Forensic Psychology Flashcards
(32 cards)
Offender profiling
Techniques law enforcement use to narrow down suspects based off traits of the crime.
Top down approach AO1
-this approach uses pre made templates of types of offenders and basing that off the possible identity of the culprit
-there are two templates: disorganised, organised
-disorganised offenders tend to leave a messy crime scene which can leave a lot of clues behind
the crime tends to show signs of an impulsive attack
-disorganised offenders tend to be less socially competent and tend to have a low in
-organised offenders leave a cleaner crime scene which has fewer clues with the crime tending to show some sign of a planned attack - the victim was deliberately chosen
-organised offenders tend to be socially competent and tend to have a higher iq
-this narrows down the suspect list immediately
Top down approach AO3
+one strength of the top down approach is that it is useful for serious cases such as murder. This is because we can quickly decrease the list of suspects with the top down approach (time effective) especially with the fact every second counts inserious cases.
-One weakness of the Top down approach is that it is based off a small sample size, 36 male serial killers. This is a weakness because we dont know if its appropriate to generalise the approach to female offenders or non serial killers. Also we dont know if all serial killers act the same. This reduces the external validitiy of the approach
-One major weakness of the top down approach is that it can mislead investigations, if a suspect does not match the constructred profile they may be wrongly dismissed even though they are actually the person guilty. This is a weakness because if the wrong template for offender is used in the first place it can significantly slow down the investigation time.
-Additionally the idea of organised and disorganised offenders may be seen as flawed because they suggest criminality behaviour may be either one or the other (a very black or white way of thinking) When in reality offenders can display traits from both categories, this is the complexity of real life behaviour.
Canter et al. (2004) analysed data from 100 murders in the USA with reference to the characteristics thought to be typical of organised and disorganised killers. The findings did suggest evidence of a distinct organised type, however this was not the case for disorganised type which undermines the entire classification system.
Bottom up approach AO1
Bottom up approach AO3
Geographical profiling AO1
-geographical profiling is a technique used in forensic psychology to analyse the location of crimes committed by a suspect to try and get an important about who the offender could be
-for example it can suggest that a criminal shows familiarity of certain areas, potential escape routes from the crime used, jobs or a general idea of where the offender lives
-geographical profiling principle: centre of gravity hypothesis
-this suggests the crimes the offender committed tend to cluster around a central point often the offenders
home or place of work
-geographical profiling principle: distance decay
as the distance between the offenders home and the crime scene increases the likelihood of the offender committing the crime there decreases
-geographical profiling principle: least effort
an offender will commit a crime where it is the easiest to do
Geographical profiling AO3 (STRENGTHS)
+One strength is that Geographical profiling is very scientific and objective this is because it uses crime location data and statistical and mathematical techniques to calculate the probabilities of where the offender may live or base their operations from. This increases the validity of geographical profiling.
+ Another strength is that geographical profiling has had successful cases of identifying criminals. For example the railway rapist was identifies when geographical profiling was able to narrow down the list of suspects based on the locations of the attacks. Showing how geographical profiling can be an effective tool for law enforcement which allows then to catch offenders faster.
Geographical profiling AO3 (WEAKNESSES)
-One weakness in geographical profiling is that there are practical concerns. For example when an area is labelled as a high likelihood of where the criminal is potentially based, it could unjustly label innocent individuals in that area as a suspect without any other reason. This suggests that law enforcement shouldn’t be over reliant on geographical profiling alone , other evidence should be taken into account.
-another weakness of geographical profiling is that it isn’t suitable for all types of crimes, for example where offenders behaviour isn’t linked to the locations (like cybercrimes). This limits the application for geographical profiling
Atavistic form AO1
-lambroso believed that criminals were genetically different to non criminals
-he suggested that criminal behaviour was a natural tendency for those who have the gene
-he also suggested that we can identify chriminals based on physiological characteristics they have.
-some examples of the characteristics include: strong sloping brow, sharp jaw, high cheekbones, facial asymmetry and dark skin, curly hair.
Atavistic form AO3 (STRENGTHS)
+One strength of the atavistic form is that it has helped shift theories from outdated unscientific theories such as demonic possession and encouraged us to look more at biological explanations to explain human behaviour.
Atavistic form AO3 (WEAKNESSES)
-one weakness of the atavistic form, theory is that it contains racist undertones. The features he suggested were related to criminality were commonly found in non European ethnic groups. This is a scientifically flawed assumption because there are a lot of people with the “criminal” features Lombroso described who aren’t criminal.
-another weakness of lombroso’s theory is that he didn’t compare the criminal group he studied to a control group of non criminals. Without a control group it’s impossible to know whether these features were actually more common in criminals than in the general population, reducing the internal validity of his findings.
