forensic psychology Flashcards
(42 cards)
what is the atavistic form?
Lombroso
Suggested that criminals were genetic throwbacks who were biologically different from non-criminals
Offenders were seen as lacking evolutionary developments, find it impossible to adjust to the demands of civilised society and would inevitably turn to crime.
Criminal behaviour as a natural tendency.
what are the atavistic characteristics?
physiological markers
Cranial characteristics – narrow sloping brows, sharp jaw, high cheekbones, facial asymmetry.
Other markers were dark skin (racism) and existence of extra toes, nipples and fingers.
what was Lombroso’s study?
Examined facial and cranial features of convicts of both living and dead
Proposed that the atavistic form was associated with physical anomalies which were key indicators of criminality
Examined 400 dead and 4000 living convicts
40% of criminal acts are committed by people with atavistic characteristics
what was the genetic explanation for offending behaviour?
Explanations for crime suggests that would-be offenders inherit a gene or combination of genes that predispose them to commit crime.
what evidence is there to support the genetic explanation?
Adoption studies Crowe –
Found that adopted children who had a biological parent with a criminal record had a 50% risk of having a criminal record by 18.
Whereas adopted children whose mother didn’t have a criminal record only had a 5% risk
Candidate genes Tiihonen Genetic analysis 900 offenders
Revealed abnormalities on two genes that may be associated with violent crime
MAOA, controls dopamine and serotonin in the brain
Linked to aggressive behaviour
CDH13, linked to substance abuse and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Finnish sample
Individuals with this high risk combination were 13x more likely to have a history of violent behaviour.
Research has not be replicated, early advances
what is the neural explanation for offending behaviour?
Neural differences in the brains of criminals and non-criminals
Investigated individuals diagnosed with APD.
APD is associated with reduced emotional responses, lack of empathy for the feelings of others and it characterises many convicted criminals.
what evidence is there to support the neural explanation?
Prefrontal cortex – RAINE
Conducted many studies
Reported that there are several brain-imaging studies
demonstrating individuals with antisocial personalities
there is reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex
part of the brain that regulates emotion
11% reduction in the volume of grey matter in the prefrontal cortex
Compared to the control group
Mirror neurons
Research suggests that criminals with APD can experience empathy
Keysers found that criminals when asked to empathise
their empathy reaction did react
Suggests that APD individuals do have empathy
but may have a neural switch that can be turned on and off
whereas a normal brain, empathy switch is permanently on
what is Eysenck’s theory of offending behaviour?
Personality traits are biological
Come about through the type of nervous system we inherit
All personality types, include criminal personality are innate.
criminal personality, neurotic-extravert, scores highly of psychoticism
what are the characteristics of an extravert
have an underactive nervous system, therefore constantly seek excitement and simulation. Do not condition easily and do not learn from their mistakes.
Introverts – overstimulated, therefore tend to seek to avoid any stimulation and do not engage in risky behaviours.
what are the characteristics of neuroticism?
Neuroticism – tend to be jumpy, nervous and over-anxious, general instability is difficult to predict behaviour. Flight or fight system.
what are the characteristics of psychoticism?
Psychoticism – those with higher levels of testosterone are more likely to engage with criminal behaviour, characterised as cold, unemotional and prone to aggression.
what is the role of socialisation?
Personality is linked to criminal behaviour by socialisation processes. Criminal behaviour as developmentally immature, it is selfish and concerned with immediate gratification. They are impatient and cannot wait for things.
Process of socialisation – children are taught to become more able to delay gratification and more socially orientated.
Eysenck believed people with high E and N had nervous system them difficult to condition.
Results, they would not learn easily to respond to antisocial impulses with anxiety.
Therefore more likely to act antisocially in situations where the opportunity presented itself.
how did Eysenck measure criminal personality?
Eysenck developed the Eysenck Personality Inventory, EPI
Form of a psychological test
what are cognitive distortions?
errors or biases in people’s information processing system characterised by faulty thinking
what is HAB?
hostile attribution bias
people misinterpret actions of others such as assuming others are being confrontational when they are not. offender may misread non-aggressive cues.
what evidence is there to support HAB?
55 violent offenders with images of emotionally ambiguous facial expression
Compared with non-aggressive matched control group
Violent offenders were significantly more likely to perceive the images as angry or hostile
Dodge and Frame:
Showed children a video clip of an ambiguous provocation
Children who had been identified as aggressive or rejected prior to the study interpreted the violent offenders were significantly more likely to perceive the images as angry and hostile
what is minimalisation?
attempt to deny or downplay the seriousness of an offence and has elsewhere been referred to as he application of euphemistic label for behaviour
what evidence is there to support minimalisation?
Barbaree – found among 26 incarcerated rapists, 54% denied they had committed an offence at all and 40% minimised the harm that they had caused to the victim.
Pollock and Hashmall – reported that 35% of a sample of child molesters argued that the crime they had committed was non-sexual and 36% stated that the victim had consented.
what is Kohlberg’s moral reasoning?
Apply moral reasoning to criminal behaviour.
The higher the stage, the more sophisticated the reasoning is. Heinz dilemma.
Many studies have suggested that criminals tend to show a lower level of moral reasoning.
what did Kohlberg find with his development of moral reasoning?
found that group of violent youths were significantly lower in their moral development than non-violent groups – even after controlling for social background.
where are criminals offenders most likely going to be in the moral reasoning stages?
pre-conventional stages 1 and 2
the need to avoid punishment and gain rewards, less mature, child like reasoning
what is DAT?
Theory proposes that individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques and motives for criminal behaviours through association and interaction with different people.
Sutherland – set the task of developing a set of scientific principles that could explain all types of offending.
what are pro-criminal attitudes?
Person is socialised into a group they will be exposed to values and attitudes towards the law. Some of these values will be pro-crime and some anti-crime
Sutherland argues that if the number of pro-criminal attitudes outweighs the number of anti-criminal attitudes, they will go on to offend.
Differential association suggests that it should be possible to mathematically predict how likely it is that an individual will commit crime if we have knowledge of the frequency they have been exposed to deviant and non-deviant norms and values.
how does a criminal learn acts according to DAT?
The would-be offender may also learn particular techniques for committing crime. These might include how to break into a house.
Also offering an explanation of how crime may breed amongst specific social groups and in communities. Also why convicts released from prison go on to reoffend.
Assume that whilst inside prison inmates will learn specific techniques of offending from other, more experienced criminals that they may be eager to put into practice upon their release.
Learning occurs through observational learning and imitation or direct tuition from criminal peers.
