Forensic Psychology Flashcards
(93 cards)
1
Q
What is offender profiling?
A
A tool employed by police to narrow down list of suspects. Based on the idea that the characteristics of the offender can be deduced from details of the offence and crime scene.
2
Q
Brief summary of Top-Down Approach
A
Templates of organised and disorganised offender pre-exist. Evidence from crime scene and other details used to fit the offender into either category.
3
Q
Organised offenders
A
Show evidence of having planned the crime in advance:
- Victim is deliberately targeted: shows victim preference
- High level of control and precision
- Little evidence left behind
- Tend to be above average intelligence, skilled, have a job, socially and sexually competent
- Usually married with kids
4
Q
Disorganised Offenders
A
Show little evidence of planning:
- Body usually left at scene
- Very little control
- Tends to have low intelligence, have unskilled work, history of sexual dysfunction/failed relationships
- Tend to live alone and close to crime scene
5
Q
Evaluation of Top-down profiling
A
- Only applies to certain crimes. Burglary not included.
- Template based on interviews with 36 serial killers - small sample size
- Based on interviews with 36 sexually motivated serial killers - may not be valid to rely on self-report data from convicted serial killers
- Too simplistic. Holmes suggests there are 4 types of serial killer: visionary (religious), mission (to eradicate a group of people), hedonistic (thrill) & power (for control).
- Evidence found for organised type when analysing 100 murders, but not for disorganised. Undermines entire classification system.
6
Q
Main belief of Behaviourist Approach
A
All human behaviour is learned
7
Q
What is behavioural modification?
A
Behavioural therapy based on principles of operant conditioning - systematic use of positive and negative reinforcement.
8
Q
How does token economy work?
A
Desirable behaviour is reinforced with a token, which can be exchanged for a reward. Tokens are secondary reinforcers and the rewards are primary reinforcers.
Non-compliance/disobedience will result in tokens being withheld (negative punishment.
9
Q
What are desirable behaviour broken down to in behaviour modification programmes?
A
Increments
10
Q
What is selective reinforcement?
A
A particular prisoner is rewarded for particular actions.
11
Q
+ Evaluation of token economy
A
+ Easy to administer by anyone, cost-effective and easy to follow
12
Q
- Evaluation of token economy
A
- Doesn’t work if staff are inconsistent
- Can only be used in controlled environment. Once prisoners leaves the behavioural change is lost. Law-aiding behaviour is not always reinforced on the outside or offenders are only ‘playing along’ for rewards and not really learning to change behaviour.
- Unethical. Withdrawal of privileges such as exercise/contact with loved ones can be physically and psychologically harmful.
- Only deals with surface behaviour. Other treatments require offenders to reflect on the cause of their offending and taken responsibility for their rehabilitation.
13
Q
What is hostile attribution bias?
A
In some people anger is too quick to surface, especially in situations that they perceive to be threatening but actually are not.
14
Q
Anger management is a form of what?
A
Cognitive behavioural therapy.
The individual is taught how to recognise when they are losing control and encouraged to develop techniques which bring about conflict-resolution without violence.
15
Q
Three phases of anger management
A
Cognitive Preparation
Skill Acquisition
Application Practice
16
Q
What is cognitive preparation?
A
Offender identifies triggers for their anger. They reflect on past events when they became angry. They consider if the way they interpreted that event was rational. Therapist helps them redefine the situation as non-threatening.
17
Q
What is skill acquisition?
A
Offender is introduced to techniques and skills to help them handle anger-provoking situations.
18
Q
Examples of techniques/skills used in skill acquisition
A
They could be cognitive (positive self-talk to encourage calmness), behavioural (assertiveness training to communicate more effectively), or physiological (methods of relaxation and meditation)
19
Q
What is application practice?
A
Offender is given the chance to practice the skills they learned in a carefully monitored environment. Role plays are often used. Successful negotiation of the role play will be met with positive reinforcement from the therapist.
