forensics Flashcards

Question

what does the biological basis of eysencks explanation say

Answer 1

- traits are bio in origin and come out through the type of nervous system we inherit - criminal personality has an innate bio basis

Answer 2

extravert- constant seek excitement, engage in risk taking behaviours, do not learn from mistakes neurotic- high level or reactivity in sympathetic NS, respond quickly in situation of threat, difficult to predict psychotic- high levels of testosterone, unemotional and prone to aggression

Answer 3

- neurotic, extravert, psychotic

Answer 4

- saw offending as developmentally immature - concerned with immediate gratification - with socialisation, children learn to be socially orientated - high E+N scores - difficult to teach and condition - less likely to learn to respond to antisocial impulses with anxiety

Answer 5

using questionaire

Answer 6

-support for criminal personality - compared prisoner scores with control - on measures of extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism - prisoners recorded higher average scores - agrees with predictions on 3 dimensions

Answer 7

TOO SIMPLISTIC - idea all offending behaviour explained by personality traits - personality alone were poor prediction of how long offending would go on for - the environment is needed for reactions of these traits - more complex, interactionist better - test also too simplistic - personality not reductable to a score - too complex to be quantified CULTURAL FACTORS - in a study, hispanic and African offenders are less extravert than non offender group - Eysenck would have expected more - suggested this was due to diff culture - questions how far this can be generalised

Answer 8

- individuals learn values, attitudes, and techniques for offending behaviour through association and interaction with others - has a scientific bases and is explained in terms of social learning - learning often occurs most though interactions with person child values the most - suggests its possible to mathematically predict how likely an individual is to commit offences - need to know frequency, intensity and duration of the exposure - people are exposed to different attitudes, some pro crime and anti crime - if pro crime outweighs anti crime, will offend

Answer 9

- socialisation - suntherlands theory shows why so many reoffend - when inside prison, learn tactics - may occur from observations or imitation

Answer 10

SHIFT IN FOCUS - moved emphasis away from early theories eg atavistic - draws attention to idea that environment is more to blame than deviant people - offers realistic solution to offending WIDE REACH - can account for offending in all sectors of society - some offences clustered among affluent groups - white collar offences - middle class group share deviant norms - not just lower class and can explain all offences

Answer 11

DETERMINISTIC- - states that if exposed to certain views and behaviours, will result in offending - not true and ignores that many chose to not offend despite influences DIFFICULT TO TEST - aimed to provide a scientific mathematical framework - hoped future offending could be predicted - many concepts not testable and can not be operationalised - eg how do you measure number of pro crime attitudes exposed to - does not have scientific credibility

Answer 12

level of moral reasoning cognitive distortions eg hostile attribution bias minimalisation

Answer 13

- kolberg proposed that peoples decisions and judgement of right and wrong can be summarised in a stage theory of moral reasoning - based on theory of responses to moral dilemmas like the Heinz dilemma - offenders show lower moral reasoning - more likely to be classified as pre convectional level of the model - non offenders progress to convectional - preconvectional- the need to avoid punishment, child like reasoning, commit crime if they can get away - invidiuals who reason higher likely to empathise and exhibit honesty and generosity

Answer 14

- errors in information processing HOSTILE ATTRIBUTION BIAS - misinterpreting actions of others - assume others are being confrontational - may misread non aggressive cues like being looked at and have violent response MINIMALISATION - an attempt to deny or downplay seriousness of offence - eg may say they were rich anyways

Answer 15

RESEARCH SUPPORT - evidence for link between moral reasoning and crime - compares reasoning of non offenders and offenders - used 11 moral dilemma questions - offender showed less moral reasoning -consistent with Kohlberg REAL WORLD APPLICATION - cog distortions have application in therapy - CBT aims to challenge irrational thinking - in this case encouraged to face up to what they have done - reduced denial is associated with lower reoffending - has practical value

Answer 16

TYPE OF OFFENCE - level of moral reasoning may depend on the crime - people who commit for financial gain more likely to show preconvectional than those convicted of impulsive crimes - kohl bergs theory may not apply to all forms of crime DESCRIPTIVE OR EXPLANITORY - cog theories are good at describing the criminal mind - may help reduce reofending - does not help predict future offending - just because someone has distorted thoughts doesn't mean will become an offender

