Forensics

Question 1

Canter et al (2004) (evaluation)

Answer 1

• of the top-down approach

Analysed 100 murders in the USA and found that there were no specific disorganised characteristics

Question 2

Holmes (1989) (evaluation)

Answer 2

• of top-down approach

More types of serial killer: visionary, mission, hedonistic and power/control

Question 3

Aim and procedure of Canter (2004)

Answer 3

Aim: To test the reliability of the top-down typology by applying it to 100 cases.
Procedure: A content analysis of 100 cases of serial killers from the US. The cases came from published accounts and were cross checked with court reports and officers where possible.

Question 4

Findings of Canter (2004)

Answer 4

Twice as many disorganised crimes as organised crimes were identified, suggesting that disorganised offenders are more common or easier to identify.
Two behaviours occurred significantly above chance:
- In 70% of cases, the body was concealed.
- In 75% of cases, sexual activity had occurred.
Further analysis failed to reveal any significant differences between organised and disorganised variables.

Question 5

What does the bottom-up approach look at?

Answer 5

Looks for consistencies in the offender’s behaviour during the crime. These can be inferred from the crime scene or surviving victim accounts.

Question 6

At what point is an initial assumption made about the offender in the bottom-up approach?

Answer 6

After a statistical analysis using correlational techniques has been carried out on the details of the cases

Question 7

Possible issues with the bottom-up approach?

Answer 7

Anomalous results
Eyewitness testimony
Not all crimes are reported
Data being lost
Human error
Leading questions
Not all crimes are followed up

Question 8

Smallest space analysis

Answer 8

A computer program that identifies correlations across patterns of behaviour

Question 9

Canter and Heritage (evaluation)

Answer 9

+ of bottom up approach
Content analysis of 66 sexual assault cases, used smallest space analysis and found several characteristics common with perpetrators - shows how statistical testing can be used

Question 10

Lundrigan and Canter (evaluation)

Answer 10

+ of bottom up approach
120 murder cases with serial killers, used smallest space analysis and found spatial consistency and a ‘centre of gravity’

Question 11

Which crimes is the bottom up approach suited to? (evaluation)

Answer 11

+ of bottom up approach

Can be applied to a wider range of offences

Question 12

Three types of criminals according to Lombroso

Answer 12

Born criminal - the atavistic
Insane criminal - suffering from mental illness
Criminaloid - mental characteristics predisposed them to criminal behaviour under the right circumstance

Question 13

Mednick (1984)

Answer 13

Conducted an adoption study of 13000 Danish adoptees. Found criminality in correlation of biological and adoptive parents having a criminal record (24.5%)
Supports diathesis stress

Question 14

Prefrontal cortex in crime

Answer 14

Raine (2004) found from 71 brain imaging studies that criminals have reduced functioning in the prefrontal cortex. Lowered activity in this area is associated with loss of control

Question 15

Neurotransmitters in crime

Answer 15

Serotonin: inhibits the prefrontal cortex. Dopamine hyperactivity may enhance this effect.
Noradrenaline: very high and very low levels have been associated with aggression and criminal behaviour. High levels are associated of sympathetic nervous system and the fight or flight response. Low levels would reduce the ability for people to react to perceived threats.

Question 16

Genetics vs neural (evaluation)

Answer 16

• of neural explanations
  Current thinking is that there are many genes involved which can be switched on or off depending on environmental factors

Question 17

Research (evaluation of neural explanations)

Answer 17

• of neural explanations

Research has been based on aggressiveness rather than offending

Question 18

Cause of extraversion

Answer 18

Underarousal in nervous system

Question 19

Cause of neuroticism

Answer 19

Instability in sympathetic nervous system

Question 20

Cause of psychoticism

Answer 20

Higher levels of testosterone

Question 21

Sampling size of Eysenck (evaluation)

Answer 21

+ of Eysenck’s theory

Study is generalisable (uses 2422 male controls vs 2070 male prisoners and wide age range 16-69)

Question 22

Farrington et al (evaluation)

Answer 22

• of Eysenck’s theory
  David Farrington et al found no consistent difference between extraverts’ cortical arousal compared to introverts when using EEG measures

Question 23

Mischel (1988) (evaluation)

Answer 23

• of Eysenck’s theory

Suggested that personality cannot be reduced to a score. We change depending on our situation.