20
Q
+ Evaluation of Anger Management
A
+ It’s a multidisciplinary approach which addresses the different elements involved
+ Tries to get to the root cause (the thought processes) rather than focusing on superficial surface behaviour
21
Q
- Evaluation of Anger Management
A
- Anger may not cause offending. Many crimes e.g. financial crime, is not motivated by anger. Neither are some murder crimes, e.g. Harold Shipman.
- Anger Management programmes are expensive as they require highly trained specialist. Many prisons do not have resources.
- Success is based on the commitment of the participants. This is a problem if prisoners are uncooperative or apathetic.
22
Q
What is restorative justice?
A
A process of managed collaboration between the offender and the victim based on the principles of healing and empowerment. The victim can confront the offender and explain how the crime affected them. The offender can understand the consequences of their actions. A trained mediator facilitates the meeting.
23
Q
What key features do all restorative justice programmes share?
A
- Focus on acceptance of responsibility and positive change for offenders (less emphasis on punishment)
- Not restricted to courtrooms, survivors and offenders meet face-to-face in a non-courtroom setting
- Active rather than passive involvement of all parties
- Focus on positive outcomes for survivors and offenders
24
Q
+ Evaluation of Restorative Justice
A
+ A psychologist conducted a research project and found that every £1 spent on restorative justice would save the criminal justice system £8.
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- Evaluation of Restorative Justice
- Expensive - need specialists
- Relies on the offender showing remorse. Some might sign up to avoid prison or reduce their sentence - explains the high drop out rates
- Victims may have an ulterior motive e.g. revenge
- Women's Aid has called for RJ to not be used in domestic abuse cases as the offender can try to convince the victim to take them back. Abusers have a lot of power over their victim.
- Unpopular with general public because it is seen as a 'soft option'. This means politicians are unwilling to support it.
26
Brief summary of bottom-up approach
Developed in UK. The aim is to generate a picture of the offender through systematic analysis of evidence left at crime scene. Data-driven and more grounded in psychological theory.
27
What is the aim of investigative psychology? And why is it done?
To establish behaviours that are likely to occur at certain crime scenes. This is done in order to create a statistical database which acts as a baseline for comparison.
28
What is the database made through investigative psychology used for?
Specific details of an offence can be matched against the database to reveal statistically probable details about the offender (personal history, family etc.) This can help determine whether multiple offences are linked and likely to have been committed by the same individual.
29
What is the concept of interpersonal coherence?
The way in which an offender behaves at a crime scene, including how they interact with the victim, may reflect their daily behaviour. E.g. some rapists humiliate victims while some are apologetic - can show how they relate to women
30
What is the significance of time and place of the crime?
May indicate where the offender lives
31
What does the term 'forensic awareness' describe?
Individuals who have made an attempt to cover their tracks. May have been the subject of police interrogation or have their DNA/ fingerprints on file
32
What is geographical profiling?
Study of spatial behaviour in relation to crime and offenders. Can get clues on offender's work/home place.
Assumption that a serious offender will restrict their criminal activities to an area they are familiar with.
33
Difference between marauder and commuter
Marauders operate close to home, commuters are likely to travel a distance away from home.
34
+ Evaluation of Bottom-Up approach
+ BU is more scientific than TD - less speculation and more evidence/psychological theory
+ Can be applied to a wide variety of offences
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- Evaluation of Bottom-Up approach
- Some significant failures. A woman was stabbed 47 times and sexually assaulted. The offender had been ruled out initially as he was several inches taller than the profile has claimed
- 48 police forces surveyed. Advice from profiler was useful in 83% of cases but led to accurate identification in only 3%
- Chemistry students were found to produce a more accurate offender profile than experienced senior detectives. Implies that BU approach is little more than common sense and guess work
36
Historical Approach to offending
In 1876, Lombroso wrote a book where he suggested that criminals were genetic throwbacks and biologically different than non-criminals. They were seen as lacking evolutionary development. Lombroso claimed that criminals had biologically determined atavistic characteristics.
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What does atavistic mean?
