Forensic Psyc Criminal Offenders

Question 1

Sentencing:

Answer 1

the imposition of a penalty
upon a person convicted of a crime.
• Our beliefs about the causes of crime
influence our sentencing rationale

Question 2

History of Crime and Sentencing

Answer 2

The mentality of centuries ago held that
crime was due to sin, and the suffering was
the culprit’s due.
• Judges were therefore expected to be harsh
and they would often sentence criminals to
capital punishment, torture, and other
painful physical penalties

Question 3

Late 18th-early 19th centuries:

Answer 3

Enlightenment philosophers put an emphasis
on deterrence through rational punishment.
Severity of punishment became less
important than quick, certain penalties

Question 4

Early 20th century:

Answer 4

Focus on rehabilitation,
based largely on Positivist philosophies
Recent thinking has emphasized the need to
limit offenders’ potential for future harm by
separating them from society

Question 5

Modern sentencing practices are

influenced by five goals:

Answer 5

1. Retribution
2. Incapacitation
3. Deterrence
4. Rehabilitation
5. Restoration

Question 6

1. Retribution

Answer 6

• The act of taking revenge upon the
criminal perpetrator.
• Predicated upon a felt need for
vengeance
• Goal: Satisfaction

Question 7

Retribution: Then

Answer 7

• In early societies death and exile were
commonly imposed for relatively minor
offences
• “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”,
often cited as justification for retribution
was actually intended to reduce the
severity of punishment for minor
crimes.

Question 8

Retribution: Now

Answer 8

• “Just desserts” model of retribution:
Criminals deserve the punishments they
receive at the hands of the law, and
that punishment should be appropriate
to the type and severity of the crime

Question 9

2. Incapacitation

Answer 9

• The use of imprisonment or other
means to reduce the likelihood that an
offender will be capable of committing
future offences.
• This rationale seeks to protect innocent
members of society from offenders who
might do them harm if they were not
prevented in some way.
• Goal: Protect innocent

Question 10

Incapacitation: Then

Answer 10

In ancient times mutilation and
amputation of the extremities to
prevent offenders from repeating
crimes

Question 11

Incapacitation: Now

Answer 11

• Lock ‘em up approach
• Goal: restraint, not punishment
• Electronic confinement
• Biomedical intervention (e.g., chemical
castration)

Question 12

Deterrence

Answer 12

• A goal of criminal sentencing which seeks
to prevent people from committing crimes
similar to the one for which an offender is
being sentenced.
• Goal: Crime prevention

Question 13

Specific deterrence

Answer 13

seeks to prevent a
particular offender from recidivism (repeat
offences).

Question 14

• General deterrence

Answer 14

seeks to prevent
others from committing crimes similar to
the one for which a particular offender is
being sentenced by making an example of
the person sentenced.

Question 15

Rehabilitation

Answer 15

The attempt to reform a criminal
offender. Rehabilitation seeks to bring
about fundamental changes in offenders
and their behaviour.
• Goal: reduce future crime

Question 16

Rehabilitation: History

Answer 16

• 1930s: Therapists such a Freud entered
popular culture. Psychology introduced
the possibility of a structured approach
to rehabilitation through therapeutic
intervention
• 1970s: ‘Nothing works’ philosophy.
Studies on recidivism showed that
rehabilitation didn’t work

Question 17

Rehabilitation: Now

Answer 17

• More recent studies are more
methodologically sound and also slightly
more optimistic
• Focus now is on “What works?”
• Evidence has begun to suggest that
effective treatment does exist
• However effect sizes are not massive

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
 One of the most successful and widely
employed forms of psychotherapy. Used to
treat a variety of disorders
 Often used with groups rather than
individuals

Question 18

Rehabilitation: Now

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Answer 18

Our thoughts, feelings and behaviour all
interact. Our thoughts influence our
feelings and behaviour – so if we can
change our thinking we can change
problematic behaviour patterns
 Results in cycles of thoughts, feelings and
behaviours which are self perpetuating

Question 19

Rehabilitation: Now
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
 ABC technique:

Answer 19

Activating events lead
to Beliefs which lead to Consequences
– the client works to understand this
relationship then reframes the situation
to re-interpret the situation in a more
realistic way.

Question 20

Restoration

Answer 20

• Attempts to make the victim “whole
again.”
• Sentencing options that seek to restore
the victim have focused primarily on
restitution payments that offenders are
ordered to make
• More on restoration later...

