First Exam Flashcards
Biological
Focus on the physical body, such as inherited genes, evolutionary factors, brain structures, and hormones in influencing behaviour.
Sociological
Regard crime as a social phenomenon, and emphasises the cultural and social elements of criminal behaviour.
Sheldon’s (1949) constitutional theory:
Crime is a product of an individual’s body build (somatotype) which is linked to temperament.
Endomorphs > Obese > Jolly
Ectomorphs > Thin > Introverted
Mesomorphs > Muscular > Bold (Aggressive, more likely to commit crime)
Psychological
Focus on individual personality, social factors, cognition and developmental factors.
Developmental Life Course
Regards individual factors such as personality, and social factors such as family and community wellbeing.
Sheldon’s (1949) constitutional theory:
Crime is a product of an individual’s body build (somatotype) which is linked to temperament.
Endomorphs > Obese > Jolly
Ectomorphs > Thin > Introverted
Mesomorphs > Muscular > Bold (Aggressive, more likely to commit crime)
Endomorphs
Endomorphs > Obese > Jolly
Ectomorphs
Ectomorphs > Thin > Introverted
Mesomorphs
Mesomorphs > Muscular > Bold (Aggressive, more likely to commit crime)
Biological Theories: Chromosomal Theory
Biological Theories
• Chromosomal theory (1965):
Normal female has 2 x X Chromosomes
Normal male has 1 x X and 1 x Y Chromosomes
‘Aggressive’ males have 2 x Y Chromosomes
•
Biological Theories: Dyscontrol Theory
Dyscontrol Theory (1970): Lesions in temporal lobe and limbic systems lead to physical violence, impulsive behaviour.
Sociological Theories: Strain Theory 1938
Sociological Theories
Strain Theory (1938):
Disadvantaged people without access to goals
($, status, power, etc) will resort to crime to gain it.
Sociological Theories: Labelling Theory 1963
Labelling Theory (1963): Need or gratification of being labelled a criminal. Society ‘looking down’ on ‘criminals’ fuels more deviant acts
Psychological Theories: Biosocial Theory of crime 1964
Psychological Theories
Biosocial Theory of Crime (1964):
Eysenck; Some personality types – namely Extraverts and Neurotics do not learn from mistakes and consequences and will develop antisocial tendencies.
Sociological Theories: Differential Association Theory 1939
Differential Association Theory (1939):
Learned behaviours; social interactions influence a propensity for leaning toward criminal or non-criminal behaviour.
Psychological Theories: Social Learning Theory 1973
Social Learning Theory (1973):
Learned, when role models display antisocial behaviours, justified, when there is more perceived reward from ‘bad’ behaviours than punishment.
Psychological Theories: General Theory of Crime (1990)
General Theory of Crime (1990):
Low self control + criminal opportunity = persons more likely to commit crime
Developmental Life Course Theories:
Developmental Life course Theories
Moffitt proposed that there are two main types of antisocial offenders in society:
Adolescence-limited offenders:
They demonstrate criminal or antisocial behaviour only during adolescence. Arrests numbers spike in adolescence, but subsequently declines.
Life Course Persistent Offenders:
Begin antisocial behaviour in childhood and continue into adulthood. Early ‘bad’ behaviours, biting and hitting at early ages, followed by moderate/serious crimes in adolescence and adulthood (from shoplifting to sexual assault and beyond).