Reversion to something ancestral
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Some examples of cranial and physical characteristics that the atavistic form included
Narrow, sloping brow; Strong prominent jaw; High cheekbones; Facial asymmetry; Dark skin; Extra toes/nipples/fingers
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Atavistic form of murderers
Bloodshot eyes, curly hair, and long ears
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Atavistic form of sexual deviants
Glinting eyes, swollen/fleshy lips, and projecting ears
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Lips of fraudsters in atavistic form
Thin and 'reedy'
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Other characteristics of atavistic form besides physical characteristics
Insensitivity to pain, use of criminal slang, tattoos, unemployment
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How many skulls did Lombroso examine? And what percentage can be accounted for by the criminal subculture?
383 skulls of dead criminals and 3839 of living ones.
| 40% of criminal acts can be accounted for by the criminal subculture.
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+ Evaluation of atavistic form
+ Important role in the shift away from theories on feeble-mindedness, wickedness and demonic possession. It was the forerunner to more biological explanations.
45
- Evaluation of Atavistic Form
- Racist undertones. And claim that atavistic characteristics were uncivilised, savage and primitive supported the eugenic philosophy.
- After comparing 3,000 criminals and 3,000 non-criminals, there was no evidence that offenders had particular facial & cranial characteristics. He did find that criminals had below average intelligence.
- Lombroso did not compare his criminal sample to a non-criminal group.
- Atavistic characteristics may not necessary cause their criminal behaviour. Features can also be influenced by poverty and poor diet which can lead to crime.
46
What do genetic explanations for crime suggest?
That would-be offenders inherit a gene, or combination of genes, that predisposes them to commit crime.
47
Result of Lange's investigation with twins
Investigated 13 monozygotic and 17 dizygotic twins. At least one twin in each pair had served time in prison. 10/13 of monozygotic twins had both spent time in prison, whereas only 2/17 of dizygotic twins.
48
Criminal behaviour could be polygenic. What does polygenic mean?
No one single gene is responsible for offending. Instead many genes might be responsible which are known as candidate genes.
49
A psychologist conduced genetic analysis of over 900 Finnish offenders. Abnormalities on two genes were found. What genes were they and what's their function?
- MAOA gene, which controls dopamine and serotonin in the brain and has been linked to aggressive behaviour
- CDH13 gene, which has been linked to substance abuse and attention deficit disorder.
50
Within the Finnish sample, individuals with the high-risk combination of genes were how many times more likely to have a history of violent behaviour compared to a control group?
13 times more likely
51
What does the diathesis-stress model state?
It says that genetic influences criminal behaviour but this is moderated by the effects of the environment.
52
Evidence suggests there may be ____ ________ in the brains of criminals compared with non-criminals
Neural differences
53
What kind of individuals have mainly been investigated for neural differences in the brain?
Individuals diagnosed with anti-social personality disorder (APD)
54
What is anti-social personality disorder (APD) associated with?
Reduced emotional responses and a lack of empathy - condition that characterises many convicted criminals
55
Individuals with APD have reduced activity in?
The pre-frontal cortex of the brain - the area that regulates emotional behaviour. 11% reduction in volume of grey matter found in prefrontal cortex of people with APD.
56
How do we know that criminals may have a neural switch that they have to turn on to empathise?
Keysers found that only when criminals were asked to empathise did their empathy reaction (controlled by mirror neurons in the brain) activate.
57
- Evaluation of Genetic and Neural Explanations
- Concordance rates in MZ twins are not high, suggests it's not only genetics. Concordance may be due to shared learning experience rather than genetics.
- Brain scanning studies show pathology is brains of criminal psychopaths but cannot conclude whether these abnormalities are genetic or signs of early abuse.
- The term 'offending behaviour' is too vague. Some forms of crime may be more biological than others.
- Biological reductionism.
- Biological determinism. Presents a dilemma as it would be unethical to punish someone who does not have free will due to their criminal gene.
58
General personality theory
Eysenck proposed that behaviour could be represented along two dimensions: introverstion/extraversion and neuroticism/stability. The third dimension - psychoticism - was later added.
