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AQA A Level Psychology > Forensic Psychology > Flashcards

Forensic Psychology Flashcards

1
Q

What is Profiling?

A

The idea you can make assumption about characteristics of an offender by analysing the offence they commit

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2
Q

What is the Top-down approach?

A

An approach with a focus on extreme crime such as rape and murder

It is where profilers start with a pre-established typology at a crime scene to organise offenders into one of two categories, organised/disorganised.

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3
Q

What is the basic premises for offender profiling in the top-down approach?

A
  • That information left at the scene of a crime tells us about the type of offender
  • This behaviour will be consistent with their everyday behaviour
  • This helps to narrow down potential suspects
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4
Q

What are the four stages of the top-down approach?

A
  • Data Assimilation
  • Crime Scene Classification
  • Crime Reconstruction
  • Profile Generation
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5
Q

What is Data Assimilation?

A

Investigators gather together information from multiple sources e.g. crime scene photos, police reports, pathologists’ reports.

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6
Q

What is Crime Scene Classification?

A

Profilers decode whether the crime scene represents an organised or disorganised offender

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7
Q

What is Crime reconstruction?

A

Hypotheses are generated about what happened during the crime e.g. victim behaviour, crime sequence

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8
Q

What is Profile generation?

A

Profilers construct a “sketch” of the offender including demographic and physical characteristics, behavioural habits.

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9
Q

According to Hazelwood and Douglas (1980) what are the characteristics of an organised offence?

A
  • Planned
  • Show’s self control
  • Lack of evidence at the scene
  • Targeted victim and tries to control the victim
  • Weapon hidden
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10
Q

According to Hazelwood and Douglas (1980) what are the characteristics of an organised offender?

A
  • Above average IQ
  • Socially and Sexually Competent
  • Married/cohabiting
  • Anger or depression at the time of the offence
  • Skilled occupation
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11
Q

According to Hazelwood and Douglas (1980) what are the post offence behaviours of an organised offender?

A
  • Returns to the crime scene
  • Volunteers information
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12
Q

According to Hazelwood and Douglas (1980) what are the characteristics of a disorganised offence?

A
  • Unplanned/spontaneous
  • Likely to leave evidence at the scene
  • Victim randomly selected
  • Minimum use of constraint
  • Disorganised behaviour
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13
Q

According to Hazelwood and Douglas (1980) what are the characteristics of a disorganised offender?

A
  • Lives alone, near the crime scene
  • Socially and sexually inadequate
  • Physically or sexually abused in childhood
  • Frightened/confused at the time of the offence
  • Low intelligence/no occupation
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14
Q

According to Hazelwood and Douglas (1980) what are the post offence behaviours of a disorganised offender?

A
  • Returns to the crime scene to relive the offence
  • Keep diary
  • Keep news articles of the incident
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15
Q

What is the Research for Top-down Approach?

A
  • FBI investigators initially carried out structured interviews with 36 serial sex murderers, including Ted Bundy and Charles Manson covering:
    1) What led to the offending
    2) What early warning signs there were
    3) What encouraged or inhibited offences etc.
  • From interview responses, plus a thorough analysis of the details of their crimes by Behavioural Science Unit they categorised offenders of serious crimes into organised and disorganised offenders
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16
Q

Advantage of Top Down Approach AO3

Copson (1995)

A
  • Copson (1995) interviewed 184 police officers and 82% officers interviewed said it was useful and 90% said they would use it again
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17
Q

Advantage of Top Down Approach AO3

FBI

A
  • FBI’s systematic approach has been enormously influential -> Adopted by law enforcement agencies all over the world, who have adapted and enhanced it
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18
Q

Advantage of Top Down Approach AO3

Clarke and Morely (1988)

A
  • Challenges the stereotypes that investigators may hold about offenders and which may mislead investigations

e.g

Clarke and Morley (1988) interviewed 41 convicted rapists responsible for over 800 offences and found out, contrary to the stereotype of an inadequate loner, they were typically very average men, living in normal family circumstances, often intelligent and in skilled employment

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19
Q

Advantage of Top Down Approach AO3

Ainsworth (2001)

A
  • Ainsworth (2001) suggests that offender typologies are potentially very useful in allowing offences to be linked and facilitating predictions about the timeframe of the next attack and how the series of offences is likely to develop
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20
Q

