Forensic psychology Flashcards
(141 cards)
1
Q
Offender profiling Top down approach
A
A behavioural and analytical tool to help investigators accurately predict and profile the characteristics of unknown offenders
-Solve crimes
- Narrow list of likely suspects
-Proffesional profilers called to work alongside police especially during high profile murder cases
-Involves careful scrutiny of the crime scene and analysis of other evidence (eg witness reports) to generate a hypotheses about probable characteristics of the offender ( age background, occupation
2
Q
The top down approach / The american approach
A
- From America in 1970s
-FBI’s Behavioural Science Unit interviewed 36 sexually motivated killers Ted Bundy and Charles Manson
-Then concluded that the data could be categorised into organised or disorganised crimes/ murders
-Each category had certrain characteristics that if, in a future situation the data from the crime scene matched some of the characteristics in one category, we could then predict other characteristics that would be likely - This can then be used to find the offender
-Offender profilers who use top down will collect data about a murder eg characteristics, crime scene and then decide on the category the data best fits
3
Q
Organised and Disorganised types of offender
A
Serious offenders have Modus Operandi (Signature ‘ways of working’)
-Usually correlates with set of social and psychological characteristics that relate to the individual
4
Q
Organised
A
- Show evidence of signs of planning in advance
-Victim is deliberately targeted thus suggesting killer has a ‘type’ of victim they seek out
-Offender has high degree of control during the crime
-Little evidence or clues left behind at scene
-Tend to have above IQ intelligence - Tend to be in a skilled, proffesional occupation
-Tend to be socially and sexually competent
-Usually married and even have children
5
Q
Disorganised
A
- Little evidence of planning suggesing offences may be spontaneous acts
-Crime scene reflects implusive nature of attack
-Body usually still at the scene and shows little control on the part fo the offender
-Tend to have lower than average IQ
-Tend to be unemployed or in unskilled work - Often have history of sexual dysfunction and failed relationships
-Tend to live alone and live relatively close to crime scene
6
Q
Constructing an FBI profile
A
1) Data assimilation - The profiler reviews the evidence (Crime scene photographs, Pathology reports, witness reports etc)
2) Crime scene classification (Organsied or disorganised)
3) Crime reconstruction - hypotheses in terms of sequence of events, behaviour of the victim etc
4) Profile generation - Hypotheses related to the likely offender eg demographic background, physical characteristics, behaviour etc
7
Q
Top down approach strength (Organised)
A
-Research support from David Canter conudcted an analysis of 100 US murders each committed by a different serial killer to test the organised - disorganised typology
-He used the smallest space analysis - a statistical technique used to identify correlations across different samples of behaviour
- This assessed the co-occurence of 39 aspects of serial killings e.g torture or restraint, attempt to conceal body, cause of death
- This revealed there does seem to be a subset of features of many serial killings which matched the FBI’s typology for organised offenders
-This suggests a key component of the FBI typology has some validity
8
Q
Top down approach counter (organised)
A
- Many studies suggest that the organised and disorganised types are not mutally exclusive
- There are a varity of combinations that occur at any given murder scene
-Godwin argues that in reality it is difficult to class killers as one or the other type - A killer may have multiple contrasting characteristics e.g high intelligence and sexual competence, but commit a spontaneous murder, leaving the body at the murder scene
-This suggests the organised- disorganised typology is more of a continuum
9
Q
Top down approach strength
A
- Approach can be adpated to other kinds of crime such as burglary
-Critics claim it can only be for a limited number of crimes eg sexually motivated murder - Meketa reports it can be applied to burglary, leaing to an 85% rise in solved cases in 3 US states
- Detection method retains organised/disorganised but adds :
-Interpersonal (offender knows victim and steals something of significance)
-Opportunistic (inexperienced young offender ) - This suggests that top down profiling has wider applicaation than was originally assumed
10
Q
Top down approach weakness
A
- Flawed evidence
-FBI profiling was developed through interviews with 36 murderers in the US - 25 Serial killers , 11 single or doubl murderers
-At the end 24 were classed as organised and 12, disorganised
-Canter argued the sample was poor
-FBI agents did not select random or large sample and did not have different types of offender
-No standard set of questions so each interview was different and not comparable
-This suggests that top profiling does not have a scientific basis
11
Q
Top down personality evaluation
A
- Based on the principle of behavioural consistency (modus operandi)
-This should be seen across all their crime scenes - It should be therefore easy to catch the offender
- But Mishcel argues that people’s behaviour is more driven by the situation than personality
-Behavioural patterns seen at a crime scene tell us little about how that individual behaves in everyday life
12
Q
Bottom up approach types
A
- Investigive psychology
-Geographical profiling
13
Q
Bottom up approach
A
- Generate picture of the offender, their characteristics, routine behaviour and social behaviour through systematic analysis of evidence at the crime scene
-Comes from Britain , which does not begin with fixed typologies
-Data driven and emerges as the investigator engages in deeper and more rigourous scrutiny of the details of offence
-More grounded in psychological theory than top down approach
14
Q
Investigative psychology
A
-An attempt to apply statistical procedures and psychological theory to the analysis of crime scene evidence
- To establish patterns of behaviour that are likely to occur or coexist across crime scenes
-This is in order to develop a statistical database which then acts as a baseline for comparison
-Specific details of an offence or related offences can then be matched against this database to reveal important details about the offender, their personal history, family background etc
- Can also determine whether a series of offences are comitted by the same person
