Forensic Psychology Flashcards

Question

Who developed the bottom-up approach?

Answer 1

David Canter (1990) in Britain

Answer 2

- Investigative psychology - Geographical profiling

Answer 3

- Looks at patterns in the location and timing of offences to make judgements about links between crimes and suggestions about where offenders live and work

Answer 4

- Circle theory proposes that offenders commit crimes within an imagined circle

Answer 5

Two types of offenders: - Marauder - Commuter

Answer 6

- An offender whose home is within the area the crimes were committed - Most common

Answer 7

- An offender who travels to another area to commit a crime, usually over large areas - Crossing cultural and psychological boundaries and involves complex hunting strategies

Answer 8

Canter (2003), developed a computerised system called Dragnet, which used information about the location of offences to predict where and offender is likely to live

Answer 9

- The implementation of psychological theory with statistical procedures to analyse crime scene evidence - Helps establish patterns of behaviour that are likely to occur This will form a statistical database of co-existing behaviours across crime scenes that can be used as a baseline of comparison for future crimes - Specific details of these future crimes can be matched against the database to reveal important details about the offender, including their family background or any personal history for example - Using this database can also help identify whether crimes are linked

Answer 10

- David Canter was approached by the police to help in an investigation into a series of rapes and murders in London in the mid 1980s. - Using information on the crimes supplied by the police, Canter applied psychological principles to suggest where the offender was living (in the area of the first three attacks), the type of job he did (semi-skilled labour, possibly connected to the railways), the sort of social life he had (a loner with only one or two close male friends) and his history of offending. - Canter’s profile allowed the police to review their list of suspects and prioritise John Duffy for further investigation. He was placed under observation and subsequently arrested, charged, tried and convicted. - John Duffy carried out 24 sexual attacks and 3 murders of women in North London - Canter analysed the geographical details and the evidence drew up a surprisingly accurate profile BUT this didn’t lead directly to Duffy’s arrest The contribution to the case was to help the police narrow down their list of thousands of suspects and to target their subsequent investigations more effectively.

Answer 11

- Copson stated that 75% found it useful at narrowing down suspects

Answer 12

Rossmo said that Bottom-Up approach helps to target individuals that otherwise might not have been identified

Answer 13

More holistic than Top-Down approach (draws on a variety of psychological methods)

Answer 14

Increased validity Statistical basis makes this more reliable Can be applied to a wide range of offences

Answer 15

Copson (1975) Surveyed 48 UK police forces 75% said profilers advice had been useful Only 3% said it actually helped to catch the correct offender

Answer 16

- Canter & Larkin found in 45 sexual assaults, 91% were marauders - this may suggest that this is too generic and may apply to too many people - Simplifying an imagined circle is also problematic and may not be as scientific as suggested

Answer 17

A historical approach used to explain criminal behaviour, based on biological factors Suggests that some people are born with a criminal personality and that criminals can be identified by the way they look

Answer 18

Proposed by Lombroso (1890s)

Answer 19

Lombroso (1876)

Answer 20

Aim: to identify distinguishing physical features among male criminals, which set them apart as offenders Method: examined the features and measurements of nearly 4000 criminals & skulls of 400 dead criminals Results: 40% of those examined had atavistic features Conclusion: These characteristics indicated that such people were more primitive in an evolutionary sense - such individuals were not responsible for their actions as it was down to their innate, inherited physiology

Answer 21

Narrowing brow Prominent jaw High cheekbones Facial asymmetry Curly hair Long ears

Answer 22

Bloodshot eyes Curly hair Long ears

Answer 23

Glinting eyes Fleshy lips Projecting ears

Answer 24

Thin Reedy

Answer 25

Shorter More Wrinkled Darker hair Smaller skulls

Answer 26

Found that prisoners behaviour had improved following facial surgery Those who had surgery - recidivism rate of 42% Those who did not have surgery - recidivism rate of 70% Those who had facial surgery tended to do better on release from prison than those who did not

Answer 27

Tall and thin - petty thieves Tall and muscular - crimes of violence Short and fat - crimes of deception & sometimes violence More than one type - crimes against mortality (e.g. prostituion)

Answer 28

Lombroso was the first person to bring science and biology of a person to the study of crime Use of evidence to support theory - proposed from his own observations of criminals This led to investigating further biological explanations such as genes and structure of the brain.

