Forensic Psychology Flashcards
(21 cards)
Top Down Approach
- Knowledge
DEFINITION
- behavioural and analytical technique used to narrow down the list of suspects
- analyses of the crime scene and other evidence is used to generate a hypothesis and possible characteristics of the offender
- profiles start from a pre established typography and work down to assign offenders to one of 2 categories which are based on witness accounts and crime scene evidence
HOW IT WAS FORMED
- american approach
- formed by fbi who interviewed 36 sexually motivated offenders
- used this data alongside characteristics of their crime to create 2 categories ( organised and disoranganised )
- if data from a crime scene shows some characteristics of one category this can be used to predict other likely characteristics
ORGANISED OFFENDER
- showed evidence of planning - deliberately targeted a victim or have a type of victim
- high degree of control during crime - surgical precision
- leave little evidence behind
- above average IQ - from skilled profession or job and are socially and sexually competent
- usually married and may have children
DISORGANISED OFFENDER
- little evidence of planning - often spontaneous and spur of the moment
- crime scene reflects impulsive nature - body still left behind
- below average IQ - unkislled prrofession or job , unemployed
- history of failed relationships and sexual dysfunction and live alone
FBI PROFILE
- construct using 4 ways
1. data assimilation - review evidence such as photos and pathology reports
2. crime scene classification - organised or disorganised
3. crime construction - generate hypothesis of behaviour and sequence of events
4. profile generation - hypothesis about the likely offender and their characteristics such as background etc
Top Down Approach
- Evaluation
- RESEARCH SUPPORT
- analysis of 100 usa murders was done using a smallest space analysis which is a statically technique used to compare correlations between different samples of behaviour
- many of the behaviours of the serious killings fit the typology of an organised offender - tortured , restrained etc
- suggests fbi typology is valid
COUNTERPOINT : in real life it is difficult to make distinctions between the two , this is because many offenders may share characteristics , mutually exclusive - may be competent but also spontaneous , may be a continuum - WIDER APPLICATION
- critics argue that it is only applicable to certain crimes such as sexual offences or killings - info abt victims
- however, recent report has shown it to be applicable to burglary’s in the us - 85% increase in crimes being solved
- introduces two new features - interpersonal and opportunistic
- wider application than assumed - FLAWED EVIDENCE
- the fbi original interviews did not have large or random samples
- little distinctions between the types of offenders since all killers - single , double M or serial
- no standardised set of questions, all interviews diff so there is no comparisons that can be made
Bottom Up Approach
- Knowledge
DEFINITION
- british approach
- aim is to create a picture of the offenders routine , characteristics ( C ) and background through analysis of evidence
- profilers start from the evidence collected at the crime scene to generate a hypothesis of the offenders likely C, motivations and social backgrounds
- there are two types - investigative psychology and geographical profiling
INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY
- uses statistical procedures to detect the patterns of behaviour which are likely to occur across crime scenes
- develops a statistical database based on offenders who have already been caught and their characteristics and the crimes they committed
- acts as a baseline for comparison
- features of an offence can be matched to this database to suggest likely details and charteristcs of offender
INTERPERSONAL COHERENCE
- the way an O behaves at a crime scene reflects their behaviour in everyday life
- some rapists want control and humiliate their victims but others are apologetic
- significance of time and place is also importance
- forensic awareness as well which refers to individuals who have already been subject to police interrogation so they are more mindful of tracking their behaviour
GEOGRAPHICAL PROFILING
- based on crime mapping which is based on principle of spatial consistency
- location of the offences are used to infer the O likely home or operational bases
- location can be used alongside psychological theories to generate hypothesis of the offender and their modus operandi
CIRCLE THEORY
- canter and larkin - O will keep their work within geographical areas that are familiar to them and provides a centre of gravity to the investigators which likely includes the home base of the O
- the patterns of offences will form a circle around O home base
- two types of offenders
1. maurader - operates close to home
2. commuter - travels long distances before committing crime
- the spatial decisions of an O can tell us the nature of their offence ( organised or not , age , background etc )
Bottom Up Approach
- Evaluation
- EVIDENCE FOR GEOGRAPHICAL PROFILING
- evidence was found by collated evidence from 120 murders involving serial killers in the us
- a smallest space analysis was conducted
- the body’s disposable site created a centre of gravity