- Includes concept of interpersonal coherence:
-The way an offender behaves at the scene, including how they interact with the victim may reflect their behaviour in more everyday situations
-Dwyer found that while some rapists want to mantain maximum control and humiliate their victims others are more apologetic
-This may tell the police something about how the offender relates the women more generally
-The significance of time and palce is a key variable as it may indicate where the offender is living
-Forensic awareness : Individuals who have been subject of polive interrogation before, thus their behaviour may denote how mindful they are of ‘covering their tracks’
15
Q
Geographical profiling
A
-Crime mapping :Uses information about the location of linked crime scenes to make inferences about the likely home or operational base of the offender
-Based on principle of Spacial consistency :
-People commit crimes within a limited geographical space
- Can be used in conjunction with psychological theory to creat hypotheses about how the offender is thinking aswell as their modus operandi
-Centre of gravity: Offenders base is often in middle of spacial pattern - assuming serial offenders restrict their work to gegraphical areas they are familiar with
-AKA Canter’s circle theory : (&larker) : The pattern of offending forms a circle around the offender’s base
-Spacial decision making can give investagtive team insight into nature of offence e.g planned or opportunistic
-Also other factors such as ‘mental maps’ , mode of transport, emloyment status, age
16
Q
Geographical profiling types of offenders
A
The marauder : Who operates in close proximity to their home base
The commuter: Who is likely to have travelled a distance away from their usual residence
17
Q
Investigative psychology strength
A
-Evidence
-Canter and Heritage analysed 66 sexual assult cases by Smallest space analysis
-Many behaviours were identified as common in different samples of behaviour e.g impersonal language, lack of reaction to the victim
-Each individual showed characteristic pattern of such behaviour and this can help establish whether two or more offences were comitted by the same person i.e Case linkage
-This supports the basic principle of investigative psychology and bottom up approach that people are consistent in their behaviour
18
Q
Investigative psychology strength counter
A
-Case linkage depends on the database and only consist of historical crimes which have been solved
-Solve means it is easy to link crimes together in the first place, making it a circular argument
-Suggests investigative psychology may tell us little about crimes that have few links between them and therefore remain unsolved
19
Q
Geographical profiling strength
A
- Evidence
-Lundrigan and Canter collated information from 120 murder cases involving serial killers in the US
-Smallest space analysis revealed spacial consistency
-The location of each body disposal site created a Centre of Gravity
-Presumably because when offenders start from their home base, they may go in a different direction each time they dispose a body, but finally create a circular effect around the home base
-They found the offender’s base was always in the centre
-The effect was more noticable for marauders
-This supports the view that geographical information can be used to identify an offender
20
Q
Geographical profiling limitation
A
-Geographical profiling may not be sufficient on its own
-As with investigative psychology, success of it relies on quality of data police can provide
-Recording of crime is not always accurate, can vary between police forces and 75% of crimes are not reported
-Relying on accurate geographical data , the utility is questioned
-Even if it is accurate, Ainsworth and other critics argue other factors are important to create a profile e.g timing of offence, age and experience of the offender
-This suggests that geographical information alone may not always lead to successful capture of an offender
21
Q
Offender profiling strength and counter
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Strength: Copson surveyed 48 police departments and the advice provided by the tool was judged to be ‘useful’ in 83% of cases, suggesting its validity as an investagitve tool
-Counter: Same study revealed only 3% lead to accurate identification of the offender
-Kocis also found that chemistry students produced more accurate offender profiles on a solved murder case than experienced senior detectives
22
Q
Offender profiling Real life example weakness
A
The case of Rachel Nickell
-Stabbed 47 times and sexually assulted
-Profiler Paul Britton’s profile quickly targeted Colin Stagg for fitting it
-Britton persuaded the police to set a honey strap between undercover policewoman and Stagg to get him to confess to rachels murder
-When case came to court the only link for stagg and rachel was Brittons profile and expensive undercover police operation
-in 2008, following examination of ne forensic evidence, Robert Napper was convicted of her murder and was intially ruled out because he was several inches taller than the profile
23
Q
Offender profiling real life strength
A
The Railway rapist
-Canter succesfully profiled John Duffy
-He carried 24 sexual attacks on women and 3 murders
-Canter analysed geographical information from crime scenes and combined with details of similar attacks in the past supplied by police , thus accurate profile created
-eg Lived in kilburn , martial artist, small and ugly (5’4 with acne
24
Q
Top down real application
A
Ted Bundy
-Won trust of victims (socially competent)
-Attended Uni (at least average IQ)
-Psychiatrist says his first ex who broke up with him made him a murderer
-His victims resembled this ex
-Kilings followed a gruesome pattern : Rape then Beat to death
25
Biological approach : Atavistic form features
-Historical approach
-Biological approach
-Atavistic form
-Offender Types
-Lombroso's research
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Atavistic form : Historical approach
-Lombroso wrote a book which suggested criminals were 'genetic throwbacks':
-A primitive subspecies who were biologically different from non criminals
-Today the Atavistic form would be desrcibed as speculative and naiive
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Atavstic form : A biological approach
-Offenders lacked evolutionary development
-Savage and untamed nature made it impossible to adjust to law
-They inevetiably turned to crime
-Saw offending behaviour as a natural tendecy
