A2 Forensic psychology

Question 1

what are the 2 candidate genes that ca predispose someone to offending behaviour/

Answer 1

MAOA gene is linked to agressve behaviour and regulates serotonin in the brain

CDH13 gene is linked to substance abuse and ADHD

Question 2

how can the diathesis stress model explain offending behaviour

Answer 2

A tendency towards offending behaviour may come about through the combination of genetic predisposition and a biological or psychological trigger

Question 3

explain crowes adoption study on crime genetics

Answer 3

Raymond Crowe (1972) found that adopted children whose biological mother had a criminal record had a 50% risk of having a criminal record by the age of 18, whereas adopted children whose biological mother didn’t have a criminal record only had a 5% risk

Question 4

A03 evaluation of genetic explanation of crime

Answer 4

no causal relationship. Mz twins are treated more similarly because they are identical which affects behaviour. so we cant use mz twin studies to separate n vs n1

research for diathesis stress model. mednick et al 13K danish adoptees. bio parents had no convictions 13.5% of criminal. one parent 20%. 2 parents 24%

Question 5

how is the prefrontal cortex in the frontallobe involved in offending

Answer 5

lack of activity in the prefrontal cortex of the murderer.
This area of the brain is responsible for decision making, controlling emotional responses.

The brain scan provides evidence for offenders having a lack of remorse and empathy for the feelings of others, therefore supporting the biological explanation of offending

Question 6

what is antisocial personality disorder associated with

Answer 6

APD is associated with reduced emotional responses, a lack of empathy for the feelings of others, and is a condition that characterises many convicted offenders

Question 7

research to support mirror neurons

Answer 7

Christian Keyers (2011) found that only when offenders were asked to empathise (with a person depicted on film experiencing pain) did their empathy reaction (controlled by mirror neurons in the brain) activate.

offenders may have a neural switch to their empathy whereas a normal brain is always empathetic

Question 8

what are mirror neurons

Answer 8

these are special brain cells which fire both in response to personal action and in response to action on the part of others. These allow us to interpret intention and emotion in others

Question 9

A03 evaluation of the neural explanation of crime

Answer 9

support for link between crime and frontal lobe
kandel and freed reviewed evidence of frontal lobe damage and found they were emotionally unstable and not easily conditioned

A limitation isthe link between APD and neural differences may be complex. Farrington et al found men who scored high on psychopathy had risk factors during childhood e.g raised by convicts and abuse which could cause APD and reduced frontal lobe activity

Question 10

what did lombrosso say about criminals

Answer 10

theyre genetic throwbacks. a subpecies who are biologically different from non criminals and they had physiological markers that can help identify them which is atavistic form

they are savages and their behaviour is innate so they cant be blamed for it

Question 11

what are 3 physiological markers Lombroso identified?

Answer 11

sloping brow
prominent jaw
high cheekbones

dark skin, curly hair, extra toes, tattoo

Question 12

according to lombroso what are the characteristics of murders

Answer 12

bloodshot eyes
curly hair
long ears

Question 13

according to lombroso what are the characteristics of sexual deviants

Answer 13

swollen lips
glinting eyes
projecting ears

Question 14

outline Lombroso’s research into atavistic form

Answer 14

Lombroso examined the facial and cranial features of 400 dead and 4000 living convicts and concluded that there was an ‘atavistic form’

40% of criminal acts are committed by people with atavistic characteristics

Question 15

A03 Evaluation of atavistic form

Answer 15

Lombroso’s research was poorly controlled.
he didnt compare to non offender control group and only italians, dead may be decomposed.

goring compared 3k offenders and 3k non offenders and found there was no distinct facial characteristics

Lombroso shifted the emphasis in crime research away from a moralistic discourse (offenders being judged as wicked and weak-minded) to a more scientific position
however he is racist

Question 16

briefly outline the top down approach to offender profiling

Answer 16

the aim is to predict and profile the characteristics of unknown offenders to narrow the list of likely suspects

categories organised and disorganised offender are pre-existing in the mind of the profiler

evidence from the crime scene are then used to fit into either of the pre-existing categories and determine the offender as one type or the other

Question 17

how did the typology approach come about

Answer 17

The FBI’s in-depth interviews with 36 sexually-motivated murderers including Ted Bundy
They concluded that the data could be categorised into organised or disorganised crimes/murders

Question 18

Name 5 characteristics of an organised offender

Answer 18

planned crime in advance
deliberate type
high IQ
professional occupation
socially competent

Question 19

Name 3 characteristics of a disorganised offender

Answer 19

body still at the scene
scene looks impulsive
live alone and close to where the offence took place