Question 21

Beyond Sentencing…

Continued detention orders

Answer 21

(allow
some offenders to be detained after the
end of their sentence if they are
regarded as a serious risk).

Question 22

Prediction

• Can predict different things:

Answer 22

 Risk of offending or risk of offending in
a particular way: Predicting likelihood of
occurrence
 Dangerousness: Predicting likely
consequences of offending – how “serious”
the offence.
• Can predict high risk, but low dangerousness
etc.

Question 23

Risk Assessments: Criminal Settings
• Risk assessments conducted at
major decision points:

Answer 23

 Pretrial
 Sentencing
 Release

Question 24

Types of Prediction Outcomes

Answer 24

We want to maximise True Positives
and True Negatives, but minimise
False Negatives and False Positives.
• Two types of errors are dependent on
each other
 Each outcome has different
consequences for offender or
society

Question 25

There are 3 types of risk and

dangerousness assessment

Answer 25

1. Unstructured clinical judgment
2. Statistical or Actuarial assessment
3. Structured professional judgment

Question 26

1. Unstructured Clinical Judgment

Answer 26

• Decisions characterised by
professional discretion and lack
of guidelines
• Subjective
• No specific risk factors
• No rules about how risk decisions
should be made

• Many studies show clinical assessments
of risk to be poor
• Clark (1999) reviewed studies and
concluded that clinical risk assessment
is weak at best, at worst totally
ineffective.
• Even experienced clinicians fail to
predict future violence in cases with
clear indicators, such as previous
recidivism

Question 27

2. Actuarial Prediction

Answer 27

• Decisions based on risk factors that
are selected and combined based on
empirical or statistical evidence
• Calculates risk by comparing
characteristics of the individual to
those of individuals for whom we
know behavior
• Evidence favours actuarial
assessments over unstructured
clinical judgment

Question 28

3. Structured Professional Judgment

Answer 28

• Provision of guidelines to help
structure clinical decision-making can
improve performance (Blackburn,2000)
• Decisions guided by predetermined
list of risk factors derived from
research literature
• Judgement of risk level is based on
professional judgement
• E.g., Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist
Revised

Question 29

Types of Predictors

• Risk Factor:

Answer 29

– measurable
feature of an individual that
predicts the behaviour of interest
(e.g., violence or
psychopathology)

Question 30

• Static Risk Factors

Answer 30

 Historical

 Factors that cannot be changed

Question 31

• Dynamic Risk Factors

Answer 31

 Fluctuate over time
 Factors that can be changed
 Acute vs. stable dynamic risk
factors

Question 32

Types of Predictors

Answer 32

• Many predictive factors are static.
This creates some problems – does it
mean we cannot change
dangerousness?
• Also, what about personality factors,
are they static or dynamic?

Question 33

Important Risk Factors

Answer 33

1. Dispositional
2. Historical
3. Clinical
4. Contextual

Question 34

1. Dispositional Risk Factors

Answer 34

• Demographics
 Age
 Gender
• Personality characteristics
 Impulsivity
 Psychopathy

Question 35

2. Historical Risk Factors

Answer 35

• Past antisocial behaviour
• Age of onset of antisocial
behaviour
• Childhood history of
maltreatment
• Past supervision failure, escape,
or institution maladjustment

Question 36

3. Clinical Risk Factors

Answer 36

• Substance use
• Mental disorder
 Diagnosis of schizophrenia or
affective disorders
 “Threat/control override”
symptoms: psychotic symptoms
overriding a person’s self-control or
threatening a person's safety

Question 37

4. Contextual Risk Factors

Answer 37

• Lack of social support to help
individual in his or her day-to-day life
• Easy access to weapons
• Easy access to victims

Question 38

What about protective factors?

• Protective factors

Answer 38

 Factors that reduce or mitigate
the likelihood of violence
Can help explain why some
individuals with many risk
factors do not become violent.

Question 39

Protective factors

• Research done on children/youths:

Answer 39

– Prosocial involvement
– Strong social support
– Positive social orientation (school, work)
– Strong attachment (except with antisocial
other)
– Intelligence

Question 40

Protective factors In adults:

Answer 40

– Employment stability (for high-risk)
– Strong family connections (for low-risk
males)