-Rooted in genes
-Offending behaviour was innate , therefore offender was not to blame
-His ideas were revolutionary
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Atavistic form
-Offender subtype have physiological 'markers' that were linked to particular types of offence
-Biologically determined 'atavistic' characteristics of mainly face and head that make offenders different
-Cranial characteristics: Narrow, sloping brow, a strong prominent jaw, high cheekbones and facial asymmetry
Other markers: Dark skin, extra toes, nipples, fingers
Others: Insensitivy to pain, use of slang, tattoos, unemployment
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Offender types: (Atavistic form)
Murderers: Bloodshot eyes, curly hair and long ears
Sexual deviants: Glinting eyes, swollen and fleshy lips, projecting ears
Fraudsters: Thin and 'reedy' lips
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Lombroso's research (Atavisic form)
- He examined the facial and cranial of hudreds of Italian convincts (dead and alive)
-Then concluded there was an atavistic form
-Then concluded these features were a key indicator of criminality
-383 dead convicts and 3839 living convicts
-Concluded 40% of criminal acts are comitted by people with atavistic characteristics
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Atavistic form strength
-Lombroso's work changed the face of the study of crime
-Lombroso hailed as 'the father of modern crimonology' and invented the term crimonology (Hollin)
-Hes also credited for shifting away crime research from moralistic discourse (offenders seen as wicked), towards more scientific position (Genetics to blame not individuals)
-Lombroso's theory of different types of offender heralded the beggining of offender profiling
-This suggests that Lombroso made a major contribution to the science of crimonology
32
Atavsitic form counterpoint of strength
-Several critics including DeLisi do not think Lombrso's legacy is entirely positive
-Many features he claimed to be atavistic (dark hair curly skin) are more found in African people
-Racist undertones in his work
-Sugested Africans wre more likely to be offenders
-Fitten 19th century eugenic attitudes
-Suggests some aspects of his theory were highly subjective than objective and influenced by racial prejudices at the time
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Atavistic form weakness 1
-Evidence of atavism contradicting crime
-Goring compared 3000 offenders and 3000 non offenders to conclude there was no distinction of unusual and facial characteristics
- Only suggestive of lower IQ
-This challenges the idea that offenders can be physically distinguished from the rest of the population and therefore unlikely to be a subspecies
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Atavistic weakness 2
-Methods of investigation were poorly controlled
-Did not have a control group of non offenders like Goring
-This would have controlled for confounding variables that might have explained higher crime rates in certain groups of people
-E.g Hay and Forrest found that there are links between crime and social conditions such as poverty and poor education
-This would explain why offenders were more likely to be unemployed
-Suggests Lombroso's research does not meet modern scientific standards
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Atavistic form weakness 3
-Facial and cranial differences may be due to poverty, poor diet
36
Eugenics movement
- Galton inspired by 'survival of the fittest'
-People are not born equal
-Desirable traits e.g civility, high iq are found is some social groups : Genetically fit , more than others Genetically unfit
-Genetically unfit shouldbe prevented from breeding
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Biological approach: Genetic explanations for offending behaviour
-Twin and adoption studies
-Candidate genes
-Diatheses stress model
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Twin and adoption studies (Genetic explanations for offending behaviour)
-Christiansen studied over 3500 twin pairs to see concordance rates of offending behaviour:
-35% for MZ Male twins
-13% for DZ Male twins
-Lower rates for females
-All twins born 1880 and 1910 in a reigon in Denmark
-Data indicates not only behaviour is inherited but the underlying predisposing traits
-Crowe found that adopted children whose biological mum has a criminal record had a 50% risk of having one by 18 and 5% If mother doesnt have one
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Candidate genes (Genetic explanations for offending behaviour)
-Tiihonen did a genetic analysis of 800 Finnish offenders
-Suggested genes MAOA and CDH13 are associated with violent crime
-MAOA regulates serotonin in brain and linked to agressive behaviour
-CDH13 linked to substance abuse and ADHD
-His anaysis found 5-10% of all severe violent crime in Finland is caused by MAOA and CDH13 genotypes
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Diathesis Stress Model (Genetic explanations for offending behaviour)
-If genetics influence offending behaviour, it is likely to be partly moderated by affects of the environment
-Offending behaviour may come from the combination of genetic predisposition and biological or psychological trigger
-eg Raised in a dysfunctional environment or having criminal role models
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Biological approach: Neural explanations for offending behaviour
-Prefrontal cortex
-Mirror Neurons
-Neural differences between offenders and non offenders
-Much of evidence included those with AntiSocial Personality Disorder (APD)
-APD associated with reduced emotions, lack of empathy and feeling for others, and many convicted offenders have it
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Prefrontal cortex (Neural explanations for offending behaviour)
-Raine reported there are several dozen brain imaging studies demonstrating that individuals with antisocial personalities have reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex
-Prefrontal cortex regulates emotional behaviour
-Raine and colleagues found an 11% reduction in volume of grey matter in prefrontal cortex of people with APD than controls
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Mirror neurons (Neural explanations for offending behaviour)
-Keysers found that ony when APD offenders were asked to emphasise (with a person depicted on film experiencing pain) did their empathy reaction (Controlled by mirror neurons in the brain) activate.
