Criminal Psychology- Biological Flashcards
Exam structure
Essay A:
* What does the question ask you to do?
* Where do the marks come from?
* What’s the structure?
- Use or explain key research to help explain a key aspect of topic
- 5 marks for AO1 (knowledge), 5 marks for AO2 (application)
- Outline the research (aim, method, procedure, sample, design etc), describe findings and conclusions and link them to the question being asked
Exam structure
Essay B:
* What does the question want you to do?
* Where do the marks come from?
* What is the structure?
- Discuss/ evaluate in relation to methodological issues, issues and debates
- 2 marks for AO1 (knowledge), 13 marks for AO3 (evaluation)
- Define issue/ debate in question, 3 PEE paragraphs including a counter argument in one paragraph
Exam structure
Essay C:
* What does the question ask you to do?
* Where do the marks come from?
* What is the structure?
- Presented with a scenario and are told to advise a treatment (context dependant)
- 10 marks for AO2 (application)
- Name a treatment, describe and link to psychology, explain in context how it would be advised, evaluate for 2 marks if struggling
What are the two physiological explanations of criminality?
(that I’m focusing on)
- Lombroso and Criminal evolution
- Sheldon and The Criminal Body
Physiological Explanations
What was Lombroso’s theory on what makes a criminal?
Criminals are a subspecies of human and can be identified by features:
* narrow sloping brows
* large ears
* defined jawline
* extra fingers/ toes
Phsyiological Explanations
What was Sheldon’s idea of the criminal body, what type did he deem to be typically criminal?
- Endomorphs, Mesomorphs and Ectomorphs
- Mesomorphs most likely to be criminals- most common body type among criminals
- Muscular builds may find they can achieve rewards more easily by using force rather than hard work (OC)
- May prejudice others around them to treat them as criminal- can’t escape stigmas (SFF)
Non-physiological explanation
What are the two non-physiological behaviours?
- Bandura- social learning theory
- Trzesniewski- self esteem (Maslow’s Hierarchy)
Non-physiological explanation
How can social learning theory be applied to crime and reinforcement of criminal actions?
- Child around role models who engage in crime (drug dealing) observes behaviour
- Behaviour vicariously reinforced if it is seen to have good outcome (financial reward)
- Children imitate in hope of good reward too, reinforcing behaviour
Non-physiological explanation
How can levels of self-esteem be applied to criminal behaviour?
- Adolescents with low esteem are more likely to engage in criminal activity
- Humanist explanation- low self esteem= failure to reach self-actualisation due to no access to external supportive sources
Raine
What was the aim of Raine’s research?
To study brain activity in murderers and non murderers using a PET scan to identify differences in areas that are thought to be involved with violent behaviour
Raine
What was the sample for Raine’s research?
41 murderers (39m, 2f) matched with 41 non-murderers by sex and age (6 by schizophrenia)
* Murderers pleaded not guilty by reasons of insanity (NGRI)
Raine
What is the definition of PET (positron emission tomography)?
Type of brain scan where patient is injected with radioactive ‘tracer’ and can be traced to see brain activity
Raine
What design was the investigation?
Quasi experiment with matched pairs
Raine
Why did participants practice the CPT before the real thing?
To remove natural reaction and emotion like nerves or excitement, as they were trying it for the first time
Raine
What were they injected with as part of the PET?
Glucose tracer
Raine
What was done after the CPT?
10 horizontal PET images were taken of the brain
Raine
What two techniques were used to identify and analyse brain regions?
- Cortical Peel Technique- used for sides and surfaces of brain
- Box technique- used for inside brain
Raine
What was found about the limbic system in murderers?
Asymmetrical activity (amygdala)- less activity on the left, more on the right
Raine
What was concluded about the reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex?
It can explain why murderers have lower self control and/ or lower intelligence- could reduce employment and increase risk of criminal activity
Raine
What was concluded about reduced activity in the amygdala?
Lack of fear- increase aggressive/ criminal activities
Practical Applications- Plastic Surgery
What is it and who’s research supports?
- Reconstructive face surgery to make crimincals look more appealing
- Lewinson- focused on defining features like nose, ears, facial scars that were associated with criminality
Practical Applications- Plastic Surgery
How can it reduce criminality?