Disadvantage of Top Down Approach AO3

Wilson et al (1997)

A
  • A typological approach to profiling assumes that offenders are one thing or the other and that this is stable over time
  • Wilson et al (1997) suggested that neither assumptions is correct: most offenders show both organised and disorganised features in their crimes and they may shift from one to the other between crimes
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21
Q

Disadvantage of Top Down Approach AO3

Subjective

A
  • It is up to the profiler to decide which aspects of the crime scene evidence are important in determining the profile
  • Consequently, different profilers may reach different conclusions from the same evidence
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22
Q

Disadvantage of Top Down Approach AO3

Lack of Validity

A
  • The sample of 36 offenders is very small and the methods and motives of the very rare types of offender interviewed may not generalise to tother offenders
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23
Q

Disadvantage of Top Down Approach AO3

Ainsworth (2001)

A

Ainsworth (2001) points out that there have been few serious attempts to establish the validity of the FBIs offender types using scientifically verifiable methods

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24
Q

What is the Bottom-up approach?

A
  • An approach which starts with raw data about the crime and makes it way up to a conclusion about the criminal
  • Assumes that offenders leave a “psychological fingerprint” of unique behaviour (offenders will behave consistently across a series of crimes)
  • Identified consistencies within the behaviour of offenders and identifiable differences between offenders
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25
Q

Who developed the bottom-up approach?

A

David Canter (1990) in Britain

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26
Q

What are the two key elements of the bottom-up approach?

A
  • Investigative psychology
  • Geographical profiling
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27
Q

What is Geographical profiling?

A
  • 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
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28
Q

What is Canter and Larkin (1993)’s theory in Geographical profiling?

A
  • Circle theory proposes that offenders commit crimes within an imagined circle
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29
Q

What did Canter and Larkin (1993) identify?

A

Two types of offenders:

  • Marauder
  • Commuter
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30
Q

What is a Marauder?

A
  • An offender whose home is within the area the crimes were committed
  • Most common
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31
Q

What is a commuter?

A
  • 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
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32
Q

Example of Geographical Profiling:

A

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

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33
Q

What is investigative psychology?

A
  • 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
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34
Q

Example of Investigative Psychology

A
  • 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.

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35
Q

Advantage of Bottom - Up Approach

Copson (1975)

A
  • Copson stated that 75% found it useful at narrowing down suspects
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36
Q

Advantage of Bottom - Up Approach

Rossmo

A

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

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37
Q

Advantage of Bottom - Up Approach

Holistic

A

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

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38
Q

Advantage of Bottom - Up Approach

Statistical

A

Increased validity

Statistical basis makes this more reliable

Can be applied to a wide range of offences

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39
Q

Disadvantage of Bottom - Up Approach

A

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

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40
Q

Disadvantage of Bottom - Up Approach

Canter and Larkin

A
  • 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
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41
Q

What is Atavistic Form and what does it suggest?

A

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

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42
Q

Who Proposed the Atavistic Form?

A

Proposed by Lombroso (1890s)

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43
Q

What is the Key Study of the Atavistic Form?

A

Lombroso (1876)

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44
Q

Describe Lombroso (1876)

A

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

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45
Q

What are the general atavistic characteristics?

A

Narrowing brow

Prominent jaw

High cheekbones

Facial asymmetry

Curly hair

Long ears

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46
Q

What are the specific atavistic characteristics of murderers?

A

Bloodshot eyes

Curly hair

Long ears

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47
Q

What are the specific atavistic characteristics of sexual deviants?

A

Glinting eyes

Fleshy lips

Projecting ears

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48
Q

What are the specific atavistic characteristics of fraudsters?

A

Thin

Reedy

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49
Q

What are the general atavistic characteristics for female offenders?

A

Shorter

More Wrinkled

Darker hair

Smaller skulls

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50
Q

Research Support of Atavistic form: Kurtzberg (1968)

A

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

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51
Q

Research Support of Atavistic form: Kretschmer (1921)

A

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)

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52
Q

Advantages of Atavistic evaluation

A

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.

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53
Q

Limitations of Atavistic evaluation

A

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?

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54
Q

Limitations of Atavistic

DeLisi (2012) AO3

A

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?

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55
Q

Limitations of Atavistic

Goring (1913) AO3

A

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

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56
Q

What is the Genetic explanation in forensics?