Answer 29

Unscientific approach Correlation does not mean causation Emphasised the criminal stereotype Lack of control during Lombroso’s experiment - didn’t pay the same attention to criminals and those outside of prison Determinism - is there no free will on whether an individual commits an offence?

Answer 30

DeLisi (2012) branded this theory as racist - because an individual has those features it does not make them a criminal e.g. African Americans are more likely to be criminals because they have curly hair?

Answer 31

Goring (1913) tested the atavistic form using 3000 criminals and compared them to 3000 non-criminals He found no difference between the groups in terms of facial characteristics

Answer 32

- Propose that one or more genes predispose individuals to criminal behaviour

Answer 33

An enzyme that breaks down neurotransmitters in the synapse

Answer 34

To send signals from the cell to produce the MAOA enzyme

Answer 35

- As it metabolises neurotransmitters (e.g. serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline) in the brain after a nerve impulse, it breaks them down to be recycled or excreted

Answer 36

A low expression variant of the MAOA-Gene found in some humans

Answer 37

- It means there will be less MAOA produced

Answer 38

- Affects neurotransmitter levels (including serotonin and dopamine) which affects brain activity in important parts of the brain like the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex

Answer 39

- Studied 28 males from a large Dutch family who were repeatedly involved in impulsively aggressive violent criminal behaviour - It was found that these men had abnormally low levels of MAOA in their brains and the low activity version of the MAOA gene - This research supports the role of MAOA in aggression as when this gene is not functioning correctly, individuals display agressive behaviour

Answer 40

- Genetically engineered mice with low MAOA levels. - They found the mice had abnormal serotonin levels and behaviour. As adult mice they demonstrated increased levels of aggression and were aggressive during mating. - Mice and humans are physiologically different and so, although there seems to be a genetic basis for aggression in mice, it doesn’t mean that such findings can be generalised to humans.

Answer 41

MAOA-L variant -> Can't break down the chemicals as well -> Large quantities of these chemicals in the brain -> Impulsiveness and loss of control-leading to offending

Answer 42

- Looked at over 3500 twin pairs in Denmark: - Both Males and Females: Concordance rate of MZ twins (identical) were more than double DZ twins (non-identical) - The males had higher concordance rates for both MZ and DZ twins due to only being to obtain the X-chromosome from your mother rather than a mix of both parents - Christiansen found higher concordance rates of criminal behaviour among MZ twin pairs compared to DZ twin pairs - This suggests that there is an element of heritability to criminal behaviour - However, the concordance rates are relatively low, suggesting that genes are not enough when it comes to offending

Answer 43

- Investigated the genetic contribution to offending behaviour, using twins who have been separated shortly after birth and grew up in different environments. - 32 MZ twin pairs that grew up separately for his study. The twins were assessed though tests and interviews in terms of alcohol problems, drug problems and symptoms related to antisocial behaviour in childhood and adulthood - Grove found significant positive correlations between genetic influences and symptoms of childhood antisocial behaviour (0.28) and adulthood antisocial behaviour (0.41). These results indicate similarity in terms of antisocial behaviour among the twins. - However, the correlations are low to moderate, even though the twins shared 100% of the same genes; this again indicates a significant contribution of environmental factors as well.

Answer 44

- Modern understanding of genetic influence no longer proposes that one or even a few genes alone will determine behaviour - Someone may have biological tendencies towards crimes, but they will need some sort of environmental trigger to actually become a criminal

Answer 45

- Differences in neurotransmitter levels e.g. higher levels of noradrenaline have been linked to violence and aggression - Low levels of serotonin have been linked to greater impulsivity - Mainly focuses on individuals with antisocial personality disorder

Answer 46

- Raine is a psychologist who conducted research using PET scanning and found abnormalities in some parts of the brain in violent criminals - Most criminals in these studies had APD - Raine discovered that that these individuals have reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, the part of the brain that regulates emotional behaviour - They find it difficult to control their impulses and do not suffer from guilt or remorse

