Forensic Psychology Flashcards

Question

Evaluation of Genetic explanation of criminality Support for DIATHESIS stress model

Answer 1

Mednick 13000 danish adoptes Research defined criminal behaviour as being in possession of one court conviction When neither the biological or adoptive parents had conviction number of adoptees was 13% 20% when both adoptive and biological parents had convictions Genetic inheritance plays an important role, environmental influences cannot be disregarded

Answer 2

Criminality is a complex explanations that reduced bsheviour to genetic or neural level may be inappropriate Crime can run in family but so does emotional instability and mental disorder Makes it difficult to disentangle the effects of genes and neural influences from other possible factors And explains why MZ twins concordance rates are not 100%

Answer 3

Notion of a criminal genes Legal system criminals have to be morally and personally responsible for their crime - claim they acted on free will Raises ethical issues about what society does with people who are suspected of carrying genes

Answer 4

Behaviour can be represented along two dimensions Introversion/ extroversion and neuroticism/ stability Two dimension combines to form a variety of personality characteristics Extraverts- have under active nervous system so constantly seek excitement so engage in risk taking behaviour Neurotics- nervous and anxious individuals so behaviour is difficult to predict ( personality traits are biological in origin and inherit in nervous system) - innate CRIMINAL PERSONALITY - neurotic extrovert and measures highly on psychoticism

Answer 5

Personality is linked to criminal behaviour via socialisation processes Criminal behaviour as developmentally immature and concerned with immediate gratification Socialisation is a process in which children are taught to become more able to delay gratification and more socially orientation High E and N scores had nervous systems that make them difficult to consign Therefore would not learn to easily to response ri anti social impulses with anxiety= more likely to act antisocially in situations where there is the opportunity

Answer 6

Eysencks personality inventory locates respondents across the dimension to determine personality test

Answer 7

Compared 2000 male prisoners scores on the EPI with 2000 male controls Prisoners recorded higher scores than the controls Which supports prediction theory BUT Farringdon reviewed several studies and reported that offenders tended to score high in P measures but not E and N And there is little consistent differences in EEG measures between extraverts and introverts

Answer 8

All offending behaviour is explained by a single personality type Moffitt proposed several distinct types of adult male offender based on the timing of the first offence and how long offending persists Digmans suggests a five factor model of personality that there are additional dimensions and multiple combinations are available but E and N does not mean that offending in innevitbale

Answer 9

Theory is built on premise that you can measure personality through use of psychological tests Critics state that personality type may not be reducible to a score in this way Un measurable But if score highly can still impact quality of life

Answer 10

Individuals learn the value and arriufies and motives for criminal behaviour through association and interaction with different people Scientific basis- conditions which have said to cause crime should be present when the crime is present Pro criminal attitudes Learning criminal acts

Answer 11

When a person is socialised into a group they will be exposed to values and attitudes towards the law Can be pro or anti crime If number of pro crime attitudes outweigh anti crime attitudes then they will go onto and offend Can mathematically predict how likely it is than an individual will commit crime if we have the knowledge of frequency intensity and duration of which rhey have been exposed to deviant norms and values

Answer 12

Offender may also learn particular techniques for committing crime Eg how to break into a house Accounts for why so many convicts released from prison re offend Inmates in prison will learn specific techniques and eager to practice on release Observational learning and imitation or direct tuition from criminal peers

Answer 13

Ability to account for crime within all sectors of society Eg white collar or corporate crime and how this may be a feature of middle class social groups who share deviant norms and values

Answer 14

Draws attention away from biology and immorality To the fact that dysfunctional social circumstances and environments may be more able to blame for criminality than dysfunctional people Approach is more describable as it offers more realistic solution to the problem of crime instead of eugenics or punishment

Answer 15

Despite promise of scientific basis to predict offending Suffers from difficult of being tested Hard to see how number of pro criminal attitudes of a persona has or has been exposed to could be measured Difficult to know at what point the urge to offend is realised and criminal career is triggered Does not provide solution so undermines its scientific credibility

Forensic Psychology Flashcards

(39 cards)