interpersonal coherence as a central concept of investigative psychology.

Answer 8

• Interpersonal coherence is that the way an offender behaves at a crime scene such as interaction with victims reflects the way they act in everyday life.
• e.g. A rapist may want to control and humiliate their victims or be apologetic.
• This could tell the police how the offender relates to women

Question 9

Describe forensic awareness as a central concept of investigative psychology.

Answer 9

• Forensic awareness describes individuals who have made an attempt to cover their tracks
• Their behaviour may indicate that they have been the subject of police interrogation in the past
• So they may already have their DNA or fingerprints on file to match against evidence at the crime scene

Question 10

Outline geographical profiling.

Answer 10

• Geographical profiling is the study of spatial behaviour in relation to a crime and offenders
• Focuses on location of crime as a clue as to where the offender may live, work or socialise
• Relevant data includes: crime scene, local crime stats, local transport ad geographical spread of similar crimes
• Offender’s base is typically in the middle of the spatial pattern of the crimes
• Marauders operate close to their home
• Commuters travel a distance from their home and operate there

Question 11

Evaluate bottom-up approach to offender profling.

Answer 11

ADV 1: More scientific

• More grounded in evidence and psychological theory
• Less driven by speculation and hunches

ADV 2: Range of offences

• Not limited to certain crimes like top-down approach
• Can be applied to burglary and theft as well as murder and rape

DIS 1: Failure in use

• In 1992 a 21 year old women was stabbed several times and sexually assaulted
• In 2008, a man was finally convicted
• He was ruled out early on in the initial investigation because he was several inches taller than the profile claimed the offender to be

DIS 2: Copson (1995)

• Survey of 48 police forces
• Advice provided by profiler was only useful in 83% of cases but only 3% lead to accurate identification of the offender

DIS 3: Chemistry students

• Chemistry students provided a more accurate offender profile than experienced seior detectives
• Bottom up approach is a little more than common sense and guesswork.

Question 12

Describe atavistic form as an explanation for forensic psychology.

Answer 12

Criminals are genetic throwbacks - a primitive sub-species who were biologically different to non-criminals. They can be identified by a set of particular physiological characteristics to certain crimes.
- Narrow, sloping brow
- Strong, prominent jawline
- High cheekbones
- Facial asymmetry
- Dark skin, extra toes, nipples, fingers
- Murderers = bloodshot eyes, curly hair, long ears
- Sexual deviants = glinting eyes, swollen/fleshy lips, projecting ears
- Fraudsters = thin, reedy lips

Question 13

Evaluate atavistic form as an explanation for criminal behaviour.

Answer 13

ADV 1: Forerunner for bio exp.

• Important role in shifting away from theories based on feeble-mindedness, wickedness and demonic possession
• Forerunner to more biological explanations (evolutionary influences and genetics)

DIS 1: Distinct racist undertones

• Many atavistic features are likely to be found in people of African descent
• His claim that atavistic characteristics were uncivilised, savage and primitive support eugenics philosophy

DIS 2: Goring (1913)

• Lombroso did not compare to non-criminal control group
• Study to establish if there were any physical or mental abnormalities among criminals
• Comparison of 3000 criminals and 3000 non-criminals
• No evidence that offenders have particular facial and cranial characteristics
• However, offenders did have lower intelligence

DIS 3: Other factors for atavistic

• Facial and cranial features can be influenced by poverty or poor diet
• These can lead people to crime

Question 14

Outline genetic explanations for offending.

Answer 14

• Criminal behaviour could be polygenic - no one single gene responsible
• Genetic analysis of 900 Finish offenders revealed two candidate genes for criminal behaviour
• MAOA gene controls dopamine and serotonin and is linked to aggressive behaviour
• CDH13 gene is linked to substance abuse and ADD
• High-risk combination of genes means you are 13 times more likely to have a history of violent behaviour compared to a control group
• Diathesis-stress model suggests that tendency towards criminal behaviour is a combination of genetic predesposition and biological/psychological triggers like being raised in a dysfunctional environment

Question 15

Describe neural explanations for offending.