- Makes them more willing to co-operate with authority, learn a trade
- Improve self esteem- low self-esteem associated with crime
- Improve reputation and first impressions of wider society
Practical Application- plastic surgery
How can it help reduce criminality in terms of differences in interation with others?
Breaks the cycle of the self-fulfilling prophecy giving them a new start- people treat them as a non criminal
Plastic Surgery
What are possible strengths and weaknesses of it?
- Strength- Shown to work (Lewinson)
- Weakness- Not suitable for all groups of offenders (young children), ineffective if no face deformities present
Practical Application- Drug therapy
What is it?
Chemical castration- provides oestrogen supplements to counteract testosterone levels
Practical Application- Drug therapy
How can it help reduce criminality?
Who’s study supports?
- Jacobs- males with XYY chromosomes are more likely to be aggressive prisoners and show increased tesdtosterone levels- drug therapy reduces impact of genetic differences (too much testosterone)
- Prisoners showed reduction in aggression, anxiety and sexual desire- drug therapy can reduce behaviour in violent crimes (rape, murder etc)
Praxtical Application- Drug Therapy
What is a strength and a weakness of drug therapy?
- Strength- easy to achieve (tablets)
- Weakness- only suitable for males with biochemical disorders (XYY), only suitable for violent crimes
Topic 2
What are the two competing motives in fingerprint analysis?
- Analysts are motivated to catch criminals by identifying suspects
- But they’re motivated to catch the right criminals (to avoid making mistakes)
Hall and Player
What is the aim of the investigation?
To investigate whether fingerprint experts were emotionally affected and whether the context of the crim would bias their judgement
Hall and Player
Who were the sample for the investigation?
70 fingerprint experts- Metropolitan Police Fingerprint Bureau
* experience from less than 3 months to 30+ years
* Volunteers
* Burglary- terrorism
* Recorded anonymously
Hall and Player
What design was used?
Lab experiment and independent measures
Hall and Player
What was the IV?
Emotional context (details in crime report)
* Low emotion context- Forgery- “tried to pay with fake £50 note”
* High emotion context- Murder- same but with “fired two shots at victim”
Hall and Player
What was the DV?
Explaining decisions on the prints in reports
* Identification- match
* Exclusion- No match
* Insufficient- not able to compare
* Inconclusive- compare but not individualise
Hall and Player
Where was a known fingerprint imposed on?
a £50 note- independent analysts confirmed the poor quality of the prints
Hall and Player
What did the crime scene report include?
What other things did participants get?
Details of crime- high and low emotion
Test mark card, set of 10 prints, magnifying glass
Hall and Player
Why is ecological validity strong in the procedure?
Why can ecological validity equally be weak?
Participants were told to treat situation like a normal day but not to discuss prints
No time limit- unrealistic to real life as usually, fingerprint analysts are working against the clock
Hall and Player
What percentage of those looking at high-emotion crime reports were affected?
50%
Hall and Player
What percentage of those in the low-emotion condition were affected?
6%
Hall and Player
What was concluded about emotional context in crime reports and the affect on analysts?
Emotion does affect analysts but doesn’t impact decisions
Application- Topic 2
What is the filler control method and what does it involve?
- Suggests removing knowledge that comparison print definitely belongs the suspect- analysts unaware it belongs to a suspect= reduces bias towards finding print as the ‘criminals’
- This drives competing motivation to find the right criminal
Application- topic 2
How can the filler control method for reducing collection of forensic evidence be implemented?
- Analysts should be given six suspects’ prints (one from actual, 5 plausible filler prints)
- Analyst has to identify which print set matches instead of declaring match/ no match
Application- Topic 2
Give a strength and a weakness of the filler control menthod.
- Strength- reduces bias and increases validity of judgements made
- Weakness- Time consuming (time wasting)
Application- topic 2
What is working in isolation from other evidence?
- Analysts should be unaware of any crime scene info to avoid emotional context
- They should come to their own conclusions and not be informed of initial judgement
Application- Topic 2
How can working in isolation from other evidence reduce bias when collecting forensic evidence?
- Should be given evidence that needs to be analysed with no other contextual info
- Decisions won’t be impacted by emotional context
- Final decision should be compared with original case findings to ensure a decision has been made, not just declaring a match or no match
Application- Topic 2
Give a strength and a weakness of working in isolation of other evidence.
- Strength- increased validity (it works), reduces bias
- Weakness- missing contextual cues, holistic approach
