Forensics psychology

Question 1

what is the top down approach? which country?

Answer 1

categories offenders into 2 categories (organised and disorganised) American

Question 2

characteristics of an organised criminal

Answer 2

high intelligence, lots of planning, little evidence at crime scene

Question 3

characteristics of disorganised criminal

Answer 3

low intelligence, unemployed, spontaneous, lots of evidence

Question 4

what are the 2 negatives of top down approach?

Answer 4

only based on serial killers - not generalisable
many serial killers can display both organised and disorganised characteristics

Question 5

what did Canter find and what does this support?

Answer 5

found 100 US serial killers fitted into the categories, top-down approach is correct

Question 6

what did Meketa find and what does this support?

Answer 6

burglars fitted into categories so top-down is generalisable

Question 7

what is the bottom up approach?

Answer 7

looks at minor details of crime scene, develops hypothesis about the characteristics of criminal

Question 8

what is the first step of investigative psychology? explain

Answer 8

interpersonal coherence - the way they behave at crime scene is how they act in everyday life

Question 9

what is the 2nd step of investigative psychology? explain

Answer 9

significance of time and place - indicate where they are living

Question 10

what is the third step of investigative psychology? explain

Answer 10

forensic awareness - how aware they are at covering evidence

Question 11

who found the ‘circle theory’ and what does it come under? what is it?

Answer 11

Canter - geographical profiling
people commit crimes within a certain geographical space

Question 12

what are marauders and what are commuters?

Answer 12

marauders - close to home
commuters - travel to ‘work’

Question 13

what did Canter and Heritage find? what does this support?

Answer 13

correlation between behaviour at crime scene and everyday life - bottom up approach (interpersonal coherence)

Question 14

what did Canter and Lundrigan find and what does this support?

Answer 14

almost all serial killers had a base at the centre of circle created - Canters circle theory

Question 15

what did Ainsworth find and what does this go against?

Answer 15

factors such as age and time more important than location - goes against geographical profiling

Question 16

what did Kocsis find and what does this go against?

Answer 16

chemistry students produced more accurate profiles than trained detectives - going against top-down and bottom up

Question 17

who found the biological explanation for Forensics and what are some of the characteristics?

Answer 17

Lombroso - criminals are under-evolved
facial asymmetry
dark skin
prominent jaw

Question 18

what are atavistic characteristics and what study was founded into them? what is wrong with this study?

Answer 18

ones inherited from ancestors
Lombroso - 40% of crimes are committed by people with atavist characteristics
only 40%, not that high

Question 19

what are the strengths of Lombroso’s biological explanations?

Answer 19

first scientific research, agrees with modern day explanations that criminality can be caused by genetics

Question 20

what did Goring find? what does this go against?

Answer 20

found no evidence that offenders had unusual facial features

Question 21

what are some other negatives to Lombroso’s biological explanation?

Answer 21

reflects racism
determinism - removes responsibility

Question 22

what did Christianson find and what does this suggest but what?

Answer 22

found concordance rates of 35% MZ twins and 13% for DZ twins. supports the genetic explanation for offender behaviour however cant be solely the explanation

Question 23

what did Crowe find and what does this suggest?

Answer 23

50% risk of having criminal record if mother was a criminal
suggests a biological component

Question 24

what are candidate genes and what gene is said to be related to offender behaviour?

Answer 24

genes that are being suggested as a cause for a particular illness
MAOA - regulates serotonin

Question 25

what did Tihonen find and what does this support?

Answer 25

low functioning varient of MAOA was far more common in offenders supports genetic explanation

Question 26

what did Raine find and what does this support?

Answer 26

people diagnosed with APD had 11% less grey matter in their prefrontal cortex support neural explanation

Question 27

what are the 4 aims of custodial sentencing?

Answer 27

deterrence retribution incapacitation rehabilitiation

Question 28

what are psychological effects of custodial sentencing?

Answer 28

stress depression

Question 29

who found the psychological theory of criminal personality? and what does it suggest?

Answer 29

Eysenck - every person has an innate personality type

Question 30

what are the 3 factors which determine a criminal personality? and what are they rated on?

Answer 30

extroversion, neuroticism, psychoticism EPQ (Eysenck personality questionnaire)

Question 31

what did Eysenck find and what does support?

Answer 31

significance difference between EPQ scores with prisoners and controls - supports his criminal personality is correct

Question 32

what is an explanation for high extroversion? what is an explanation for high neuroticism?

Answer 32

underactive nervous system sympathetic nervous system easily aroused

Question 33

what did Farrington find and what does this go against?

Answer 33

only significance difference with P and not E & N only psychoticism causes criminality - supports biological of testosterone rather than Eysenck's theory

Question 34

What are the positives to Eysenck's theory?

Answer 34

Many violent offenders like Ted Bundy do fit into Eysenck’s criminal personality

Question 35

What is minimialisation?