Eysenck believed that all personality types, including criminal, have an innate, biological basis which is inherited.
59
Extraverts
Have an underactive nervous system so they are constantly seeking excitement, and stimulation, and may engage in risk-taking behaviour. They are difficult to condition and do not learn from their mistakes.
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Neurotic
Nervous, jumpy, and over-anxious, and their general instability means their behaviour is often difficult to predict.
61
What is the criminal personality type?
Neurotic-extravert. And a typical offender will score highly on psychoticism.
62
In Eysenck's theory personality is linked to criminal behaviour via socialisation. Explain.
- He saw criminal behaviour as developmentally immature - selfish and wants immediate gratification
During socialisation children are taught to delay gratification and be socially orientated.
People with high extraversion and neuroticism scores are difficult to condition - they will not learn easily.
63
What is the Eysenck Personality Inventory?
A psychological test which locates respondents along the extraversion & neuroticism dimensions to determine their personality type. A later scale includes psychoticism.
64
- Evaluation of Eysenck's Theory
- After reviewing several studies, offenders were found to score higher on psychoticism, not on extraversion or neuroticism
- Too simplistic - crime is too complex to be due to one personality test
- Out of step with modern personality theory, e.g. Five Factor Model. Multiple combinations are available with this model
- Culturally biased: hispanic and african-american offenders were found to be less extravert than non-criminal control groups
- Personality may not be reducible to a score in this way. There is no such thing as a stable personality as people's personality changes daily.
65
Moral reasoning
The process by which an individual draws upon their own value system to determine whether an action is right or wrong.
66
Offenders are more likely to have pre-conventional moral reasoning. What does this mean?
The person is punishment and reward orientated. This is immature reasoning which typically lasts from ages 3-7. Teens/adults who reason this way may commit crimes if they can get away with it or get rewards.
67
Evaluation of Moral Reasoning
+ Moral reasoning between 210 female non-offenders, 122 male non-offenders and 126 convicted offenders using 11 moral dilemmas is compared. The offenders showed less mature moral reasoning.
- Level of moral reasoning may depend of the offence. Individuals who committed crimes for financial gain were more likely to show pre-conventional reasoning than those convicted of impulsive crimes such as assault.
68
What are cognitive distortions?
Faulty and irrational ways of thinking that make people perceive themselves, other people and the world inaccurately, and often negatively.
69
What is hostile attribution bias?
Tendency to judge ambiguous situations, or the actions of others, as aggressive and/or threatening when they are not. Can lead to violent response and to the offender blaming the victim for having 'started it'.
70
What is minimalisation?
When a criminal believes that their crime was trivial and downplays the impact of their crime. Common strategy to avoid feeling guilt. Often use euphemisms. Sex offenders are in particular prone to this.
71
Evaluation of Cognitive Distortions
+ Understanding the nature of distortions has been beneficial in the treatment of criminal behaviour: mainly CBT. A reduced incidence of CD in therapy is highly correlated with a reduced risk of offending.
- Cannot account for the source of the thoughts (nature or nurture?)
- Cannot be observed or measured. Not scientific.
72
Differential Association Theory
Offending depends on the norms/values of the offender's social group. Offending is more likely to occur where the social group values deviant behaviour.
If the number of pro-criminal attitudes that a person comes into contact with out-weigh the number of anti-criminal attitudes then they will become an offender.
73
What can the learning process occur through?
Imitation, vicarious reinforcement, direct reinforcement or direct tuition from criminal peers.
74
What variables do we need to mathematically predict how likely it is that someone will commit crime?
Frequency, intensity and duration of which they have been exposed to criminal and non-criminal norms and values.
75
What else can the offender learn apart from pro-criminal attitudes?
Particular techniques for committing a crime.
76
Sutherland's reason behind why so many convicts released from prison re-offend.
Whilst in prison inmates will learn specific offending from more experienced criminals that they then put into practice upon their release.
77
+ Evaluation for Differential Association Theory
+ Able to account for all kinds of crime.