- Meanwhile Goring carried out a similar investigation to lombroso, studying criminals physical and mental traits. But the key difference is that Goring included a non criminals control group of similar age, class and background. He found no significant physical difference between criminal and non criminals than groups. Goring more valid and reliable research disproves lombrosos claims
Genetic explanations for criminality AO1
- the genetic explanation for criminality suggests that criminals inherit a gene which predisposes them to commit a crime
- Lange investigates 13 MZ and 17DZ twins. In all twins at least one of them was in prision, Lange wanted to see if the other twin was in prision too. 10MZ /13 twins both spent time in prision wheras only 2 of the 17 DZ prisions both spent time.
-some people argue that criminality could be polygenic where many candidate genes are responsible for criminality, not just one.
-one example is the MAOA gene, which has been linked to criminality. it controls levels of dopamine and serotonin and links to agressive behaviour.
-CDH13 had also been linked to criminality, substance abuse and ADHD.
-some people argue that while these genes do play a role in contributing to if someone will be criminal, having these genes wont definitely mean you are criminal, for example the diathesis stress model suggests while someone may be more genetically vulnerable to criminality they wont actually become criminal unless there is a “stress” in the environment. eg childhood abuse, neglect, peer pressure to be criminal like friends etc
Neural explanations for criminality AO1
-the neural explanations for criminality suggest that neural differences exist between criminals and non criminals. especially in criminals with anti social personality disorder APD
-APD is linked to reduced emotional responses and a lack of empathy, common traits in convicted criminals.
-research has shown those with APD have reduced activity in the prefrontal cortext of the brain.
-Rain et al found a reduction in grey matter in the prefrontal cortex in infividuals with APD compared to a control group
-other research suggests those with APD can experience empathy but less consistently then those without APD
Genetic and neural explanations AO3
Eyesnecks criminal personality AO1
-eyesneck suggested that our personality traits were of biological origin based of what nervous system we inherited.
-he suggested that criminals have distinct personality traits: extravertism, neurotism, psychotism
-these personality traits were measured through personality tests
-extravertism: thrill seeking, drawn to the thrill of criminal behaviour
-neurotism: unstable and unpredictable
-psychotism: cold , lack of empathy
Eyesnecks criminal personality AO3
-Bartol and Holanchock studied hipsanics and african american prisioners and found they were actually less extraverted than non criminal control groups, suggesting Eyesnecks theory is culturally biased
-Another weakness is that criminal personality cannot be reduced to a score on a test. Our personalities are constantly changing depending on time situation, so using this personality test may not be an accurate measurement of criminality.
+One strength of eyesnecks criminal personality theory is that using the test can predict who may be at risk of criminal behaviour and we can help in early interventions, eg maing sure they have good influences, extra care during upbringing etc,
+Another strength of eyesnecks criminal personality is that it can help provide alternative activities for criminals to do to stop them from committing crime , for example we know those who are high in extraversion are said to have high thrill seeking behaviours, we can move the thrill of crime to something more healthy such as sports (boxing) or acting in front of large audiences .
Kohlbergs moral reasoning AO1
-Kohlbers moral reasoning suggested the quality of peoples judgements can be summarised by a stage theory of moral development
-The stages includde pre-conventional, conventional, post conventional
-the pre-conventional stage is where individuals are just conerned for themselves and external rewards or punishments.
-the conventional stage is where an individual does what is expected by them or others
-the post-conventional stage involves more autonomous thinking and able to make decisions based on principles od right and justice
-suggested that criminals are more likely to have moral reasoning at the conventional stage
-eg A criminal breaks into a store to steal electronics. When asked why they did it, they say:
“Because I wanted the money and I knew I wouldn’t get caught.”
this reflects pre conventional thinking because they knew they wouldnt be punished because they wouldnt be caught and they thought about themselves “I wanted the money”
Kohlbergs moral reasoning AO3
+One strength of Kohlbergs Moral reassoning is that there is research support from Palmer and Hollin, who compared between offenders and non offenders using 11 moral dilemas, such as not taking things which belong to others . Offenders showed less moral reasoning that the non offenders
-Not all criminals have pre conventional reasoning during their crimes. Impulsive attacks may have no reasoning at all.
-One weakness is that the Kohlbergs moral reasoning my nat be univeral to all aspects of life, what i mean by this is that just because someone is pre conventional in one aspect of life, eg work, doesnt mean they have a pre conventional thinking in all aspects of life such as family
cognitive distortions as an explanation for offending AO1
-suggests an offenders biased/irrational thinking of the offence helps validate their behaviour and also makes them commit the crime in future
-one example of a cognitive distortion is hostile attribution bias, where individuals tend to interpret a stimulus as threatening / agressive
eg someone looks at the offender and the offender immediately assumes they want to fight.