- the offender started from their home but went in a different direction each time which created a circular effect
- more easier to spot in mauraders as they travel shorter distances
- supports the idea that gp can be used to identify an offender - EVIDENCE FOR INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY
- another study was conducted into the analysis of 66 sexual offences
- data examined using a smallest space analysis
- several behaviours were identified as common between different samples
- for example, lack of reaction to victim and impersonal language
- however , individuals displayed characteristic patters - made it easier to identify whether there was the same offender committing these offences - case linkage
- supports the basic principles of ip which is that people remain consistent in their behaviour
COUNTEERPOINT : case linkage depends on database ( historical crimes already solved )
- therefore them already being solved suggests that the links were straightforward
- makes this a circular argument
- tells us little about crimes with few links - remain unsolved - GEOGRAPHICAL INFO INSUFFICENT
- success reliant upon quality of data provided by the police
- recording of crimes not always accurate and vary betwen forces
- estimated 75% of unreported crimes
- challenges utility of approach being based around geographical data
- other factors may be important for profile generation such as age and experience
- so geographical data alone cannot always lead to success
Biological Explanations - Lombroso
- Knowledge
DEFINITION
- suggested that criminal were genetic throwbacks
- they were primitive subspecies who were biologically different to non criminals ( atavistic form )
- offenders could be identified by physiological markers
- atavistic characteristics were biologically determined - believed criminals are not responsible for their actions
- believed they lacked evolutionary development
- they had savage and untamed nature so they were unable to adjust to civilised society so they turned to crime
- offending behaviour was an innate tendency
CRANIAL FEATURES
- narrow sloping brows
- strong prominent jaw
- high cheek bones
- facial asymmetry
OTHER FEATURES
- darker skin, extra body parts
INNATE FEATURES - BORN WITH
- insensitivity to pain
- tattoos
- use of slang
- unemployment
- he then described different types of offenders with different physical characteristics
MURDERERS - bloodshot eyes
- curly hair
- long ears
SEXUAL DEVAINTS - glinting eyes
- swollen fleshy lips
- projecting ears
FRAUDSTERS - thin, reedy lips
RESEARCH
- conducted research into physical and cranial features of 383 dead convicts and 3839 alive ones
- concluded that 40% of criminal activity could be accounted for by people with atavistic characteristics
Biological Explanations - Lombroso
- Evaluation
- LOMBROSO’S LEGACY
- he was founded as the father of modern criminology
- credited with shifting emphasis of crime research away from moralistic discourse ( criminals were seen as wicked and weak minded )
- he also explained how certain people are more likely to commit crime - offender profiling
- had major contributions in the science of criminology
COUNTERPOINT : other psychologists argue that lombroso’s legacy was not all positive
- many of this theories had racist undertones such as dark skin and curly hair which is most commonly found in africans - aligned with the 19th century eugenic views
- his theories are subjective as they are open to racial prejudice - CONFLICTING EVIDENCE
- goring compared 3000 offenders with 3000 non offenders
- he found no evidence of physical and cranial features impacting their criminal activity
- many people commit crimes because they have lower than average intelligence
- challenges idea that offenders can be physically distinguished from rest of the population - POOR CONTROL
- failed to control important variables
- he did not compare his offender group with a control group of non offenders
- confounding variables may explain higher crime rates in certain groups of people
- the link between crime and social issues such as poverty and unemployment
- lombroso’s research did not meet modern scientific standards
Biological Approach - Genetic and Neural
- Knowledge for Genetic
TWIN AND ADOPTION STUDIES
- these suggest there can be genetic predispositions for offending behaviour
- christiansen : studied over 3500 twin pairs in denmark
- he found the concordance rates for offending behaviour was 35% for MZ males and 13% for DZ females
- crowe : adopte children who’s biological mother had a criminal record / conviction had a 50% risk of also having this by the age of 18
- compared to a group of children who’s mother did NOT have a criminal conviction it was only 5%
CANDIDATE GENES
- tiihonen conducted a genetic analysis into 800 finish offenders
- they were categorised into violent and non violent
- found that there were two genes associated with violent crime
1. MAOA GENE - regulates serotonin and links with aggressive behaviour
2. CDH13 - links with substance abuse and ADHD
- found that 5-10% of all violent crime in finland could be attributed to these genes
DIATHESIS STRESS MODE
1. the presence of a specific gene which gives you a genetic predisposition ( diathesis )
2. biological or psychological stressor ( dysfunctional upbringing or criminal role model )
- experiencing a bio or psychological stressor can trigger the genes that give you a predisposition to crime and leads to offending behaviour