A
  • Propose that one or more genes predispose individuals to criminal behaviour
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57
Q

What is the MAOA?

A

An enzyme that breaks down neurotransmitters in the synapse

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58
Q

What is the job of the MAOA-gene?

A

To send signals from the cell to produce the MAOA enzyme

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59
Q

Why is the MAOA important?

A
  • 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
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60
Q

What is MAOA-L?

A

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

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61
Q

What does it mean if a person has the MAOA-L gene?

A
  • It means there will be less MAOA produced
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62
Q

What does the production of less MAOA do?

A
  • Affects neurotransmitter levels (including serotonin and dopamine) which affects brain activity in important parts of the brain like the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex
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63
Q

Han Brunner et al (1993) Genetic explanation

A
  • 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
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64
Q

Cases et al (1995) Genetic explanation

A
  • 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.
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65
Q

Briefly summarise how the MAOA-L variant leads to offending?

A

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

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66
Q

Christiansen (1977) Genetic Explanation

A
  • 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
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67
Q

Grove (1990) Genetic Explanation

A
  • 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.
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68
Q

How does the Diathesis-Stress Model explain criminality?

A
  • 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
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69
Q

Briefly summarise the Neural Explanation?

A
  • 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
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70
Q

Explain who Raine is and his discovery of the link between criminals and APD?

A
  • 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
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71
Q

Explain Raine et al (2000)

A
  • 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
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72
Q

Explain Raine (2004) (Prefrontal Cortex)

A
  • 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 acausalrelationshipbetween brain damage and criminal behaviour
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73
Q

Explain Raine et al (1997) (Limbic System)

A
  • 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)
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74
Q

Explain how the genetic and neural explanations suffer from biological behaviour

A
  • The theory that offending and criminal behaviour is genetically predisposed isbiologically deterministic and may be in an issue when prosecuting offenders
  • Identifying possible biologicalprecursors would mean that a person cannot be heldresponsiblefor 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 thejusticesystem
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75
Q

AO3 Suggesting the complexity of APD

A
  • 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 morecomplexthan originally stated
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76
Q

Genetic and Neural explanations - role of nature vs nature AO3

A
  • 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 thatbiologicalpredispositions should be considered alongsideenvironmental Influences in understanding criminality
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77
Q

What is Eysenck’s theory of personality?

A

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)

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78
Q

What does Eysenck’s theory of personality suggest?

A

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

79
Q

What are the three dimensions personality varies along according to Eysenck?

A

Neurotic

Extravert

Psychoticism

80
Q

What is the Recipe for the Criminal Personality

A

PEN

Psychoticism, Extraversion, Neuroticism

81
Q

Traits of Extraversion

A

Social

Impulsive

Expressive

Risk taking

Talkative

Outgoing

82
Q

Traits of introversion

A

Happy on their own

Cautious

Reflective

Self-aware

Take time making
decisions

83
Q

Explain how Extraversion comes about and what it means?

A
  • 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
84
Q

Explain how Introversion comes about and what it means?

A
  • 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
85
Q

Traits of neuroticism

A

Nervousness

Obsessiveness

Anxiety

irritable

86
Q

Traits of Stable

A

Calm

Carefree attitude

reliable

87
Q

Explain how Neuroticism comes about and what it means?

A

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

88
Q

Traits of psychoticism

A

Cold

Heartless

Aggressive

Anti-social behaviour

Insensitive

Unemotional

89
Q

Traits of Normality

A

Empathetic

Deliberate

Disciplined

Kind-hearted

90
Q

Explain how Psychoticism comes about and what it means?

A

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

91
Q

Explain Eysenck’s environmental element

A

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

92
Q

Summarise a child maturing

A

A child is conditioned

Child learns sense of right and wrong

Child avoids behaviour which leads to punishment

Child controls own impulses

93
Q

People with high extraversion and neuroticism cannot be conditioned easily so….

A

are more likely to act antisocially

94
Q

Explain how Eysenck used a falsification scale

A

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

95
Q

Explain how Eysenck’s Personality Inventory works

A

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

96
Q

Explain how Farrington et al (1982) disagrees with Eysencks

A
  • 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
97
Q

Eysenck CULTURAL BIAS AO3

A

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.