Question 20

A03 evaluation of the top down approach

Answer 20

based on flawed evidence: interview w 36 murderers, not random, no standardised questions- unscientific

Meketa (2017) reports that top-down profiling has recently been applied to burglary, leading to an 85% rise in solved cases in three US states
with the addition of interpersonal and opportunistic offenders

Question 21

Outline what is meant by geographical profiling in forensic psychology (2 marks)

Answer 21

The study of spatial behaviour in relation to crime and offenders.
Focuses on the location of crime as clues to where offenders live, work and socialise

Question 22

what does geographical profiling tell us

Answer 22

spatial pattern of their behaviour provides investigators with a ‘centre of gravity’. Pattern of offending is likely to create a circle around the offender’s base

if they’re a maraurderer or commuter

Question 23

what is the aim of investigative psychology

Answer 23

investigative psychology uses evidence from the crime scene to predict the likely characteristics of the offender

aim to find similarities between the specific details of the new crime and already solved crimes in the statistical database

Question 24

what are the 3 factors of investigative psychology?

Answer 24

interpersonal coherence : the way the offender interacts with the victim

significance of time and place - indicates employment and residence

forensic awareness - how mindful they are of covering their tracks

Question 25

A03 evaluation of bottom up approach

Answer 25

geographical profiling is insufficient on its own. reliant on the quality of data the police can provide, crime rates are innacurate 75% are not reported RTS canter and heritage analysed 66 sexual assault cases and found common behaviours e.g impersonal language and lack of reaction to the victim which can help establish case linkage Lundrigan and canter did spatial analysis on 120 murder cases and found disposal sites created a centre of gravity. they may try to dispose in a different location each time but it creates a circle around their home

Question 26

outline kohlbergs moral reasoning

Answer 26

He proposed that people’s decisions and judgements on issues of right and wrong can be summarised in a stage theory of moral reasoning The higher the stage, the more sophisticated the reasoning Kohlberg et al found that a group of violent youths were at a significantly lower level of moral development than non-violent youths – even after controlling for social background

Question 27

what are the 3 levels of kohlbergs moral reasoning

Answer 27

level 1 - pre conventional morality - obey rules to avoid punishment / personal gain level 2 - conventional morality - rules are obeyed for approval or social order level 3 - post conventional morality - rules are challenged if they infringe on others rights, they have ethics

Question 28

 what is hostile attribution bias and a study to support it

Answer 28

offenders misinterpret social cues as confrontational when they're not and justify their actions by attributing cause to the victim doing something to provoke the violence Dodge and Frame showed children a video of an ambiguous expression (where the intention was neither clearly hostile nor clearly accidental). Children who had been identified as ‘aggressive’ and ‘rejected’ prior to the study interpreted the situation as more hostile than those classed as ‘non aggressive’ and ‘accepted’

Question 29

what is minimisation?

Answer 29

–offenders justify offence to themselves by playing down the significance of their act, eg suggesting injuries inflicted in a vicious assault were mild. This bias acts to reduce an offender’s feeling of guilt

Question 30

A03 evaluation of the cognitive explanation of offending

Answer 30

CD is applied to therapy. Cbt challenges irrational thinking and offenders are encouraged to face what they have done to have a less distorted view of their actions. harkins et al found reduced denial + mini leads to less chance of reoffending CD arent applicable to all offences. Howitt and Sheldon (2007) found that non-contact sex offenders used more cognitive distortions than contact sex offenders Those who had a previous history of offending were also more likely to use distortions as a justification cognitive theories are good at describing the criminal mind and reducing reoffending through CBT but they dont help to predict future offending

Question 31

Briefly outline differential association theory as an explanation for offending (2 marks)

Answer 31

that individuals learn the attitudes and techniques for offending behaviour through association and interaction with different people  Notion that offending depends on the norms/values of the offender’s social group *        Offending is more likely to occur where social group values deviant behaviour

Question 32

according to DAT how is offending behaviour learnt

Answer 32

through the learning process This learning occurs through interactions with significant others who the child values most and spends the most time with e.g. family and peers

Question 33

how is dat scientific

Answer 33

possible to mathematically predict how likely it is that an individual will commit offences. We need to know the frequency, intensity and duration of exposure to deviant and non-deviant values

Question 34

which 2 learned factors does offending arise from?

Answer 34

learning attitudes learning techniques

Question 35

What is learning attitudes in the context of offending behaviour?

Answer 35

Being exposed to criminal groups means being exposed to values towards the law Sutherland argues if pro criminal attitudes outweigh anti-criminal attitudes they will offend

Question 36

What is learning techniques in the context of defending behaviour?