Answer 15

• APD is a condition that characterises many convicted criminals
• APD is associated with reduced emotional responses and lack of empathy
• Raine et al (2000) found 11% reduction in volume of grey matter in prefrontal cortex of people with APD
• Pre-frontal cortex regulates emotional behaviour
• Criminals with APD experience emapthy but only sporadically
• Only when asked to empathise with a person experiencing pain on a film did the criminals’ empathy reaction activate

Question 16

Evaluate genetic and neural explanations of offending.

Answer 16

DIS 1: Raine et al (2000)

• Brain scanning studies show pathology in brains of criminal psychopaths
• Cannot conclude whether abnormalities are genetic or signs of early abuse

DIS 2: Too vague

• There are a huge variety and range of crimes
• Specific offences may be more biological than others e.g. physical aggression

DIS 3: Biological reductionism

• Criminality is complex and these theories reduce offending behaviour to a gene or neurotransmitters being overly simplistic
• Crime may run in families but so does emotional instability, mental illness, social deprivation and poverty

DIS 4: Biological determinism

• Theories suggest we have no control over our criminal behaviour
• Dilemma for legal system
• If someone has a criminal gene they shouldn’t have personal and moral responsibility for their crime otherwise it would be unethical as they don’t have free will

Question 17

Describe Eysenck’s Criminal Personality as an explanation for offending.

Answer 17

• Eysenck proposed that behaviour can be represented by two scales of introversion/extraversion and neuroticism/stability
• The criminal personality type is neurotic-extravert
• Extraverts have an underactive nervous system so they are constantly seeking out excitement and stimulation and may engage in risk-taking behaviour
• Neurotic people tend to be nervous, jumpy and over-anxious
• Overall instability means behaviour is difficult to predict
• High extraversion and neuroticism makes them difficult to condition as children hence more likely to act antisocially in certain situations

Question 18

Evaluate Eysenck’s Theory for offending.

Answer 18

DIS 1: Farrington et al. (1982)

• Reviewed several studies
• Reported than offenders have a higher score on psychoticism but not extraversion and neuroticism than non-offenders

DIS 2: Cultural differences

• Studied Hispanic and African-American offenders in a maximum security prison
  -Divided them into groups based on criminal history and nature of crime
• All six groups were less extraverted than control groups
• Theory isn’t representative of all cultures

DIS 3: Oversimplistic

• Criminality is too varied and complex to be due to a single personality type e.g. murder and fraud
• Digman (1990) added 3 more dimensions of openness, agreaableness and conscientiousness
• With this model, many combinations can be formed for different types of criminals

DIS 4: No stable personality

• Eysenck suggests that personality type is innate and biological and can be measured through tests
• Personality is NOT reducible in this way
• There is no stable personality and it changes on a daily basis depending on the company and the situation

Question 19

Define moral reasoning.

Answer 19

Moral reasoning refers to the process by which an individual draws upon their own value system to determine whether an action is right or wrong.

Question 20

Outline moral reasoning as a cognitive explanation of criminal behaviour.

Answer 20

There are three stages of moral development:
1. Pre-conventional: individual shows concern for self-interest and external rewards and punishments
2. Conventional: individual does what is expected of them
3. Post-conventional: individual develops more autonomous decision making skills based on principles of right and justice

Offenders are more likely to be classified at the pre-conventional level.

• This is immature reasoning lasting from ages 3-7
• Teens and adults at this level of moral reasoning are more likely to commit crime

Question 21

Give one strength and one weakness of the moral reasoning cognitive explanation.

Answer 21

ADV 1: Research evidence

• Compared moral reasoning of 200 female and 100 male non-offenders and 126 convicted offenders
• Using 11 moral dilemmas
• Offenders showed less mature moral reasoning than non-offenders

DIS 1: Depends on type of crime

• Individuals who commit for financial gain e.g. robbery etc. are more likely to show pre-conventional reasoning
• People convicted of impulsive crimes e.g. assault etc. show no evident reasoning at all

Question 22

Define cognitive distortions.

Answer 22

Cognitive distortions are faulty and irrational ways of thinking which make people perceive themselves, the world and others inaccurately (often negatively)

Question 23

Outline hostile attribution bias.

