Week 8

Question 1

Willie Horton

Answer 1

Murder & robbery
-> life in prison w/o parole

Weekend furlough

• > didn’t return
• > caught year later (committed awful crimes)
• -> sentenced to consecutive terms

Lead to politicians “tough on crime”

Question 2

Risk assessment

Answer 2

Assessing dangerousness

• third party protection
• involuntary commitment
• denial of bail
• hospitalization following NGRI
• death penalty

Question 3

Barefoot v. Estelle (1983)

Answer 3

Barefoot

• convicted for murder of police officer
• sentenced to death
• based on testimony from psychiatrists on ‘future dangerousness’ saying absolute chance
• > neither had actually EXAMINED HIM!

APA
~2/3 predictions were wrong
-prediction of violence deemed unreliable by field

Supreme Court
-went against science

Question 4

Predicting dangerousness

Answer 4

Low base rates (many have same characteristic, but not all with that characteristic do X)
Hospitals/prisons vs. communities
Long-term risk vs. short-term risk (few years better)

Question 5

General research procedures

Answer 5

Study a group
Develop list of risk factors to predict which ones (upon release) commit act of violence
Study patients post-release
Develop predictors of future dangerous, violent behavior

Question 6

Risk assessments

Answer 6

Actuarial (completely structured) vs. clinical (based on intuition; completely unstructured) prediction [DICHOTOMY]

Structured vs. unstructured [CONTINUUM]

Question 7

Structured risk assessment (VRAG)

Answer 7

Criteria and rule for assessment are SAME for all cases
Determine criteria and apply CONSISTENTLY to all cases

More structured, better at predicting
Mathematical process (cut off score)

Question 8

Unstructured risk assessment (clinical)

Answer 8

Treat each case INDIVIDUALLY

Based on theoretical background and clinical experience

Question 9

How should psychologists assess risk? (Monahan, 2007)

Answer 9

VRAG- 75% accuracy
-completely structured w/ no clinical review

His view- COVR (structured with clinical review in final assessment)

Question 10

HCR-20: Webster et al. (1997)

Answer 10

Historical (all stable factors)
Clinical (more dynamic)
Risk management

Question 11

Use of strutted violence risk assessments

Answer 11

Dip. of Board more likely to use structured tools than general practitioners of clinical psych (tend to use for Freudian techniques e.g., Rorschach)

Question 12

Jurors’ reactions to risk assessment evidence

Answer 12

Test. from clinical assess. (more understandable and directly relevant) greater impact than actuarial assessment (more abstract, harder to understand, and less directly relevant)

Question 13

Mental illness and dangerousness

Answer 13

Long held belief that NO relationship

Monahan

• re-eval position
• -> violence among disordered (higher for schiz., major depression, mania/bi-polar, alcohol or drug abuse/dependence)
• -> disorder among violent (prison higher rate of mental health problems than those in jail or general pop)

Question 14

Rodney Alcala

Answer 14

Accused of rape
-> charged for lesser crime

Later found guilty of many murders (suspected in additional cases)

Doc. psych disorder
History of violent sexual assault
Paroled twice after short sentences

Question 15

Sex Offender Law

Answer 15

1994: Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offenders Registration Act

Question 16

Philip Albert

Answer 16

Reg sex offender, FL
Dist. child porn (pic of ex)
Had just turned 18

Question 17

Frank Rodriguez

Answer 17

Reg sex offender, TX
19 w/ 16 gf (probation and reg.)
Married her and has children

Question 18

Juan Matamoros

Answer 18

Reg. sex offender, FL

Public urination

Question 19

Expanding definition of sex crimes

Answer 19

Prostitution
Public exposure
Sexting
Public urination
Consensual sex (teens)

Over 700,000 reg. sex offenders in US

Question 20

Sexually violent predators (SVP)

Answer 20

At end of sentence, state hearing to determine if continued risk
-mental abnormality or personality disorder

If still risk

• involuntary civil commitment
• -> potentially indefinitely
• -> constitutional (Kansas v. Hendricks)
• —- deemed civil vs. criminal matter

Question 21

Kansas v. Hendricks (1997)

Answer 21

Ruled that involuntary civil commitment for SVP is constitutional b/c civil vs. criminal matter

Question 22

Greatest concern about SVP and habitual offenders

Answer 22

86% sexual assaults committed by known person
-classmate, friend, ex/current, acquaintance
Child, 90% known to victim
87% arrested had no prior convictions for sexual offenses

Question 23

Recidivism rates of sex offenders

Answer 23

Public: 75% reoffend
Relaity: 14% after 5-6 yrs.; 25% after 15 yrs

Likely to be very low est. b/c only reported crimes, etc.

