A2 Forensic psychology Flashcards
what are the 2 candidate genes that ca predispose someone to offending behaviour/
MAOA gene is linked to agressve behaviour and regulates serotonin in the brain
CDH13 gene is linked to substance abuse and ADHD
how can the diathesis stress model explain offending behaviour
A tendency towards offending behaviour may come about through the combination of genetic predisposition and a biological or psychological trigger
explain crowes adoption study on crime genetics
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
A03 evaluation of genetic explanation of crime
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%
how is the prefrontal cortex in the frontallobe involved in offending
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
what is antisocial personality disorder associated with
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
research to support mirror neurons
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
what are mirror neurons
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
A03 evaluation of the neural explanation of crime
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
what did lombrosso say about criminals
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
what are 3 physiological markers Lombroso identified?
sloping brow
prominent jaw
high cheekbones
dark skin, curly hair, extra toes, tattoo
according to lombroso what are the characteristics of murders
bloodshot eyes
curly hair
long ears
according to lombroso what are the characteristics of sexual deviants
swollen lips
glinting eyes
projecting ears
outline Lombroso’s research into atavistic form
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
A03 Evaluation of atavistic form
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
briefly outline the top down approach to offender profiling
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
how did the typology approach come about
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
Name 5 characteristics of an organised offender
planned crime in advance
deliberate type
high IQ
professional occupation
socially competent
Name 3 characteristics of a disorganised offender
body still at the scene
scene looks impulsive
live alone and close to where the offence took place
A03 evaluation of the top down approach
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
Outline what is meant by geographical profiling in forensic psychology (2 marks)
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
what does geographical profiling tell us
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
what is the aim of investigative psychology
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
what are the 3 factors of investigative psychology?
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
A03 evaluation of bottom up approach
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
outline kohlbergs moral reasoning
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
what are the 3 levels of kohlbergs moral reasoning
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
what is hostile attribution bias and a study to support it
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’
what is minimisation?
–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
A03 evaluation of the cognitive explanation of offending
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
Briefly outline differential association theory as an explanation for offending (2 marks)
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
according to DAT how is offending behaviour learnt
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
how is dat scientific
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
which 2 learned factors does offending arise from?
learning attitudes
learning techniques
What is learning attitudes in the context of offending behaviour?
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
What is learning techniques in the context of defending behaviour?
Offender learns how to commit offences and techniques needed e.g. how to steal a car through the learning process
According to Sutherland, why do so many prisoners go onto reoffend?
Criminals of different backgrounds are all together and learn techniques from one another through observation and imitation that they can practice when released
A03 evaluation for differential association theory
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.
What is the deterrence?
Unpleasant prison experienc puts off people from offending
General Deterrence is based on vicarious reinforcement
Individual deterrence is based on operant conditioning punishment
Outline incapacitation
Offenders taken out of society to protect the public and prevent reoffending
Outline retribution
Enacting revenge for the offence by making the offender suffer on a proportionate level to the offence
Outline rehabilitation
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
What are the three psychological effects of custodial sentence?
Stress and depression
Institutionalisation
Prisonisation
What is institutionalisation?
Adapting to the norms of prison life leading to inability to function outside
What is prisonisation
Prisoners are socialised into an inmate code of behaviours that are unacceptable in the outside world and encouraged and rewarded in the prison
A03 evaluation of custodial sentencing
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.
What is restorative justice
paying back the victims in some form to compensate them for the crime
what is the role of the restorative justice council
establish clear standards for the restorative justice and support survivors and professionals in the field
name 3 key features of restorative justice?
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
A03 evaluation of restorative justice
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
what is the token economy
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
what are the 3 important steps when deigning and using the token economy
1.operationalise target behaviour
- have a scoring system
- train staff to implement the token economy successfully
A03 evaluation of behaviour modification : token economy
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
how does anger management work
the individual is taught to recognise cognitive factors that trigger their anger and then develop techniques that resolve conflict without anger
outline and explain the 3 stages to anger management
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
A03 evaluation of anger management
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
explain the weak superego
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
explain the deviant superego
If the superego that a child internalises has immoral or deviant values this would lead to offending behaviour
explain the overly harsh superego
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
How can maternal deprivation lead to offending behaviour
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
what is an affectionless psychopath
a personality type characterised by a lack of guilt, empathy and feelings for others
outline the 44 juvenile thieves study
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
outline the structure of personality
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
A03 evaluation of the psychodynamic explanation of behaviour
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
what did eysenck suggest about the criminal personality
Eysenck’s proposed that offenders have distinctive, inherited, genetic personality traits
The criminal personality was one high in neuroticism, extraversion and psychoticism
outline extraversion as a criminal personality
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 tend to be carefree, optimistic and impulsive.
outline neuroticism as a criminal personality
high level of reactivity in the sympathetic nervous system – they respond quickly to situations of threat (fight or flight).
they tend to be more nervous, jumpy and overanxious, and their general instability means their behaviour is often difficult to predict
outline psychoticism as a criminal personality
Individuals are suggested to have higher levels of testosterone and are unemotional and prone to aggression
Lacking in empathy, cruel, a loner
what values are criminals socialised into
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
A03 evaluation of eyesencks theory of criminal personality
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