Clinical Forensic Psychologists
Clinical Forensic Psychologists
• Concerned with measuring/treating mental health issues
as they pertain to law and legal issues
• May have a masters, a PhD, or be a 4+2
• May specialise to just assessment, or just treatment, but
most do both
• These professionals have ‘clients’ that they assess/treat,
often related to gauging or lowering risks
• Clinical FPs also: mediate in divorces/custody; provide
expert testimony; personnel selection; critical incident
debriefing; facilitate treatment programs
Experimental Forensic Psychologists
Experimental Forensic Psychologists
• Concerned with researching mental health issues as
they pertain to law
• More often PhD trained
• Often include much more than mental health – sociology,
criminology, medicine overlaps
• The clients for researchers are the courts themselves, or
their employers
• Experimental FPs often conduct research into: program
evaluation; jury selection; eye-witness/line-up issues;
tool evaluation; personnel
Phases of FP involvement
• FPs (both clinical and experimental) can help in
any phase of the CJ process
• In this unit, we will break down the various roles/
areas of FP based on three phases:
– Investigation phase
– Court phase
Investigation Phase
Investigation Phase
• Usually dealing with an unknown offender for a known
crime
• FPs can offer many different types of assistance in ongoing
cases
– Profiling (case linkage, motives, staging, personality profiles,
threat assessment, etc)
– Information from witnesses/victims (how IDs should be made,
veracity of testimony, issues of memory, deception, etc)
– Suspects (false confessions, deception detection, interrogation,
etc)
– Staff (tunnel vision, confirmation bias, interrogation/interview,
etc)
Court Phase
Court Phase
• Usually dealing with a known suspect for a known crime
• FPs can offer different types of assistance, usually
involving expert testimony
• Clinical (competence, insanity, intent, mitigation)
• Experimental (witness IDs, false confessions,
investigative issues, etc)
• Court appointed (family law mediation/assessments)
• Consultant to advocates (jury selection, jury perceptions,
courtroom fashion, etc)
Dealing with Crime (Reaction) Phase
Dealing with Crime (Reaction) Phase
• Usually dealing with a known offender for a
known crime, or future unknown crimes
• FPs can offer different kinds of assistance in
different contexts
– Offenders in custody (risk assessment, treatment
[rehab, programs], management, etc)
– Offenders in community (risk assessment, treatment,
management, etc)
– Crime prevention for various stakeholders (local
governments, insurance companies)
– Victim services (clinical and experimental)
John Hinckley Junior
Began thinking about suicide,
played Russian roulette on
several occasions
• In 1980 he acquired more
weapons, began taking antidepressants
and tranquilizers
• He saw an article about Jodie
Foster attending Yale
University, enrolled
He began sending her letters and poems
• He spoke to her twice on the phone and
said he “isn’t a dangerous person”
• He came to believe that assassinating the
president of the USA would allow him to
be respected and loved (like the movie)
• Started stalking President Carter – was
arrested at the airport for carrying
handguns, fined
• His psychiatrist recommended he be cut
off financially
Unable to get a job, his obsession worsened
• He planned to commit suicide in front of
Foster to impress her
• He sent her a letter outlining he would
assassinate President Reagan
• At a convention where the President was
speaking, Hinckley stepped forward and fired
6 times striking Reagan in the chest and 3
others in the head, neck and stomach
• He was immediately arrested
At trial, Hinckley successfully invoked the insanity
defense
• Defence experts argued he was insane, Prosecution
experts disagreed
• Hinckley was sentenced to a forensic mental health
facility where he remains
• 1983 Penthouse interview “see a therapist, answer mail,
play guitar, listen to music, play pool, watch television,
eat lousy food and take delicious medication”
• His attorneys continue to fight for privileges
• Some were revoked in 2000
Experimental Example in Forensic Psychology
Experimental
– Effect of violent media on mentally unstable
– Mental illness and efficacy of firearm legislation
– Medication for treatment of mental illness
– Use of tools for ongoing risk assessment
Clinical example in Forensic Psychology
• Clinical
– Threat assessment of Foster’s stalker
– Assessment of responsibility (insanity) and competence,
mitigation, malingering
– Ongoing clinical assessment in hospital
– Assessment of motive, intent
Sheldon’s 1949 Constitutional Theory
Sheldon’s 1949 Constitutional Theory
- Crime is largely a product of an individual’s body build or somatype which is said to be linked to a person’s temperament
- Endomorphs (fat) are jolly
- Ectomorphs (thin) introverted
- Mesomorphs (Muscular) are bold
- Studies indicate that because mesomorphs are more likely to be involved in crime because of their aggressive nature
Jacobs et al Chromosomal Theory 1965
Jacobs, Brunton, Melville, Brittain and McCleamont’s chromosomal theory (1965)
- Jacobs and collegues proposed that chromosomal irregularity is linked to criminal behaviour
- Female has two x chromosomes and normal male has an x and a y
- Men with two y chromosomes proposed that more masculine and therefore more aggressive
