Forensic Psychology Flashcards
(84 cards)
1
Q
Crime
A
An act committed in violation of the law where consequence of conviction by court is punished
2
Q
Problems with defining crime (2)
A
- Cultural: forced marriage was made illegal in the U.K. in 2014, however it is still practiced in other countries.
- Historical: homosexuality is still illegal in many parts of the world and was made illegal in the U.K. in 1967. A parents right to smack their child was outlawed in 2004.
3
Q
Telescoping
A
When a crime is witnessed or reported from a viewpoint which doesn’t show the whole picture
4
Q
Offender profiling
A
A behavioural and analytical tool that is intended to help investigators accurately predict and profile characteristics of unknown criminals
5
Q
Top down approach
A
Profilers start with a pre established typology and work down in order to assign offenders to one of two categories based on witness accounts and evidence from the crime scene.
6
Q
Modus operandi (ways of working) for Top down
A
- organised
- disorganised
7
Q
Organised crime
A
- planned
- deliberate
- Type
- high degree of control and precision
- little evidence
- above average IQ
- sexually competent
8
Q
Disorganised crime
A
- spontaneous
- spur of moment
- impulsive
- lower IQ
- sexual dysfunction
9
Q
FBI profile
A
- data assimilation
- crime scene classification
- crime reconstruction
- profile generation
10
Q
Copson (1995)
A
Argued police need 4 types of information from profilers:
- type of person
- how great a pose in the future
- to what extent are the cases linked to others
- how the police should interview suspects
11
Q
Evaluation of top down approach
A
- application to crime
- outdated models of personality as typology classification system based on assumptions of behaviour. Alison (2002) states it was old-fashioned model.
- doesn’t support the ‘disorganised offender’. Canter (2004) found no evidence for disorganised killers.
- classification is too simplistic
12
Q
Bottom up approach (British)
A
When research and statistics of similar crimes are used to develop a profile of the criminal based on previous convictions. They can:
- generate a picture of the offender
- characteristics, routine behaviours and social background
13
Q
Investigative psychology
A
- applying statistical procedures and psychological theory or analyse crime scene evidence
- patterns of behaviour that behave or coexist
- create a statistical data base with a baseline for comparison
- interpersonal coherence
- forensic awareness
14
Q
Interpersonal coherence
A
The way the offender behaves at the scene, including how they interact with the victim, may behaviour in more everyday situations
15
Q
Forensic awareness
A
Describes those individuals who have been subjects of police interrogation before: their behaviour may denote how mindful they are of ‘covering their tracks’
16
Q
Geographical profiling
A
- Rossmo (1997) Using information about the locations of the crime scene to make inferences about the likely home or operational base of an offender-crime mapping
- used to create hypothesis about what the offender was thinking and their modus operandi
17
Q
Modus operandi for bottom up
A
- serial offenders restrict their ‘work’ to geographical areas they are familiar with
- criminals often operate in a similar way and this reflects their personality
- provides investigators with vents of gravity. This includes their base and jeopardy surface-educated guess on where the offender is likely to strike next
18
Q
Canter and Larkin (1993) circle theory
A
- the marauder: who operates in close proximity to their home base
- the commuter: travels a distance away from their usual residence
+ All to commit murders or crimes
19
Q
Evaluation of top down approach
A
- canter and heritage (1990) most cases used impersonal language and lack of reaction to the victim
- Lundrigan and canter (2001) found most body disposal sites were in different direction to the previous creating centre of gravity
- using AI investigators can more quickly find geographical, biographical and psychological data
- abumere (2012) more than 75% of police said advice from the profiler had been useful to them
- Netherlands police however stated the advice was vague and that it was not financially viable
- despite the high number of usefulness claims only 3% led to accurate identification of the offender
20
Q
Atavistic form
A
A biological approach that attributes criminal activity to the fact that offenders are genetic throwbacks of a primitive sub species ill-suited to conforming to the rules of modern society. Such individuals are distinguishable by particular facial and cranial characteristics
21
Q
L’Homo delinquente (1873)
A
Lombrosso believed offenders were lacking evolutionary development, their savage and untamed nature meant they found it impossible to adjust to the demands of civilised society and therefore eventually turn to from
22
Q
Cranial characteristics of a criminal
A
- narrow sloping brow
- strong prominent jaw
- high cheekbones
- facial asymmetry
Other physical markers included: - dark skin
- extra toes, fingers and nipples
23
Q
Lombrosos research
A
Examined cranial characteristics of dead and living criminals. Concluded 40% of criminals had atavistic features
- murderers- bloodshot eyes, strong jaws, long ears, curly hair
- sexual deviants- were said to have glinting eyes, swollen fleshy lips and projecting ears
- fraudster- lips were thin and reedy
24
Q
Evaluation of Lombroso
A
- shifted the emphasis in crime research away from moralistic discourse towards a scientific and credible realm
- the atavistic characteristics was the foundation of criminal profiling
- however it was scientifically racist
- De Lisi (2012)- distinct racial undertones. Many of the features that lombroso identifies are more likely to be found among people of African descent.
