PAPER 3 - FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY - ways of dealing with offending behaviour

Question 1

what are the 4 ways of dealing with offending behaviour?

Answer 1

• custodial sentencing and recidivism
• anger management
• behaviour modification (token economies)
• restorative justice programmes

Question 2

what are the aims of custodial sentencing?

Answer 2

• deterrence
• incapacitation
• retribution
• rehabilitation

Question 3

explain ‘deterrance’ as an aim of custodial sentencing

Answer 3

the unpleasantness of prison is intended to deter people from offending in order to avoid being sent there and if they are sent there, to stop re-offending when they get out (based on behaviourist view of conditioning)

Question 4

explain ‘incapacitation’ as an aim of custodial sentencing

Answer 4

• prison protects the public
• some crimes are a more serious risk to the public e.g. murder requires greater need for incapacitation than someone who refuses to pay a fine

Question 5

explain ‘retribution’ as an aim of custodial sentencing

Answer 5

the level of punishment should reflect and be in proportion to the crime

Question 6

explain ‘rehabilitation’ as an explanation of custodial sentencing

Answer 6

having a person in prison may offer the best opportunity for therapy as they have fewer distractions and there may be incentives for participation

Question 7

what is recidivism?

Answer 7

how likely the offender is to reoffend after prison

Question 8

what are the psychological effects of custodial sentencing?

Answer 8

• de-individuation
• depression, self harm and suicide
• overcrowding and lack of privacy
• effects on family

Question 9

how does custodial sentencing lead to de-individuation?

Answer 9

• Stanford Prison study (Zimbardo) found how de-individuation is associated with increased aggression and treating people n inhumane ways

Question 10

how does custodial sentencing lead to depression, self-harm and suicide?

Answer 10

• depression explained in terms of hopelessness, offenders may initially feel anxious about frightening environment, hopeless about future and lacking in control
• depression may be expressed in terms of self-harm, Howard League for prison reform reported 10,000 incidents of self-harm, though may also be explained in terms of conformity
• suicide also an outcome of depression, greatest risk is single young men in first 24 hours of imprisonment

Question 11

how does custodial sentencing lead to overcrowding and lack of privacy?

Answer 11

• growing prison population hasnt been matched by number of prisons
• recent data suggests 25% of prisoners are in overcrowded accommodation (e.g. 2 prisoners occupying one cell)
• leads to increased aggression, hypersexuality and physical illness

Question 12

how does custodial sentencing affect families?

Answer 12

• children with a mother/father in prison are deeply affected financially and psychologically
• parents in prison may feel guilt and separation anxiety

Question 13

what evidence is there to about the effectiveness of custodial sentencing? (evaluation - limitation)

Answer 13

• higher rates of recidivism suggest that for at least 50% of prison population, punishment doesn’t work
• behaviourist approach: effective punishment happens immediately, punishment is not immediate in custodial sentencing
• offender may see sentencing as punishment for being caught, thus learning to avoid being caught

Question 14

what are the benefits of custodial sentencing? (evaluation - strength)

Answer 14

incapacitation (but only relevant to small range of dangerous crimes)

Question 15

how can prisons be a training ground for crime? (evaluation - limitation)

Answer 15

• custodial sentencing may increase likelihood of reoffending
• according to Sutherland’s DA theory, this would happen because offending is a consequence of increasing association with people who have pro-crime attitudes
• this affects individuals attitudes towards crime and gives opportunities for learning how to be more successful and committing crimes

Question 16

explain the evaluation point ‘individual differences in recidivism’ in relation to custodial sentencing

Answer 16

• custodial sentencing may be more effective in some individuals than others e.g. found that length of sentence made little difference to habitual offenders who were just as likely to re-offend no matter what their sentence was
• recidivism rates vary with crime and age, younger people are more likely to re-offend and those committing crimes such as theft are more than twice as likely to re-offend than those committing drug or sexual offences

Question 17

what is behaviour modification in custody as a way of dealing with offending behaviour?

Answer 17

• behaviour modification techniques are based on behaviourist principles of operant conditioning
• both positive and negative reinforcement can be used to encourage people to use certain behaviours and punishment is used to discourage them
• token economies

Question 18

what is a token economy as a behavioural modification in custody?

Answer 18

• prisoners are given tokens for desirable target behaviours (e.g. obedience, clean cell etc)
• these tokens (secondary reinforcers) can be used to obtain desirable rewards (e.g. tobacco)
• items purchased with tokens act as primary reinforcers (rewards) and increase likelihood of behaviour being repeated
• the tokens are secondary reinforcers because they are repeatedly being being presented alongside reinforcing stimulus (classical conditioning)

Question 19

what are the strengths of a token economy?

Answer 19

• easy to implement, no need for specialists (e.g. those needed for anger management courses)
• relatively cheap - means programmes can be set up in any prison

Question 20

what are the limitations of a token economy?

Answer 20

• may not be long term solution to behaviour, behaviour can revert after individual leaves prison
• cognitive therapies (e.g. anger management) seen to be more effective and permanent due to offering prisoner understanding
• inmates ‘play along’ with token economy to gain rewards, giving little rehabilitation value

Question 21

how is punishment used in a token economy?

Answer 21

removing tokens because of undesirable behaviour

Question 22

what is ‘shaping’ as a behavioural modification in custody (token economy)?

Answer 22

longer term objectives/complex behaviours consisting of smaller components can be taught, where tokens are given for behaviours that progressively become more complex

Question 23

what was the key study by Hobbs and Holt (1976)?