Answer 23

• Tendency to judge ambiguous situations as threatening or aggressive when in reality they are not
• Offenders may misread non-aggressive cues and trigger a disproportionate, often violent response
• Leads to offender blaming the victim for ‘starting it’

Question 24

Explain minimalisation as a type of cognitive distortion.

Answer 24

• Where a criminal believes that their crime was trivial and downplays impact of the crime on their victims
• To avoid feeling guilt
• e.g. using euphemisms such as ‘doing a job’ for a robbery
• Sex offenders are prone to minimalisation

Question 25

Evaluate cognitive distortions as a cognitive explanation for offending.

Answer 25

ADV 1: Practical explanations

• Understanding of cognitive distortions has proven beneficial in treatment of criminal behaviour
• Dominant approach in rehab is CBT
• Encourages them to ‘face up’ and avoid minimising the crime or blaming the victim due to hostile attribution bias
• Reduced incidence of cognitive distortions in therapy is highly correlated with reduced risk of offending

DIS 1: Source of distortions

• It explains thinking bu tit cannot account for source of thoughts
• Nature or nuture?
• Theory provides little predictive value for criminal behaviour

DIS 2: Unscientific*

• Cognitive distortions cannot be observed or measured
• Therefore not scientific as it lacks empirical evidence

Question 26

Describe differential association theory of offending.

Answer 26

• Proposes that offending depends on the norms and values of the offender’s social group
• Offending is more likely to occur where the social group values deviant behaviour
• It is possible to mathematically predict how likely it is that someone will commit a crime if we have knowledge of the frequency, intensity and duration of which they have been exposed to criminal and non-criminal norms and values
• If pro-crime attitudes outweigh anti-crime attitudes they come into contact with they will be criminal
• Learning process occurs through: imitation, vicarious reinforcement, direct reinforcement or direct tuition.

Question 27

Evaluate differential association theory.

Answer 27

ADV 1: Representative

• Accounts for crime in all sectors of society
• Sutherland (1924) recognised that burglary is cluster in working-class communities
• Some crimes are more prevalent among affluent groups
• White-collar crime is a feature of middle-class social groups

ADV 2: Move away from biological

• Moves emphasis away from early biological explanations of crime e.g. Lombroso
• Or explanations that saw offending as a result of individual weakness or immorality (cognitive)
• Draws attention to role of dysfunctional social circumstances and environments in criminality
• Also offers more desirable and realistic solution to offending than biological (eugenics) or morality (punishment)

DIS 1: Unscientific

• Difficult to test scientifically as most evidence to support it is correlational
• We cannot measure all pro-crime and anti-crime attitudes that one is exposed to
• Theory is built on assumption of pro-crime outweighing anti-crime
• However without being able to measure these, we cannot say for sure what is the tipping point for the urge to offend

DIS 2: Deterministic

• Not everyone exposed to criminal influences goes on to commit crime
• Theory could stereotype individuals who come form impoverished, crime-ridden backgrounds as ‘unavoidably criminal’
• Ignores free will
• e.g. offenders may seek out people with criminal values rather than be passively influenced by them

Question 28

Describe the psychodynamic explanation for offending.

Answer 28

Inadequate Superego

• If our superego is deficient or inadequate, criminal behaviour is inevitable as the id is not properly controlled
• Superego is the last aspect of the tripartite personality to form at the end of the phallic stage
• Major conflict of the stage (3-6 years) is the Oedipus complex
• Male child unconsciously wishes to possess their mother and get rid of the father
• As a result of this desire boys experience castration anxiety from their father
• To resolve this anxiety they will identify with their father and internalise his superego creating his own
• Girls go through Electra complex but do not experience castration anxiety so they don’t internalise their mother’s superego to the same extent

Question 29

Outline three types of inadequate superegos proposed by Blackburn (1993).

Answer 29

1. Weak superego:

• Same-sex parent is absent during the phallic stage
• Child cannot internalise fully-formed superego as there is no opportunity for identification
• Makes offending more likely

2. Deviant superego:

• Child internalises superego with immoral or deviant values
• Leads to offending behaviour

3. Over-harsh superego

• Healthy superego has rules but is also forgiving of transgressions
• Excessively punitive superego means they are crippled by guilt and anxiety
• Unconsciously drives individual to perform criminal acts to satisfy superego’s need for punishment

Question 30

Evaluate psychodynamic explanation for offending.