Answer 36

Offender learns how to commit offences and techniques needed e.g. how to steal a car through the learning process

Question 37

According to Sutherland, why do so many prisoners go onto reoffend?

Answer 37

Criminals of different backgrounds are all together and learn techniques from one another through observation and imitation that they can practice when released

Question 38

A03 evaluation for differential association theory

Answer 38

Change the focus of offending explanations from biological e.g. Lombroso activistic form to deviant social circumstances Explains offending in all sectors of society can explain working class and middle class crime e.g. white collar crime -no discrimination of working class Difficulty testing DAT. Sutherland aimed to provide scientific framework that could predict future offending behaviour but DAT concepts can’t be operationalised.

Question 39

What is the deterrence?

Answer 39

Unpleasant prison experienc puts off people from offending General Deterrence is based on vicarious reinforcement Individual deterrence is based on operant conditioning punishment

Question 40

Outline incapacitation

Answer 40

Offenders taken out of society to protect the public and prevent reoffending

Question 41

Outline retribution

Answer 41

Enacting revenge for the offence by making the offender suffer on a proportionate level to the offence

Question 42

Outline rehabilitation

Answer 42

Goal of prison is to reform not punished the individual Provide opportunities to develop skills and access treatment E.G drug addiction so they are ready to take back their place in society

Question 43

What are the three psychological effects of custodial sentence?

Answer 43

Stress and depression Institutionalisation Prisonisation

Question 44

What is institutionalisation?

Answer 44

Adapting to the norms of prison life leading to inability to function outside

Question 45

What is prisonisation

Answer 45

Prisoners are socialised into an inmate code of behaviours that are unacceptable in the outside world and encouraged and rewarded in the prison

Question 46

A03 evaluation of custodial sentencing

Answer 46

Negative psychological effects 1 suicide every 3days in prison almost 9 times higher than the general population 25% of women report symptoms of psychosis. However, they may have entered the prison with psychosis and it could be the reason they committed crime in the first place. Prison is a school for crime they can learn attitudes and techniques from more experienced prisoners leading to higher rates of recidivism as they undergo dubious education.

Question 47

What is restorative justice

Answer 47

paying back the victims in some form to compensate them for the crime

Question 48

what is the role of the restorative justice council

Answer 48

establish clear standards for the restorative justice and support survivors and professionals in the field

Question 49

name 3 key features of restorative justice?

Answer 49

trained mediator supervises the meeting non courtroom setting where offender voluntarily meets survivor the survivor gets to confront the offender and explain how the incident affected them

Question 50

A03 evaluation of restorative justice

Answer 50

RJ has positive outcomes. 85% survivors reported satisfaction meeting their offender 60% said it made them feel better about the crime offenders may abuse the system. SDO offenders being honourable and genuine Offenders may use RJ to avoid punishment or minimisation = recidivism RJ leads to decrease risk of recidivism. strang et al found RJ group was less likely to reoffend than custodial sentence group. larger reduction in violent crime offenders

Question 51

what is the token economy

Answer 51

desirable behaviours are encouraged through the use of selective reinforcement prisoners are given a token each time they engage in desirable behaviour and its made clear that disobedience will result in a removal of tokens

Question 52

what are the 3 important steps when deigning and using the token economy

Answer 52

1.operationalise target behaviour 2. have a scoring system 3. train staff to implement the token economy successfully

Question 53

A03 evaluation of behaviour modification : token economy

Answer 53

unethical. manipulative. participation is forced and withholding privileges like contact w/ loved ones is dehumanising BM is easy to organise in custody. no need for specialist as there would be with other treatment e.g anger management. can be administered in any institution by anyone Bm has little rehabilitative value. positive changes may be quickly lost after they are released. cognitive based treatments such as anger management lead to long term changes

Question 54

how does anger management work

Answer 54

the individual is taught to recognise cognitive factors that trigger their anger and then develop techniques that resolve conflict without anger

Question 55

outline and explain the 3 stages to anger management

Answer 55

cognitive preparation - offender identifies situations that trigger their anger and if their interpretation is irrational the therapist makes this clear skills acquisition - introduced to techniques to help them deal with anger provoking situations e.g positive self talk or relaxation/ breathing techniques application practice - role play - therapist re - enacts anxiety inducing scenarios so the offender can practice skills carefully

Question 56

A03 evaluation of anger management

Answer 56

AM tackles the root cause of offending unlike BM which deals with surface level change so AM is likely to lead to long term changes as they learn how to manage themselves AM programmes are expensive and require highly trained specialists who are used to dealing w/ violent offenders and funding. success is based on the commitment of participants Howells et al found w/ Australian offenders, that participation in the anger management programme had little overall impact when compared to a control group who received no treatment. progress was made when offenders were high in anger and motivation