Question 24

Cognitive distortions

Answer 24

A form of irrational thinking

Question 25

Kohlberg's levels of moral development

Answer 25

Level 1: Pre-conventional Level 2: Conventional Level 3: Post-conventional

Question 26

Stage 1 (Kohlberg)

Answer 26

Punishment orientated - rules are obeyed to avoid punishment

Question 27

Stage 3 (Kohlberg)

Answer 27

'Good boy'/'good girl' orientation - rules obeyed for approval

Question 28

Stage 4 (Kohlberg)

Answer 28

Maintenance of social order

Question 29

Stage 5 (Kohlberg)

Answer 29

Rules obeyed if they are impartial; democratic rules are challenged if they infringe on the rights of others

Question 30

Palmer and Collin (evaluation)

Answer 30

+ of cognitive theory 210 female non-offenders, 122 male non-offenders, and 126 convicted offenders - delinquent group showed less mature moral reasoning than control

Question 31

Gibbs (evaluation)

Answer 31

- of cognitive theory Argued Kohlberg's post-conventional levels should be abandoned as they are culturally biased and don't represent natural maturational stages of cognitive development (developed mature and immature reason)

Question 32

Thornton and Reid (evaluation)

Answer 32

- of cognitive theory Individuals who committed crimes for financial gain showed pre-conventional moral reasoning but those who committed violent and impulsive crimes showed no moral reasoning

Question 33

Principles of differential association theory (4)

Answer 33

1. Criminal behaviour is learned through association with intimate personal groups. 2. What is learned is techniques and attitudes that are directional (for/against crime). If favourable attitudes outweigh unfavourable attitudes, the person will become an offender. 3. The learning experiences vary in frequency and intensity for each individual, but criminal behaviour is learned through the same process as any other behaviour. 4. A general 'need' is not a sufficient explanation for crime.

Question 34

Application of differential association theory (evaluation)

Answer 34

+ of differential association theory | Shifts the blame from individual factors to social factors and so can be applied to learning environments

Question 35

Osborne and West (1982) (evaluation)

Answer 35

+ of differential association theory Found that, where there is a father with a criminal conviction, 40% of the sons had committed a crime by 18 compared to 13% of sons with non-criminal fathers

Question 36

Bowlby's 44 thieves

Answer 36

44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing. all interviewed. looked for signs of affectionless psychopathy. family was interviewed about attachment. there was a control group 14/44 thieves were affectionless. 12 of the 14 had poor attachment within the first 2 years of life. 5 of the remaining 30 had poor attachment

Question 37

Deviant superego impact on offending behaviour

Answer 37

Oedipus complex = boy models on father | If the father is deviant the son will imitate

Question 38

Gender bias in psychodynamic explanation (evaluation)

Answer 38

- of psychodynamic explanation Claims that women have less developed superegos therefore one would assume this would make them more prone to criminal behaviour - not supported by criminal population so gender bias

Question 39

Social sensitivity in psychodynamic (evaluation)

Answer 39

- of psychodynamic explanation | Little evidence that children raised without a same sex parent are less law abiding as adults

Question 40

Bowlby's issues (evaluation)

Answer 40

- of psychodynamic explanation | Bowlby had researcher bias and failed to draw a distinction between deprivation and privation

Question 41

Aims of custodial sentencing

Answer 41

1. To protect the public (Incapacitation) 2. To punish an offender and prevent recidivism (punishment) 3. To deter others (deterrence) 4. To atone for wrongdoing (retribution) 5. To rehabilitate offenders (rehabilitation)

