criminal psychology Flashcards
what is criminal psychology
applied psychology, using our psychological knowledge to understand, explain and treat criminals
use psychological knowledge to understand and help the criminal justice system
what is recidivism
reoffending
what is crime
something that breaks the law
what is anti social behaviour
any behaviour that goes against social norms and makes other people feel uncomfortable and threatened
how is crime a social construct
Culture, differences in cultural views of crimes (eg guns)
Age, eg in scotland responsible from 8 y/o
Specific circumstances, intention/understanding
Historical context, eg homosexuality
Age of criminal responsibility in ENGLAND, SCOTLAND and FRANCE
ENGLAND- 10 y/o
SCOTLAND- 8 y/o
FRANCE- 13 y/o
how can the PFC be responsible for criminal behaviour
- responsible for decision making, damage, poor decision making, CB
- responsible for personality, damage, impulsive personality, CB
- damage, cannot consider alternative behaviours/ consider consequences, CB
how can the amygdala be responsible for criminal behaviour
- responsible for fight or flight, impulsive behaviour, inability to control impulses, CB
- trigger fight, CB
- damage to “rational” part of brain, irrational, CB
- less control over emotions, aggression, CB
- psychopaths have smaller amygdalas
how can the hypothalamus be responsible for criminal behaviour
- responsible for hormone regulation, damage means hormones like testosterone, have higher levels, more agg, leads to CB (most male criminals are convicted age 12-15- when testosterone levels are highest)
- regulates neurotransmitters, damage lead to increased dopamine, CB, dopamine as a positive reinforcer OR damage lead to decreased serotonin, increased aggression, increased CB
Hyde et al- gender and the amygdala
study using male and female ppants to investigate role amygdala in CB
found that amygdala may be involved in CB and ASB, eg higher psychopathy scores with lower amygdala activity and higher ASB score with higher amygdala activity
DID NOT COMMENT ON GENDER DIFFERENCES
Shirtcliff et al- gender and the amygdala
study of the neurobiology of ASB
found that the neurobiology related to empathy and calloussness is different for males and females
didnt specifically mention amygdala, h/e previously stated that amygdala is critical for emotion regulation
t/f can be assumed that the gender differences that they found were due to gender differnces in structure/function of amygdala
Bruns & Hausen- gender and brain injury
males are more at risk than females of having a traumatic brain injury
for every 2 male brain injuries there is one female
thought to be because young males are more likely to be involved in car accidents
in SOUTH AFRICA, 1 female brain injury for every 4 male brain injuries, due to interpersonal violence
3 strengths of using brain injury to explain criminal behaviour
- Phineas gage: had a metal pole go through PFC, before accident was well mannered and kind, after he was bad temepered and aggressive, t/f brain injury can lead to aggression leading to CB, increasing validity of theory
- Raine et al: Raine found murderes had less activity in left amugdala, pfc and more activity in right amygdala and right thalamus compared to control, t/f if brain injury causes differences in brain activity, lead to cb, validity
- Pardini: 26 year old men with lower amygdala volumes were 3x more likely to be aggressive violent and show pscychopathic traits 3 years later than men with same amygdala volumes, t/f damage to amygdala or less activity lead to cb, increasing validity
3 weaknesses of using brain injury to explain criminal behaviour
- Kreutzer: found that without the presence of substance abuse brain injury was not a risk factor of criminal behaviour, t/f brain injury alone does not always lead to CB, reducing validity of the theory
- Supporting research is correlational: supporting research such as Raine studies murderes brain activity after the murder happened, t/f cause and effect cannot be established, reducing the validity
3.Reductionlist: this theory considers nature, damage to the pfc, amygdala and hypothalamus lead to cb, however it fails to conider nurture, observation and imitation of a criminal role model leads to cb. t/f reductionlist theory as it fails to consider nature and nurture and fails to consider the complexity of this theory.
what is eysencks personality theory
if you have a high PEN peronality score you are likely to be a criminal
Psychotic
Extraverted
Neurotic
What is psychotism, how does it link to the nervous sytem and how does it lead to CB
traits- hostile, uncaring, lack empathy
Suggested that psychotism could be linked to male hormones such as testosterone but there is little research to support this.