Answer 47

- The volume of the prefrontal grey and white matter in the brains of 21 people with APD and 21 without APD was measured using an MRI scan. - All 42 participants had their autonomic activity measured through the measuring of their heart rate and skin conductance while they were put into a stressful situation through videotaping them talking about their faults. - A reduced amount of grey matter (11%) was found in the pre-frontal area of the APD group in comparison to the control group. - The APD group also showed a reduced autonomic response during the stressful situation

Answer 48

- Cited 71 brain imaging studies showing that murderers, psychopaths and violent individuals have reduced functioning in the prefrontal cortex - This is the area involved in regulating emotions, planning, personality, decision making and controlling moral behaviour - Low activity in this area is associated with impulsiveness and loss of control - Given that the frontal lobe is associated with planning behaviour and emotional regulation, this suggests a causal relationship between brain damage and criminal behaviour

Answer 49

- Investigated whether there was any difference in the brain activity of murderers and non-murderers - Sample was 41 violent murderers and 41 non murderers - Using PET scanning techniques, Raine found differences in brain activity in the prefrontal cortex and areas of the limbic system (amygdala, thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus etc)

Answer 50

- The theory that offending and criminal behaviour is genetically predisposed is biologically deterministic and may be in an issue when prosecuting offenders - Identifying possible biological precursors would mean that a person cannot be held responsible for their behaviour, because they have no control over their biology and the manifestation of those genetics - Only in extreme circumstances (e.g., a severe mental disorder) is a person judged to lack responsibility for a crime, but the real world application of this theory poses a problem for law and the justice system

Answer 51

- Farrington et al. (2006) found that men who scored highly on psychopathy (APD), also experienced various risk factors during childhood, including being raised by a convicted parent, and being physically neglected - Rauch et al. (2006) furthered these findings, suggesting that the early trauma may have caused the reduced activity in the frontal lobe, in turn causing APD and some of the other neural differences associated with this - These findings make the evidential link between criminality and APD more complex than originally stated

Answer 52

- Mednick et al. (1984) found support for the diathesis-stress model of criminality from studying 13,000 Danish adoptees with the following results: - 13.5% of adoptees had convictions when neither biological or adoptive parents did - 20% of adoptees had convictions when only the biological parents did - 24.5% of adoptees had convictions when both the biological and adoptive parents had convictions - The steady rise in rates of convictions shown in this study suggest that biological predispositions should be considered alongside environmental Influences in understanding criminality

Answer 53

Within this theory it says that our personality is innate and has a biological basis Personality is genetic - we inherit a type of nervous system that predisposes us to offending Halfway house between psychological approach and biological influences (AQA labels psychological)

Answer 54

Suggests that all personalities are made up of certain traits (characteristics) and the extent to which you have those traits determines your personality

Answer 55

Neurotic Extravert Psychoticism

Answer 56

PEN Psychoticism, Extraversion, Neuroticism

Answer 57

Social Impulsive Expressive Risk taking Talkative Outgoing

Answer 58

Happy on their own Cautious Reflective Self-aware Take time making decisions

Answer 59

- Due to chronically under-aroused nervous system which leads to sensation seeking - So requite greater external stimulation hence more risky behaviour - This results in the impulsive and nervous nature - Extraversion do not condition easily and do not learn from mistakes - The thrill of committing a crime might draw them to offedning behaviour - So in extraverts CNS is less responsive

Answer 60

- Higher levels of cortical activity than extraverts so require less external stimulation explaining why they are less outgoing and take less risks - CNS is highly responsive

Answer 61

Nervousness Obsessiveness Anxiety irritable

Answer 62

Calm Carefree attitude reliable

Answer 63

Have greater activation and lower thresholds within the Limbic System Over-aroused SNS (Sympathetic Nervous System) where emotional states are regulated (such as fear and aggression) React swiftly and strongly to stressors Instability means their behaviour is difficult to predict with high levels of emotion More likely to commit a crime in an emotionally charged situation

Answer 64

Cold Heartless Aggressive Anti-social behaviour Insensitive Unemotional

Answer 65

Empathetic Deliberate Disciplined Kind-hearted

Answer 66

Excess of dopamine neurons causing overproduction of dopamine Leads to inhibition of impulses during synaptic transmission potentially causing aggressive behaviour Hormones such as testosterone also implicated in the psychotic personality Increased levels of testosterone More likely to commit a crime as they are aggressive and lack conscience