- Therefore lends support to the eugenics movement- ‘uncivilised, primitive and savage’
- not all criminals however have this have his appearance
- sharma (2015) found criminals had average normal intelligence but scored lower on emotional intelligence
- Goring did not find criminals had unusual facial or cranial features
- lombroso didn’t come place with a non criminal control group
- ethical issues as some cranial features come due to poor diet or poverty rather than evolutionary development. Also a Chinese study found people who’s eyes were closer to the nose were more likely to be criminals
- it was decided by later work criminals could be made as well as born
25
Neural explanation
Any explanation of behaviour in terms of dysfunctions/functions of the brain and nervous system. This includes the activity of brain structures such as the hypothalamus and neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine
26
Genetic explanations of crime
- Lange (1930) Identical twins were more likely to both be criminals than non identical (77% vs 12%)
- Christiansen (1977) criminal behaviour- 3500 twin pairs, 35% male, 21% female for identical twins, 13% male, 8% female for non identical
- Crowe (1972) looked at adopted children with a biological mother with a criminal record. 50% of children had one by 18
- Mednick (1984) criminal behaviour in adopted children. 14,427 danish adoptees found 13.5 had a criminal record without an adopted parent whereas 14.7 had one with the criminal parent. Similar differences with biological parents
- Brunner (1993) large family in Netherlands who had anti-social and criminal (Brunner syndrome). Lower Iq, family avg of 85. Causes a deficiency in MAOA- enzyme responsible for the metabolism of serotonin
- Jacobs (1965) higher % of people in prosoma popularism had the sex chromosome XYY leading to increased testosterone and increased violence
27
Diathesis stress model as a genetic explanation for crime
- Meehl (1962) and Ripke (2014)
- link between genetic predisposition and biological and psychological trigger. For example, being raised in a dysfunctional environment or having criminal role models
- diathesis-vulnerability: stress- negative psychological experiences
- psychological trauma such as child abuse can affect the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal system
- stated genetic inheritance plays a role as well as environmental influence
28
Neural explanations of crime
- evidence suggests there may be neural differences in the brains of criminals and non criminals
- most of this research in this area has investigated individuals diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder
- APP- reduced emotional responses and a lack of empathy for others
- individuals who experience antisocial personality disorder show reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that regulates emotional behaviour
- Raine (2000) found an 11% reduction in the volume if grey matter in the PFC of people with APD compared to control groups
29
Mirror neurons: Keysers (2011)
- found that only when criminals were asked to emphasise with others, their empathy reactions would activate
- this is controlled by mirror neurons. This suggests that ADP individuals do experience empathy, although it is an automatic response. These neurons fire in response to actions of others
30
Supporting the candidate gene
- tiihonen (2014) violent and non violent criminals, 78 rated as extremely violent
- found a ‘warrior gene’ - non violent criminals did not have this
- alcohol and drug abuse is shown to cause hyperactivity in dopamine levels. All extremely violent criminals had consumed drugs or alcohol before committing their crimes
31
Against twin studies
- Lange (1930) study was poorly controlled and judgements related to zygosity were based on appearance and not DNA testing
- studies with twins use small sample sizes and may not represent the whole population
- confounding variable: most twins are raised in the same environment
- concordance rate mag be due to shares learning experience and not genetics
32
Against adoption studies
- late adoption would mean that infancy and childhood would have been spent with biological parents
- regular contract with biological parents
- difficult to access the environmental impact the biological parents might have had
- criminality could be due to inherited emotional instability or mental illness (Andrew and Bonta, 2006)
- Mednick (1984) only petty offences were committed rather than violent crimes
33
Biological reductionism
- criminality is complex and genetic and neural explanations are simplistic and inappropriate
- Katz (2007) crime does run in families but so does emotional instability, social deprivation and poverty
- exposure to crime rather than poverty
- no study has found 100% concordance rate between MZ twins and often they have been low
- ‘criminal gene
- presents ethical problems for our legal system since it negates free will
- raises the ethical question question surrounding what society does with people who carry ‘criminal genes’
- presents problems for society and implications for sentencing
34
Eyesenick’s theory
- Extrovert: sociable, impulsive, expressive and risk taking
- introvert: cautious and happy in their own company
- neurotic: someone who so nervous, anxious and obsessive
- psychotic: some one who is insensitive, unconventional and lack conscience
35
Recipe of the criminal personality