Question 57

explain the weak superego

Answer 57

If the same-gender parent is absent during the phallic stage, a child cannot internalise a fully-formed superego as there is no opportunity for identification

Question 58

explain the deviant superego

Answer 58

If the superego that a child internalises has immoral or deviant values this would lead to offending behaviour

Question 59

explain the overly harsh superego

Answer 59

A healthy superego is based on identification with a parent who has firm rules but forgives transgressions. In contrast, excessively punitive or overly harsh parenting style leads to a child with an over-harsh superego who is crippled by guilt and anxiety. So crimes are committed to fulfil unconscious desire for punishment

Question 60

How can maternal deprivation lead to offending behaviour

Answer 60

child forming a warm, continuous relationship with a mother figure. Failure to establish such a relationship during the first few years of life means a child is likely to become an affectionless psychopath Such maternally deprived individuals are likely to engage in acts of delinquency and cannot develop close relationships with others

Question 61

what is an affectionless psychopath

Answer 61

a personality type characterised by a lack of guilt, empathy and feelings for others

Question 62

outline the 44 juvenile thieves study

Answer 62

Interviewed 44 thieves and their families 14 showed personality and behavioural characteristics of affectionless psychopathy 12 / 14 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers during infancy In a non-offender group, only 2 had experienced similar early separation

Question 63

outline the structure of personality

Answer 63

The ID - operates on the pleasure principle and is present at birth in the unconscious The ego - the mediator between the superego and the Id and it operates on the reality principle the superego - operates on the morality principle and punished the ego for wrongdoing via guilt

Question 64

A03 evaluation of the psychodynamic explanation of behaviour

Answer 64

unscientific. concepts, such as the superego, occur at an unconscious level which are not open to empirical testing. arguments such as the inadequate superego can only be judged on their face value Freud is gender biased. he said girls have a weaker superego and morality because they dont have castration anxiety but in the UK there are 20x more men in prison than women. incomplete explanation RTS. goreta et al did a Freud style analysis of 10 offenders referred for psychiatric treatment. They all had disturbances in superego formation . Each offender experienced unconscious feelings of guilt and the need for self punishment - overharsh superego

Question 65

what did eysenck suggest about the criminal personality

Answer 65

Eysenck’s proposed that offenders have distinctive, inherited, genetic personality traits The criminal personality was one high in neuroticism, extraversion and psychoticism

Question 66

outline extraversion as a criminal personality

Answer 66

Have an underactive nervous system which means they constantly seek excitement, stimulation and are likely to engage in risk-taking behaviours. not easily conditioned They are sociable and crave excitement and change so they become bored easily care free optimistic and impulsive

Question 67

outline neuroticism as a criminal personality

Answer 67

high level of reactivity in the sympathetic nervous system – they respond quickly to situations of threat (fight or flight). They are prone to over reacting to stimuli so they may be quick to worry anger or fear

Question 68

outline the biological and psychological basis of psychoticism

Answer 68

B: Individuals are suggested to have higher levels of testosterone and are unemotional and prone to aggression Lacking in empathy cruel loner agressive

Question 69

what values are criminals socialised into

Answer 69

immediate gratification - The temptation to forego a future benefit in order to obtain a less rewarding but more immediate benefit offenders are impatient and cant wait for the things that they want

Question 70

A03 evaluation of eyesencks theory of criminal personality

Answer 70

eyesenck tries to measure personality through the epq but its too complex and dynamic to be quantified eysenck et al compared 2070 prisoner EPQ scores with 2422 controls and found prisoners scored higher on all 3 personalities than controls. hwver, farrington et al did meta analysis and found prisoners scored high on psychoticicsm only eysencks theory doesnt take into account cultural factors. bartol and holanchock studied black and hispanic prisoners and split them into 6 groups and found each group was less extravert than the controls whereas eyesenck would expect them to be more extravert

Question 71

How can the tripartite personality explain offending behaviour

Answer 71

ronald argued if the superego is somehow deficient or inadequate offending behaviour is inevitable because the ID is given free rein and not properly controlled

Question 72

What are the psychological explanations of offending

Answer 72

Differential association theory eysencks theory psychodynamic explanation

Question 73

What are the cognitive explanations of offending behaviour

Answer 73

Kohlbergs moral development faulty information processing: minimisation and HAB

Question 74

What the biological explanations of offending behaviour

Answer 74

Lombroso's atavistic form genetic candidate genes and adoption studies Neural: frontal lobe and mirror neurons