98
Q

Eysenck Oversimplification AO3§

A

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.

99
Q

Define the level of Moral Reasoning

A

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.

100
Q

Define Moral dilemmas

A

Moral stories for measuring level of moral reasoning

101
Q

What is Kohlberg’s theory?

A

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

102
Q

Give me the Context of “Morality in the AQA Psychology spec”

A
  • 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
103
Q

What are Kohlberg’s 3 levels of moral reasoning?

A

Level 1: Pre conventional

Level 2: Conventional

Level 3: Post Conventional

104
Q

Summarise Level 1 Pre conventional

A
  • 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)
105
Q

Referring to Heinz dilemma give 2 examples of pre conventional level

A
  • 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
106
Q

Summarise Level 2 Conventional

A

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

107
Q

Referring to Heinz dilemma give 2 examples of conventional level

A

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

108
Q

Summarise Level 3 Post conventional morality

A

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.

109
Q

Referring to Heinz dilemma give 2 examples of Post conventional level

A

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

110
Q

Kohlberg’s Research (1984)

A
  • 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
111
Q

Advantages Moral Reasoning

A
  • 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
112
Q

Limitations of Moral Reasoning:

A
  • 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
113
Q

What is a Cognitve Distortion?

A
  • 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
114
Q

Gibbs et al (1995)

A
  • 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
115
Q

What are the two examples of cognitive distortion?

A
  • Hostile attribution bias
  • Minimalisation
116
Q

Summarise Hostile Attribution Bias

A
  • 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
117
Q

Example of Hostile Attribution Bias

A

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

118
Q

What are the two studies supporting Hostile Attribution Bias?

A

Wegrzyn et al (2017)

Schonenberg and Justye (2014)

119
Q

Wegrzyn et al (2017)

A
  • 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
120
Q

Schonenberg and Justye (2014)

A
  • 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
121
Q

Summarise Minimalisation

A
  • 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
122
Q

Example of Minimalisation

A

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

123
Q

What are the three studies supporting Minimalisation?

A

Kohlberg

Barbaree (1991)

Pollock and Hashmall (1991)

124
Q

Explain the study on Kohlberg for Minimalisation

A
  • 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
125
Q

Barbaree (1991)

A
  • 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
126
Q

Pollock and Hashmall (1991)

A
  • 35% of child molesters in their sample argued the crime they have committed was non-sexual
  • 36% claimed the victim had consented
127
Q

Strengths of Cognitive Distortions:

A
  • Understanding cognitive distortions may help to informinterventionsandtreatment programmese.g. Cartwright & Craig (2022) found that sex offenders with lowempathywere more likely to use cognitive distortions thus empathy-targeted programmes could be used to reframe their thinking
  • Cognitive explanations of criminality can be used topredictthe likelihood of someonereoffendingas they highlight the extent to which an offender has beenrehabilitatede.g. by them showingremorsefor their offence
128
Q

Weaknesses of Cognitive Distortions:

A
  • Attempting toquantifyandmeasurecognitive distortions is problematic: thoughts aresubjectiveand open tointerpretationplus usingself-report methodsis rife with sources of bias (e.g.social desirabilitybias,responsebias,self-servingbias)
  • Cognitive explanations which hinge on the Hostile Attribution Bias and minimalisation may point outwhatcharacterises offending behaviour but notwhythus they lackexplanatory power
  • Most research relies on hypothetical stories to determine response - this is unlike real aggression in a real-life situation
129
Q

What is the Differential Association Theory and what does it suggest?

A
  • 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
130
Q

What did Sutherland propose about the Differential Association theory?

A

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

131
Q

What are the 2 parts to Sutherland’s differential association theory?

A
  • Learned attitudes towards crime
  • Learning of specific criminal acts
132
Q

Summarise Learning attitude towards crime

A
  • 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
133
Q

What is an example of Learning attitudes towards crimes?

A
  • 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
134
Q

Summarise Learning of specific criminal acts

A
  • 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
135
Q

Explain Farrington et al (2006) Cambridge study

A
  • 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
136
Q

Advantages of the Differential Association Theory

A
  • 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
137
Q

Disadvantages of the Differential Association Theory

A
  • 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
138
Q

Summarise the ID

A

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

139
Q

Summarise the Ego

A

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

140
Q

Summarise the Superego

A

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

141
Q

Explain the link between the superego and offending?