Extravert + neurotic + psycho
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Biological basis
- all personality types have an innate biological basis
- extraverts so constantly seek excitement and risk taking behaviours
- introverts so withdraw from too much stimulation
- neuroticism- linked to instability in the sympathetic nervous system if high
- psychotism- higher levels of testosterone
37
The criminal personality
- score highly in psychotism
- neurotic-extravert personality type
- more likely to commit crimes based on emotion and will seek dangerous activities
- neuroticism=good indicator of criminal behaviour in older people
- extra version= younger people
38
Socialisation
- the socialisation process plays a role in criminal behaviour- interaction with certain environments can trigger behaviours
- immediate gratification- developmentally insecure
- people with E and U scores are hard to condition- act unsociable and do not avoid anti social behaviour
39
Process of socialisation
- criminal behaviour is associated with developmental immaturity, selfishness and concern with immediate gratification.
- Process of socialisation is where children are taught to become able to delay gratification and become more socially oriented.
- Primarily taught through conditioning: when children act in a Immature way, they are punished. They come to associate anxiety with antisocial behaviour.
- Where this process is successful, even thinking about behaving antisocially produces anxiety = avoid doing behaviours
- Esyneck believed that people with high E and N scores cannot be conditioned easily= act antisocially
40
Evidence for/against Eysenck’s theory of criminal personality
For
- Eysenck and his wife compared 2070 male prison scores on EPI with 2422 male controls. They were sub-divided into age groups 16-69 years
- across all age groups prisoners recorded higher scores than controls for P, E and N
- Rushton and Christjohn (1981) compared E, N and P scores with self-reports of delinquency in children and students
- high levels of delinquency = higher E, P and N scores
Against
- Farrington (1982 meta analysis)
- Offenders reported high on P measures but not E and N.
- Little difference in EEG measures between introverts and extroverts.
- Research depends on the type of measurement used.
- Official offenders (Hollin, 1989) – high in psychoticism and neuroticism but low in extraversion
- Putwain and Sammons (2002) suggested that results are inconsistent as extroversion scales measure two things: sociability and impulsiveness. Criminality is associated with impulsiveness but not sociability.
- also only a single criminal personality type is used
- cultural bias
41
OCEAN personality scale
```
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extroversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
```
42
Kohlberg (1973)
Found criminals have a lower level of moral reasoning than others
- criminals do not progress from the pre-conventional level of moral reasoning- they seek to avoid punishment and gain rewards and have child-like reasoning
- non-criminals tend to reason at higher levels and sympathise with the rights of others, exhibiting honesty, generosity and non violence
- serious offenders have a moral outlook that differs from that of the law abiding majority
- Allen (2001) criminals have a lower level of moral reasoning
43
Chandler (1973)
Found offenders are more egocentric and display poorer social perspective taking skills
- 45 chronically delinquent 11-13 year old males and 45 non delinquents
44
Attribution
What we think when we observe someone’s actions and inferring what their actions mean
45
Attribution bias
When someone has a leaning towards always thinking the worst. In the case of criminals, such negative interpretations can be linked to their aggressive or violent behaviour
46
Hostile attribution bias evidence
Schonberg and Justye (2014)
- method: presented 55 violent offenders with images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions and compared these results with a control group of non offenders
- the faces showed angry, shoot or fearful emotions in varying levels of intensity
- the violent offenders were more likely to perceive images as angry and hostile compared to control
Dodge and flame (1982)
- different people can see the same action as ‘starting on them’ or ‘for a laugh’
47
Minimalisation
- both magnification and minimalisation are cognitive distortions where the consequences of a situation are ever over or under exaggerated
- ‘euphemistic label’ of behaviour (bandura, 1973)
- in the case of criminal behaviour, offenders may use minimalisation to reduce the negative interpretation of their behaviour after a crime has been committed
- common among sexual offenders. 51% denied rape, 40% minimised
48
Evaluation of cognitive explanations
- Gibbs (1979) proposed 2 levels of moral reasoning- mature and immature. Level 1: avoidance of punishment and personal gain. Level 2: empathy, social justice and ones own conscience
- he maintained that kohlberg’s post conventional stage should be abandoned since if contains a western cultural bias
- gender bias as stated universality but only investigated men
- understanding the nature of criminal distortions is beneficial in the treatment of criminal behaviour
- individual differences in moral reasoning
49
Hollín and Palmer (1998)