-This suggests APD individuals are not completely without empathy but may have a neural 'switch' that can turn on or off unlike normal brain which is permanately turned on
45
Twin studies (Genetic explanations for offending behaviour) Weakness
-False assumption of equal environments
-Shared environment assumption applied to MZ twins more than DZ twins
-MZ twins look more similar thus people and parents treat them more similarly, then effects their behaviour
-Therefore higher concordance rates for MZs in twin studies may simply be because they are treated much more similarly than DZ twins , not genes
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Diathesis stress model (Genetic explanations for offending behaviour) Strength
-Mednick studied 13,000 Danish adoptees
-Convictions were 13.5% when neither biological or adoptive parents had convictios
-20% When a biological parent had convictions
-24.5% when both adoptive and biological parents had convictions
-This shows genetic inheritence is important but also environmental, supporting diathesis stress model of crime
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Prefrontal cortex (Neural explanations for offending behaviour) Strength
-Kandel and Freed reviewed evidence of frontal lobe damage including prefrontal cortex and antisocial behaviour
-People with damage here showed impulsive behaviour, emotional instability, and inability to learn from mistakes
-The frontal lobe is associated with planning behaviour
-This suports the idea that brain damage may be a casual factor in offending behaviour
-Suppports the frontal lobe affects offending behaviour thus, prefrontal cortex
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Neural explanations for offending behaviour weakness
-Link between neural differences and APD are complex
-Farrington studied a group of men who scored highly on APD
-These individuals eperienced various risk factors during childhood e.g raised by convicted parent, phsyically neglected
-It could be these experiences cause APD and the neural differences associated with it
-e.g Rauch states reduced activity in the frontal lobe due to trauma
-This suggests that neural differences, APD and offending is complex and there may be intervening variables that have an impact
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Psychological explanations : Eysenck's theory : 3 Categories
-Eyesnck noted behaviour could be represented along two dimensions
- E : Introversion - Extraversion
- N : Neuroticism - Stability
- (Later added) P: Psychoticism - Sociability
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Biological basis of Eysenck's theory
-Extraverts: underactive nervous system thus always seeking attnetion, more likely to have risky behaviour. Do not condition easily thus do not learn from mistakes
-Introverts :overaroused so do not seek attention
-Neurotics : High level of reactivity in sympathetic nervous system
Respond quick of threat in fight or flight
Tend to be nervous, jumpy, unpredictable behaviour
Psychotics: Higher levels of testosterone, unemotional and prone to agression (predicted less people )
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Criminal personality components (Eysenck's theory)
High E (extravert) , High N (neurotic) and High P (psychotics)
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The role of socialisation (Eysenck's theory)
-Personality is linked to offending behaviour via socialisation processes
- Devlopmentally immature and selfish concerns for immediate gratification
- Offenders are impatient
-Process of socialisation includes children being taught to become more able to delay gratification and become more socially orientated
-Eysenck believed those with high E and N scores had difficult to condition nervous systems
-Results in less likely to learn anxiety responses to antisocial impulses and then be more likely to act antisocially in situations where the opportunity presented itself
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Measuring the criminal personality (Eysenck)
- Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ)
-Locates respondents along the E, N and P dimensions to determine their personality type
-Allowed Eysenck to conduct research relating personality variables to other behaviours eg criminality
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Eysenck's theory strength
-Research support
-Eysenck and Eysenck compared 2070 prisoner's EPQ scores to 2422 controls
- On E,N and P
-All age groups sampled
-Prisoners had higher average scores
-Agrees with predictions that offender's rate higher than average across the 3 dimensions Eysenck proposed
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Eysenck's theory Strength Counterpoint
-Farrington conducted meta-analysis of studies and reported that offenders score high on P but not E or N
-Also Kusner found inconsistent evidence of differences in EEG measures between introverts and extroverts which casts doubt on the psychological basis of his theory
-Central assumptions of the criminal personality have been challenged
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Eysnck's theory weakness
-Too simplistic
-Moffit delineated offending behaviour: Adolescence limited (only as adult)
- :Life course persistent (Continues into adulthood
-She argued personality traits alone were a poor predictor of how long offending behaviour would go on for (whether someone would be a career offender)
-Considered persistent offending behaviour to be because of a reciprocal process between individual personaltiy traits And environmental reactions
-This presents more complex picture than Eysenck suggested , The course of offending behaviour is determined by the interaction of personality and environment
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Eysenck's theory weakness 2
-Cultural factors not taken into account
-Criminal personality may vary on culture
-Bartol and Holanchock studied Hispanic and African American offenders in a prison in New York
-Then divided offenders into 6 groups based on their offending history and the nature of offences
-Found all 6 groups to be less Extravert than a non offender control group, opposed to Eysenck's theory
-Batrol and Holanchock suggested it was due to the sample being very different cultural group than investigated by Eysenck
-This questions how far the criminal personality can be generalised and suggests it is a cultrally relative concept
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EPQ evaluation
-Quantified, easy, useful
-critics suggest personality is too complex to be quantified
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Psychological explanations for offending behaviour
Eysenck and Cognitive
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Biological explanations for offending behaviour
Atavistic form ,
Genetic and neural
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Cognitive explanations for offending behaviour
Level of moral reasoning and Cognitive distortions
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Moral development (Cognitive explanations for offending behaviour)
-Kohlberg first to apply moral reasoning to offending behaviour
-Based his theory on people's responses to a series of moral dilemmas e.g Heinz dilemma
-Many studies show offenders show a lower level of moral reasoning than non offenders
-Kohlberg found, using his moral dillemas, a group of violent youth who had significantly lower moral development, than non violent and even controlling social background
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Kohlberg's Modal theory of moral reasoning
Level 1: Pre-conventional morality
-Stage 1: Punishment Orientation
(Rules are orbeyed to avoid punishment)