Question 24

Risk factors of reoffending

Answer 24

General:
Antisocial orientation
-antisocial traits, unstable, substance abuse, hostility, history of rule violation

Sexual recidivism:
Antisocial orientation
Sexual deviancy
-ruminates on acts, children, rape, pararphilias
Deviant sexual attitudes
-emotional identification with children

Question 25

Does treatment for sex offenders work?

Answer 25

General vs. sexual recidivism (no sign. diff.) Hanson et al. (2004) 12 yr follow up No difference in treated vs. untreated sexual, violent or general

Question 26

First criminal profile

Answer 26

1888 | Bond formed profile for Jack the Ripper

Question 27

Criminal profiling

Answer 27

Inferences about behavior, personality, motivation, and demographic characteristics based on crime scene and other evidence What (was at the crime), Why (the crime was committed) -> who

Question 28

Emphasize signatures

Answer 28

Methods may change, but signatures are constant (have to do with why the crime is committed) Assumption of reason or motivation

Question 29

Types of criminal profiling

Answer 29

Traditional (racial profiling) Geographic profiling Psychological autopsies

Question 30

Reliance on intuition and judgement

Answer 30

Clinical unstructured type approach

Question 31

Psychopathy characteristics

Answer 31

``` Superficial charm, glibness Grandiose sense of self-worth Deceitful ness Impulsivity Unlawfulness; recklessness Need for stimulation;prone to boredom (lower base rate of psych arousal) Manipulative Lack of remorse or guilt Callousness, lack empathy Early behavior problems (fires, animal cruelty, stealing, etc.) Failure to accept responsibility ```

Question 32

Psychopathy- biological and genetic influences

Answer 32

Various brain abnormalities | -prefrontal cortex (impulse control, future, considering morals, inhibition)

Question 33

Psychopaths- prevalence

Answer 33

At higher risk of committing crimes Child molesters (10-15%) Rapists (40-50%) Serial murderers (~90%) Psycho. reoffend and violate parole sooner and commit more institutional violence Psycho. adolescents more likely to reoffend, escape custody, violate probation

Question 34

Difficulties with treatment

Answer 34

Rarely seek treatment (unless court mandated) May fake compliance (clinicians should stay wary) Will only change behavior IF realize actions wrong (May be effective to make them feel worse as therapy) -> not really successful (usually personality disorder)

Question 35

Characteristics of serial killers

Answer 35

``` White Avg intell. Injury that impairs rational thinking Experienced childhood abuse History of cruelty to animals Use alcohol or drugs before killing Victims selected of particular type Obsessive interest in violent porn Highly sexualized behavior in killing ```

Question 36

Organized taxonomy

Answer 36

Crime scene - planned - controlled - premeditated Inferred characteristics - avg Intell - interpersonally comp - prefers skilled work - sexually competent - controlled mood during - stress prior to - follows media accounts - high geographic mobility

Question 37

Disorganized taxonomy

Answer 37

Crime scene - spontaneous - random/sloppy Inferred characteristic - bellow avg intell - unskilled work - sexually incomp - harsh childhood discipline - anxious mood during - minimal situational stress - minimal interest in media - lives/works near crime scene

Question 38

Characteristics of serial killers

Answer 38

Visionary types (e.g., psychotic) -hallucinations, delusions Mission-oriented types (Eric Rudolph) -motivated by their regard for evil or unworthy Hedonistic -for the thrill and sadistic sexual pleasure in torturing Power-oriented -satisfaction from capturing and controlling victim before killing

Question 39

Racial profiling

Answer 39

Potential for harassment and wrongful accusation Must have additional evidence to pull someone over (4th amend)

Question 40

Research: criminal profiling

Answer 40

Profilers slightly better than other groups at guessing physical attributes Less accurate than others at inferring social habits, thought processes, and personal history Overall accuracy of profilers: less than 50% Lack of association between characteristics of crime and perpetrator

Question 41

Problems with profiling

Answer 41

Little research (usually describe what is and what should be done) Crime scenes are a mix between organized and disorganized Crime scene characteristics aren't reliably associated with criminal personality types Assumes personality is more powerful than situation May rely too much on intuition Profiles are vague or ambiguous

Question 42

Geographic profiling

Answer 42

Relies on multiple crime Has direct implications Limitations - rely on multiple crimes to be useful - only considers spatial info - May be multiple offenders who perform similar crimes

Question 43

Psychological autopsies

Answer 43

Dissect psychological state of person prior to death ``` NASH Natural Accident Suicide Homicide ``` Rely on sources left behind by the deceased (limitation: available evidence) Checklist - whether death maybe self-inflicted - whether clear indications of an intention to die 92% accuracy to distinguish between accidental and suicidal deaths More commonly admitted for civil rather than criminal