- compared moral reasoning between 210 female non-offenders, 112 male non-offenders and 126 convicted offenders using the socio-moral reflection measure
- this contained 11 moral-dilema related questions such as not taking thinks and keeping a promise for a friend
- the offenders showed less mature moral reasoning that the non-delinquent groups
- Blackburn (1993) suggests this is due to their childhood lacking moral role-play opportunities which may have helped mature moral reasoning to develop
50
Differential association theory
A social learning theory of crime which suggests that crime is learnt just like any other behaviour through relationships and associations
- first theory to suggest crime was not genetically inherited
51
Pro criminal attitudes
- Attitudes and behaviours are learned from intimate personal groups- family/peer groups and wider neighbourhood
- the degree to which a local community supports or opposes criminal involvement determines the difference in crime rates from one area to another
52
Learning criminal acts
- Sutherland argued that the degree, frequency, length and personal meaning of social associations will determine the degree of influence
- if they are exposed to criminals and pro criminal attitudes, they may lean particular criminal techniques
53
Cambridge study of delinquent development
- development of offending and antisocial behaviour in 411 males
- longitudinal study: children were aged 8 in 1961 and all lived in working-class, deprived, inner-city areas of south london
54
Difficulty of testing in DAT
- DAT is difficult to test despite the promise of providing a scientific, mathematical framework to predict future offending behaviours
- theory is built on the assumption that offending behaviour will occur when pro criminal values outweigh anti criminal values
55
Evidence for DAT
- Alarid (2000) tested 1153 criminals- found DAT was a good theory of crime- necessary for looking at the context of offending in predicting crime
- more consistent effects for males
- parental attachment is significantly stronger prediction of female participation in violent crime
56
Alternative explanations of crime
- family is crucial in determining weather the individual is likely to engage in offending
- if the family is seen to support criminal activity, making it seem legitimate and reasonable- becomes a major influence of W child’s value system
- also individual differences as stereotyping individuals from crime ridden backgrounds as unavoidable criminals when it may be by choice
- data collected was also correlation as rather than showing cause and effect
- doesn’t explain why crime is committed more by young people
57
Psychodynamic approach to offending
- Blackburn (1993) if the superego is somehow deficient or inadequate then criminal behaviour is inevitable because the Id is given ‘free reign’
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Weak superego
If the same-sex parent is absent during the phallic stage, there is no identification so the child cannot internalise a fully-formed superego- making immoral/criminal behaviour likely
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The deviant superego
If the superego the child internalises has immoral or deviant values, this would lead to offending behaviour e.g. criminal parents
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Over harsh superego
An excessively harsh or punitive superego makes the individual crippled by guilt or anxiety. They may then commit criminal acts to satisfy the superegos need for punishment
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Englander (2007) Displacement
- displaced aggression in offenders might explain their antisocial behaviour
- if offenders cannot control their aggression which comes from their instinctive id, the aggression might spill out of their unconscious resulting in violent and offending behaviour
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Evaluation of the psychodynamic approach to offending
- defence mechanisms are used by the unconscious mind to reduce anxiety
- always alpha bias in Freud’s research
- Blackburn found children without same sex parents are less law abiding- contradicting the weak superego argument
- does however recognise the role of biological influences as well as the role of emotional factors
- hard to find evidence for psychodynamic theory’s however Bowlby did find evidence to support theory
- Bowlbys research did however have some methodological issues so cannot be seen as fact. Criticised by Rutter
- showed correlation not causation
63
3 defence mechanisms
Displacement-Focus on anger shifted from actual target to neutral target
Denial-Unwanted reality of threatening event is ignored and blocked from conscious awareness
Repression-Involves the ego stopping unwanted and possibly painful thoughts from being conscious
64
Custodial sentencing
When an offender is found guilty in court and as punishment spends time in a prison
65
Deterrence
Threat of an unpleasant experience serves to prevent future behaviour. Individual deference is when if prevents the offender from committing the same crime in the future
66
Incapacitation
While a person is incapacitated they aren’t free to commit crimes
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Retribution
Focuses on the feelings of the victim, their family and society generally. A crime should receive a suitable punishment. This is society’s revenge for the pain caused.
