Ch. 7 - Forensic Science and Psychology Flashcards
What is Bertillon credited with?
Mugshots and crime scene photography. Using a ruler for scale.
What is the Locard exchange principle?
If the offender comes into contact with objects at the scene of the crime, then the offender will leave traces of that contact on the objects.
What did Münsterberg study?
Eyewitness testimony and the psychology of false confessions.
Who are major crimes investigated by?
Identification (ident) officers; highly experienced officers who specialize in forensics.
Who are minor crimes investigated by?
Scene of crime officers (soco); typically less experienced than CSIs.
What has become the gold standard in evidence?
DNA evidence.
How is forensic psychology used in police recruitment and training?
It helps in determining suitability for police work.
What does psychological profiling of the offender do?
Uses all available information about a crime, crime scene, and victim in order to compose a profile of the perpetrator.
What does investigative psychology do?
It focuses on the classification and description of criminals and their activities; showing a connection between the offenders’ criminal behaviour and their everyday lives.
What sorts of factors impede the ability to get reliable eyewitness testimony?
Self-confidence, desire to make an identification, social influences, faulty instructions.
What is VIPER?
A huge database of volunteer mugshots so that police can pull a number of innocent people’s pictures from it to match a description.
What are two types of false confessions?
Voluntary and coerced.
What are reasons for false confessions?
Notoriety, protecting someone, failing to distinguish reality and fantasy.
What is a common factor in coerced confessions?
The confrontational nature of police interrogations.
What is the Mohan criteria used for?
Determining the admissibility of expert testimony.
What are the 4 Mohan criteria?
Relevance, necessity criteria, exclusionary rules, and recognized expertise.
What counts for relevance with regards to the Mohan criteria?
Logically relevant and non-prejudicial testimony.
What counts for necessity criteria with regards to the Mohan criteria?
Knowledge neither the judge nor jury would be expected to know; expert knowledge.
What counts for exclusionary rules with regards to the Mohan criteria?
It must not be related to evidence already excluded.
What counts for recognized expertise with regards to the Mohan criteria?
The recognized expertise of the standee based on experience or training - determined by the judge.
What is the McNaughton Rule?
They cannot be convicted if, at the time of the offence, the individual had some form of mental defect or disease of the mind that made the person incapable of knowing what he or she was doing was wrong.
How is legal insanity determined?
Using the Rogers Criminal Responsibility Assessment Scale (R-CRAS).
What challenges are there to the R-CRAS?
It varies depending on the assessor and how they choose to use this scale. It also determines the mental state at the time of the crime, not as they are now.
