Assessment in Forensic Populations Flashcards
What are the individual characteristics interested in? (11)
Social circumstances
Mental health/IQ
Moral reasoning
Deviant interests
Anger and feelings
Addictions
Impulsivity
Personality disorders
Attitudes and thoughts
Guilt, Denial & Minimisation
Risks: re-offending, suicide
What are the different ways to assess an individual? (3)
Self- or practitioner report
Objective measures
Observational methods
What is the self- or practitioner report method to assess an individual? (4)
Questionnaire
Structured or unstructured interview
Diary
Analysis of case files
What are the problems with self- or practitioner report method to assess an individual? (4)
Social desirability
Denial
Bias
Scoring
What are the objective methods to assess an individual? (2)
Cognitive and biological tasks
What are the problems with objective methods to assess an individual? (2)
Indirect measures
Problems in interpretation
What are the observational methods to assess an individual? (2)
CCTV
Confederates
What are the problems with observational methods to assess an individual? (3)
Labour intensive
Ethics
Difficulty
What are the assessment priorities with all offenders? (3)
Mental Health
Intelligence (IQ)
Risk of re-offending
What are the assessment priorities with violent offenders? (4)
Levels of Anger
Experience of violent episodes
Sensational Interests (e.g. martial arts)
Other Psych assessments (e.g. attitudes)
What are the assessment priorities with sexual offenders? (4)
Offence details and history
Denial or minimisation
Willingness to treatment
Other Psych assessments (e.g. attitudes)
What are the factors that predict re-offending? (2)
Static factors
Dynamic factors
What are the static factors that predict re-offending? (3)
Age
Gender
Criminal history
What are the dynamic factors that predict re-offending? (3)
Substance abuse
Beliefs
Medication non-compliance: criminogenic risks
What tools are used to predict re-offending in violent offenders? (2)
HCR-20 (Webster et al, 1995a) and Violence Prediction Scheme (Webster et al, 1995b) assesses both
What tools are used to predict re-offending in sexual offenders? (2)
The SVR-20 (Boer et al, 1997).
What are the criminogenic needs & risk factors? (15)
Pro-criminal attitudes, values and beliefs
Not considering consequences of behaviour (impulsivity)
Lack of self-control (impulsivity)
Inadequate socialisation
Pro-criminal friends, family, associates
Restlessness and aggression
Egocentrism
Sensation-seeking & sensational interests (violent / sexual offending)
Poor problem-solving
History of variety in criminal behaviour from young age
Mental disorder and substance abuse in family
Poor parenting
Harsh/inadequate discipline
Neglect
Poor education/career achievement
How are psychopaths diagnosed? (1)
PCL-R not via DSM-V or ICD-11
What are the assessments for deviant sexual interest? (3)
Penile plethysmography (PPG) seen as ‘gold-standard’ of deviant sexual interest
Increased interest in cognitive tasks as objective measures of deviant sexual interest
Typically, more usually assessment via structured risk assessment such as the SVR-20
What is profiling and how is it distinguished? (3)
Inductive (expert skills and knowledge of profiler)
Deductive (Forensic evidence, crime scene, offence-related)
Often distinguished as ‘clinical’ and ‘statistical’
What are some profiling assumptions? (2)
Behavioural Consistency
Homology Assumption
What is behavioural consistency? (3)
That at least some offenders have consistent behavioural traits
These persist from crime to crime, and influence life-style and personality (e.g. that violent offenders lose temper easily).
What is homology assumption? (1)
That the more similar two offenders are, the more similar will their offences be