Can harm, cause distress and break laws whilst feeling no remorse leading them to repeat behaviours, recidivism
What is extraversion, how does it link to the nervous sytem and how does it lead to CB
traits- outgoing, talkative, sensation seeking
RAS regulates arousal that inhibits incoming sensations so the individual will seek external stimulation to readdress the balance and reach their optimum level of arousal. Low levels of arousal so seeks stimulation from environment.
wants arousal/adrenaline so seeks sensation through CB, leads to risk taking
What is Neuroticism, how does it link to the nervous sytem and how does it lead to CB
traits- emotionally unstable, hard to control behaviour
linked to levels of reactivity in the ANS, neurotic has more reactivity in the ANS specifically in the sympathetic brain responsible for F or F, quick to turn on to release adrenaline and slow to turn off
fight or flight is easily triggered, leading to CB especially when they feel threat
3 strengths of eysencks personality theory
- practical apps: eysencks personality questionairre could be used to identify at risk individuals of comitting crimes and thus preventative measures could be put in place to reduce the likelihood, t/f reducing CB in society, reducing recidivism and increasing validity of theory
- holistic: acknowledges nature, genetic predisposition to PEN personality, and nurture, environment interacts with PEN personality, t/f considers the complexity of CB as it is due to multiple factors, increasint validity
- Eysenck: compared prisoners and non criminal scores PEN questionairre scores and found higher scores for prisoners;,t/f suggesting higher PEN personality, CB, increasing validity
3 weaknesses of eysencks personality theory
- Farrington: reviewed 16 studies on the relationship of P, E and N measures with criminal convictions, found majority of case offenders scored higher on P and N but not E, t/f cannot be sure extraversion impacts CB, reducing validity
- Hollin: found offenders generally show higher P and N scores but not necessarily higher E scores, t/f cannot be sure extraversion leads to CB, reducing validity
- reductionlist: although eysenck does cover nature and nurture having an impact on your PEN personality, it does not consider other environmental factors such as CB being the result of the observation and imitation of a crim RM, t/f eysencks theory cannot fully explain CB.
how is sex determined at conception
by our 23rd pair of chromosomes
female: xx
male: xy
what is xyy syndrome
genetic condition that occurs when males have an extra y chromosone in their 23rd pair, meaning they have 47 chromosones
it is 0.1% of males
occurs randomly, not inhereted
why does xyy cause crime
faster and taller than their siblings
lower levels of intelligence (10-15 IQ points) in comparison to their siblings
more impulsive and physically active than their siblings
more aggressive and less empathetic than their siblings
all leading to crime and recidivism
3 strengths of xyy syndrome
- practical apps: in knowing that xyy boys may be active and distracted compared to xy we can put in place interventions such as playing sport to help reduce the risk of CB, t/f this can reduce likelihood of them becoming a criminal, less cb, making society safer
- stocholm et al: increase in number of convictions within danish men in all crimes (except drug/traffic) compared to a control group, t/f increasing validity as the study shows risk of conviction was higher for xyy males
- gosavi et al: looked at 94 criminals convicted of murder in India and found an association between CB and xyy, t/f suggesting this theory is valid as xyy is associated with criminals
3 weaknesses of xyy syndrome
- witkin et al: found (once background variables were controlled for) no direct link between xyy and crime for almost 5000 danish men, t/f reducing validity as xyy is not soley responsible for cb and baclground variables have more impact
- re & birkhoff: did a review of evidence gathered on xyy from over 50 years and found no link between xyy and cb, however did find a link between xyy and other factors which lead to crime, t/f reducing validity as xyy is not the sole cause
3.reductionlist: xyy only considers nature, a gentic mutation causes crime however it fails to conider nurture, the observation and imitation of a crim role model leads to crime, t/f reducing the validity of the theory as it fails to account for the complexity of criminal behaviour
gender and xyy syndrome
fails to explain female crime and lathough crime rates for males are higher, the criminal population is not all male
how can slt in general explain crime
slt would state that criminal behaviour is a result of the observation and imitation of a criminal role model doing criminal behaviour.
the criminal role model is more likely to be imitated if it is relatable for the individual (eg, the same gender as the individual)
how can the arrm model explain crime
Attention, the individual must observe and notice the criminal role models behaviour, eg notice a gang leader noisly stealing
Retention, the individual must remember observing the criminal behaviour, eg rememebering seeing a gang leader noisly stealing
Reproduction, the individual imitating/doing the criminal behaviour that they witnessed the criminal role model do, eg stealing from the same shop that the gang leader stole from
Motivation, individual wants to imitate the criminal behaviour as they see the criminal role model rewarded, eg individual sees the gang cheer for the gang leader
how can vicarious reinforcement explain crime
Individual sees a criminal role model be rewarded/positively reinforced for their criminal behaviour, eg seeing a gang leader be called “hero” for stealing from the shop by their gang
3 strengths of slt explaining crime
- farrington, 4% of 400 families comitted 50% of the crimes across these families, so individuals are imitjating the criminal behaviour from their family members (criminal role models), t/f suggesting that criminal behaviour is learnt via observation and imitation, increasing validity
- practical apps, in knowing that cb is learnt via the observation and imitation of a criminal role model, we can put in place “big brother and sister schemes” for vulnerable individuals to give them a positive/non criminal role model to observe and imitate, t/f reducing the likelihood of cb developing, making society safer, increasing validity
3.bandurra, bandurra 1965 showed 66 children agressive role models either receieving no reinforcement, pos or neg and found pos had highest imitation then no and then neg, t/f suggesting that if a criminal role model is positively reinforced they are more likely to be imitated increasing the valifity of this theory
3 weaknesses of slt explaining crime
- farrington, the 4% of 400 families making up 50% of convictions could be due to nature, the passing down of a criminal gene t/f we cannot establish that the criminal behaviour was a result of the observation and imitation of criminal family members, reducing the internal validity of this supporting evidence so reducing the validity of the theory
- reductionist, slt as an explanation of cb only considers nurture, cb as the result of the observation and imitation of criminal behaviour and it fails to consider nature, criminal behaviour as a result of brain injury to the pfc, amygdala or hypothalamus, t/f slt is a reductionlist theory as it fails to consider the complexity of criminal behaviour, reduicing validity
- cannot explain all crimes, slt as an explanation of cb can only explain cb that we can physically observe to imitate eg robbery, however it fails to explain why people commit crimes that cannot be seen eg fraud, t/f reducing the validity of this theory as it cannot explain non observable criminal behaviour.
