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