-Stage 2: Instrumental orientation or personal gain
(Rules are obeyed for personal gain)
Level 2: Conventional morality
-Stage 3: 'Good boy' or 'Good girl' orientation
(Rules are obeyed for approval)
-Stage 4: Maintainence of social order
(Rules are obeyed to maintain social order)
Level 3: Post -conventional morality
-Stage 5: Morality of contract and individual rights
(Rules are challenged if they infringe rights of others)
-Stage 6: Morality of Conscience
(Individuals have a personal set of ethical principles)
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Offenders stage of moral reasoning
-Offenders normally classed as Pre-conventional level
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Offenders stage of moral reasoning
-Offenders normally classed as Pre-conventional level
-Non offendes at conventional level and beyond
-Adult offenders at pre conventional level commit crime to : get away with it, gain rewards eg money, respect. Child like reasoning
-This assumption is supported by studies which suggest offenders are more ego centric and display poorer social perspective taking skills (e.g Chandler)
-Individuals at higher levels sympathise more with rights of others and show more conventional behaviours of honesty, generosity and non violence
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2 types of Cognitive distortions cognitive explanations for offending behaviour
Hostile attribution bias and Minimalisation
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Hostile attribution bias
-Violent nature is associated with minsinterpreting actions of other people
-Assuming they are confrontational when theyre not
-Misreading non agressive cues e.g being looked at
-Schonenberg and Jusyte presented 55 violent offenders with emotionally ambgious facial expressions with non violent control group
-Offenders significantly more likely to perceieve them as agressive
-Behaviour also seen in childhood
-Dodge and Frame showed children video clip of an 'ambiguous prvocation'
'Agressive ' and 'rejected' children saw it as hostile compared to 'non agressive' and 'accepted' children
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Minimalisation
-Attempt to deny or downplay the seriousness of offence
-AKA Euphemistic labelling (Bandura)
-Burglars may say they were 'helping family' or 'doing a job'
-Studies suggest sexual offenders are prone to minimalisation
-Barbaree found among 26 incarcerated rapists, 54% denied and 40% minimised the harm
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Level of moral reasoning strength
-Research support
-Palmer and Hollin compared moral reasoning in 332 non offenders and 126 convicted offenders
-Used Socio Moral Reflection Measure Short Form (SRM-SF)
-11 moral diemma related questions e.g not stealing and keeping a promise
-Offender group showed less mature moral reasoning
-Validity to Kohlberg
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Level of moral reasoning Weakness
-May depend on type of offence
-Thorton and Reid found offence for financial gain (e.g robbery) were more likely to show pre-conventional moral reasoning than impulsive crimes (e.g assault)
-Pre conventional morality tends to be associated with crimes in which offenders believe they have a good chance of evading punishment
-This suggests that Kohlberg's theory many not apply to all forms of crime
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Level of moral reasoning extra
-Krebs and Denton found moral reasoning is more likely to be used to justify behaviour after it has happened
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Cognitive disortions strength
-Real world application for therapy
-Cognitive behaviour therapy challenges irrational thinking
-For crime, offenders are encouraged to 'face' their crime and establish a less distorted view of their actions
-Harkins suggests reduced denial and minimalisation is associated with reduced risk of reoffending
-As acceptence of ones crimes is an imprtant aspect of rehabilitation
-Suggests theory of cognitive distortions have practical value
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Cognitive distortions weakness
-Type of offence
-Howwit and Sheldon gathered questionairre responses from sexual offenders
-Contrary to what researchers predicted, non contact sex offenders used more cognitive distortions than contact sex offenders
-Those who had a previous history of offending were also more likely to use cognitive distortions as a justification
-This suggests cognitive distortions are not used in the same way by all offenders
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The Heinz Dilemma
-Woman dying from cancer
-Druggist paid 400 for radium but charged 4000 for small dose
-Heinz borrowed money but only made 2000
-Druggist refused negotiation despite dying wife
-Heinz considered breaking in store for drug
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Differential association theory
-Sutherland developed scientific principles that could explain all types of offending
-'The conditions which are said to cause crime should be present when crime is present and absent when crime is absent'
-Learning occurs through interactions with others who the child values most and spends time with e.g family & peers
-DAT suggests it is mathmatically possible to predict how likely it is an individual is to commit offences
-Need to know the frequency, intensity and duration of exposure to deviant and non deviant norms and values
-Can account for offending 'breeding' in specific social groups and communities
-Can account for why released convicts reoffend
-When in prison, offenders learn new techniques from more experienced offenders
-Learn from observational learning and imitation, or direct tuition from offending peers
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Differential association theory 2 factors
Learning attitudes
-Sutherland argues when there are more pro criminal attitudes than anti, they will go on to offend
-This is when socialised into a group, they are exposed to values and attitudes about the law
-Same vice versa for non offending
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Differential association theory research support
-Farrington conducted the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development
-A lonitudinal survey of the development of offending and antisocial behaviour in 411 boys
-Study began when they were 8 in 1961 and lived in a deprived inner city area of south London
-Of men sampled, 41% were convicted of at least one offence between 10 and 50
-Average conviction career lasted from 19 to 28 and 5 convictons
-Important risk factors at 8-10 for later offending included: Measures of family criminality, daring or risk taking, low school attainment, poverty and poor parenting.
-Small 7% classed as chronic offenders as responsible for half of all officially recorded offences in study
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Differental association theory Strength
-Shifted focus of offending explanations
-Sutherland moved from early biologial accounts of offending (e.g Lombrosos atavistic theory) and explanations that explained offending as the product of individual weakness to deviant social circumstances .
-Makes this approach more desirable as more realistic solution
instead of eugenics (biological solution) or punishment (morality solution)
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Differential association strength counterpoint
-Runs risk of stereotyping those who come from impoverished backgrounds, crime ridden as 'unavoidably offenders' , eventhough Sutherland highlighted significance of assessing offenders by an individual case by case basis
-Ignores the fact that people may choose not to offend despite such influences.