Answer 30

DIS 1: Hoffman (1975)

• Assumption of this approach is that girls develop a weaker superego than boys
• Suggests that females are more prone to crime
• Not supported by crime stats
• Hoffman (1975) tested children’s ability to resist temptation
• Hardly any gender diff but girls were slightly more moral than boys

DIS 2: Same-sex parent

• Little evidence to suggest that children raised without the same-sex parent are less law-abiding as adults

DIS 3: Other explanations

• If children raised by deviant parent commit crime
• It could be due to genetics or learning through direct tuition rather than deviant superego

DIS 4: Implausible

• Idea that some criminals have an unconscious desire for punishment is unrealistic
• Most offenders go to great lengths to conceal their crime and avoid punishment

Question 31

Define custodial sentencing.

Answer 31

Custodial sentencing involves a convicted offender spending time in a prison or another closed institution e.g. young offenders or psychiatric hospital

Question 32

What are the four aims of custodial sentencing?

Answer 32

1. Deterrence

• Unpleasant experience deters people from offending
• General deterrence sends a broad message to members of society that crime is not tolerated
• Individual deterrence prevents individual from reoffending

2. Incapacitation

• Offender taken out of society to prevent them from reoffending to protect the public
• Need depends of severity of offence and nature of offender

3. Retribution

• Society enacting revenge for the crime by making the offender suffer
• Level of suffering is proportionate to crime

4. Rehabilitation

• Upon release, prisoners should be better adjusted and ready to take place in society
• They are provided opportunities to develop skills, receive training or access to treatment programs and counselling to reflect on crime

Question 33

Describe the four psychological effects of custodial sentencing.

Answer 33

1. Psychological disorders

• Prisons have higher incidents of mental illness e.g. depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide
• Prison Reform Trust (2014) found 25% of women and 15% of men reported symptoms of psychosis
• Demonstrated by Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment

2. Institutionalisation

• Spending time in a prison leads to lack of autonomy
• Leads to conformity to role of prisoner
• As well as dependency on prison culture

3. Brutalisation

• Prison acts as a school of crime
• Reinforces criminal lifestyle and norms
• Leads to high levels of recidivism
• 70% of young offenders reoffend within 2 years

4. Labelling

• They often lose touch with previous social contact
• Difficult to gain employment as they are labelled as a convicted criminal
• Contributes to increased likelihood of recidivism

Question 34

Evaluate custodial sentencing as a way to deal with offending behaviour.

Answer 34

ADV 1: Useful

• Shows that justice is done and limits danger to the public
• They receive education and training in prison increasing chance of finding employment after release
• Treatment programmes help modify their behaviour to avoid reoffending

DIS 1: Suicide rates

• Suicide rates are 15% higher in the prison population
• Difficult to demonstrate that psychological disorders are caused by imprisonment
• Prisoners may have psychiatric conditions before they were institutionalised

DIS 2: Should be more selective

• 8-10% of criminals commit 50% of crimes
• Custodial sentencing is best reserved for repeat offenders

DIS 3: Crime prevention is better

• Avoids labelling a persona as a criminal and avoids negative consequences of prison
• Alternative sentences like community service are more effective for low-risk offenders
• They can keep social contacts and their job

Question 35

Define behavioural modification as a way to deal with offending behaviour.

Answer 35

Behavioural modification is a behavioural therapy based on principles of operant conditioning. It involved the systematic use of positive and negative reinforcement for desired behaviours.

Question 36

Outline token economies as a way to deal with offending behaviour.

Answer 36

• Form of behaviour modification
• Desirable behaviour is reinforced with a token (secondary reinforcer) to be exchanged with a privilege
• Desirable behaviours: avoiding conflict, following rules, keeping cell orderly etc.
• Rewards: phone call to loved one, gym time, extra food, computer access
• Desirable behaviour is identified and broken down into increments

Question 37

Evaluate behaviour modification as a way to deal with offending behaviour.