labelling theory a01
- society creates criminal label to a particular behaviour based on stereotypes
- authorities are maintaining power structure
- deviant behaviour is shown by an individual and a label is ascribed to them
- individual may be treated according to label
- individual becomes stigmatized within society
- individual believes label so decreases self image
- individual feels marginalised within society
- individaul fulfills label by comitting CB
3 strengths of labelling theory
- farrington
found that 4% of 400 families comitted 50% of crimes which suggests that children were given a criminal label based on their parents, and went on to fulfill the label, t/f this suggests that being given a criminal label leads to cb, increasing validity of this theory - lieberman
found that juveniles who had comitted previous crimes were more likely to commit other crimes than juveniles who had not been previously arrested, t/f suggesting being given a criminal label leads to criminal behaviour, increasing validity of this theory - besemer
found that children with criminal parents had higher risk of conviction themselves, he also suggested that social factors such as a lower income family increases the likelhood of conviction, t/f increasing the validity of the theory as police may focus more on criminal or low income families leading to increased risk of conviction
3 weaknesses of labelling theory
- unscientific
it is difficult to experimentally research labelling theory as you cannot set up an experiment where some ppants are labelled and some are not and analyse the effects on later behaviour, t/f there could be other factors leading to criminal behaviour (eg a pen personality), decreasing the validity of this theory - lemert
studied cheque forgers who usually came from a good socio economic background and hadn’t been in trouble with law enforcements before this, there criminal label was given after the criminal behaviour had started and thus their self image was not impacted, t/f this theory cannot explain why criminal behaviour happens if no label was given, decreasing validity of this theory - reductionist
labelling theory can not fully explain cb as it only considers nature, cb as a result of a criminal label. and it fails to consider nurture, eg criminal behaviour as a result of brain injury to the pfc, amygdala or hypothalamus. t/f labelling theory cannot fully explain criminal behaviour as it reduces the complexity of cb to its simplest form
ramoutar and farrington- gender differences in labelling theory
found that females are much more affected by parental negative labelling than males and thus females were more likely to display deviant behaviour as a result of parental criminal labels than males
sutherland- gender differences in labelling theory
suggested that females and males were socialised differently
girls are sociallised to be supervised and controlled whereas boys are sociallised to take risks and be aggressive
these labels could cause more boys to be involved in asb than girls
self fulfilling prophecy a01
deviant labels given to people based on others beliefs towards you
others will then behave towards the person according to the deviant label
because the individual is treated in a deviant way the person internalises the deviant label
the individual then will behave according to the deviant label so the prophecy is fulfilled
3 strengths of self fulfilling prophecy
- jahoda
studied a population from ghana where boys were named according to the day of the week they were born and these days each had different souls, eg monday is quiet and peaceful and wednesday is aggressive and quick tempered, based on court records people born on wednesday were more likely to be convicted of crime than monday, t/f suggesting that when given a deviant label, individuals will internalise it and behave according to the label, increasing the validity of the theory - rosenthal and jacobson
found that children labelled late bloomers has improved IQ scores and continued to thrive for the next 2 years in the class compared to children that hadn’t, t.f suggesting thay if an individual is given a label they will internalise it and act according to the label, increasing validity of the theory - practical applications
in knowing that being given a deviant label could lead to criminal behaviour we could use this in education by the removal of ‘sets’ so that children do not feel as if they’re unlikely to succeed and fulfill this label, t/f our knowledge of self fulfilling prophecy can benefit society by removing sets in school in order to reduce deviant labels and thus reduce cb in society, increasing the validity of the theory