- each one of them alone cannot lead to this behaviour
Biological Approach - Genetic and Neural
- Knowledge for Neural
EXPLANATION
- main suggestion is that there are neural differences in the brains of criminals and non criminals
- evidence into those individuals diagnosed with APD shows this
- many offenders are diagnosed with APD
- characterised by a lack of empathy for others
PREFRONTAL CORTEX
- raine carried out multiple brain imaging studies into individuals with APD
- found reduced activity and an 11% reduction in the volume of grey matter in their prefrontal cortex of those w APD
- this area is known to regulate emotional behaviour
- this suggests that these people are unable to regulate their emotions and behaviour as well as those with normal activity - leads to offending behaviour
MIRROR NEURONS
- empathy reactions ( ER ) are controlled by mirror neurons in our brains
- keyser found that offenders could only show an ER when asked to empathised with a person in a film experiencing pain
- this suggests that people with APD can have ER but they have a neural switch which turns it on and off
- in a normal functioning brain this empathy switch is always on
Biological Approach - Genetic and Neural
- Evaluation for Genetic
- ISSUES WITH TWIN STUDIES
- twins studies are based on the idea of equal environments
- the twins are bought up together and experience similar environments
- however this shared envrionment assumption may be more applicable to MZ twins than DZ
- this is because MZ twins are identical - people tend to treat them more similar - which affects their behaviour
- therefore , the higher concordance rate for MZ twins may just be due to the fact they are treated more similar - SUPORT FOR DIATHESIS
- Mednick studied 1200 danish adoptees
+ neither biological or adoptive parents had criminal conviction ( CC ) - 13.5% of the adoptees still had a conviction
+ either one of the biological parents had a CC - 20% adoptees did
+ both of the biological and adoptive parents had a CC - 24.5% adoptees did
- shows genetic inheritance plays and important role, however so does the envrionment
- supports the DSM view of crim
Biological Approach - Genetic and Neural
- Knowledge for Neural
- BRAIN EVIDENCE
- kendel and freed reviewed evidence into frontal lobe damage and antisocial behaviour
- found ppl with the damage showed - impulsive behaviour , emotional instability and an inability to learn from mistakes
- this area is associated with planning behaviour
- suggests that brain damage is a casual factor in offending behaviour - INTERVENING VARIABLES
- farrington conducted study into men who scored high on APD
- found they experienced risk factors in their childhood such as physically neglected and raised by convicts
- these early childhood experiences could account for their APD and the neural differences also associated with it
- such as reduced frontal lobe activity due to trauma
- therefore the link between neural differences , offending and APD is complex
- there may be other intervening variables
Psychological Explanations - Eysenck ( EY )
- Knowledge
DEFINTION
- EY proposed that personality can be represented along 3 dimensions
1. extraversion-introversion - E
2. neuroticism-stability - N
3. psychoticism-sociability - P
- these dimensions combine to form a variety of different personality types
BIOLOGICAL BASIS
- EY believed that personality types are innate and based on the NS
1. extraverts - underactive NS so they seek excitement and are risk taking
2. neuroticists - higher levels of reactivity in their sympathetic NS so they are more nervous, jumpy, overanxious and unpredictable
3. psychoticsts - higher levels of testosterone so they are more cold, unemotional and prone to aggression
CRIMINAL PERSONALITY
- defined as neurotic-extrovert-high psychoticsm
1. neurotics - unstable so they overreact to situations of threat
2. extraverts - seek more arousal so they engage in more dangerous activity
3. psychotics - lack of empathy and are aggressive
SOCIALISATION
- EY suggested that offending behaviour is developmentally immature, they are selfish, concerned with immediate gratification and are impatient
- during the process of socialisation children are taught to be able to delay gratification and be more socially oreintated
- he says that people with high E and N scores have a NS which makes it hard for them to learn
- so they are less likely to to learn anxiety response to antisocial impulses and so will act antisocially
EPQ
- eysenck’s personality questionnaire - measures personality type
- locates respondents along the E, N, P dimensions
Psychological Explanations - Eysenck ( EY )
- Evaluation
- RESEARCH SUPPORT
- EY and EY compared 2070 prisoners scores on the EPQ with controls of 2422
- found that prisonersscored higher on E, P and N across all age groups compared to the controls
- this supports the ideas that offenders have higher rates than average across 3 dimensions
COUNTERPOINT : farrington conducted a meta analysis of relevant studies
- found that offenders scored higher on P but not E or N
- there is also inconsistent evidence of differences on EEG measures between extraverts and introverts
- challenges the physiological basis of the theory and challenges central assumptions - TOO SIMPLISTIC
- moffit distinguished between adolescence limited and life course persistent offending behaviour