Answer 67

Eysenck explained criminality in terms of the outcome between innate personality and socialisation A person is born with certain personality traits, but interaction with the environment is key in the development of criminality Criminal behaviour is associated with developmental immaturity, selfishness and immediate gratification Socialisation = where children are taught to become able to delay gratification and become more socially oriented

Answer 68

A child is conditioned Child learns sense of right and wrong Child avoids behaviour which leads to punishment Child controls own impulses

Answer 69

are more likely to act antisocially

Answer 70

Inclusion of a falsification scale provides for the detection of response distortion The ‘lie score’ is out of 9 Measures how socially desirable you are trying to be in your answers Those who score 5 or more on this scale are probably trying to make themselves look good and not being completely honest

Answer 71

The ‘E score’ is out of 24 and measures how much of an extrovert you are. The ‘N score’ is out of 24 and measures how neurotic you are. To interpret the scores, your E score and your N score are plotted on a graph from which you can read your personality characteristics. The nearer the outside of the circle you are, the more marked are the personality traits. Please note that the EPI is a very simplistic type of personality measurement scale, so if you have come out as a personality that does not match what you thought before you took the test, you are probably right and the test is probably wrong

Answer 72

- Farrington et al (1982) reviewed 16 studies and found that offenders tend to score highly on P measures and N, but not always on E . These findings therefore do not fully support Eysenck's theory for all three traits. - Suggests E scales measures sociability and impulsiveness and criminal behaviour is associated with impulsivesness but not sociability. - There is also very little evidence of consistent differences in EEG measures (used to measure cortical arousal) between extraverts and introverts, which casts doubt on the biological basis of Eysneck’s theory - There are inconsistent differences between the EEG measures between E and I

Answer 73

Eysenck studied mainly white western European participants, guilty of property crimes (doesn’t measure personality for serious crimes). Researchers found that a group of Hispanic convicts were less extravert compared to non-criminals (a control group), which suggests that Eysenck’s theory is not universal and so lacks generalisability to all cultures.

Answer 74

Oversimplification It is unlikely that there is only one criminal personality type, as suggested by Digman’s Five Factor Model which suggests that there are additional dimensions along which personality can be measured.

Answer 75

A series of progressively more logically consistent stages. An individual uses their own value system to think about whether an action is right or wrong.

Answer 76

Moral stories for measuring level of moral reasoning

Answer 77

Criminal offenders are more likely to be classified at the pre conventional level

Answer 78

- Babies have no concept of right and wrong - Morality develops as we grow up, but does not happen all at once - Morality is a spectrum - Kohlberg investigated morality. He was unsatisfied with behaviourist and psychodynamic theories - Kohlberg was influenced by the work of Piaget that saw development as going through stages

Answer 79

Level 1: Pre conventional Level 2: Conventional Level 3: Post Conventional

Answer 80

- People making moral decisions based on the principles of knowing right from wrong, and doing what is right for “personal gain” or a “reward”. (Often how children and criminals think)

Answer 81

- Heinz should not steal the drug as he will get into trouble for it - Heinz should steal the drug so that his wife can get better and cook for him again

Answer 82

People making moral decisions in reference to what other people think of them, which often entails obeying social conventions and norms

Answer 83

Heinz should not steal the drug as he will end up in prison which means that people who know him will think badly of him Heinz has a duty to save his wife' so he should steal the drug but Heinz should be prepared to accept the penalty for breaking the law

Answer 84

Doing what is right even if it is against the law because the law is too restrictive, or because our inner conscious knows the principles of justice, equality and sacredness of life.

Answer 85

Heinz has a duty to save his wife' so he should steal the drug but Heinz should be prepared to accept the penalty for breaking the law Heinz should steal the drug to save his wife because preserving human life is a higher moral obligation than preserving property

Answer 86

- Kohlberg hoped to discover how moral reasoning changed as people grew older - The sample comprised 72 Chicago boys aged 10 - 16 years, 58 of whom where followed up at three-yearly intervals for 20 years - Each boy was given a 2-hour interview based on the ten dilemmas - Kohlberg was interested in the reasons given for the decision. He found that these reasons tended to change as the children got older