-another example of cognitive distortion is minimisation, where individuals downplay the significance of their actions to reduce guilt and responsibility of what they have done + justify their offence.
eg when a burglar robs a house they may say “hes just doing a job”
cognitive distortions as an explanation for offending AO3
-Another limitation of cognitive distortions is that they are difficult to measure objectively. This is because identifying distorted thinking often involves self report methods, where offenders may show social desireability bias by lying in their responses.As a result research into cognitive distortions will have a comprimised validity and reliability, which limits how confidently we can use this theory to explain criminal behaviour
-Another weakness of these cognitive distortions is that we dont know the root cause of these thoughts. It explains how offenders think but not WHY they developed these distortions in the first place. It doesnt explore bacground factos like upbringing , traumer or social environment. This limits how useful the theory is when trying to treat criminal behaviour, using CBT to help someone with hostile attribution may help, but what happens if that same person goes back to where they learnt these cognitive distortions eg growing up in a violent home. This may cause them to reoffend.
+One strength of the cognnitive distortion theory is that it has practical applications in offender rehabilitation, for example Anger Management is a form of CBT where offenders are helped to identify and challenge their irrational thinking SHowing that the theory has real world value as it can be used to reduce reoffending rates to support the reintergration of offenders into society.
+Another strength of cognitive distortions as an explanation for offending is the research support. Schonenberg and Justye found that violent offenders were significantly more likely to interpret ambiguous facial expressions as angry or threatening compared to other non offenders. Supporting the idea of hostile attribution bias, supporting cognitive distortions as a valid explanation for offending.
Differential association theory AO1
-suggests offending behaviours are passed on when someone else learns them eg your friends steal so you also steal
-socialisation is the process where we learn norms, values and behaviours from others
-the differential association theory proposes that offending is learnt through socialisation
-reinforcement also affects offending behaviour for example if you steal and you gain respect from your siblings, you are more likely to do it again.
Differential association theory AO3
+One strength of the differential association theory is that there is research support. Osborne and West found that 40% of the sons of criminal fathers had also committed a crime by the age of 18 compared to only 13% of sons with non criminal fathers, showing a link between having close associations with offenders and becoming an offender themselves. Supporting the idea that criminal behaviour is learned through association
-However one weakness of this research is that the study is correlational, and many other studies supporting the differential association theory, are also correlational. A third variable may be the result of the increased criminality of the sons of criminal fathers, such as genetics. This weaknens the theories scientific validity as it relies on correlational data which cannot conclusively show that learning from others causes criminal behaviour.
-Another weakness of the differential association theory is that it assumes exposure to criminal influences will lead to offending, but this is not always the case. As seen in Osbornes and Wests study although 40% of boys with criminal fathers became offenders, the majority 60% did not. This suggests being surrounded by criminal influences does not inevitably lead to criminal behaviour. This theory may unfairly label individuals from criminal families or high crime areas as likely offenders, even if they make good choices. this can lead to stereotyping and discrimination.
+However one strength of the differential association theory is that it reflects real world patterns of offending across social classes. For example it helps explain why white collar crimes such as fraud are more common among upper class individuals, while crimes like burglary are more common in lower classes. This suggests that people are influenced by the norms and values of the groups they interact with. Making the theory more valid and applicable to real life situations and how different environments can shape the types of crimes people are likely to commit.
Psychodynamic explanations for criminality AO1
-suggests criminals have an ID which isnt sufficiently controlled because of problems of developing the superego
-children develop superegos after overcoming the oedipus comples or electra complex and internalising their mother or fathers superego depending on the gender.
-freud suggested because girls do not have castration anxiety like males do they dont strongly internalise their mothers super ego like males internalise their fathers superego and thus girls superego are less developed, making them more likely to be criminal.
-frued identified 3 types of faulty superego, one which we talked about is failure to identify with the same sex parent making their superego weak and thus more criminal
-another faulty superego is a deviant superego, identifying with a deviant same sex parent
- another faulty superego is the over harsh superego, brought about from critical parenting, meaning crimes are commited to relieve unconscious guilt and desire for punishment
Psychodynamic explanations for criminality AO3
+ a strength of the psychodynamic approach is that it has practical applications in early intervention for criminality, as freuds theory emphasises the importance of early childhood experiences and their influence on moral behaviour. This means the theory can be used to advise parents that poor parenting can contribute to criminality in the future, as a result efforts can be made to improve parenting and prevent an increase in children growing up to be criminals. Giving the psychodynamic explanation usefullness in reducing crime.
-However freuds theory has been critisized for being outdated and gender biased. Freud suggested females develop a weaker superego because they dont have castration anxiety making them more likely to commit crimes.