Answer 17

faulty superego - superego works on morality principle - punishes ego through guilt - blackburn argued that if superego is not adequate then offending behaviour is inevitable WEAK AND UNDERDEVELOPED SUPEREGO -parent is absent in phallic stage and can not internalise formed superego - no opportunity for identification DEVIANT SUPEREGO - superego is immoral or has deviant values - leads to offending behaviour OVER HARSH SUPEREGO - overly harsh parenting leads to this - crippled by guilt and anxiety - drives individual to perform acts to satisfy need for punishment

Answer 18

- bowlby argued that the ability to form meaningful relationships in adulthood was dependent on Childs relationship with mother figure - failure to establish relationship means child is likely to experience consequences - one is Development of personality type- affection less psychopathy - lack of guilt and empathy - more likely to offend and don't develop close relationships

Answer 19

- though interviews - 14 of sample showed signs of affection less psychopathy - 12/14 had experienced maternal deprivation - concluded that affects of MD had caused affection less and delinquent behaviour among juvenile thieves

Answer 20

RESEARCH SUPPORT - support for link between offending and superego - research of 10 offenders and in all assessed, disturbances of superego formation diagnosed - each offender experienced unconscious feelings of guilt and punishment - supports role of psychic conflict as basis for offending

Answer 21

NOT ALWAYS CORRECT - if theory was correct, this would state that all harsh parents raise guilty children with high levels of anxiety - instead parents tend to raise children who are more rebellious and not guilty - calls into question relationship between punitive parents and excessive feelings of guilt in child GENDER BIAS - freudian theory is gender biased - implicit assumption with Freuds theory that girls develop weaker superegos - due to identification with same gender parent not as strong as they do not experience castration anxiety - this implication suggest women more likely to offend and rates of imprisonment show the opposite - another study showed hardly any evidence of gender differences - alpha bias means may not be appropriate as explanation of offending behaviour

Answer 22

- anger management - restorative justice - custodial sentencing - behavioural modification and token economy

Answer 23

- form of CBT specific to changing a way a person manages anger - reduces anger in prisons - rehabilitation and reduction of reoffending- especially for violent offending Novaco- identified three aims for programme - cog restructuring- greater self awareness and control over cog dimensions of anger - regulation of arousal- controlling physiological state - behavioural strategies- problem solving skills 3 KEY STEPS- - cog preparation- clients learn about anger and how it can be adaptive and no adaptive and analyse own patterns of anger and identify situations which provoke anger in them -skill acquisition - client taught skills to help manage their anger eg self regulation relaxation and taught better communication skills - application training- apply skills initially in controlled and non threatening situation and receive feedback from therapist - later client can try out skills in real world

Answer 24

BETTER THAN BEHAVIOUR MODIFACATION - benefits may outlast those from BM - tries to tackle one of the causes of offending - looks at cog processes that trigger - behaviour modification only deals with surface - may give new insights into causes of criminality - 75% improvement rates so successful

Answer 25

MAY NOT BE APPROPRIATE AND EFFECTIVE - time consuming and expensive - requires trained therapist - not effective for long term - people drop out due to the difficulty - has no effectiveness when not persisted SOCIAL DESIRABILITY BIAS - may portray themselves in a positive light - just want to seem as though improvements have been made - do this due to possibility of early release date - decrease effectiveness and evidence as may not be accurate

Answer 26

- brings those harmed by crime or conflict and those responsible for the harm into comunication - enables everyone affected by incident play a part in repairing harm and finding positive way forward - helps victim to recover and offender to rehabilitate - trained mediator supervises meeting - offenders voluntarily meet - can be face to face or via video call - survivor given opportunity to confront - focus on positive outcomes aims -REHABILITATION OF OFFENDERS - requires offender to be active ppt in process rather than passive and take responsibility for action -ATONEMENT FOR WRONGDOING- offenders may offer compensation or atone by showing genuine feelings pf guilt VICTIMS PERSPECTIVE- restores power of victim as voice is heard reports that this reduces feeling of being a victim and has helped them feel safe again