Answer 87

- Demonstrated that his moral stages were universal as he later studied children in Britain, Mexico, Turkey and USA, amongst others - Palmer and Hollin (1998) - compared moral reasoning between 210 female non-offenders, 112 male non-offenders and 126 convicted offenders. The offenders showed less mature moral reasoning than the non-delinquent groups. - Thorton and Reid (1982) - pre-conventional moral reasoning tends to be associated with crimes such as robbery - Understanding this can be useful in shaping intervention programmes

Answer 88

- Gibbs proposed an alternative-theory only two levels of moral reasoning - The level of moral reasoning may depends on the kind of offence committed - Does moral reasoning necessarily lead to moral behaviour? Theory is based on thinking, not our actual actions - Sampling issues - much of Kohlberg’s researched focused on males - Beta Bias, Ethnocentric

Answer 89

- An offender’s biased/dysfunctional thinking about their offence serves to legitimise behaviour and maintain a positive view of the self - With criminal behaviour, such distortions allow an offender to deny or rationalise their behaviour

Answer 90

- Errors or biases in people’s informational processing characterised by irrational thinking - Ways of thinking so that reality has become twisted and what we perceive no longer represents what is actually true - A person’s perception of events if wrong, but they think it is accurate

Answer 91

- Hostile attribution bias - Minimalisation

Answer 92

- Suggests offenders misinterpret social cues and justify their actions to by attributing cause to the victim, e.g. an unprovoked act is justified on the grounds that the victim did something to initiate the violence - Violence is caused by the perception that other people’s acts are aggressive - People may be perceived as being confrontational when they are not, this may trigger disproportionate violent response - When someone has a leaning towards always thinking the worst - In this case of offenders, such negative interpretations can be linked to their aggressive or violent behaviour

Answer 93

See as guy pulling up his trousers + Experience negative thoughts (”He’s getting ready to fight me”) = Aggressive behaviour

Answer 94

Wegrzyn et al (2017) Schonenberg and Justye (2014)

Answer 95

- 62 males (30 violent criminals, 15 with a history of sexual abuse and 17 controls) - Shown 20 ambiguous faces (10 male and 10 female) and asked to rate fear and anger - The violent criminals rated the face as angry more often than the control group

Answer 96

- 55 violent offenders were presented with images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions - Violent offenders were more likely to perceive images as angry, than non-violent criminals

Answer 97

- Downplaying the seriousness of an offence - Some will underplay their offences, offenders justify offence to themselves by playing down the significance of their act, e.g. suggesting injuries inflicted in a vicious assault were mild - This bias acts to reduce an offender’s feel of guilt - Helps the individual to accept the consequences of their behaviour - Research suggests that individuals who commit sexual offences are particularly prone to minimalisation

Answer 98

“It won’t really affect their life”, “I was doing it for my family”

Answer 99

Kohlberg Barbaree (1991) Pollock and Hashmall (1991)

Answer 100

- Conducted a longitudinal study over a period of 12 years - 75 young American males aged 10-16 years old at the start of the stage and were aged 22-28 by the end - 10% of adults reach the post-conventional level - Majority of criminals do not progress from the pre-conventional level of moral reasoning - Found that a group of violent youths were significantly lower in their moral development than non-violent youths

Answer 101

- Among 26 imprisoned rapists - 98% exhibited some denial or minimalisation - With 54% denying they had committed an offence at all - 40% minimising the harm they had caused the victim

Answer 102

- 35% of child molesters in their sample argued the crime they have committed was non-sexual - 36% claimed the victim had consented

Answer 103

- Understanding cognitive distortions may help to inform interventions and treatment programmes e.g. Cartwright & Craig (2022) found that sex offenders with low empathy were more likely to use cognitive distortions thus empathy-targeted programmes could be used to reframe their thinking - Cognitive explanations of criminality can be used to predict the likelihood of someone reoffending as they highlight the extent to which an offender has been rehabilitated e.g. by them showing remorse for their offence

Answer 104

- Attempting to quantify and measure cognitive distortions is problematic: thoughts are subjective and open to interpretation plus using self-report methods is rife with sources of bias (e.g. social desirability bias, response bias, self-serving bias) - Cognitive explanations which hinge on the Hostile Attribution Bias and minimalisation may point out what characterises offending behaviour but not *why* thus they lack explanatory power - Most research relies on hypothetical stories to determine response - this is unlike real aggression in a real-life situation

