Forensic Psychology Flashcards
(25 cards)
Top down approach
6 AO1
American approach, result of 36 interviews with sexually motivated murdered like ted bundy
Serious offenders have certain ways of working
Pre established typology and work down to lower levels
Categorised into organised or disorganised
Organised show evidence of planning, high degree of control, socially and sexually competent , little clues left
Disorganised little evidence of planning, spontaneous, little control, low IQ, live alone
1 strength 2 weaknesses of top down approach
- many studies suggest organised and disorganised are not mutually exclusive. Godwin argues killer may have contrasting characteristics e.g sexually competent but commits spontaneous murder. typology more of a continuum.
+ can be adapted to other crimes e.g burglary. Meketa found an 85% rise in solved cases in 3 states when top down profiling used in burglaries. has wider application than orignally assumed - flawed evidence. developed using interviews with murdered, 25 being serial killers. FBI agents did not select random or large sample, no standard set questions so every interview was different. does not have sound scientific basis
Bottom up approach
6 AO1
Generates picture of offender through systematic analysis of evidence
Investigative psychology matches details from crime scene with statistical analysis of typical offender patterns based on psychological theory
Interpersonal coherence: behaviour in crime scene may reflect their behaviour in everyday life
Forensic awareness may denote whether theyve offended before
Geographical profiling makes inferences on likely base of offender through crime mapping
Marauder and commuter
1 strength 2 weaknesses of bottom up approach
+ evidence to support geographical profiling. Canter collected info from 120 murder cases. Location of each body disposal created centre of gravity where offenders base was. geo profiling can be used to identify an offender
- database only consists of crimes that have been solved meaning they may have been straight forward. Suggests investigative psychology tells us little about crimes that have few links and remain unsolved
- may provide little help. Copson found in only 3% of cases did offender profiling lead to accurate identification of offender
Atavistic form
6 AO1
(biological)
Lombroso suggested criminals were genetic throwbacks
Examined facial and cranial features of hundreds of italian convicts
Saw offenders as lacking evolutionary development
Saw offending behaviour as a natural tendency rooted in genes
Narrow brow, high cheekbones, dark skin, extra fingers
Categorised: murderers -curly hair, sexual deviants - swollen lips
1 strength 2 weaknesses of Atavistic form
+ Lombroso changed the face of the study of crime. he coined criminology. one of the first to use scientific approach rather than moral. contributed to science of criminology
- contradicting evidence, Goring. conducted comparison between 3000 offenders and 3000 non offenders and found no evidence that offenders have distinct facial and cranial features. challenges idea that offenders can be physically distinguished
- poor control. did not use control group that couldve controlled for confounding variables such as poverty and social conditions
Genetic explanations
4 AO1
(biological)
Christiansen studied 3500 twin pairs: 35% concordance rate for offender behaviour in MZ, 13% for DZ.
Crowe found adopted children with criminal bio mother had 50% risk of criminal record by 18, whereas adopted children without criminal mother had 5%
Tiihonen found CDH13 and MAOA may be assosciated with violent crime.
Diathesis stress model: genetic predisposition and environment
Neural explanations
2 AO1
(biological)
Raine conducted studies on brains of those with antisocial personality disorder (APD) and found reduced activity in prefrontal cortex, and 11% reduction of grey matter in prefrontal cortex in APD compared with controls
Keysers found only when offenders were asked to empathise (with person in clip experiencing pain) did their empathy reaction activate (mirror neurons). suggests they are not totally without empathy but have a neural switch that can be turned on and off
1 strength and 1 weakness of genetic explanations
- assumption of equal environment in twin studies. MZ likely to be treated more similarly than DZ. Higher concordance rates may be because they are treated similarly
+ support for diathesis stress model. 13% offending rate when neither adoptive or bio had convictions, rose to 24% when both had convictions. genes play a role but environment is also important.
Traits in extraverts, neurotic, psychotic
Psychological explanation
Extraverts: underactive NS so seek excitement, risk taking behaviours
Neurotic: high active sympathetic NS (respond quickly to fight or flight), jumpy, unpredictable
Psychotic: unemotional and prone to aggression
Eysenck role of socialisation in criminality
Concerned with immediate gratification. Socialisation learned as children when taught to delay gratification and become more socially orientated. High E and N scores had NS that made them difficult to condition so are more antisocial in situations
1 strength 2 weaknesses Eysenck’s theory
+ research support. Eysenck compared 2070 prisoners scores with 2422 controls on E N and P. Across all ages sampled, prisoners scored higher than average than controls.
