criminological Flashcards
What is criminological psychology?
refers to the application of psychological knowledge t understand crime and anti social behaviour.
Focussing on what causes an individual to commit crime how a crime is analysed and how it is put together
what are the four biological explanations of crime?
- brain injury
- amygdala
- xyy syndrome
- personality
what is acquired traumatic brain injury and what is non traumatic brain injury?
ABI - result of external force such as a blow to the head
NON TRAUMATIC - result from illness such as brain tumour, meningitis or stroke
what are three pieces of evidence for brain injury as an explanation of crime?
Phineas Gage:
- rod passed through his skull, went from a quite family man to an irritable, rude drunk.
Williams:
- 60% of 196 prisoners had received some for of traumatic brain injury
- these injuries affect development of temperament, social judgment and ability to control impulses
Grafman et al:
- brain scans on men who sustained brain injury while fighting in Vietnam war
- veterans with brain damage to the frontal lobe were more likely to be aggressive than those with damage in other areas.
evaluation of brain injury as an explanation of crime
strengths:
- evidence supporting so high in validity
- different methodologies used and same results so high reliability (case studies and brain scans)
- useful applications such as developing rehab
weaknesses:
- no cause and effect relationship, other variables may have an influence
- although they used brain scans, there was no brain scans evidence showing these participants before the study took place
- reductionist as they don’t take into account being young an male, witnessing family violence, having ptsd etc.
what are three pieces of supporting evidence for the amygdala and crime?
Charles Whitman:
- killed 14 people at university of texas, he had a cancerous brain tumour that impacted on the amygdala
Raine:
- pet scans on 41 violent murderers pleading ngri
- murderers had asymmetrical activity in the amygdala
Yang:
- studied 27 psychopathic people
- people with psychopathy had lower volume on both amydalale compared to controls
evaluation of amygdala and crime
strengths:
- supported by evidence
- used neuro-imaging so objective and high inter rate reliability
weaknesses:
- no direct cause and effects amygdala is highly influenced by pre frontal cortex
- some studies found correlation but not necessarily related to crime
- reductionist
what are the two ways in which the amygdala may not function correctly and can therefore lead to criminal behaviour?
- the threshold at which the activation of the amygdala is too low, resulting in sudden outburst of unprovoked aggression
- the amygdala is malfunctioning so that anxiety and fear levels are low, leading to high levels of risk taking behaviour.
what are some characteristics of males with xyy syndrome?
- occurs in one in 1000 male births
- occurs randomly
- taller than siblings
- severe ance
- lower intelligence
- developmental delays in speech and language
- behavioural and emotional difficulties
- physically active.
how does xyy syndrome link to criminal behaviour?
the behavioural and emotional difficulties and the tendency to have high levels of physical activity, may make anti social behaviour and aggression more likely
what are four pieces of evidence for xyy syndrome and crime?
Jacobs:
- over representation of xyy men in the prison population (15xyy men for every 1000 prisoners)
Daniel Hugon
- murdered a prostitute in a paris hotel
- he attempted suicide before trial
- he was found to have xyy syndrome
Theilgaard:
- took blood samples of over 30,000 males born in 1940’s
- found no conclusive evidence for a criminal gene .
Re and Birkhoff:
- review study from last 50 years
- found there is no statistical evidence that an xyy man is pre disposed to aggressive and deviant behaviour.
evaluation of xyy syndrome as an explanation for crime
strengths:
- early research suggested a link between xyy and anti social behaviour (jacobs)
weaknesses:
- genetic research has practical difficulties
- reductionists (xyy males may be labelled differently)
- women carry out crimes and they do not have xyy syndrome
- recent research has shown a link between xyy and crime is not there.
who argued that three personality traits could be linked to crime and what are they?
eysenck
- psychoticism
- extraversion
- neuroticism
How does the PEN personality link to biology in causing crime?
Psychoticism - people have increased testosterone levels and MAO levels
Extraversion - lower amount of activity in the ARA’s which leads to less cortical arousal. Therefore, they require greater amounts of external stimulation
Neuroticism - neurotic individuals have greater activation levels and lower thresholds within the limbic system (emotions like fear and aggression). Therefore, they become very upset in the face of minor stress.
what are three pieces of evidence for personality as a biological explanation of aggression?
Eysenck:
- 156 prisoners split into five groups (violent crimes, property crimes, confidence crimes, inadequate and residuals)
- all tested on the eysenck personality questionnaire and physiological measures
- overall, certain personality traits can be linked to criminal behaviour
Boduszeck:
- looked at 133 violent and 179 non violent male prisoners
- found a criminal thinking style in correlated with high levels of psychoticism, extraversion and neurotism.
Farrington:
- found little evidence that eysenck’s personality questionnaire was an adequate measure for predicting offending.
What are the three social explantations of crime and anti social behaviour?
- social learning theory
- labelling
- self fulfilling prophecy
Describe social learning theory
- developed by bandura
- observational learning
- behaviour is observed, modelled and imitated to reproduce
what are three pieces of evidence that support social learning theory as an explanation of crime?
BANDURA:
- bobo doll experiments
- children learnt aggressive behaviour through observing a role model
- observing filmed aggressive acts (TV etc) can lead to children acting aggressively
- vicarious reinforcement (reward or punishment) makes aggressive behaviour more likely or unlikely
WILLIAMS:
- looked at effect of TV on behaviour of children in canada.