Answer 105

- Through socialisation, learning from people around them, individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques and motivation for criminal behaviour - Differential Association theory suggests that it is possible to predict the likelihood of an individual committing a crime by identifying the frequency, intensity and duration of exposure to deviant, pro-value crimes

Answer 106

Proposed that if an individual is socialised with more pro-crime values (praising or highlighting the positives of crime), compared to anti-crime attitudes (criticising and highlighting the negative consequences of crime), they will go on to offend

Answer 107

- Learned attitudes towards crime - Learning of specific criminal acts

Answer 108

- Pro-crime attitude = criminality - If the number of pro-criminal attitudes a person acquires outweighs the number of anti-criminal attitudes, they will go on to offend - Can carry out a simple calculation to predict the likelihood of someone comitting a crime - Just need to know: frequency, intensity and duration of their exposure to criminal and non-criminal norms and values

Answer 109

- An example of differential association theory is the mafia: people become mafia members by growing up within its culture - Organised crime families exist in almost all parts of the world, although the Italian-American Mafia is the most commonly known due to its depiction popular culture

Answer 110

- How to spot the signs of an empty house - How to disable a car alarm - It could explain why so many criminals re-offend once released from prison, as they could have learned through their criminal peers - Learning can happen through observation, imitation or direct tuition which could explain why certain crimes tend to expand in certain areas and communities

Answer 111

- Followed 441 males, who at the beginning of the study, were all living in a working-class deprived inner-city area of South London - This was prospective longitudinal study of the development of offending and antisocial behaviour in 411 males - The study started when they were 8 in 1961 - The most significant childhood risk factors at age 8-10 for later offending were family criminality, daring or risk taking, low school attainment, poverty and poor parenting - BUT only correlation and not causation (no cause and effect) - By the end of the study, 41% had at least one conviction - Suggests that offenders will come from families and groups who have pro-criminal norms - The criminal activities in which they are involved are similar to the ones they have learned

Answer 112

- Can answer for more types of crimes for all races, gender and social group - Moved the emphasis away from early biological accounts of crime - more realistic approach - Osborne and West (1979) found that where there is a father with a criminal conviction, 40% of the sons have committed a crime by age 18 compared to 13% of sons on non-criminal fathers. This means the influence of role models are strong, due to imitation. - Evidence suggests that criminality is concentrated in a small number of families - Walmsley et al (1992) found that 1/3 of the prison population in the UK also had relatives in prison too. This, again, could be interpreted as support for the influence of genetic factors

Answer 113

- Doesn’t account for individual differences - so many people are more easily led than others - Impossible to test - how do you count up to someone’s associations and influences accurately - Thought to be more effective for “smaller” crimes - What about biological factors? The Diathesis-stress model takes into account a wider range of approaches - Social Sensitivity: This theory may lead to discrimination by creating stereotypes that you can be perceived as a criminal through association. As Sutherland’s theory suggests that certain groups display similar crimes, it could mean that there is a danger of making assumptions that those who come from impoverished, crime ridden backgrounds, will inevitably turn to crime → Issues and Debates

Answer 114

You are born with this part of the personality - develops first Instructive part of our personality - can be very demanding Often referred to as the ‘I want’ Infant will demand for its needs to be satisfied ID works on the pleasure principle

Answer 115

The ego develops next The rational part of the personality Works on reality principles The ego tries to satisfy the needs of the ID (I want) with realistic ways to achieve these desires

Answer 116

The superego develops last (around 4 years) Works on the morality principle It’s the “you can’t have that” part of the personality The superego is your conscience given to you by parents, rules, society etc

Answer 117

The psychodynamic explanation of offending sees the superego (moral component) as crucial in explaining criminality, as it is the part of the personality that decides between right and wrong Blackburn (1993) - argues that if the superego is deficient then criminality is inevitable as the ID (pleasure) is not properly controlled = give into our urges and impulses. He suggested three reasons as to why the superego may be deficient: - Weak superego - Harsh superego - Deviant superego

Answer 118

If the same sex parent is absent during the phallic stage, the child cannot internalise a fully formed superego as there is no opportunity for identification Fail to internalise the moral values of the same sex parent Would make immoral or criminal behaviour more likely

