All Flashcards
A01 defining and measuring crime
Defining:
1. Cultural issues
2. Historical issues
Measuring:
1. Official stats: reported and recorded, punished by home office
2. Victim surveys: randomly selected households, office of national stats
3. Offender surveys: target groups of likely offenders based on risk factors (background, age), self-report, looks at context of offence
A03 measuring crime
Official stats:
- 75% dark figure, Nottinghamshire thefts under £10
Victim surveys:
+ official stats said 2% decrease, VS said 3% increase.
- Though misremberance of events
Offender surveys:
+provide insight into context
- but may not report serious crimes and only targets certain groups
- political bias
+ best to look at all 3
Top down A01 (American)
- Match what is known to template developed from in depth interviews with 36 serial killers
- ## Killers and rapists either dis/organisedOrganised: high IQ, planned and highly controlled
Dis: body at scene, live nearby and low IQ
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4 stages of constructing FBI profile
A03 topology approach
- Only applies to crime scenes that reveal important details
- Assumes behaviour and motivation is consistent across time and situations, and ignores fluid external factors (- validity)
- Small space analysis of 100 killers: organised was a type but dis wasn’t
Bottom up A01
- Systematic analysis of crime scene to produce data-driven profile of likely characteristics
- Investigative psychology:
- Stats+psychological theory to analysis of crime scene
- Details of crime matched to stat database to give likely characteristics
- Interpersonal coherence, signif in time and place, forensic awareness
+
Geo profiling
Geographical profiling A01
- Inferences made based on locations= crime mapping
- Criminals will work where they are familiar with so reveals centre of gravity
- Either marauder or commuter
- Can reveal mode of transport
A03 bottom up
- Small space analysis carried out content analysis of 66 rapes to reveal correlations in behaviour. 3 common characteristics what will occur in diff patterns in diff individuals. Supports usefulness
- support for geo: 120 Us killers, small space, located centre of gravity
- Meta: 48 forces, 83% said helpful but 3% acc led to killer
- More scientific than US as driven by AI and so can be used on a wider range of crimes than top down
Atavistic A01
- Biologically genetic throwbacks who couldn’t cope with civilised life
- Atavistic characteristics: markers such as dark skin and extra fingers, killers have red eyes
- His research: studied facial features of 4000 living and 400 dead criminals
Lombroso (atavism) A03
- Shift towards scientific realm of criminology, started criminal profiling
- Racist: dark skin was atavistic. Description of atavism as uncivilised supported eugenics at the time
- Did not study control groups
- 3000 criminals compared to 3000 non, no significant difference in appearance
Genetic explanations A01
Genetic:
- Twin studies: 10/13 MZ in prison but only 2/17 DZ
- Adoption studies: those with Bio mother had 50% of criminal record by 18 as opposed to 5% of non crim mother
- Candidate genes of 9000 offenders: MAOA controls dopamine and serotonin and linked to aggression, CDH13 linked to ADHD and drugs
Neural explanations (inc on genetic page) A01
- Study of APD (linked with lack of empathy, common in crims) brain structures
- ADP associated with reduced activity of prefrontal cortex (regulates emotions) + 11% reduced volume compared to controls
- Mirror neurones: only activated in ADP when asked to empathise, suggests can feel empathy but not always like us
A03 genetic and neural
- Early twin studies had poor control:
- judged on appearance
- Small sample
- ## Raised in same environment (confounding variable) so concordance due to shared envrioemntSupport for diathesis stress: 13,000 adoptees. When neither bio or adopt parents had convictions 13.5% did, 20% when bio, 25% when bio+ adopt
-
Problems with adoptions studies: adopted late into childhood as well as regular contact with bio: hard to asses whether nature or nurture
A03 genetic and neural: biological reductionism/ determinism
Reductionism:
1. Although crime runs in families so does mental illness and poverty.
2. Also not 100% concordance
Determinism:
1. Legal system based on moral responsibility
2. If In fact biologically determined then no free will over behaviour
3. Raises ethical issues
What are the 4 psychological explanations
- Eysencks crim personality
- Cognitive:
- Kholburg moral development
- cognitive distortions - Differential association
- Psychodynamic
What are the 4 ways of dealing with offender behaviour
- Custodial sentencing
- Behaviour modification (token economy)
- Anger management (cognitive)
- Restorative justice
What are the 2 biological explaintions
- Atavistic form
- Genetic and neural
- Also Eysencks sort of
Eysencks criminal personality A01
- Behaviour represented along 3 dimensions: I/E, N/S and P
- Biological basis: criminal personality a result of: E (under active NS so need excitement so risk-take) and N (nervous and jumpy and hard to predict)
- Role of socialisation: do not condition antisocial impulses with anxiety so demand immediate gratification
- Measuring crim personality: EPI
Crim personality (Eysencks theory) A03
- Over 2000 male prisoners+ 2000 controls measured with EPI, prisoners scored higher on P,E and N than controls
- Counter: 3 studies found only higher on P not E and N. Also no diff on EEG measures between E and I
- Biological basis supported by ADP research
- Cultural bias: Black and Hispanic groups less extroverted than non criminal
- Cannot measure personality with EPI
Kholbergs moral reasoning A01
- Peoples judgements dependent on stage of moral development
- Morality measured using moral dilemmas such as Heinz
- Criminals tent to be ‘pre-conventional’ which is associated with avoid punishment gain reward. Criminals ARE egocentric and those at higher levels sympathise with rights more
Cognitive distortions A01
Cognitive distortions: errors or biased informational processing
Hostile attribution bias: neutral situation as hostile. 55 crims, images of ambiguous faces, signif more likely to see as hostile than controls
Minimisation: out of 26 rapists 55% denied any offence at all, 40% minilasied the crime
Kohlberg A03
+ for levels of moral reasoning
1. Over 300 male/female controls compared with 120 convicts. When given 11 moral dilemmas in SRMSF, group showed less mature moral reasoning
AO3 for cognitive distortions
1. Application of research in rehabilitation of Sex offenders. Made to face up to crime, correlated with reduced reoffending.