- TV had not been available in their town before
- introduction of TV increased children aggressive behaviour as rated by teachers and peers.
JOHNSON:
- found a positive correlation between amounts of TV children in new york watched and increased aggressive behaviour
- Those who watched the most TV committed the highest number of violent acts.
Evaluate social learning theory as an explanation of crime
STRENGTHS:
- Evidence: bandoras lab based experiments can infer cause and effect, johnson, williams
- Methodology: lab experiments provide credible scientific evidence, objective quantitative methods
- Applications: aware of the power of role models, control violence in the media by censorship’s (age rated films)
WEAKNESSES:
- Evidence: high rates of recidivism go against idea that punishment makes reoffending less likely
- Methodology: bandura conducted in artificial environments so lack validity
- Alternative theory: does not look at biological factors
Describe labelling theory
- general and broad terms used to describe people
- based on stereotypes
- negative labels can influence attitude of others people
- resulting in prejudice and stigma
- labels can become the master status which changes the self concept of the individual.
What are the four steps of labelling theory?
- the label is given to an individual or group
- the person is treated like the label
- the label becomes the master status
- the self concept of the individual changes
What are three pieces of evidence to support labelling theory as an explanation to crime?
BESEMER:
- children from families labelled as criminal are more likely to be convicted than children from other families
- families did not transmit criminal behaviour
- families that are labelled as criminal are paid more attention to and so children are more likely to be caught, prosecuted and found guilty.
LIEBERMAN:
- juveniles who had been previously arrested were more likely to commit other crimes compared to juveniles who had not been previously arrested
- could be due to labelling and how others treat them
CHAMBLISS:
- observed two groups of high school boys (roughnecks and saints)
- roughnecks were more likely to be labelled as deviant by the police and have legal action taken against them
What is one piece of evidence that challenges labelling theory?
LEMERT:
- found that cheque forgers had been forging cheques a long time before they were caught, so had been active in the crime before they were labelled.
How does becker apply labelling theory to crime?
- labelling theory can explain crime because it proposes that what is criminal or deviant is decided by powerful social groups
- behaviour itself is not criminal, but only becomes criminal when someone in society labels it as such.
- therefore it is the disadvantaged that are most likely to be labelled as criminals.
describe the self fulfilling prophecy
our expectations of others, and the way we behave towards them based on those expectations, affect the behaviour of these individuals
when we are labelled in some way, we become that label
what are three pieces of evidence that support the self fulfilling prophecy as an explanation
ROSENTHAL AND JACOBSON:
- pygmalion in the classroom
- teachers told 20 pupils in a class were about to bloom due to results on iq test
- reality, 20 students picked at random
- 20 who were said to be bloomers did have improved iq testa at the end of the year
Madon:
- parents of 115 children aged 12-13in USA given a questionnaire asking them to estimate how much their child regularly drank and how much they would drink that year
- if both parents expected their children to drink alcohol, the child was more likely to do so.
JAHODA:
- Ashanti people in south ghana give boys “soul names”
- soul names linked to days of the week
- monday = calm and peaceful
- Wednesday = aggressive and angry
- 5 years of juvenile court records analysed and monday names responsible for 6.9% of violent crime and wednesday names responsible for 22%
evaluation of self fulfilling prophecy as an explanation of criminal behaviour
STRENGHTS:
- Evidence: rosenthal and Jacobson, madon, jahoda and besemer
- Methodology: research from real life settings so high ecological validity
- Applications: society is more aware about the power of labels (teachers more careful)
WEAKNESSES:
- Evidence: impossible to use experiments due to ethical issues, much evidence comes from educational circumstances so may not be same for criminal
- Methodology: extinct of negative beliefs and expectations are difficult to study as they are not directly observable
- Alternative theories: does not explain how the individual learns the actual criminal behaviour.
what is a cognitive interview?
a method of interviewing eye witnesses. The aim is to help witnesses produce more accurate recall of a crime scene using techniques based on psychological knowledge.
What is an ethical interview?
a method of interviewing that acknowledges that suspects are human beings and are more likely to cooperate with police if rapport is established and they are treated with respect.
What is the PEACE model of ethical interviewing?
P - planning and preparation (objectives)
E - engage and explain (build rapport)
A - account (questions and listening)
C - closure
E - evaluate (reflection)
What are two advantages and disadvantages of suing the PEACE model of ethical interviewing?
Strengths:
- WALSH AND MILNE - evidence that PEACE model build rapport and used more ethical techniques compared to non-PEACE interviews
- Builds public confidence and ensures fewer miscarriages of justice
Weaknesses:
- although policing advocate the peace model, it is not always used consistently and therefore its effectiveness is limited
- expensive to train police in this technique
What are the two memory principles that the cognitive interview technique are based on?
- Tulvings encoding specificity principe
- when an event occurs it is first encoded and then other important cues restored alongside it - Schema theory
- our memory of events may be based on what we expect should have happened based on pervious experiences.
What are the four main techniques used within the cognitive interview?
CONTEXT REINSTATEMENT:
- encourage witnesses to recall specific sensory cues such as how they felt, the weather and smells.
REPORT EVERYTHING:
- allow witness to freely recall the situation without interruption
CHANGE THE ORDER:
- ask witness to recall the event in a different order as it interrupts schema activation and helps them avoid skipping over information.
CHANGE PERSPECTIVE:
- have the witness adopt the viewpoint of a different witness. This uses different retrieval cues and may be able to recall new information.
