What did the 2017 ABS report were the 3 most common crimes?
Burglary, sexual assault and murder
What was the financial cost of crime in 2008?
36 billion
What are the four interrelated levels of Crime Theory?
Social/macro
Community/local
Group/socialisation
Individual
What are the four theories relating to individual crime theory?
Biological: 41% of genes influence behaviour
Functionary: role of selective pressure and adaptation
Learning: people learn to offence (operant and classic conditioning)
Psychodynamic: how the person interacts in their social context. Links with control theory; a personal needs attachment, commitment, involvement and belief in the law.
What are the levels of the State/Territory Courts?
Local/Magistrate’s court
District/County court
Supreme court
High Court
What are the levels of the Commonwealth Courts
Federal Magistrate’s Court
Federal Court and Family Court
High Court
What is the financial damages limit for a case to be heard in a Lower Court?
Less than $100,000
What is an indictable offence?
More significant offences tried by a judge/jury
What is a summary offence?
Dealt with at a local level, tried by a magistrate
If less than 8 people favour conviction, what is the likely ruling?
Not guilty
If more than 10 people favour conviction, what is the Kelly ruling?
Guilty
On what percent of cases will a judge have the same ruling as the jury?
78%
In 2007, what was the percentage of offenders with mental illnesses, and how does with compare with the general population
80% of offenders, 30% of general population
How over-represented are psychosis/depression and personality disorders in the criminal justice system
Psychosis and depression -2-4x
Personality disorders - 10x
How much more likely are offenders with a mental health disorder and drug abuse to reoffend within two years?
65%
When can a defence of insanity be used?
When the offender was not mentally well at the time of the offence. According to he McNaughten rule, they must not have been aware of the nature of their act, nor that it was wrong.
What is the history of the Mc Naughten rule?
McNaughten failed to assassinate Robert Peel in 1843. He used 750,000 pounds to hire barristers who argued that he was mentally unwell. He was acquitted and became a forensic patient.
When can Fitness to Stand trial e considered
If the offender is not mentally well at the time of the trial. If the accused is found unwell and cannot recover in 12 months, case is transferred to the Mental Health Review Tribunal. Guilty patients are hospitalised.
What does the Local Court Provision do?
Section 32 allows Magistrates to balance the need for punishment with the need for treatment. They can transfer a case to hospitalisation. This reduces the ‘revolving door’.
When can diminished responsibility be used?
In murder trials
What did Wexler and Winnick notice about the impacts of the legal system?
That they had unintended negative consequences by damaging the mental wellbeing of offenders.
In what cases do Drug Courts reduce recidivism?
When the offenders are medium-low risk
What are the four main reasons that Eyewitness Evidence may be wrong?
- People lie
- People get it wrong
- Eyewitness accounts are compelling
- Eyewitness errors are linked to erroneous convictions
What did the Innocence Report report as the four major causes of wrongful conviction?
Eyewitness misidentification
Invalid forensics
False confessions
Informants
What are the three factors are influence eyewitness misidentification?
Estimator variables
System variables
Post-diction variables
What are examples of estimator variables?
What can’t be controlled at the scene of the crime; presence of a gun, exposure duration, lighting, retention interval, intoxication
What are examples of system variables?
Things about the identification process that affect accuracy; interviewer presenting leading questions, identification strategy
What are examples of post-diction variables?
Factors that lead you to infer eyewitness accuracy; confidence, response latency, self-reported decision processes
What is the aim of pattern matching?
To link a piece of trace evidence to the unique source in order to prove identity
What % of exonerated cases were due to improper forensics?
45%
Define: jury nullification
Jury decides not to convict someone even when the evidence incriminates them. Enables the values of society to influence legal proceedings.
What are three case characteristics that influence jury decisions?
Pre-trial publicity: convict up to 45% more
Confessions
Expert evidence: whilst influential, may be inaccessible to layperson
What are three participant characteristics that influence our decisions?
Attractiveness of offenders
Hindsight bias
Just World Hypothesis
What are the two styles of deliberation?
