week two Flashcards
(39 cards)
criminal behaviour types
- violent
- non-violent
- sexual
violent criminal behaviour
- typically involves violence (assault) towards a person
- ie. homicide, robbery
non-violent criminal behaviour
- often does not involve forensic psychologists
- ie. petty theft
sexual criminal behaviour
- ie. harassment, rape, indecent acts (public masturbation, indecent exposure)
why do we want to understand criminal behaviour?
- to predict recidivism
- design appropriate interventions
- reduce potential for recidivism
- increase prosocial behaviours
how we understand behaviour
risk factors and protective factors
risk factors (definition)
- factors related to an individual and their environment increase their risk of engaging in criminal behaviour (CORRELATION, not causation)
- static and dynamic
static risk factors
- factors that cannot change in someone’s life
- ie. age, criminal history, ethnicity
dynamic risk factors
- can be impacted by intervention
- stable: can be changed by intervention but tend to be more stable (ie. an addiction to a substance; fairly consistent/present in a person’s life)
- acute: more specific to what is happening currently (ie. intoxication, specific to that point in time)
significant risk factors
- criminal history
- antisocial attitudes
- antisocial associates
- antisocial personality pattern
- marital and family factors
- employment and school
- leisure activities
- substance abuse
antisocial attitudes
ie. someone who does not think the laws apply to them
antisocial associates
choice of friends, influences, as those associated with offenders have a higher tendency to offend
antisocial personality patterns
disregard for the norms and rules, irritability/aggression, impulsivity, lack of remorse
protective factors (definition)
- factors related to an individual and their environment that decrease the risk of engaging in criminal behaviour
- can protect from the onset of offending or be associated with desistance from reoffending
types of protective factors
- social (availability of support, can be friends, family, work)
- interpersonal (how well your relationships function, if they’re healthy/supportive)
- environmental (are they in a safe or high-crime environment)
- psychological (prosocial attitudes? like work ethic, values, level of self-discipline)
- behavioural (behaviour we see as a result of other aspects)
thornton’s theories
- asks: what are the person’s interests (what do they want, what are they looking for?) and how will the person meet their interests?
- the person then engages in reasoning regarding potential behaviours based on expected outcomes, social pressures, and self-efficacy
- views risk and protected factors as families of related concepts
- perceives things on a continuum where risk factors are on one end and protective factors are on another
- protective factos are conceptualized as “arenas”
protective factor arenas
- dynamic internal (ie. empathy, coping strategies)
- social (ie. work, leisure, relationships)
- professionally provided (ie. supevision, treatment)
- openness to professionally provided
durrant’s theory: evolution
- people differ in their pace of decision-making and responding based on their life history
- fast-life history vs. slow-life history
fast-life history
- develops when exposed to dangerous and unpredictable environment
- life based on safety and survival
- no time to stop and reflect
- associated with impulsivity, risk-taking, dynamic risk factors
slow-life history
- develops when exposed to a safe and predictable environment
- they can engage in long-term thinking because not in “survival” mode
- logical responding, rather than instinctual
- protective factors
- less criminal offending
durrant’s theory: plasticity
- people differ in their sensitivity to environmental conditions, including risk and protective factors
- the extend depends on: the presence of the factor in their environment AND how easily the person is influenced by the factor
- explains why someone people who have had a tough life are super prosocial of vice versa
predictive agency model
- conceptualizes criminal behaviour as goal-directed behaviour
- key concepts:
- subjectivity (first-person perspective)
- emotional systems
- nested systems
- irreducible
- predictive engine
subjectivity (first-person perspective)
looking at behaviour from that person’s perspective (who they are, who others are, the world)
emotional systems
identifying potential resources that can be used