forensic psych Flashcards

(78 cards)

1
Q

Top-down

A

An approach to offender profiling based on interviews with 36 serious criminals that uses the intuition of the profiler to determine likely suspects

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2
Q

Bottom-up

A

An approach to offender profiling created by David Canter that emphasises the importance of data and statistics from previous similar cases to create a profile

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3
Q

Organised offender

A

Someone who is intelligent and sociable and leaves very little forensic evidence at the crime scene

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4
Q

Disorganised offender

A

Someone who lacks social skills and has a poor employment history and leaves lots of forensic evidence at their impulsive crime scene

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5
Q

Data assimilation

A

The stage of top-down profiling where the profiler reviews the forensic evidence

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6
Q

Crime scene classification

A

The stage of top-down profiling where the profiler decides whether the scene is organised or disorganised

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7
Q

Crime reconstruction

A

The stage of top-down profiling where the profiler makes a hypotheses about the sequence of events involved

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8
Q

Profile generation

A

The stage of top-down profiling where the profiler deduces the likely characteristics of the offender

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9
Q

Investigative Psychology

A

The branch of the bottom-up approach to offender profiling that uses data to identify likely psychological characteristics of offenders

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10
Q

Interpersonal coherence

A

The theory that offenders are similar in their everyday life as they are while they commit offences - violent crimes are committed by violent people

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11
Q

Forensic awareness

A

The finding that the extent to which offenders covered their tracks can tell us information about their previous convictions

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12
Q

Geographical profiling

A

The use of Circle Theory to determine an offenders likely home/base

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13
Q

Extraversion

A

Personality characteristic characterised by seeking out new experiences

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14
Q

Neuroticism

A

Personality characteristic characterised by emotional instability

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15
Q

Psychoticism

A

Personality characteristic characterised by lack of empathy and excessive aggression

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16
Q

Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI)

A

The questionnaire developed to determine a person’s ratings for extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism

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17
Q

Cognitive Distortions

A

Ways in which thoughts can be irrational or illogical

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18
Q

Hostile Attribution Bias

A

A cognitive distortion whereby the person assumes ambiguous behaviour from others is aggressive/negatively-motivated

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19
Q

Minimalisation

A

A cognitive distortion whereby an offender downplays the severity of their crimes

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20
Q

Levels of Moral Reasoning

A

Kohlberg’s theory that claims our morality develops and evolves as we mature

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21
Q

Preconventional morality

A

When a person’s morality is motivated only by whether or not they will be rewarded or punished for their behaviour

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22
Q

Conventional morality

A

When a person’s morality is motivated by maintaining a reputation as ‘good’

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23
Q

Postconventional morality

A

When a person’s morality is motivated by their own morals and principles rather than consequences

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24
Q

Inference

A

Making assumptions about a person’s thought processes based on behaviour and self-reporting

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25
Differential Association Theory
The social learning theory of forensic psychology. It claims we learn offending behaviour from our community and close relationships
26
Pro-crime attitudes
According to Differential Association Theory, children learn that offending is desirable - though they also learn specific moral codes around offending
27
Learning specific criminal acts
According to Differential Association Theory, children are taught how to actually carry out offences and which ones are the best
28
White collar crime
Offences that are financially-motivated and non-violent, such as fraud or embezzlement
29
Superego
The part of our personality that works on the morality principle
30
Weak superego
Due to an absent same-sex parent, a child develops this and becomes more selfish and pleasure-seeking
31
Deviant superego
Due to pro-crime parental figures, a child develops this and has a skewed morality principle
32
Over-harsh superego
Due to very strict parental figures, a child develops this and it could lead to actually enjoying guilt and shame
33
Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis
Bowlby's theory that claims an inconsistent mother figure will lead to emotional, social and intellectual issues in a child
34
Affectionless psychopathy
A condition caused by maternal deprivation, according to Bowlby, which is characterised by a lack of empathy or guilt
35
Phallic stage
The psychosexual phase where the child becomes aware of their gender and begins the Oedipus/Electra complex
36
Oedipus Complex
Where young boys compete with their fathers for the affection of their mothers
37
Electra Complex
Where young girls compete with their mothers for the affection of their fathers
38
MAOA-L
A gene variant that leads to a desensitisation to serotonin
39
Amygdala
A part of the limbic system that recognises threats and stressors to initiate the fight or flight response
40
Prefrontal cortex
Brain area responsible for controlling moral behaviour - found to have reduced functioning in offenders
41
Serotonin
An inhibitory neurotransmitter. Low levels of this (or insensitivity to it) can lead to offending behaviour
42
Atavistic form
Lombroso's theory that offenders are less evolved and this can be seen in their physical characteristics
43
Somatotypes
The theory that we can predict the type of offences a person will commit based on their body type
44
Neural correlates
Parts of the brain or neurotransmitters that are linked with a particular characteristic
45
Custodial sentencing
Where a court requires an offender to be held against their will in a prison or psychiatric hospital
46
Recidivism
Reoffending and being reconvicted
47
Retribution
Giving victims and their families a sense of justice by punishing an offender to make them atone for their crimes
48
Deterrence
Discouraging others from performing the same action, usually by punishing that behaviour
49
Deindividuation
A psychological effect of prison that removes the identity from prisoners
50
Token economy
The use of coupons and rewards in prisoners to encourage desirable behaviour
51
Positive reinforcement
A pleasant response that increases the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated
52
Punishment
An unpleasant response that decreases the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated
53
Negative reinforcement
An unpleasant response that increases the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated
54
Anger management
The process of trying to reduce feelings of hostility
55
Stress Inoculation Model
A type of CBT used for anger management, which helps the patient become more self-aware and more autonomous
56
Restorative justice
A way of dealing with offender behaviour where the offender meets the victim and tries to repair the damage they did
57
Rehabilitation
When an offender realises the error of their ways and changes to becoming law-abiding
58
Copson
82% of US police found top-down approach useful
59
Alison
Most police rated a bad profile as accurate
60
Copson
75% of UK police found bottom-up approach useful
61
Lombroso
Wrote ‘The Criminal Man’ and identified traits
62
Brunner
All males in one family were violent and had MAOA-L variant
63
Raine (twin study)
MZ twins had 52% conviction concordance, vs. 21% DZ
64
Raine (neural)
Low prefrontal cortex activity and amygdala asymmetry in offenders
65
Caspi
Boys needed both MAOA-L variant and mistreatment to become violent
66
Dunlop
Extraversion & psychoticism good predictors of delinquency
67
Van Dam
Very few offenders had all 3 personality traits
68
Dodge
Aggressive children showed hostile attribution bias
69
Kenedy & Grubin
Only 1/3 of sex offenders believed they had caused harm
70
Palmer & Hollins
Offenders scored lower on moral reasoning than non-offenders
71
Osborne & West
40% chance of conviction in sons of criminals, compared to 18% of non-criminals
72
Bowlby
12/14 juvenile thief affectionless psychopaths had suffered maternal deprivation
73
Zimbardo
Found that prisoner participants identified by their number
74
Hobbs & Holt
Boys who had token economy had 27% increase in social behaviours
75
Moyes
Recipients of token economy had similar recidivism rates
76
Taylor & Novaco
Found a 75% success rate in anger reduction
77
McGuire
Prisoners given anger management less likely to reoffend compared to those on parole
78
Sherman & Strang
Recidivism rates of 11% in restorative justice recipients compared to 37% in prisoners