Criminal Psychology- Biological

Question 1

What are the two physiological explanations of criminality?

(that I’m focusing on)

Answer 1

• Lombroso and Criminal evolution
• Sheldon and The Criminal Body

Question 2

Physiological Explanations

What was Lombroso’s theory on what makes a criminal?

Answer 2

Criminals are a subspecies of human and can be identified by features:
* narrow sloping brows
* large ears
* defined jawline
* extra fingers/ toes

Question 3

Phsyiological Explanations

What was Sheldon’s idea of the criminal body, what type did he deem to be typically criminal?

Answer 3

• 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)

Question 4

Non-physiological explanation

What are the two non-physiological behaviours?

Answer 4

• Bandura- social learning theory
• Trzesniewski- self esteem (Maslow’s Hierarchy)

Question 5

Non-physiological explanation

How can social learning theory be applied to crime and reinforcement of criminal actions?

Answer 5

• 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

Question 6

Non-physiological explanation

How can levels of self-esteem be applied to criminal behaviour?

Answer 6

• 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

Question 7

Raine

What was the aim of Raine’s research?

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Raine

What was the sample for Raine’s research?

Answer 8

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)

Question 9

Raine

What is the definition of PET (positron emission tomography)?

Answer 9

Type of brain scan where patient is injected with radioactive ‘tracer’ and can be traced to see brain activity

Question 10

Raine

What design was the investigation?

Answer 10

Quasi experiment with matched pairs

Question 11

Raine

Why did participants practice the CPT before the real thing?

Answer 11

To remove natural reaction and emotion like nerves or excitement, as they were trying it for the first time

Question 12

Raine

What were they injected with as part of the PET?

Answer 12

Glucose tracer

Question 13

Raine

What was done after the CPT?

Answer 13

10 horizontal PET images were taken of the brain

Question 14

Raine

What two techniques were used to identify and analyse brain regions?

Answer 14

• Cortical Peel Technique- used for sides and surfaces of brain
• Box technique- used for inside brain

Question 15

Raine

What was found about the limbic system in murderers?

Answer 15

Asymmetrical activity (amygdala)- less activity on the left, more on the right

Question 16

Raine

What was concluded about the reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex?

Answer 16

It can explain why murderers have lower self control and/ or lower intelligence- could reduce employment and increase risk of criminal activity

Question 17

Raine

What was concluded about reduced activity in the amygdala?

Answer 17

Lack of fear- increase aggressive/ criminal activities

Question 18

Practical Applications- Plastic Surgery

What is it and who’s research supports?

Answer 18

• Reconstructive face surgery to make crimincals look more appealing
• Lewinson- focused on defining features like nose, ears, facial scars that were associated with criminality

Question 19

Practical Applications- Plastic Surgery

How can it reduce criminality?

Answer 19

• 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

Question 20

Practical Application- plastic surgery

How can it help reduce criminality in terms of differences in interation with others?

Answer 20

Breaks the cycle of the self-fulfilling prophecy giving them a new start- people treat them as a non criminal

Question 21

Plastic Surgery

What are possible strengths and weaknesses of it?

Answer 21

• Strength- Shown to work (Lewinson)
• Weakness- Not suitable for all groups of offenders (young children), ineffective if no face deformities present

Question 22

Practical Application- Drug therapy

What is it?

Answer 22

Chemical castration- provides oestrogen supplements to counteract testosterone levels

Question 23

Practical Application- Drug therapy

How can it help reduce criminality?

Who’s study supports?

Answer 23

• 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)

Question 24

Praxtical Application- Drug Therapy

What is a strength and a weakness of drug therapy?

Answer 24

• Strength- easy to achieve (tablets)
• Weakness- only suitable for males with biochemical disorders (XYY), only suitable for violent crimes

Question 25

Topic 2

What are the two competing motives in fingerprint analysis?

Answer 25

• Analysts are motivated to catch criminals by identifying suspects
• But they’re motivated to catch the right criminals (to avoid making mistakes)

Question 26

Hall and Player

What is the aim of the investigation?

Answer 26

To investigate whether fingerprint experts were emotionally affected and whether the context of the crim would bias their judgement

Question 27

Hall and Player

Who were the sample for the investigation?

Answer 27

70 fingerprint experts- Metropolitan Police Fingerprint Bureau
* experience from less than 3 months to 30+ years
* Volunteers
* Burglary- terrorism
* Recorded anonymously

Question 28

Hall and Player

What design was used?

Answer 28

Lab experiment and independent measures

Question 29

Hall and Player

What was the IV?

Answer 29

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”

Question 30

Hall and Player

What was the DV?

Answer 30

Explaining decisions on the prints in reports
* Identification- match
* Exclusion- No match
* Insufficient- not able to compare
* Inconclusive- compare but not individualise

Question 31

Hall and Player

Where was a known fingerprint imposed on?

Answer 31

a £50 note- independent analysts confirmed the poor quality of the prints

Question 32

Hall and Player

What did the crime scene report include?

What other things did participants get?

Answer 32

Details of crime- high and low emotion

Test mark card, set of 10 prints, magnifying glass

Question 33

Hall and Player

Why is ecological validity strong in the procedure?

Why can ecological validity equally be weak?

Answer 33

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

Question 34

Hall and Player

What percentage of those looking at high-emotion crime reports were affected?

Answer 34

50%

Question 35

Hall and Player

What percentage of those in the low-emotion condition were affected?

Answer 35

6%

Question 36

Hall and Player

What was concluded about emotional context in crime reports and the affect on analysts?

Answer 36

Emotion does affect analysts but doesn’t impact decisions