Answer 119

May develop if the same-sex parent is overly-harsh Identify with the same sex parent Feel unable to ‘live up’ to the parents standards An individual is crippled by guilt and anxiety and commits crime in order to satisfy the superego need for punishment

Answer 120

If the superego that the child internalises has immoral or deviant values it could lead to offending behaviour The child internalises the morals of criminal or deviant same-sex parent A boy that is raised by a criminal father is not likely to associate guilt with wrongdoing

Answer 121

Another psychodynamic theory Predicts that if an infant is deprived of a mother or mother figure during the critical period of attachment then there will be serious consequences These consequences include mental abnormalities, delinquency, depression, affectionless psychopathology

Answer 122

The ability to form meaningful social relationships in adulthood was dependent on a close, warm and continuous relationship with the mother in the first few years Since this relationship acts as the prototype for all future relationships, its disruption would impact a person’s ability to relate to others This could result in affectionless psychopathy

Answer 123

Inability to show affection Lack of empathy and concern for others Little to no remorse or guilt for others

Answer 124

Bowlby (1944) 44 juvenile thieves study Reported that 39% of a group of juvenile delinquents has experienced significant disruption to their attachments, compared to only 5% of non-delinquents

Answer 125

Barry has never met his Dad, he left Barry’s mother before he was born

Answer 126

Gary’s parents are extremely strict, yet he is always in trouble with the local police. It is almost as if Gary enjoys being in trouble

Answer 127

Harry does not live with his Dad, but Harry’s dad makes a living as a burglar

Answer 128

- Male identification is stronger (according to Freud) therefore males should be more moral than females - if same sex parent (father) is moral evidence that more males offend. If father is not moral then more males will offend. - Freud was one of the first psychologists to stress the importance of childhood experiences in adult behaviour, giving his theory good external validity - Maternal deprivation theory could be used to understand antisocial/disturbed behaviour in children who have experienced early life in care (see Rutter’s 1998 research on Romanian orphans)

Answer 129

Lack of falsifiability – concepts are unconscious and therefore cannot be empirically tested Seeing the problem as within the person neglects the complexity of the social conditions of offending, eg deprivation, lack of education, poverty etc such as DA. Gender Bias - women should develop a weaker superego because they don’t identify as strongly with their same-sex parent No evidence to suggest children without a same-sex parent offend more-Many children grow up without same-sex parents and the vast majority do not turn to crime Psychic determinism-we are bound by our childhood experiences

Answer 130

- Applying behaviourist principles to the management of offenders in prisoners - Involves rewarding appropriate behaviour and withholding rewards for ‘inappropriate’ behaviour - Token economies illustrate the application of operant conditioning principles to adults in institutional settings Introduced in the USA in the 1960’s

Answer 131

- More time out of cell - Pay - US - conjugal visits - TV

Answer 132

- No visits - More time in cell - Take TV away - Take playstation away

Answer 133

1) Target behaviours are identified 2) Types of tokens are decided 3) Primary reinforcers are identified 4) Reinforcement schedule is decided 5) Exchange criterion i.e. price 6) Time/place for exchange is decided 7) Penalty/fine for engaging undesirable behaviours

Answer 134

- Introduced a token economy program with young delinquents in 3 behavioural units and a fourth acted as a control - Observed significance improvement in positive behaviour as a result of the introduction of the token economy

Answer 135

- Used behaviour modification in adult prison setting and found an increase in positive behaviours - When the programmed was stopped, the desirable behaviours reduced significantly

Answer 136

Token economies have little rehabilitative value and any positive changes may quickly be lost when offenders are released

Answer 137

The benefits of token economy were lost when staff applied the rules inconsistently

Answer 138

- A form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - They aim to change the way a person thinks and therefore the way they act

Answer 139

- Anger management is a therapeutic programme offered in prisons to identify triggers and allow offenders to deal with the situation in a positive and calm manner

Answer 140

- Cognitive Preparation - Skill Acquisition - Application process

Answer 141

- Reflect on past behaviours that have made them angry - Identify situations/triggers that provoke anger - Thought patterns are challenged - helps them recognise that there response is irrational and help them to think about the situations as non-threatening - Taught to recognise their own triggers for anger