- too simplistic. Moffitt made distinction between adolescence offending and persistent offending in adult life. Personality traits alone are a poor predictor for how long offending behaviour would go on. Persistence in offending can be reciprocal outcome of personality and environment. Presents more complex picture
- cultural factors. doesnt account for them. Holanchock studied maximum security prison w/ hispanic and african offenders and found all were less extravert than non offender controls.
Kholberg’s level of moral reasoning
Psychological Cognitive explanation
Based on peoples reponses to moral dilemmas such as the Heinz dilemma
Level 1: pre-conventional morality. Punishment orientated- rules obeyed to avoid punishment or for personal gain
Level 2: conventional morality. Rules obeyed for approval or to maintain social order
Level 3: post-conventional morality. Rules are challenge if infringe rights of others, ppl have personal set of ethical principles.
Kohlberg found group of violent youths were at a significantly lower level of moral reasoning.
Psychological explanations: cognitive distortions
Hostile attribution bias: tendency to judge ambiguous situations as aggressive when they may not be. Jusyte showed violent offenders images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions. When compared w/ controls they were significantly more likely to perceive images as angry
Minimalisation: Downplaying significance of an event. Barbaree found 54% of rapists denied they had committed an offence at all
1 strength and 1 limitation of level of moral reasoning
+ research support. Palmer and Hollin gave 332 non offenders and 126 offenders 11 moral dilemma related qs. Offender group showed showed less mature moral reasoning
- may not apply to all crime. Reid found people whod committed crime for financial gain e.g robbery were more likely to show pre conventional moral reasoning than those who committed impulsive crime e.g assault
1 strength and 1 weakness of cognitive distortions
+ real world app. challenging irrational thinking and ‘facing up to what they have done’ in therapy is highly associated with reduced risk of reoffending.
- type of offence. Sheldon found non contact sex offenders e.g sexual images on internet were more likely to use minimlisation than contact sex offenders. Those with offending history were also more likely to use distortions as a justification. Distortions are not used in the same way by all offenders
What does Sutherland’s DAT propose?
Individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques and motives for offending behaviour through association and interaction with different people e.g people with positive views of crime
DAT offending arising from 2 tactics
Learning attitudes: when person is socialised into a group they will be exposed to different attitudes: pro crime and anti crime. If number of pro crime attitudes exposed to outweighs anti crime, they will offend
Learning techniques: Offender may also learn techniques for committing offences e.g how to break into someones house
Socialisation in prison DAT
Sutherland’s theory can explain why released convicts go on to reoffend. They learn techniques from eachother
2 strengths and 1 weakness of DAT
+shift of focus. DAT draws attention to the fact that deviant social circumstances and environments may be more to blame rather than what previous theories suggested such as atavistic form or people being immoral however can lead to stereotyping
+ can account for wide range of offences. Can account for burglary and middle class white collar crimes where attitudes are learned. Shows not just lower class who offend
- difficult to test predictions of DAT. attempted to provide scientific mathematical framework to predict future offending. Many concepts arent testable because they cant be operationalised e.g how many pro crime attitudes a person has been exposed to. Does not have scientific credibility
3 types of inadequate superegos identified by Blackburn
Psychological explanation
Weak superego: absent same sex parent during phallic stage means child cannot internalise a fully formed super ego
Deviant superego: if child internalises immoral values e.g boy raised by criminal father, then unlikely to associate guilt with wrongdoing
Overharsh: strict overharsh parenting styles leads to overharsh superego crippled with guilt. May lead to person committing crime in order to satisfy superego need for punishment.
3 weaknesses of superego explanation
- contradictory evidence. little evidence that children raised in same sex household are less law-abiding - contradicts Blackburns wak superego. Children raised with pro crime attitudes could commit crime due to genetics. Unconscious desire implausible as offenders often go to great lengths to conceal crime
- unconscious concepts. lack falsifiability and cannnot be empirically tested.
- Freud suggests females develop weaker superego due to less pressure to identify with mother as dont experience castration anxiety. suggests females should be more prone to criminal behaviour but this is not supported by statistics of male and female prisoners
Maternal deprivation psychological
4 aims of custodial sentencing
Deterrence: put person off of offending. general and individual
Incapacitation: offender taken out of society to prevent reoffending and protect public.
Retribution: society enacting revenge for crime by making offender suffer, level of suffering should be proportionate to seriousness of crime
Rehabilitation: reform offender, they should leave prison better adjusted and ready to take place back in society. prison should provide opportunities to develop skills and have access to treatment programmes.