Question 42

Psychological impacts of custodial sentencing

Answer 42

``` Deindividuation Depression, self harm and suicide Overcrowding and lack of privacy Effects on the family Institutionalisation Prisonisation ```

Question 43

Evaluation of custodial sentencing (1 strength, 3 weaknesses)

Answer 43

+ Protects the public by keeping prisoners out of the world - However, only a small number of prisoners are dangerous to society - The prison reform trust (2014) found that 46% of adults were reconvicted within one year of release and 67% of under 18 year olds were reconvicted within a year - The murder rates in states with the death penalty are similar to those in states which do not have the death penalty - also Walker found that length of sentence made little difference to habitual offenders.

Question 44

What is important for guards and prisoners to know in behaviour modification? (7)

Answer 44

- What a desired behaviour is - What a token is - How tokens are allocated - What a reward is - How there will be a gradual changing of the giving of tokens to shape behaviour - How many tokens there are for each reward - How the reward will be removed once the behaviour is achieved

Question 45

Define secondary reinforcer

Answer 45

Tokens given as rewards for target behaviour

Question 46

Define primary reinforcer

Answer 46

An item that the person physically desires or needs

Question 47

Schedule of reinforcement

Answer 47

A choice of how to implement a reinforcement strategy

Question 48

Hobbs and Holt (1976)

Answer 48

A token economy was introduced in a school for delinquent boys to try to reduce inappropriate social behaviour. 125 children were observed in four cottages over 14 months. One was a control group with no tokens. 2 supervisors each boy and recorded behaviours in six categories such as following instructions or completing challenges. The boys were told daily how many tokens they had earned, and exchanged them weekly for treats, or saved them for off-campus activities.

Question 49

Hobbs and Holt (1976) findings

Answer 49

Cottage A: appropriate behaviour increased from 66% to 91.6%. Cottage B: 46.7% - 80.8% Cottage C: 73.2% - 94.2%

Question 50

Evaluation of behaviour modification (1 strength, 3 weaknesses)

Answer 50

+ Better than other types of rehabilitation - clearly defined and easy to implement/can promote desirable behaviours/doesn't need a trained psychologist involved. - Lack of success - success does not persist over a long time. - Cohen and Filipcjak found that juvenile delinquents using a token economy were less likely to reoffend after a year but Rice et al found 50% of men in a maximum security psychiatric hospital reoffended (individual differences) - Violation of human rights to manipulate characteristics

Question 51

What are the aims of anger management?

Answer 51

Reducing anger and aggressiveness (Short term) and reduction of recidivism (long term)

Question 52

Novaco (1975)

Answer 52

AMPs are based on Novaco, who drew on the stress inoculation approach.

Question 53

Skill acquistion (AMP)

Answer 53

Clients are taught skills to help manage their anger. 1. Cognitive skills - 'positive self talk', being able to convince yourself to be more positive 2. Behavioural skills - communication, being able to communicate in a calm way why you are angry 3. Physiological skills - meditation and relaxation techniques

Question 54

Ireland (2004) (evaluation)

Answer 54

+ of AMPs | 92% of patients showed reduced aggression as evaluated by a self-report of behaviour

Question 55

McGuire (evaluation)

Answer 55

+ of AMPs | Found reduction in reoffending after one year, likely based on finding the cause of a crime as an active therapy

Question 56

Blackburn (1993) (evaluation)

Answer 56

- of AMPs Found that, in the long term, it doesn't reduce recidivism because it relies on artificial role-play and not real life events.

Question 57

Effectiveness of AMPs (evaluation)

Answer 57

- of AMPs | Some offenders may drop out of voluntary management programmes as they 'aren't ready to change'.

Question 58

Aims of restorative justice

Answer 58

Seeks to achieve justice by repairing the harm done by an offender. Some examples of how this is done is through payments or letters/interactions between the victim and offender

Question 59

Key features of restorative justice

Answer 59

- Focus on acceptance of responsibility and positive change for people who harm others - Not restricted to courtrooms - Active rather than passive involvement of all parties - Focus on positive outcomes for survivors and those involved in wrongdoings.

Question 60

UK Restorative Justice Council (2015) (evaluation)

Answer 60

+ of restorative justice The UK Restorative Justice council (2015) reported an 85% satisfaction rate from victims when meeting offenders face to face. Police in Avon and Somerset actually reported 92.5% victim satisfaction.

Question 61

Economic advantages/disadvantages of restorative justice (evaluation)

Answer 61

+ of restorative justice The Restorative Justice Council claims that reduced reoffending means £8 is saved for every £1 spent on the restorative justice process.

Question 62

Recidivism of restorative justice (evaluation)

Answer 62

+ of restorative justice | Avoids the criminal culture of custodial sentencing so may prevent reoffending because of SLT.

Question 63

Victim participation in restorative justice (evaluation)

Answer 63

- of restorative justice | A victim may not want to take part in restorative justice depending on the trauma they feel as a result of the crime.