Answer 142

- New coping skills and learned to enable them to avoid triggers and deal with situations more rationally - Relaxation techniques, stop and think, assertiveness, effective communication - How to control emotions and deal with issue constructively

Answer 143

- Role-play a variety of scenarios to practice new skills to control anger - Done in a controlled and safe environment - Therapist will deliberately provoke the individual to see how they’d react

Answer 144

- When someone is disrespectful to me, I get angry (cognitive preparation) - Learning how to effectively communicate so you can tell them you don't like what they did (Skill Acquisition) - Role-play using effective communication to the trigger (Application practice)

Answer 145

- Used in prison - Used on ex-offenders who are serving a probationary period - Conducted in small groups (usually around 10), Last around 10 sessions (this may vary depending on the type of crime they have committed)

Answer 146

- Aim: Whether anger management courses work - Method: Natural experiment compared a group of 50 prisoners who had completed CALM and a group of 37 who were assessed as suitable but not actually taken the course - Results: Prisoners who completed CALM rated themselves lower on the anger questionnaire. 92% showed improvements on at least one measure of aggression and anger - Conclusion: In the short term, the treatment seemed effective

Answer 147

- National Anger Management Package was trialed in England and Wales with offenders aged 17-21 - Initial issues of offenders not taking the course seriously - BUT the programme was considered successful - Offenders reported high level of self control and increased awareness after the course

Answer 148

- Lack of evidence in long-term - does it prevent prisoners from reoffending? - Not all crimes are motivated by anger - Prisoner must be motivated to attend and want to change - Anger management is expensive, requires a skilled therapist to deliver - Does anger cause violence?

Answer 149

- Focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with their victims/ victims families - Involved a supervised mediation meeting between the victim and the offender, with a trained mediator - Helps offenders to see the impact of their crimes - Has to be voluntary for all those involved - Seeks a positive outcome

Answer 150

- An opportunity to explain the impact of the crime - An acknowledgment of the harm caused - A chance to ask questions - Acceptance of responsibility - Allows the offender to be an active part of the process of their rehabilitation - Gain the victim’s perspective

Answer 151

85% satisfaction from victims who had taken part in face to face restorative justice meetings

Answer 152

Reviewed 20 studies, involving 142 men convicted of violence and property offences who had taken part in restorative justice (11% reoffender compared to 37% of a matched control group)

Answer 153

Every £1 spent on restorative justice would save the government £8 through reduced reoffending Most effective with young, first time offenders

Answer 154

- Costs involved in training mediators - Only works if offender feels genuine remorse - Only works when there is an obvious victim - Public opinion - restorative justice is seen as “getting off lightly” - Inappropriate for domestic abuse cases

Answer 155

”Judicial sentence determined by a court, where the offender is punished by serving time in prison or in some other closed therapeutic/educational institution, such as psychiatric hospital”

Answer 156

Deterrence Incapacitation Rehabilitation Retribution

Answer 157

This is the idea that prisons should be an unpleasant experience, so someone who serves a sentence wouldn’t want to ever go back

Answer 158

Taking criminals ‘off the street’ stops them from being able to commit further crimes - keeping society safer

Answer 159

The idea that prisons can reform criminals through training, education, therapy so they leave prison a better person

Answer 160

Society is taking revenge on a criminal - making them pay for their crimes by taking their freedom away

Answer 161

Depression Institutionalisation Stress Prisonation

Answer 162

Curt Bartol (1995) Abramson et al (1989)

Answer 163

Imprisonment can be brutal, demanding and devastating Suicide rates have tended to be 15% higher than in general population Most at risk are single men, under the age of 24, in the first 24 hours of custody 25% of women and 15% of men have reported symptoms of psychosis Custodial sentencing is not effective in rehabilitating the individual, particularly those who are psychologically vulnerable

Answer 164

Depression is caused by both helplessness and hopelessness These are both feelings that offenders entering prison may initially feel In 2008, 10,000 known incidents of self-harm (Howard League for Prison reform)

Answer 165

Having adapted to the norms of prison life, some find it impossible to then cope with ‘real life’

Answer 166

Some behaviours that are unacceptable in the outside world are encouraged and rewarded inside prison

Answer 167

Serial Killers/ Murders Drug Dealers Robbers/Burglars Abusers Rapists

Forensic Psychology Flashcards

(193 cards)