-Not everyone exposed to pro crime attitudes will offend
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Differential association strength 2
-Wide reach, can account for offending in all sectors of society
-Burglary may be clustered within inner city, working class communities as he identifies
-But some offences are common in more affluent (wealthy) groups
-e.g White collar or corporate offences and how this may be a feature in middle class social groups who share deviant norms and values
-Shows not just 'lower class' who commit offences and that the principles of differential association can be used to explain all offences
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Differential association weakness
-Difficult to test the predictions of differential association
-Sutherland aimed to provide mathmatical framework to predict future offending behaviour
-Therefore predictions must be testable
-But many concepts are not testable as they cannot be operationalised
-e.g hard to measure number of pro crime attitudes a person is exposed to
-Therefore cannot know when urge to offend is realised and offending career triggered
-Therefore lacks scientific credibility
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Psychodynamic explanation of offending
-Blackburn argued if the superego is deficicent then offending behaviour is inadequate becaue Id is uncontrolled
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3 Types of superego (Psychodynamic)
1.The weak Superego
2. The deviant superego
3. The overharsh superego
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The Weak Superego
If same gender parent is absent during phallic stage, a child cannot internalise a fully formed superego as there is no opportunity for identification. Makes offending behaviour more likely
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The deviant superego
If superego the child forms is immoral, it would lead to offending behaviour e.g boy raised by criminal father will not associate guilt with wrongdoing
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The overharsh superego
Rooted from overly harsh parenting which overwhelms child with guilt and anxiety. May unconsciously drive to offending behaviour to satisfy superego's need for punishment
87
The role of emotion in The inadequate superego
-The effect of an inadequate superoego allows primitive emotional demands to be uppermost in guiding moral behaviour
-This approach deals with emotional life of the individual e.g achknowldges anxiety and guilt in the development of offending behaviour
-Lack of guilt is studied for offending behaviour too
88
Theory of maternal deprivation (Psychodynamic)
-Maternal deprivation would lead to a personality type called Affectionless Psychopathy - lack of guilt, empathy and feelings for others
-Likely to engage in acts of delinquency (minor crime) and cannot develop relationships with others
89
Psychodynamic explanations for offending
The inadequate super ego
Theory of maternal deprivation
90
Theory of maternal deprivation explanation for offending behaviour research
-44 Juvenile thieves
-Through interviews with thieves and families, 14 of them showed signs of Affectionless Psychopathy
-Of the 14, 12 experinced prolonged seperation from mother during infancy (1-2 years old)
-In a non offender group, only 2 experienced maternal deprivation
-Bowlbly concluded the effects of maternal deprivation cause affectionless and offending behaviour among the thieves
91
Inadequate superego strength (Psychodynamic explanations)
-Research support
-Goreta conducted a Freudian style analysis of 10 offenders reffered to her for psychiatric treatment
-All those assessed had a disturbed superego diagnosed
-They had unconscious feelings of guilt and self punishment
-Overly harsh superego
-This supports the role of psychic conflicts and an over harsh superego as a basis for offending
92
Inadequate superego strength counterpoint (psychodynamic explanations)
-Central principles are not supported
-Kochanska found harsh parenting usually raise children who are rebelious and rarely express feelings of guilt or criticism
-Raises question of the relationship between a strict parent and an excessively guilty child
93
Inadequate superego weakness (psychodynamic explanations)
-Gender biased
-Implicit assumption is that girls develop a weaker superego than boys because of a lack of castration anxiety , and less pressure to identify with their mothers
-Therefore, according to Freud , their superego (and then morality) is less realised
-This would imply women are more prone to offending than men
-But in the UK 20 times more men are in prison than women
-Hoffman also found in a temptation study, girls are slightly more moral than boys
-Suggests alpha bias in Freud's theory and not appropriate for explaining offending behaviour
94
Maternal deprivation limitation (psychodynamic explanations)
-Bowby's theory is only based on an association between maternal deprivation and offending
-Lewis analysed data from interviews with 500 young people
and found maternal deprivation was a poor predictor of future offending and forming adult relationships
-Seperation and offending is not necessarily a casual relationship
-e.g seperation caused by poverty, then later offending
-Suggests maternal deprivation may be a reason for later offending, but not the only
95
Aims of custodial sentencing
-Deterrence
-Incapacitation
-Retribution
-Rehabilitation
96
Deterrence
1. General deterrence - Sends message to society that crime will not be tolerated
2. Individual deterrence - Prevents individual from repreating crime due to unpleasent experience
- Based on behaviourist view of conditioning through vicarious punishment
97
Deterrence
1. General deterrence - Sends message to society that crime will not be tolerated
2. Individual deterrence - Prevents individual from repreating crime due to unpleasent experience
- Based on behaviourist view of conditioning through vicarious punishment
98
Incapacitation
-Offender taken out of society to protect society
-Depends on severity e.g serial killer
99
Retribution
-Society enacts revenge for offence
-Biblical notion 'an eye for an eye'
-People criticise prison is better and alternatives of such are soft options
100
Rehabilitation
-Sees prison as an opportunity to reform, not punish (except retribution)
-Upon release , opporunities given to develop skills and training or treatment programmes
101
Psychological effects of custodial sentencing
-Stress and depression: Suicide rates and self harm is high. The stress also increases risk of psychological disorders upon release
-Institutionalisation: Cannot function outside having being used to prison norms
-Prisonisation : Prisoners are socialised into adopting an 'inmate code' . Behaviour that is unacceptable in the outside world but praised inside
102
Word for reoffending
Recidivism
103
Recidivism
-UK figure of 45% (Yukhnenko)
-Varies with time period after release, age, crie committed and country
-US ,Austrailia and Denmark often record rates of 60%
-Norway low as 20% (Yukhnenko)
-Norway also has less emphasis on incarceration, more on rehabilitation and skills develpment
104
Custodial sentencing weakness
-Negative psychological effects on prisoners
-Bartol suggested imprisonment can be 'brutal,demeaning and generally devestating'
-Ministry of Justice reported 119 people killed themselves in prison in England and Wales in 2016 , an increase of 29 to 2015
-Equates to 1 suicide every 3 days, 9 times higher than in the general population
-Most at risk are young single men during first 24 hours
-Study by Prison Reform trust found that 25% of women and 15% of men in prison reported symptoms of psychosis (schizophrenia)
-Supports the view that opressive prison regimes may be detrimental to psyhological health which could impact rehabilitiation
105
Custodial sentencing weakness counter
-Prison Reform Study does not include number of inmates who had experienced psychlogical symptoms before being incarcerated
-Many had pre existing psychological and emotional difficulties at time of conviction
-Imporation model argues prisoners may import some of their psychological problems , so we do not know if its problem with prison regime or something else
-e.g trauma of locked away , regardless of prison
-Suggests confounding variables that influence link between prison and psychological effects
106
Strength of custodial sentencing
-Provides opportunity for training and treatment
-Offenders may become better people during prison, improved character, leading to crime free life when back in society
-Many offenders access education and training whilst in prison increasing possibilty of employment upon release
-The Vera Institute of Justice (Shirley) claims offenders who take part in college education programmes are 43% less likely to reoffend , and prisoners who offer programmes report fewer incidents of violence
-Suggests prison is a worthwhile experience assuming offenders access programmes
107
Limitation for custodial sentencing 2
-Offenders may learn to become better offenders
-Incerceration with long term offenders may give younger inmates the opportunity to learn 'tricks of the trade' from more experienced prisoners
-May also acquire criminal contacts whilst in prison that they may follow up when released
-This may undermine attempts to rehabilitate prisoners make reoffending more likely
108
Behaviour modification in custody
-Behaviourist approach; All behaviour is learned
-Therefore can encourage unlearning of behaviour
-Uses token economy
-Through positive and negative reinforcement
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Token economy
-Based on operant conditioning
-Tokens rewarded everytime prisoner enacts desirable behaviour e.g keeping tidy
-Behaviours and rewards made clear before programme implemented
-Also emphasise non compliance result in tokens (and associated priveleges) would be removed as a form of punishment
-Tokens are secondary reinforcers
-Reward associated e.g extra food are Primary reinforcers
110
Designing and using a Token economy
Operationalise target behaviours.