- argued that personality traits were a poor predictor of how long offending behaviour went on for
- suggested that persistent offending behaviour is a result of reciprocal process between individual personality traits and environmental reactions to them
- presents a more complex picture of offending being determined by interactions between personality and envrionment - CULTURAL FACTORS
- criminal personality may vary according to your culture
- a study was done on hispanic and african american offenders in a high security prison in new york
- the offenders were divided into 6 groups depending on the nature and history of their offence
- found they all were less extravert than a non offender control group
- this may be because the samples are very different cultural groups
- questions whether the criminal personality can be generalised and that it may be culturally relative
Psychological Explanations : Cognitive
- Knowledge for Moral Reasoning
DEFINITION
- kohlberg suggested that as children grow up their decisions and judgement of what is wrong and right becomes more sophisticated
- a persons level of moral reasoning affects their behaviour
- the higher the level , the more sophisticated reasoning
- kohlberg suggested that offenders have lower levels of moral reasoning
- compared a group of violent youths and found they had significantly lower levels of moral reasoning compared to a group of non violent youths
LEVELS
1. PRE CONVENTIONAL LEVEL
- punishment orientation - obey rules to avoid punishment
- instrumental orientation / personal gain
- CONVENTIONAL LEVEL
- good girl/good boy orientation - need approval
- maintain social order - POST CONVENTIONAL LEVEL
- principe of individual rights
- principle or moral conscience
LINK WITH CRIMINALITY
- kohlberg suggested offenders are at the pre conventional level and other people will progress higher
- characteristics of the pre convential level include
+ need to avoid punishment and want person gail
+ less mature and childlike reasoning
- people will commit crimes if they think they are able to get away with it or if they can gain reward for it like money
- also suggested that offenders and egocentric and have poorer social perspective taking skills
- people who reason at higher levels can sympathise with others better, honest, generous and non violent
Psychological Explanations : Cognitive
- Evaluation for Moral Reasoning
- RESEARCH SUPPORT
- link with level of moral reasoning and crime
- level of moral reasoning between offenders and non offenders was compared using 11 moral-dilemma related questions
- was found that offenders had lower levels of mature moral reasoning
- supports kohlbergs predictions - TYPE OF OFFENCE
- level of moral reasoning depends on the type of offence
- some offenders think they have a chance to try and evade punishment
- for example people who commit crime for financial gain are more likely to be pre coventional than impulsive crimes
- therefore his theory is not applicable to all forms of crime
Psychological Explanations : Cognitive
- Knowledge for Cognitive Distortions
DEFINITION
- errors or biases in information processing is is characterised by faulty thinking
- offenders use this to intepret behaviour and justify their actions
HOSTIE ATTRIBUTION BIAS
- ambiguous situation is perceived as threatening
- schonberg + jusyte - violent offenders were more likely to view amibgous facial expressions as angry and hostile compared to non offenders
- this shows violent offenders misread non aggressive cues
- this triggers a disporpotionate violent action
MINIMALISATION
- reducing the persons sense of guilt - ephemistic label
- burglars may justify their actions and use excuse of helping their family
- highly likely in sex offenders - barbaree found that 54% of sex offenders denied committing the offence and 40% miniseries the harm they caused to victims
Psychological Explanations : Cognitive
- Evaluation for Cognitive Distortions
- REAL WORLD APPLICATION
- cbt can challenge rational thinking
- offenders are encouraged to face up the deed of their offence - establish a less distorted view of their actions
- research found that reducing the incidence denial and minimisation in therapy is highly associated with reduced risk of reoffending
- acceptance of crimes is important aspect of rehabilitation
- practical value as it is applied to therapy - TYPE OF OFFENCE
- research was done which collected the questionnaire responses of sexual offenders
- non contact sex offenders were more likely to use cognitive distortions than contact ones
- the ones with previous convictions were more likely to use distortion to justify their actions
- shows that distortion is not the same for all offenders
Psychological Explanations : Differential Association Theory
- Knowledge
DEFINTION
- proposed by sutherland - values, attitudes, techniques and olives of offending behaviour ir learnt from others
- rejects influence of class and ethnic background on offending behaviour and focuses on who a person associates with
OFFENDING IS LEARNT
- child learns offending behaviour through interaction with others who they value and spend most time with - family and friends
- we can mathematically predict likelihood of offending behaviour but we need to know intensity, frequency and duration of exposure to deviant and non deviant acts
- offending behaviour arises from :