- Because of this they had an increased chance that these men would commit violent crimes
Mark and Ervin’s 1970 Dyscontrol Theory
Mark and Ervin’s 1970 Dyscontrol theory
- Lesions in the temporal lobe and libic system result in electrical disorganisation within the brain which can lead to a dyscontrol syndrome
- Symptoms of this syndrome could include outbursts of sudden physical violence, impulsive sexual behaviour and serious traffic violations
What a clinical Psychologist Does :
What a clinical forensic psychologist does:
- Conducting divorce and child custody mediation
- Providing expert testimony on questions of a psychological nature
- Carrying out personnel selection (e.g. for law enforcement agencies)
- Conducting critical incident stress debriefings with police officers
- Facilitating treatment programs for offenders
Forensic Psychologist as a researcher:
Forensic psychologist as a researcher:
- Examining the effectiveness of risk-assessment strategies
- Determining what factors influence jury decision making
- Developing and testing better ways to conduct eyewitness line-ups
- Evaluating offender and victim treatment programs
- Examining the effect of stress management interventions on police officers
Police Interrogations:
Police interrogations:
- A process whereby the police interview a suspect for the purpose of gathering evidence and obtaining a confession
- In past, physically coercive tactics were often used to extract confessions from suspects
- Tactics been replaced with more subtle, psychologically based interrogation techniques, such as lying about evidence, promising lenient treatment and implying threats to loved ones
- Leading authorities in field of interrogation training openly state that because offenders are typically reluctant to confess, they must often be tricked into doing so
The Reid Model of Interrogation
The Reid Model of interrogation
- Police often receive specialized training in how to extract confessions from suspects
- Police in England and wales are more likely to use techniques that are far less coercive
- A nine step model of interrogation used frequently in North America to extract confessions from suspects
- Three part process:
- First stage to gather evidence related to the crime and to interview witnesses and victims
- Second Stage: Conduct a non-accusatorial interview of the suspect to assess any evidence of deception (determine if suspect is lying when they claim to be innocent)
- Third stage to conduct accusatorial interview of the suspect if they appear to be guilty
- Nine step process:
- 1) Immediately confronted with guilt. If police do not have any evidence against the suspect at this time, interrogator hide fact and if necessary imply evidence exists
- 2) Psychological themes developed to allow suspect to rationalise or excuse the crime. E.g. a murderer may be told that interrogators understand why he committed the crime and that the crime was justified
- 3) Interrogator interrupts any statements of denial by the suspect to ensure the suspect does not get the upper hand in the interrogation
- 4) The interrogator overcomes the subjects objections to charges
- 5) If the suspect becomes withdrawn, interrogator ensures he or she has suspects attention and that the suspect does not tune out of the interrogation.
- 6) Interrogator exhibits sympathy and understanding, and suspect is urged to come clean
- 7) Suspect is offered explanations for the crime, which makes self-incrimination easier to achieve. E.g. rather than the suspect being involved in an intentional homicide, which would carry a very severe penalty , may suggest crime was accidental
- 8) Once suspects accepts responsibility for crime, interrogator develops admission into a full confession for crime in question
- 9) Finally interrogator gets suspect to write and sign a full confession
Minimization Technique:
Minimization Technique: Soft sell tactics used by interrogators that are designed to lull the suspect into a false sense of security
Maximisation Technique: Scare tactics used by interrogators that are designed to intimidate a suspect believed to be guilty
Alternative to Reid Model: Peace Model
Alternative to Reid Model:
PEACE model:
-Planning and preparation, engage and explain, account, closure and evaluation
- Based on interview method known as conversation management, which encourages information gathering more than securing a confession
False Confessions
False Confessions: A confession that is either intentionally fabricated or is not based on actual knowledge of the facts that form its content
Retracted Confessions
Retracted Confessions: A confession that the confessor later declares as false
Disputed Confessions
Disputed Confessions: A confession that is later disputed at trial
Voluntary False Confession
Voluntary False Confession: A confession that is provided without any elicitation from the police
Coerced-compliant false confession
Coerced-compliant false confession: A confession that results from a desire to escape a coercive interrogation environment or gain a benefit promised by the police
Coerced-internalised false confession
Coerced-internalised false confession: A confession that results from suggestive interrogation techniques, whereby the confessor actually comes to believe he or she committed the crime
Compliance
Compliance: A tendency to go along with demands made by people perceived to be in authority, even though the person may not agree with them
