Criminology 2

Question 1

BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS FOR CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR

Answer 1

• Brain Injury- Damage to the pre-frontal cortex can lead to an aggressive response to a “threat”, an inability to learn appropriate social behaviour and being unable to interpret behaviour.
• Amygdala- Increased activity in right side- increased impulsive behaviour. Damage/ poor development- issues with fear conditioning. Children may fail to learn that good behaviour is pleasurable.
• XYY- Witkin- Found XYY males tended to have lower intelligence and poor attainment- increase in criminal behaviour
• Personality- Extroverts- chronically under-aroused- drive for thrill e.g. crime. Neurotics- more reactive to stimulus- over react to stressful situations.

Question 2

SOCIAL EXPLANATIONS FOR CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR

Answer 2

• Labelling- The minority of individuals become labelled as criminal (deviant) - go onto engage in crime. E.g. If a child from a family with a history criminal behaviour steals something from another child they may be called a “thief”. If something goes missing again, the same child may be blamed and they might start to act in the way expected of them.
• Self-fulfilling prophecy- Occurs when an individual internalises an externally applied label- they start to believe in the label.
• Social learning theory- Suggests children learn behaviour by observing others in a particular way. More likely to engage in crime, if they have learnt that criminal behaviour is ok.

Question 3

FACTORS AFFECTING EWT- POST EVENT INFORMATION

Answer 3

• Includes information an individual receives after witnessing a crime.
• The use of “leading questions” when being interviewed.
• Information from other witnesses.
• Detail published in the media- positive or negative.

Question 4

FACTORS AFFECTING EWT- WEAPON FOCUS

Answer 4

• Attention- When a weapon is present, eye witnesses will spend more time looking at this and less time looking at the suspect- incomplete memory of the suspect’s face/clothing.
• Stress/Arousal- The presence of a weapon increases our stress levels- increases our arousal- spend more time focusing on the weapon rather than a face- poorer recall.

Question 5

FACTORS AFFECTING EWT- AROUSAL

Answer 5

• Valentine & Mesout- Found that having a lower state of anxiety made it more likely to make correct identifications of a person, compared to those with a higher state of anxiety.
• Anxiety does affect the reliability of eye witness testimony.

Question 6

THE COGNITIVE INTERVIEW

Answer 6

• Developed in order to optimise the amount of information that can be obtained in interviews.
• Free recall- The witness is simply asked to “report everything”.
• Context reinstatement- The witness is asked to reconstruct in their minds the situation they were in, e.g. they may be asked “think about where you were when you saw the victim”.
• Change perspective- Witnesses are asked to put themselves in a different perspective, e.g. “think about what you might have seen if you were stood behind the victim”.
• Change the order- The witness will be asked to try and describe what they saw in a different order.

Question 7

ETHICAL INTERVIEWS

Answer 7

• In order to improve the reliability of interviews and to cause suspects and witnesses less distress.
• The PEACE act introduced the importance of ethical standards in interviewing, particularly vulnerable individuals.
• Interviewers need to be mindful of the need to remain impartial and open-minded to the information presented.
• Modern policing has moved away from ‘interrogation techniques’- more aggressive approach using psychological manipulation.
• The use of deception should be avoided.
• Any information within interviews needs to be given freely and willingly in order to be considered valid.

Question 8

TREATMENT PROGRAMMES

Answer 8

• Treatment programmes are designed to help prisoners and to reduce recidivism.
• In the long run this should reduce the number of prisoners in jail and the number of crimes committed.
1. Cognitive behaviour therapy- Anger management therapy.
2. Biological treatment- Diet

Question 9

ANGER MANAGEMENT THERAPY

Answer 9

• Novaco (1975) - Introduced anger management therapy- emphasised the role of cognitions in anger- suggested the expression of anger reinforces behaviour- sets a pattern for further behaviour.
• Individuals need to learn to manage behaviour through self-control (3 stages):
1. Cognitive preparation
2. Skill acquisition
3. Application practice.
• The current programme in prisons is known as CALM.

Question 10

BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT- DIET

Answer 10

• Behaviour issues have been linked to deficiency in omega 3 fatty acids, low levels of magnesium and zinc- associated with hyperactivity and impaired brain activity.
• Prisoners could be offered supplements, such as for vitamins and be compared to those given a placebo. The number of violent acts could be recorded and comparisons could be made between the experimental group and control group.