Answer 23

• sample: adolescent delinquents (12-15)
• aim: reduce inappropriate social behaviour before and after dinner and whilst lining up
• procedure: staff given intensive training to identify and define target behaviours
• total of 125 delinquent males were living in 4 cottages, one cottage was a control who received no tokens
• boys were told target criteria and told how many tokens they could earn in each category
• they were taken to a token economy store and could buy toys, sweets etc.
• findings: baseline mean percentages for social behavirous before boys were given tokens were 66% 47% and 73% in each cottage
• this increased post-tokens to 91%, 81% and 94%
• control group showed no increase in same time period

Question 24

what is anger management?

Answer 24

is a form of CBT involving identifying signs that trigger anger and learning how to deal with them calmly and positively

Question 25

what is the short-term aim of anger management?

Answer 25

reducing anger and aggression in prisons where it is a serious issue - Novaco describes prisons as 'efficient anger factories' due to social climate

Question 26

what is the longer-term aim of anger management?

Answer 26

rehabilitation and reduction of recidivism (especially for violent prisoners)

Question 27

what are the 3 key aims of anger management proposed by Novaco?

Answer 27

- cognitive reconstructing - regulation of arousal - behavioural strategies/skills application all make up stress inoculation model

Question 28

what is cognitive reconstruction?

Answer 28

- greater self awareness and control over cognitive dimensions of anger - identifies triggers and irrational interpretation

Question 29

what is regulation of arousal?

Answer 29

learning to control physiological state, learn techniques to deal with situations rationally e.g. positive self-talk, and training to communicate more effectively so offender feels more control

Question 30

what are the behavioural strategies/skills application of anger management?

Answer 30

problem solving skills, strategic withdrawal and assertiveness in precise environment through role play

Question 31

what was the study by Jane Ireland and how can this be used to evaluate anger management?

Answer 31

- assessed effectiveness of anger management therapy in 87 young male offenders - baseline measure was made and participation was assessed by prison officers - 50 took part (37 on waiting list) - treatment consisted of 12 1-hour sessions over 3 days - after 8 weeks all participants were reassessed FINDINGS: significant improvements in experimental group and no changes in control group

Question 32

what evidence is there to suggest the success of anger management programmes?

Answer 32

- Taylor and Novaco report 75% improvement rates - Ladenberger and Lipsey analysed 58 studies using CBT with offenders, 20 of which anger control as a part of the therapy, found anger control element was significantly related to amount of improvement

Question 33

what are the methodological issues with the research?

Answer 33

- difficulties with research and making comparisons is variability in anger programmes, some are brief but some span several years, some are run by psychologists and some are run by prison staff making comparability difficult - anger is assessed through self report measures or observations by prison staff (subjective) and participants may portray that it worked but actually didn't

Question 34

what are the limitations of anger management programmes?

Answer 34

- CBT isn't for everyone, some offenders don't like having to reflect on their styles of thinking and find it difficult to make the effort involved in changing attitudes and behaviours - such individuals may drop out of voluntary anger management programmes - research shows, to manage dropouts is to assess 'readiness to change'

Question 35

explain the evaluation point 'short vs long-term goals' for anger management programmes

Answer 35

- most assessments of success of anger management programmes focus on short-term goal of reducing aggression in prison - fewer studies have looked at long-term effects on recidivism rates, partly as it's more difficult to follow up - researchers looked at number of studies and found some instances if reduction in re-offending after one year compared with individuals on probation - likely the success of programmes is related to more than just anger management but some kind of general therapeutic support

Question 36

what are the 3 aims of restorative justice programmes?

Answer 36

- recovery of victim - rehabilitation of offender - atonement for wrongdoing

Question 37

what is restorative justice?

Answer 37

a focus on rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims in order to help victim be heard/recognised and also for offender to see impact of the crime

Question 38

what are the key features of restorative justice programmes?

Answer 38

- meetings involved trained mediators - meetings not in courtroom setting - face-to-face or remote - victim can explain effects of crime e.g. distress - active participation of both parties - positive outcomes for both - other relevant members included e.g. family, friends, community

Question 39

what is the RJC?

Answer 39

- restorative justice council - establish standards for restorative practice - also manages conflict in other areas e.g. childrens services

Question 40

what is the theory of restorative justice?

Answer 40

- Watchtel & McCold - theoretical framework that emphasises relationships (not punishment) - includes 3 'stakeholders' - offender, victim & community - all sit together and each can talk, professionally trained mediator present (the 'keeper')

Question 41

what evidence is there to suggest the success of restorative justice programmes from the victim's perspective?

Answer 41

- UK Restorative Justice Council report 85% satisfaction from victims in face to face meetings with their offender(s) - these reports of victim satisfaction covered a large range of different cries from theft to violent crimes - victims also claimed greater sense of satisfaction than when cases go through mainstream court

Question 42

what evidence is there to suggest the success of restorative justice in terms of reduced offending?

Answer 42

- Sherman and Strang reviewed 20 studies of face-to-face meetings between offender and victim in US, UK and Australia - all studies show reduced re-offending and non were linked to higher re-offending - overall figure of 14% reduction in re-offending rates

Question 43

what are the advantages of restorative justice compared with custodial sentencing?

Answer 43

- avoiding custodial sentencing, deviant sub-culture can be avoided

Question 44

what are the ethical issues of restorative justice?

Answer 44

- victim may feel worse afterwards - making people face up to their wrongdoing can lead to abuse of power - victims can gang up on offender, especially if offender is a child - victim may try to shame offender - restorative justice programmes need to be carefully balances and ensure benefit for both victim and offender