Target behaviours operationalised by breaking down into component parts e.g Improved interactions turn into, not touching when walk past, speaking politely etc
-Units of behaviour should be objective and measurable and agreed with staff and inmates in advance
Scoring system
-Staff and system made aware of how much each behaviour is worth due to a hierarhy e.g patricipating is higher than not swearing
-some may reward tokens directly and some may reward points that can be converted into tokens
-Gendreau recommends reinforcements should outnumber punishments by a ratio of 4:1
Train Staff
-May involve several hours for a number of weeks
-Aim is to standardise the procedures so all prison staff are rewarding behaviours in the same way
-Staff must record when tokens are given so progress of individuls can be assessed
111
3 ways to design and use a token economy
Operationalise target behaviours
Scoring System
Train Staff
112
Token economy weakness (Behaviour modification in custody)
-Cohen and Filipczak found that long term effects are less certain than the short terms
-Found that token economy group showed more desirable behaviour than control group in adult prison
-Even though reesearchers noted those who took part in programm were less likely to offend 2 years later , after 3 years , recidivsm rates returned back to national statsitics
-Behaviour modification may delay recidivsm, but has little impact in long term
113
Token economy strength (Behaviour modification in custody)
-Evidence
-Hobbs and Holt introduced token economy programme with groups of young offenders across 3 behavioural units and 4th as a control
-Observed significnat difference in positive behaviour compared to non token group
-Field also found a token economy used for young people with behavioural problems was generally effective though some did not respond.
-Later these youths were put on a special programme where rewards were more immediate and frequent, creating more positive results
-Suggests token economies do work
114
Token economy strength Counterpoint (Behaviour modification in custody)
-Success of system depends on consistent approach from prison staff
-Bassett and Blanchard found any benefits were lost if staff applied techniques inconsistently
-They claimed it was due to factors such as lack of approrpriate staff training or high staff turnover (quitters)
-Suggests behaviour modification schemes must ensure full and consistent staff participation if they are to work
115
Token economy strength 2
-Easy to implement
-No need for a specialist professional to be involved as for other forms of treatment e.g anger management
-Can be designed and implemented anyone in any institution
-Cost effective
-Suggests that behaviour modification techniques can be established in most prisons and accessed by most prisoners
116
Token economy weakness 2
-May not effect long term behaviour
-Blackburn states behaviour modification has 'little rehabilitve vaule'
-Positive changes in behaviour are quickly lost when released
-More cognitive based treatments e.g anger management will lead to more permanent change
-Such treatments require understanding cause of offending and take responsibility for their own rehabilitation
-For token, offenders can easily play along with the system for rewards but produces little change to character overall
-May explain why once the token economy is discontinued, the offender will regress to their former behaviour
117
Token economy ethics issues
-Moya and Atchenberg describe behaviour modification as manipulative and dehumanising
-Participation is obligatory than optional
-Human rights campaigners argue that withdrawl of priveleges such as excercise and contact with loved ones is unethical
118
Selective reinforcment
Breaking down desirable behaviours into small steps and progressively reinforce them
119
Anger management
Cognitive behaviour therapy
120
Cognitive behaviour therapy (anger management)
-Novaco suggested cognitive factors trigger emotional arousal then agressive acts
-In behaviourist terms, becoming angry is reinforced by the individual's feeling of control in that situation
-Anger management is a form of CBT
-Taught how to recognise cognitive factors that trigger their anger and then encouraged to develop techniques which bring conflict resolution without violence
121
3 stages of anger management
1) Cognitive preperation
2)Skills aquisition
3)Application practice
122
Cognitive preparation
-Offender reflects on past experience and considers typical pattern of anger
-Learns to identify those situations which trigger anger and if their interpretation of the event is irrational, therapist makes it clear
-e.g looking perceived as confrontational
-As therapist redefines situation as non threatening, therapist attempts to break the automatic response
123
Skills acquisition
-Range of techniques to help deal with anger provoking situations more rationally e.g
-Cognitive
Positive self talk e.g counting to ten
-Behavioural
Training in how to communicate more effectively which will become automatic response if practiced regularly
-Physiological
Deal with the physical reaction to anger such as relaxation training or mediation
Aim to control emotional than being controlled by emotions
124
Application practice
-Offenders practice skills within a carefully controlled environment
-Uses role play
-Offender must be committed to see scenarios as real
-Therapist must be brave to anger the offender to assess their progress
-If offender is successful, positive reinforcement is given by therapist
125
Anger management strength
-Keen studied progress of young offenders aged 17 and 21 who took part in National Anger Management Package
-Developed by England and Wales Prison Service
- 8 two hour sessions
-First 7 over 3 week period and last a month afterwards
-Although offenders initially did not take course seriously and individuals forgot routines such as bringing diary, final outcomes were positive
-Offenders reported awareness of their anger management difficulties and increase capacity to excercise self control
126
Anger management strength 2
-Ireland compared progress of two groups of offenders
-1 group from National Anger Management Package
-1 non treatment
-After 12 sessions, outcomes assessed by 3 measures: an interview, behaviour checklist completed by prison officers and self report questionnaire
-Researchers found that 92% of experimental group showed improvement on at least one measure
-48% showed improvement on checklist and self report
-No improvement in control group
127
Anger management strength 3
-Benefits may outlast behaviour modification
-Tackles causes of offending (cognitive processes) not just solely behaviour
-Gives insight into cause of their criminality and allow them to self discover ways of managing themselves outside the prison setting