1. learning attitudes towards offending
2. learning of specific offences
LEARNING ATTITUDES
- when a person is socilaised into a group they are exposed to their specific values and attitudes
- includes the attitudes towards the law - pro crime or anti crime
- if the number of pro crime attitudes in group outweighs anti crime it will lead to person offending
LEARNING TECHNIQUES
- the person will learnt particular techniques for committing crimes by people in the group they hang around with
SOCIALISATION IN PRISONS
- inmates are exposed to pro crime attitudes and learn specific crime techniques which they will put into practice when released so leads to reoffending
Psychological Explanations : Differential Association Theory
- Evaluation
- SHIFT IN FOCUS
- shifts focus of offending explanations away from biological accounts like lombroso and idea that offending behaviour is caused by individual weakness of immorality
- focuses more on social circumstances and envrionment
- provides a more realistic solution rather than eugenics or punishment solutions
COUNTERPOINT : lead to steroyotypes of individuals from poverty or crime ridden backgrounds as unavoidably offenders
- the theory suggests that exposure to pro crime attitudes is sufficient to lead to offending behaviour
- but it ignores the attitudes of peoples own personal choice - not everyone exposed to this will offend - WIDER REACH
- account can be applied to different sectors of crime
- specfic crimes like burglary may be related to to inner workings of cities and working classes
- corporate crime and white collar may be feature of middle class who share same deviant norms and values
- shows crime is not only in lower class, theory applies to all offenders - DIFFICULTY TESTING
- difficult to test predictions of this theory
- this is because the concepts are not operationalised
- you can’t know the amount of pro crime attitudes someone has or when their pro crime attitudes outweigh anti crime and triggers offending
- lacks scientific credibility
Psychological Explanations : Psychodynamic
- Knowledge
DEFINITION
- freud suggests that superego is based on the morality principle and that it feels a sense of guilt when we do something wrong
- blackburn says that an inadequate superego leads to the id being uncontrolled and free reigning
- 3 types of inadequate superego
- WEAK SUPEREGO
- when resence of the same sex parent is absent during the phallic stage
- the child does not have opportunity for identification
- child does not internalise a fully developed superego
- leads to a weak superego - DEVAINT SUPEREGO
- internsalised moral attitudes of the same sex parent are deviant
- this leads to the child developing a weak superego - OVERLY HARSH SUPEREGO
- overharsh parenting causes this
- individual unconsciously commits offences to try and satisfy the superegos overwhelming need for punishment
ROLE OF EMOTION
- psychodynamic approach focuses of the emotional life of the individual and its role in offending behaviour unlike other theories
- says emotions like anxiety guide moral behaviour
MATERNAL DEPRIVATION
- bowlby suggested that MD can lead to AP ( lack of empathy and guilt ) which can lead to offending behaviour
warm, reliable relationships are crucial for future attachments, wellbeing and healthy development
- maternally deprived children cannot form an internal working model
- without this they don’t have a reference point for how to build future relationships
Psychological Explanations : Psychodynamic
- Evaluation
- RESEARCH SUPPORT
- goreta conducted analysis into 10 offenders referred for psychiatric treatment
- they were all diagnosed with an inadequate superego
- individually all felt unconscious feelings of guilt and need for punishment
- this can be explained by the consequences of the over harsh superego
- need for punishment is manifested into the need for offending
- supports psychic explanations and conflicts of over harsh superego
COUNTERPOINT : central principles of theory are not supported
- theory suggests that harsh punitive parents produce children who constantly experience guilt and anxiety
- however, evidence does not support this - rather parents who use harsh forms of disciple produce rebellious children who rarely express guilt or self criticism
- challenges relationship of punitive parents and children constantly feeling guilt - GENDER BIAS
- freud assumes that girls develop a weaker superego because their identification with their same sex parent is not as strong
- therefore their superego is and morality principle is not fully realised
- this suggests that women are more likely to be offenders
- however rates in the uk show men to be imprisoned more than women
- hoffman also found that in a study where children had to resist temptation there was little gender differences and that girls were more moral than boys
- this suggests that there’s alpha bias the explanation is not appropriate - OTHER FACTORS
- bowlby suggested that MD was associated with offending behaviour
- however data of interviews with 500 young people was analysed
- it was found that MD was a poor predictor of future offending and relationships
- link between offending and separation is not a casual relationship
- there may be other factors at play such as poverty
- therefore MD may not be the only reason for future offending
Dealing With Offending Behaviour: Custodial Sentencing