Answer 35

Reducing something to the least possible amount of degree

Question 36

Who founded the theory of moral development?

Answer 36

Kohlberg

Question 37

What is level one of moral development?

Answer 37

Conforms to get rewards, obey rules to avoid punishment

Question 38

What is level 2 of moral development?

Answer 38

Conforms to avoid dislike of others

Question 39

What is level 3 of moral development?

Answer 39

Conforms to maintain communities

Question 40

What level are offenders stuck in? why?

Answer 40

Pre-conventional, childish behaviour. More likely to commit crime if they can get away with it and gain rewards like money/increased respect

Question 41

What did schonenberg find and what does this show?

Answer 41

55 offenders with neutral faces were more likely to interpret them as hostile - shows hostile attribution theory does cause criminality

Question 42

What did Barbaree find and what does this show?

Answer 42

54% of rapists denied they committed a crime. Suggests minimalisation does cause criminality

Question 43

What did Kohlberg find and what does this suggest?

Answer 43

Lower levels of moral reasoning in a group of offenders. Supports Kohlberg’s theory of moral development

Question 44

Who founded the differential association theory?

Answer 44

Sutherland

Question 45

What was Sutherland main hypothesis?

Answer 45

Criminality occurs when criminal association outweighs non-criminal association

Question 46

What are the strengths of the differential association theory?

Answer 46

Enabled the move away from lobroso atavistic theory Can explain all types of crimes

Question 47

What did Farrington find and what does this support?

Answer 47

‘Family criminality to be a key factors. Supports differential association theory

Question 48

What are the limitations of differential association theory?

Answer 48

Can’t fully observed how long people are associating with other Runs risk of prejudice towards poorer, high crime communities

Question 49

what are the 4 effects of custodial sentencing?

Answer 49

Stress Depression Institutionalisation Prisonisation

Question 50

What did the Ministry of Justice find and what does this go against?

Answer 50

124 inmates in 2016 committed suicide. Goes against custodial sentencing

Question 51

What did Shirley find and what does this support?

Answer 51

43% of inmates who engaged in education were 43% more likely to re-offend - supports rehab

Question 52

What are other strengths to custodial sentencing?

Answer 52

Protects public, opportunity for behaviour modification via token economy and anger management

Question 53

What are primary reinforcers?

Answer 53

Rewarded with a privilege, directly

Question 54

What is a secondary reinforcer?

Answer 54

Given a token which can be exchanged for a prize

Question 55

What are the strengths of token economy?

Answer 55

Makes prisons calmer and safer Easy and cost-effective

Question 56

What did Hobbs and Holt find and what does this support?

Answer 56

Young offenders portrayed positive behaviour. Supports token economies are effective

Question 57

What did Blackburn find and what does this go against?

Answer 57

Behavioural benefits tend to disappear upon release. Suggests token economy has little lasting effect

Question 58

What is used to treat anger management?

Answer 58

CBT

Question 59

What did Howels find and what does this support?

Answer 59

AM has impact on higher anger individuals Anger management is effective for some

Question 60

What did Howels find and what does this go against?

Answer 60

Very little overall impact of anger management compared to control

Question 61

What is restorative justice?

Answer 61

Aim is to heal and rehabilitate offender

Question 62

What did strang find and what does this support?

Answer 62

Found a reduction of recidivism compared to controls Supports RJ

Question 63

What did Shapland find and what does this support?

Answer 63

85% of survivors reported satisfaction with restorative justice Suggests RJ is effective

Question 64

What type of psychological explanation is Kholbergs theory of moral development?

Answer 64

Cognitive

Question 65

What is hostile attribution bias?

Answer 65

Interpreting peoples behaviour as confrontational.

Question 66

What are the 3 superego definitions for criminality in Psychodynamic approach?

Answer 66

Deviant, Over-harsh, Weak

Question 67

What causes a weak super-ego? What happens with a weak super-ego?

Answer 67

Absence of strong parental figures. So, ID takes over and they get their desires

Question 68

What causes a deviant super-ego? What does this mean?

Answer 68

Shaped by parental figures who were criminals themselves. This means that they have learnt behaviours that are different from normal society

Question 69

What causes an over-harsh super-ego? What does this mean?

Answer 69

Very harsh disciplinarian parents. Causes them to unconsciously seek punishment by breaking the law

Question 70

What did Goreta find and what does this support?

Answer 70

All 10 offenders displayed the need for self punishment. This supports over-harsh super-ego

Question 71

What did Bowlby find and what does a this support?

Answer 71

14 out of 44 thieves were affectionless psychopaths and 12 of the 14 had experienced maternal deprivation. Lack of parents figures causes weak super-ego

Question 72

What is moral reasoning?

Answer 72

The way in which a person thinks about right and wrong, the higher the level, the more our behaviour is driven by what is right and not to avoid punishment