Answer 37

ADV 1: Easy to implement

• Easy to administer
• Doesn’t require expert professionals or specialised equipment
• Cost-effective and easy to follow once method of reinforcement is established

DIS 1: Lacks ecological validity

• Only used in controlled environment
• Positive behavioural change that occurs while they are incarcerated quickly disappears once released
• Law-abiding behaviour isn’t always reinforced outside
• Rewards that result from breaking the law may be powerful
• Also, offenders may just play along to receive rewards and not really internalise the behavioural change

DIS 2: Requires consistency

• Lack of training or high staff turnover makes consistency an issue
• Lead to extinction of behaviour

DIS 3: Only surface behaviour

• Other treatments go deeper and requires them to reflect on the cause of the offending
• Forces them to take responsibility for rehabilitation
• Only deals with surface behaviour so recidivism is more likely

Question 38

Define anger management as a way to deal with offending behaviour.

Answer 38

Anger management is a form of CBT where the individual is taught to recognise when they are losing control and develop techniques to bring about conflict-resolution without resorting to violence.

Question 39

Outline the three phases of anger management as a way to deal with offending behaviour.

Answer 39

1. Cognitive preparation

• Offender learns to identify the triggers for anger
• Reflect on events in past where they became angry
• Therapist helps offender redefine situation as non-threatening

2. Skill Acquisition

• Introduced to range of techniques and skills to handle anger-provoking situations more rationally
• e.g. positive self-talk (cognitive), assertiveness training to communicate more effectively (behavioural) or methods of relaxation and meditation (physiological)

3. Application Practice

• Practising skills they learnt in skill acquisition stage in a carefully monitored environment
• Role-plays to reenact past scenarios
• Successful negotiation of role play is met with positive reinforcement from the therapist

Question 40

Evaluate anger-management as a way to deal with offending behaviour.

Answer 40

ADV 1: Multi-disciplinary approach

• Considers cognitive, behavioural and social elements
• Acknowledges that offending is a complex social and psychological behaviour
• Holistic approach is useful for complex behaviours

ADV 2: Root of issue

• Unlike behaviour modification, it gets to the root cause of the offending behaviour
• Such as the thought processes that led to anger/violence
• Rather than focusing on adopting superficial surface behaviour

DIS 1: Not all crimes

• Anger doesn’t always cause offending
• Many crimes such as financial crime aren’t motivated by anger
• e.g. Harold Shipman murdered over 215 patients during time as a GP
• His motivation was to alleviate their suffering

DIS 2: Expensive

• AM programmes are expensive to run as they require a highly-trained specialist who is used to dealing with violent offenders
• Many prisons don’t have the finance or resources to run such programmes

Question 41

Define restorative justice as a way to deal with offending behaviour.

Answer 41

Restorative justice is a process of managed collaboration between the offender and victim based on principles of healing and empowerment.

Question 42

Describe restorative justice in detail as a way to deal with offending behaviour.

Answer 42

• Trained mediator facilitates and meeting between offender and victim
• Victim has opportunity to confront offender and explain how the crime affected them
• Offender is confronted with consequences of their actions including the emotional distress caused
• Focus on acceptance of responsibility and positive change for offenders
• Active involvement of all parties
• Focus on positive outcomes for both parties
• Sometimes offenders make financial restitution for physical and emotional damage caused
• More effective as alternative to custodial sentencing is offender is young or as an incentive to reduce CS

Question 43

Evaluate restorative justice as a way to deal with offending behaviour.

Answer 43

ADV 1: Economical benefits

• Shapland et al (2007) conducted a government funded research project
• Found that every £1 spent on restorative justice would save justice system £8 by reducing recidivism
• However, it is expensive as it requires specialist and highly trained professionals
• Finding funding is challenging

DIS 1: Domestic abuse cases

• The offender can exploit this opportunity to convince the victim to take them back
• Abusers have a low of power over their victims
• So a meeting between them can be dangerous

DIS 2: High dropout rates

• Success of RJ requires offender to show remorse
• Some may sign up just to avoid prison or to reduce their sentence rather than genuine willingness to change
• Thus high drop out rates as they weren’t committed to the process in the first place

DIS 3: Unsupported by politicians

• Unpopular option with the general public
• Regarded as a ‘soft option’
• Politicians are unwilling to support it as they want to please the electorate by seeming ‘tough on crime’