68
Rehabilitation
Prisons should reform prisoners so that upon release they will not reoffend. Can use counselling and offender programmes
69
Prisonisation
Refers to the way prisoners are socialised into adopting an ‘inmate code’ where antisocial behaviour may be encouraged or rewarded
70
Evaluation of dealing with offending behaviour
- negative effects on mental health if a person is imprisoned
- Crichton and Towl (2008) prison suicides have increased due to overcrowding, low staff and a new environment
- lots of studies on suicide and self harm rates. Young men are more likely to in the first 24 hrs of 30 days
- however some people preferred prison as ir had food, housing and warmth
- We can’t say prison causes mental health problems as it could already be a part of the individual
- different sentences may have a different reaction by the prisoners
- Davies and Raymond suggest effect of prisons is exaggerated to appear tough on crime
- many more open prisons or other schemes have less reoffending rates however some may abscond
71
Behaviour modification
Behaviour modification programmes are one of the methods used in rehabilitation of prisoners. It adheres to the principles of behaviourism, specifically operant conditioning. Positive and positive negative reinforcement as well as punishment is used to increase desired behaviour and decrease undesired behaviours.
72
Conjugal visit
A scheduled visit in which an inmate of a prison is permitted to spend several hours or days in Roig aye with a visitor, usually their legal spouse. The parties may engage in sexual activity. Legal in 6 US states but illegal in U.K.
- D’Alessio (2012) may be useful for reducing sexual and physical violence in prisons
73
Changing of prisoners behaviour
Behaviour identified>behaviour broken down into increments>baseline measure is established
- however prisoners are often suggested to be like slaves earning as little as £10 per 40 hour week
74
Rice (1990)
Examined the outcomes from 92 prisoners on a token economy programme in a max-security psychiatric hospital and found ha:
1. It was effective for an individual, then ir continued to be so while in the institution
2. The success shown within the institution had no influence on the offenders outcomes once released
This seems to suggest that it works for certain individuals only, and only for a short term
75
Reppucci and Saunders (1974)
- found that although the behaviour management programmes should be easy to run, in real life they’re not
- this was due to institutional pressures, limited resources and inconsistency with staff
76
Hobbs and holt (1976)
- Found that the introduction of behaviour modification programme in three young offenders institutions reduced the amount of undesirable behaviour when compared with an institution that had no such programme
- this demonstrates the short-term benefits that behaviour modification can have
77
Evaluation of behaviour modification
- methods are say to implement. Cost effective and easy to follow method
- ethical issues
- programmes are individually tailored
- token economy leads to showing more desirable behaviour
78
Anger management
A therapeutic programme that involves identifying the signs that trigger anger as well as learning techniques to calm down and deal with the situation in a positive way
79
Steps of anger management
1. Cognitive preparation
- offenders reflect on past experiences
2. Skill acquisition
- cognitive, physiological and behavioural skills
3. Application practice
- offenders practice their skills
80
National anger management package - Keen (2000)
- developed by the England and Wales prison service for young offenders aged 17-21
Outcomes:
- offenders reported increased awareness of their anger management difficulties
- an increased capacity research exercise self control
81
Ireland(2000:2004)
- 50 prisoners completed two measures of anger before and after completion of an anger management programme
- measures- self-report- questionnaire and checklist of 29 problematic behaviours
- control group of 37 prisoners and found 92% reduction in anger levels for the intervention group on at least on of the measure
82
Restorative justice programmes
A relatively new type of intervention with offenders. The aim is to make the offender realise the implications of their actions for the victim(s) and to improve their relationship with the victim and community by repairing the harm they have caused
83
Process Of restorative justice
- active rather than passive involvements of both parties
- Braithewaite (2004) crime hurts, justice should heal
- intended to restore the harm done by the crime
- focus on positive outcomes for victims and offenders
- early models focused on victim- more recent focused on community
84
Evaluation of restorative justice programmes
- U.K. restorative justice council. 85% satisfaction rate, 93% in violent crimes and 14% reduction in reoffending
- saves money
- other systems don’t address needs of victims
- ethical issues as victim can feel worse
- cannot be applied Romano offenders and victims
- relies on the offender being remorseful