Also key in AM
Both are descriptive not explanatory
What does SRMSF stand for
11 moral dilemmas
Differential association A01
- Scientific basis: conditions present for all crimes
- Learnt through interactions: learnt attitudes to crime and learning of specific criminal acts
- When pro-criminal attitudes outweighs anti, then person will offend
- Learning criminal acts: can explain high recidivism following prison
A03 differential association
- Explanatory power: applies to white collar crimes. Also good at explaining why crime runs in families
- Less biologically reductionist: shifts focus away from ‘weak morality’ and instead focuses on dysfunctional social circumstances
- Cannot measure all pro/anti crim attitudes
- Induvidal differences and also environmental determinism
Psychodynamic A01
- Superego formed at end of phallic stage through Oedipus complex
- ## Deformed superego gives id free reign as no guilt
- Weak superego: no same sex parent to internalise morals
- Deviant superego: internalise crim superego from crim father
- ## Over-harsh superego: over punished so crippled with guiltBowlby
A03 psychodynamic
- Alpha bias: girls don’t experience castation anxiety so less pressure to internalise so less moral
- No evidence: children with no same-sex parent are no more criminal. Also if father criminal and so is child then genetics or socialisation are better explans
- Unfalsifiable so pseudoscience
Custodial sentencing A01
Aims:
- Deterrence: general and individual
- Incapacitation
- Retribution
- Rehabilitation
Psychological effects
- Stress and depression
- Institutionalisation: can no longer function outside
- Prisonisation: Inmate code
Problem of recidivism:
- 57% reoffend within a year Uk
- Norway more focus on rehab (soft option and costs lots)
A03 custodial sentencing
Evidence for psychological effects:
- Suicide rates 15x normal
- 25% woman, 15% men have psychotic symptoms
- Custodial sentencing triggers those genetically vulnerable
Individual differences
- Diff prisons/regimes/sentence time.
- Some engage more than others
Uni of crime
1. Differential association
Opportunity for rehabilitation
- Crime-free apon release
- Anger management
- Not all prisons can afford
Half the recidivism in a prison with compulsory education and AM than control with no resources
Behavioural modification
- ## If we accept behaviourist idea that crime is learnt: we can unlearn through reinforcement of good behaviour with token economyToken economy
- Secondary reinforcer for good behaviour
- Withdrawal for bad behaviour
- Operant conditioning
Process of:
- Desirable behaviour broken down into steps
- Behavior enforced by all those come into contact with (selective reinforcement)
Research example: significantly better behaviour in 3 w token economy than control without
Behaviour modification A03
Easy to implement
- No expertise such as AM
- Cost effective
- 3 does depend on consistent implimentation from staff
Little rehab value
- Effects lost after release
- Only useful for specific set of behaviours IN prison
- Law abiding behaviour outside not enforced
Ethical issues: dehumanising
Passive: compared to AM which acc deals with cause
Anger management A01
- Cognitive factors trigger emotions that lead to aggression. Taught to recognise: form of CBT
Stages of:
- Cognitive preparation: reflect on past instances of aggression and break link
- Skill acquisition: cognitive and behavioural techniques to deal with aggression
- Application: role play leads to positive reinforcement
Anger management A03
Board approach:works on number of differnt levels such as cognitive and behavioural. Addresses complex social and psychological factors
Better than token economy: rather than targeting superficial aspects it focuses on insight and cause. More likely to permanent change behaviour
Expensive and requires commitment
Limited long term effectiveness: little evdicne it reduces recidivism
Restorative justice A01
Changing emphasis
- Instead of crime against state, switches to victim
- Victim given active role while at criminal made to face up
Restorative justice process
- Supervised meeting by trained mediator
- Victim explains how it made them feel
Key features
- Responsibility and positive change rather than punishment
- Not restricted to courtroom
- Active rather than passive
Variations of process
- Could be finicial or offender could repair
- Flexible and can function in conjunction with existing sentence
restorative justice council decides clear standards of use
Restorative justice A03
Diversity
- Flexible in way it is administered
- So can be tailored to needs of situation
Effective
- 85% victims say it helps
- Recidivism drops to 1/2 from 2/3
- Somerset police report: 92% helpful when violent crime
Relies on remorse
1. Some do it to avoid prison or reduced sentence
Expensive to train mediator:
But for every £1 spent, would save system £8 in reduced reoffending
Seen as soft option by tax payers