A

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
142
Q

Summarise the Weak Superego

A

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

143
Q

Summarise the Harsh Superego

A

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

144
Q

Summarise the Deviant Superego

A

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

145
Q

Explain Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis link to offending

A

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

146
Q

Summarise Affectionless psychopathy

A

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

147
Q

Characteristics of an Affectionless Psychopath

A

Inability to show affection

Lack of empathy and concern for others

Little to no remorse or guilt for others

148
Q

Maternal Deprivation Support

A

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

149
Q

Example of Weak superego

A

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

150
Q

Example of Harsh Superego

A

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

151
Q

Example of Deviant superego

A

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

152
Q

Psychodynamic advantages

A
  • 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 understandantisocial/disturbed behaviour in children who have experienced early life in care (see Rutter’s 1998 research on Romanian orphans)
153
Q

Limitations of Psychodynamic

A

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

154
Q

What is Token Economy?

A
  • 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

155
Q

What are some examples of rewards in Token economy?

A
  • More time out of cell
  • Pay
  • US - conjugal visits
  • TV
156
Q

What are some examples of withholding rewards in Token Economy?

A
  • No visits
  • More time in cell
  • Take TV away
  • Take playstation away
157
Q

What are the suggested 7 components to behaviour modification in token economy by Miltenberger (2008)

A

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

158
Q

Token Economy -> Hobbs and Holt (1976)

A
  • 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
159
Q

Token Economy -> Rice et al (1990)

A
  • Used behaviour modification in adult prison setting and found an increase in positive behaviours
  • When the programmed was stopped, the desirable behaviours reduced significantly
160
Q

Token Economy -> Blackburn (1993)

A

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

161
Q

Token Economy -> Basset and Blanchard (1977)

A

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

162
Q

What is Anger Management?

A
  • A form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
  • They aim to change the way a person thinks and therefore the way they act
163
Q

Anger Management -> Novaco (1975)

A
  • 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
164
Q

What are the three stages of Anger Management?

A
  • Cognitive Preparation
  • Skill Acquisition
  • Application process
165
Q

What is Cognitive Preparation?

A
  • 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
166
Q

What is Skill acquisition?

A
  • 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
167
Q

What is Application Process?

A
  • 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
168
Q

Example of the three anger management stages

A
  • 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)
169
Q

Who uses anger management?

A
  • 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)
170
Q

Anger Management -> Ireland (2000)

A
  • 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
171
Q

Anger Management -> Keen (2000)

A
  • 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
172
Q

Limitations of Anger management

A
  • 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?
173
Q

What are Restorative Justice Programmes?

A
  • 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
174
Q

What are the aims of Restorative Justice?

A
  • 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
175
Q

Restorative Justice -> UK Restorative Justice Council (2015)

A

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

176
Q

Restorative Justice - Shetman and Strang (2007)

A

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)

177
Q

Restorative Justice -> Shapland (2007)

A

Every £1 spent on restorative justice would save the government £8 through reduced reoffending

Most effective with young, first time offenders

178
Q

What are the Disadvantages of Restorative Justice Programmes?

A
  • 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
179
Q

What is Custodial Sentencing?

A

”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”

180
Q

Population of UK prisoners in 2023

A

87,000

181
Q

How much capacity is there in UK prisons?

A

78,000

182
Q

What are the four purposes of custodial sentencing?

A

Deterrence
Incapacitation
Rehabilitation
Retribution

183
Q

Deterrence

A

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

184
Q

Incapacitation

A

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

185
Q

Rehabilitation

A

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

186
Q

Retribution

A

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

187
Q

What are the psychological effects of Custodial sentencing?

A

Depression
Institutionalisation
Stress
Prisonation

188
Q

What are the 2 studies on stress and depression on Custodial Sentencing?

A

Curt Bartol (1995)

Abramson et al (1989)

189
Q

Curt Bartol (1995)

A

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

190
Q

Abramson et al (1989)

A

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)

191
Q

What is Institutionalisation?

A

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

192
Q

What is Prisonisations?

A

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

193
Q

Prison Social Hierarchy:

A

Serial Killers/ Murders
Drug Dealers
Robbers/Burglars
Abusers
Rapists

AQA A Level Psychology (16 decks)

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