-Suggests anger management is more likely than behaviour modification to lead to permanent behavioural change
128
Anger management strength 3 counter point
-Follow up studies do not support the likely hood of permanent behavioural change
-Blackburn states anger management effects the conduct of offenders in short term, there is little evidence it deuces recidivism in short term
-May be due to role playing situations not reflecting real world triggers
-e.g busy pub vs therapy
-Suggest anger management may not reduce reoffending
129
Anger management limitation
-Success may depend on individual factors
-Howells conducted investigation with Australian offenders
-Found that participation in anger management programme had little overall impact compared to control group
-Except progress with offenders who showed intense levels of anger prior and offenders highly motivated : treatment readiness
-Suggests anger management may only benefit offenders who fit a certain profile
130
Anger management limitation
-Expensive as they require the services of highly trained specialist who are used to dealing with violent offenders
-For this reason many prisons may not have resources to fund such programmes
-Also success is based on commitment of those who participate this a problem of prisoners who are uncooperative and apathetic
-Change takes time and also leads to the expense of delivering effective programmes
Suggests anger management programmes are probably not going to work in most prisons
131
Anger management limitation 2
-Approach suggests there is a casual relationship between anger and offending
-Loza and Fanous found no differences in levels of angers between “violent” offenders and “non violent”
-They also suggested anger management programmes may be misguided as they provide offenders a justification for their behaviour
132
Restorative justice programmes
-Historically criminal offences regarded as committing a crime against the state
-Changed emphasis from needs of the state to the needs of the victim
State - enforces law and punish
Individual - to compensate and come to terms with crime
-Seen as a healing process
-Braithwaite “Crime hurts, Justice should heal”
-Less about retribution more about reparation
-Aims to focus on the Victim if the crime and their recovery, and the offender and their recovery/ rehabilitation process
133
Key features of restorative justice programmes
-Trained mediator supervisor
-Non courtroom setting where offenders voluntarily meet survivors
-Face to face or remote
-Survivor confronts the offender and explain how the incident affected them. Enables offended to comprehend the consequences of their actions included emotional distress
-Active rather than passive involvement of all parties
-Focus on positive outcomes for both survivors and offenders
-Other relevant community members may have a role in the process e.g neighbours, friends or family members
-They can all explain effects of the crime
134
Restorative sentencing and restitution
-May occur pre trial and offenders involvement may be considered during sentencing
-Can function alongside a prison sentence or alternative to prison (especially young offender)
-Can be an incentive to reduce length if a sentence
-Traditionally seen as a payment for the harm resulting from offence
-Therefore may make financial restitution to survivor which may reflect psychological or physical damage
-Other variations may involve the offender repairing damaged property themselves
-Offender can support the healing process by repairing and rebuilding survivors confidence or self esteem
135
RJC
-Restorative Justice Council
-Independent body who’s role is to establish clear standards for use of restorative justice
-Supports survivors and specialist professions in the field
-RJC advocates the use of restorative practice beyond dealing with crime
-Can be used in preventing and managing conflict in areas such as schools, children’s services, work places, hospitals and communities
136
Restorative justice strength
-Positive outcomes
-Restorative Justice Council (Shapland) reported 85% of survivors reported satisfaction with meeting their offender
-78% would recommend it to other people experiencing similar situation
-60% felt it made them feel better about the incident, enabling closure and moving on
-Only 2% said it made them feel worse
-Suggests restorative justice achieves some of its aims helping survivors of crime cope with aftermath
137
Restorative justice strength Counter point
-Not all research is positive
-Wood and Suziki argue that restorative processes are not as survivor focused as often reported in satisfaction surveys
-Researchers say the processes can be distorted and survivors of crime are used to help rehabilitate offenders then, themselves
-Suggests the survivors use in restorative justice may be seen as secondary to the need to rehabilitation offenders
138
Restorative justice Strength 2
-Leads to a decrease in rates of recidivism
-Strangs’ meta-analysis of 10 studies compared offenders who experienced face to face restorative justice schemes with those who just experienced custodial sentencing
-RJ group was significantly less likely to reoffend
-Reduction was larger in violent crime offenders than crimes against property
-Bains’ review of 24 published studies found lowered recidivism rates with adult offenders especially when using one to one contact rather than general community involvement
-Suggests that restorative justice has a positive impact on reoffending (maybe for some types of offence more than others)
139
Restorative justice weakness
-Offenders may abuse the system
-Success of the system depends on the offenders genuine intentions
-Gijseghem suggests that offenders may use restorative justice for all kinds of reasons: avoiding punishment, playing down faults
-Explains why not all offenders benefit from restorative justice and go on to offend
140
Restorative justice evaluation (domestic abuse)
-National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) does not support restorative justice in cases of domestic violence
-Liebman argues that the power imbalance between abuser and abused puts pressure on survivors who may fear the worst if they do not go along with their partners suggestions during mediation
-But sen argues restorative approaches are useful in cases of intimate partner violence where a couple have chosen to remain together so they can address harm and plan for future
141
Restorative justice evidence
-Sherman and Strang compared 36 studies of restorative justice with conventional justice such as prison
-Found reductions in reoffending rates for violent and property crimes specifically
-PTSD in victims were reduced and all parties reported greater satisfaction compared to conventional justice
-Suggests restorative justice may have positive outcomes for victims and offenders