Answer 27

EVIDENCE FOR SUCCESS -victims perspective- there is 85% satisfaction rate in face to face meetings with offenders - victims also have greater sense of satisfaction REDUCED OFFENDING - reviewed 20 studies of face to face meetings - all studies showed reduced reoffending - one study, reoffending rate was 11% compared to control 37% - overall figure of 14% reduction in rates

Answer 28

ETHICAL ISSUES - can cause psychological harm to victim - contact with offender - may bring back memory and cause anxiety and stress - eg abusive relationship NOT ALWAYS SUITABLE - relies on good intent - offenders may not feel guilt but use the scheme to reduce sentence or even to come back in contact with victim - hard to test honesty - harder and not suitable for extreme crimes as may be too damaging for victim

Answer 29

-involves a convicted offender spending time in prison or another closed institution 4 main reasons - DETERANCE- unpleasant experience puts individuals off engaging in offending behaviour ( social learning) -TO PROTECT PUBLIC- taken out of society and need for it is likely to depend on the severity of the crime and nature of offender - TO PUNISH OFFENDER- society enacting revenge for the offence by making person suffer and level of suffering should be proportionate to seriousness of crime - REHABILITATION- to prevent criminal behaviour, criminals must be educated and prison should provide opportunities to develop skills and training

Answer 30

stress and depression - suicide rates are higher in prisons than in general pop - stress of prison increases risk of developing psychological disorders Institutionalisation- adapting to norms and routine of prison life may make unable to cope on the outside overcrowding and lack of privacy - may lead to stress and aggression

Answer 31

- tells us to what extent prison acts as effective deterrent - hard to gain clear figures - 46% of adults reoffend within 1 year of release

Answer 32

PROVIDES TRAINING AND TREATMENT -rehabilitation -offenders may become better people during their time in prison -may be able to lead crime free life on the outside c -an access education and training increasing possibility of finding employment -offenders taking part in college programs are 43% less likely to reoffend following release.

Answer 33

ETHICAL ISSUES - negative psychological effects -can be brutal, demeaning and devastating - 119 people killed themselves in UK prisons in 2016 - 32% increase from year before -although convicts can be seen as inhumane it can cause more long-term impact. -However, some symptoms may have been present before. SCHOOL FOR CRIME -offenders may learn to become better offenders -skills that they acquire in their time in prison -may give younger inmates particular opportunities to learn tricks of the trade -may acquire criminal contacts EFFECTS ON FAMILY -children with a mother or father in prison or deeply affected financially and psychologically -parents in prison may feel guilt and separation anxiety from children or significant other

Answer 34

- techniques are based on behaviourist principles of operant conditioning -both positive and negative reinforcement is used to encourage people to use certain behaviours and punishment to discourage -desirable behaviour- avoiding confrontation and following prison rules -Prisoners are given a token when they perform a desirable behaviour - Behaviours and rewards made clear to prisoner -non-compliance leads to tokens with held or removed. -Neutral stimulus is token. Unconditioned stimulus is reward condition stimulus is then the token -token is collected and exchanged for meaningful privileges like movies or meetings with family.

Answer 35

- Hobbs and holt observed token economy used in Alabama boys school for young offenders - Aim was to reduce inappropriate social behaviour before and after dinner lining up -staff given training 3×4 hours twice a week -identified and defined target behaviours -125 males observed lining in four areas one control line with no tokens -each day Boys told how many they had earned after being told criteria and how to earn them -every week could buy drinks, toys, cigarettes and visits -baseline of percentage of social behaviours before was 60 to 75% -after tokens 90 to 95% -control groups showed no increase

Answer 36

EASY TO IMPLEMENT - no need for specialist professionals like in CBT or anger management -can be implemented by anyone and in any institution -cost, effective and easy to work once methods have been established

Answer 37

LITTLE REHABILATATIVE VALUE -may not affect long-term behaviour -Any positive change in behaviour that may occur whilst in prison may quickly be lost one released -no tokens or awards on outside -cognitive based treatment may be better -more likely to understand the cause of offending. ETHICAL ISSUES - have described behaviour modification as manipulative and dehumanising -obligatory and not optional -argues that withdrawal of privileges like exercise is unethical -Can't take away human rights as a form of combatting offending behaviour.

forensics Flashcards

(61 cards)