Verdict or evidence driven
What is a risky shift?
initial polling causes people to ‘commit’ to a side and are therefore less likely to change their decision
What are some considerations made by judges when giving sentences?
Circumstances of offence, degree of criminality, injuries, mitigating factors, offenders dependants.
What are the three basis of risk?
Static and dynamic factors
Harms: ability to produce a lethal risk
Likelihood: how often it occurs
What are three factors of contemporary risk assessments?
Empirically derived risk factors
Clinician adjusts risk factors
Actuarial judgements are best
What are the limitations of risk assessment experiments
Sample representativeness, impure data, criterion definition and measurement
What are the two different types of stimuli in relation to reinforcement?
Primary: stimuli essential for life
Secondary: stimuli that is rewarding because it is associated with primary reinforcers.
What is the most effective schedule of reinforcement?
Variable
What are the two factors affecting punishment?
Contingency: the degree to which the punishment is certain to follow the behaviour
Contiguity: closeness of space and time - the longer b/w behaviour and punishment, the less effective.
What is Baron’s principle of punishment?
Short time interval, relatively strong, consistency and predictability, not aggressive
What are two examples of sentencing alternatives that are only used for high risk offenders?
CDO (Continuing Detention Order): keeps offender in prison after sentence
ESO (Extended Supervision Order): offender supervised in community
What are three reasons that prisons may not be effective
Perceived risk of bring caught
Sentences can occur long after offence
Offending behaviour may not be under control, so prison is not a deterrent.
What is the function of ethical codes?
To help establish a profession, act as a support and guide, meet responsibilities of being in profession, provide statements for moral principles.
What are the main ethical principles?
Respect for dignity and rights of clients (confidentiality)
Propriety: working only within areas of competence
Integrity: recognise that psychologists are role models.
What is the purpose of ethical guidelines?
To advise on ‘best practices’; they are used to clarify ethical dilemmas
What are the 6 steps in the assessment process?
Identify referral question Review existing information Interview Client Standardised testing Scoring Contact collateral sources Write report
What is the 4P method in reviewing existing information?
Predisposing: historical factors
Precipitating: factors that trigger index offence
Perpetrating: factors that keep someone in a frame of mind
Protective: factors that prevent someone from offending.
What does FIDI stand for and when is it used?
Used to determine the severity of mental illness and drug abuse:
Frequency, intensity, duration, interval
What is the 5P method and when is it used?
Used in therapy: Problem Predisposing Precipitating Perpetuating Protective
What are some barriers to intervention?
Literacy, motivation/compliance/insight. language, culture, resources, brain injury, cognitive limitations
Describe the ‘Stages of Change’ model
People move forwards and backwards
Precontemplation: denial, doesn’t see need for change
Contemplation: external trigger causing someone to identify need
Preparation: realise they have a problem and think about solution
Action (trial and error)
Maintenance.
In what stages of the ‘Stages of Change’ model is motivational interviewing used?
Precontemplation
What is the ABCDE model used in CBT?
Antecedent belief Belief Consequence Disputation techniques Evaluation
What is disputation?
Cognitive thinking skills
What are the three problems with desistance?
Financial
Social Dislocation
Family Dislocation
Describe the three approaches to recurrent offending
Risk Needs Responsivity: risk of offending using actuarial data
Good Lives Model: personal motivation to achieve goals
Therapeutic Jurisprudence: developed by two judges. Incorporates treatment into court process
What is the two ways that desistance is used?
Outcome: no longer reoffending; primary (any attempt tp stop) or secondary (point at which offending no longer occurs)
Approach: thinking about process of preventing offending.
What are the three explanations of desistance?
Ontogenic: whatever happens is the direct result of our genes
Sociogenic: life events influence offending
Narrative: people have the capacity to reinvent themselves
What are the common characteristics of self-narratives of offenders?
Contaminated origins, delinquent quest, outlaw, crash, redemption in reform, generality script, streetwise child saver.
What are the three types of self-narratives that we present depending on the listener?
Reform, stability, elastic
