Exam qs Flashcards
What is mass homicide correlated with?
68.2% linked to domestic violence
What were the key findings from the Aamodt et (2023) report on serial killers?
Number of active serial killers peaked in the US in the 1980s; with an average of 173 active serial killers per year
In 2010-2019, there were an average of 53 per year
Why the decrease? Hypotheses:
Increased technology (e.g., Black widows makes insurance fraud harder)
Decreased availability of vulnerable targets (hitch hikers, taking a ride from a stranger)
Stricter criteria for parole
What r the four types of of serial killers according to Holmes and Holmes?
- Visionary: suffers from psychosis
- Mission Oriented Serial Murder: no psychosis, self appointed to rid the world of undesirables
- Hedonistic: do it for pleasure (lust&thrill, comfort)
- Power/control: desire to hold victims life in their hands
Explain the trauma control model by Hickey
Includes 8 elements:
Predispositional factors
Traumatic events
Low self esteem/fantasies
Violent fantasies
Homicidal behavior
Facilitators
Dissociation
Trauma reinforcement
Believes it is unlikely that any one of these factors alone is responsible for homicidal tendencies but suggests that it can be a combination of factors
What r the differences between instrumental and reactive violence?
Instrumental: Violence is not emotionally driven, instead precipitated by revenge, power/control, & financial/material gain
Affective: violence is emotionally driven - Person often describes a tenuous ability to “control self”
What is the patriarchal theory of intimate partner violence?
Patriarchal beliefs of male, heterosexual dominance and the devaluation of girls and women lie at the root of gender-based violence.
What r the general theories of violence?
Reactive/instrumental typology
Evolution
Biosocial Model of Violence
Social Learning Theory
Can you explain the difference between unstructured clinical judgement, actuarial tools,
mechanical tools, and structured professional judgement tools? Can you give an example
of each approach including the name of at least one risk assessment tool (if applicable)
associated with each approach that is used to predict violence as well as intimate partner
violence more specifically?
Unstructured clinical judgement: arriving at an estimate of risk based on the assessors own idiosyncratic decisions about what factors to consider and how to combine those factors
ex.
Actuarial tools: follow structured rules about what factors to consider and how to combine those factors to arrive at a final estimate of risk
ex. Domestic Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (DVRAG)
Mechanical tools: collect pre-specified risk factors identified from theory or research (not empirical) - combine into a total score
ex. Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R)
Structured Professional Judgement: final risk assessment is a clinical judgment based on combination of risk factors
ex. Spousal Assault Risk Assessment (SARA)
Explain the DSM and ICD. How are they similar and/or difference?
ICD: International Statistical Classification of Diseases - Used worldwide
DSM: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - North America
What is mental disorder?
A syndrome characterized by a clinically significant disturbance to cognitions, emotions, or behaviors - Is not short lived
What are examples of psychosis-related symptoms?
Threat over-ride symptoms:
- Belief your mind is being controlled by outside forces
- Thoughts put in your head that are not your own
- Belief that someone wishes you harm
Command hallucinations: false sensory input (i.e., kill the next pretty girl you see”
Delusions: false.nonsensical belief/fixed beliefs that cant be changed in response to evidence (Bizzare & Non-Bizzare)
What is important to know about policing and persons with mental disorders?
The development of community health services progressed slower than the transfer of patients out of hospitals. Police are now the “informal first responders of our mental health system”
They do not have the proper training or resources to properly deal with most mental illness calls
What are three systems that a mentally disordered person who commits a crime could
find themselves embroiled in? Can you fully explain the processes within each system
from start to finish?
- Convicted in the CJS + PMDs (also have a mental disorder)
- Those found unfit to stand trial
- Those found not criminally responsible (NCRMD)
What is the difference between NCRMD and UFST? When are they used?
NCRMD: Not legally responsible while suffering from a mental disorder that rendered the person incapable of appreciating the nature of the act or incapable of knowing that the act was wrong
UFST: Unable, on account of having a mental disorder, to understand nature of the proceedings, understand consequences of the proceedings, or communicate with counsel
What do we know about NCRMD cases in Canada (thanks to Dr. Crocker and the
National Trajectory Project
NCRMD cases are very rare in Canada (<1%)
The rate of NCRM cases has remained stable
Court case completion takes longer for NCRMD cases
What are the four facets of psychopathy? Can you describe them and give examples
within each one?
PERSONALITY:
1. Interpersonal
(superficial charm, grandiose, manipulative)
- Affective
(no remorse, shallow affect)
BEHAVIORS:
3. Lifestyle
(parasitic lifestyle, lack of realistic goals, impulsive)
- Antisocial
(poor behavioral controls, criminal versatility)
How do we measure psychopathy? What are the different types of assessment (e.g., rater
vs self report versus informant)? What are examples within each type? What are the
strengths and weaknesses associated with different assessment strategies?
Rater based methods: Done by professionals (Hare Psychopathy Checklist Revised)
Self report methods: Responded to by person of question (Self report Psychopathy Scale)
Informant methods: Asking people who know the person is question well (Antisocial Process Screening Device)
What is the PCL-R? Can you describe it? How does it work? How is it scored?
NOT a risk assessment tool - Designed to measure the construct of psychopathy - A mechanical assessment
20 items scored using:
-Semi-structured interview (long, challenging)
-Collateral file information
Each item scored on a 3 point scale rending a total score from 0 to 40
-Consider intensity, duration and frequency in scoring
-Requires clinical/expert judgment
What is the relationship between serial killers and psychopathy?
90% of serial killers are psychopaths
What is the relationship between psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder?
Psychopathy is a personality disorder
APD is a DSM diagnosis
What are all the possible theories of psychopathy? What are the core deficits of
psychopathy according to Dr. Brown’s lecture?
Two Component Model
- Specific Responsivity Issue: Manage treatment interfering Factor 1 traits
- Criminogenic Needs: Target the criminogenic needs linked to factor 2 scores
What is the situation re: treatment of psychopathy? What do we know? Don’t know? Is
anything working for anyone? If you had to treat a psychopath, what would you do, not
do? What are their treatment targets?
DO:
-Adhere to the RNR model closely (specific responsivity)
-Focus on behavioral and lifestyle components
-Target other traditional criminogenic needs
-Use a highly structured, cognitive behavioral approach
-Focus on enhancing psychopaths motivation for staying in treatment (immediate positive reinforcement)
DONT:
-Try to change personality
-Enhance empathy and perspective taking
-Be unstructured
-Allow for psychopaths to take advantage of more vulnerable group methods
-Be offered by junior and inexperienced staff
What is paraphilia?
Abnormal sexual desires
How is pedophilia related to paraphilia?
Pedophilia: Sexual attraction to children who have not begun puberty
What is the difference between pedophilia and pedophilic disorder?
Not all paraphilias manifest as (criminal) sexual offending
Pedophilic disorder: The individual has acted on the sexual urges or the urges caused marked distress or interpersonal difficulty
Do police report sex crimes converge with victim self report surveys?
Underreported - 8 in 10 sexual offenses in Canada are not reported to police
What do we know about rape myths and the court system?
Beliefs that support the sexual assault of women by placing blame on the victim rather than the perpetrator
What are examples of paraphilia?
Pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism, frotteurism, sexual sadism, etc