+Successful in moving the emphasis away from biological explanations and labelling offenders as weak/immoral. DAT draws attention to the role of dysfunctional social environments
+ Offers a more desirable and realistic solution to offending behaviour than the biological (eugenics) or morality (punishment) solution.
78
- Evaluation for Differential Association Theory
- Difficult to test scientifically, most of the evidence is correlational (does not determine cause and effect). Built on the assumption that pro-criminal > anti-criminal = criminal. How can we know this without being able to measure these values?
- Not everyone exposed to criminal influences commits crime. Theory can stereotype individuals who come from crime-ridden backgrounds. It ignores people's free will. E.g. offenders may seek out people with criminal values rather than being passively influenced by them.
79
What does the psychodynamic approach say makes up personality?
The superego, the id and the ego.
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What does the id operate on?
The pleasure principle: it wants immediate gratification regardless of morality.
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What does the ego operate on?
The reality principle. It mediates between the impulsive demands of the id with the reality of the external world or the moralistic demands of the superego.
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What does the superego operate on?
The morality principle: it contained our conscience, the internalisation of societal rules.
83
Which is the last aspect of personality to form and when does it develop?
The superego. It develops at the end of the phallic stage of psychosexual development at 3-6 years old. Oedipius complex is the conflict at this stage - male child wants to possess mother and wants to get rid of father but has castration anxiety.
84
How do boys resolve castration anxiety according to the psychodynamic approach?
They internalise their father's superego, creating their own.
85
What is the complex that girls go through according to the psychodynamic approach?
The Electra complex, but because they do not have castration anxiety, they do not internalise their mother's superego to the same extent, and so their superego is less well developed.
86
What can inadequate/deficient superego lead to?
Criminal behaviour because the id is not properly controlled.
87
The three types of inadequate superego
1. Weak superego - absence of same-sex parent
2. Deviant superego - superego of parent has immoral/deviant values
3. Over-Harsh superego - very strict/punitive superego causes individual is crippled with guilt and anxiety which can cause them to perform criminal acts in order to satisfy the superego's need for punishment
88
Evaluation of Inadequate Superego
- Females should be more prone to criminal behaviour - not supported by statistics
- No gender difference between children's ability to resist temptation, but girls were slightly more moral
- Little evidence that children raised without same-sex parent are less law-abiding as adults
- If children with deviant parents commit crime it could be due to genetics or learning rather than deviant superego
- Idea that criminals have a desire for punishment is implausible, most offenders go to great lengths to conceal crime
89
Aims of custodial sentencing
1. Deterrence: put off individuals in offending behaviour in future
2. Incapacitation: protecting public
3. Retribution: revenge from society
4. Rehabilitation
90
Difference between general deterrence and individual deterrence
General deterrence aims to send a broad message to society that crime will not be tolerated. Individual deterrence should prevent individual from repeating the same crime.
91
Psychological Effects of Custodial Sentencing
1. Psychological disorders: study found 25% of women and 15% men reported psychosis symptoms. High incidences of anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicide etc.
2. Institutionalisation: lack of autonomy, conformity to role of prisoner and dependency on prison culture
3. Brutalisation: Prison is a school of crime and reinforces criminal lifestyle. 70% of young offenders re-offend within two years.
4. Labelling: Prisoners lose touch with previous social contacts and find it difficult to gain employment.
92
+ Evaluation of custodial sentencing
+ Can be useful. Shows justice has been done and limits danger to public. Education and training is provided to help prisoners find employment when released. Treatment programmed, such as anger management therapy and social skills training is provided to avoid reoffending.
93
- Evaluation of custodial sentencing
- Suicide rates are 15% higher in prison population than general. However this may not be due to imprisonment - could have had it beforehand.
- Courts need to be selective. 8-10% of criminals commit 50% of all crimes. CS is best for repeat offenders.
- Crimes prevention is more effect as labelling and negative consequences of prison is avoided. Community service are more effective for low-risk offenders.
- A review of CS found that government often exaggerate the benefits of prison. In reality, prison does little to deter or rehabilitate offenders. It is done to appease public or as an act of retribution.
