forensic Flashcards
canter
bottom up profiling
investigative psychology: 5 assumptions that underpin the crime
e.g
1. time and place
2. criminal career
3. forensic awareness
pinizzotto
offender profiling AO3 - customer satisfaction surveys
US survey
77% pf police reported profiles helped
17% said it led to criminal
copson
offender profiling AO3 - customer satisfaction surveys
UK survey
83% found them useful
Kocsis
offender profiling AO3 - comparative profiler ability
Evaluate accuracy of profilers compared to other groups e.g police, psychologists, science undergraduates
Profilers did better than all other groups in terms of accuracy
Profilers 46% accuracy
40% students accuracy
38% accuracy of psychics
Is it worth the money?
fox and farrington
offender profiling AO3
evaluation fo effectiveness
Compare police agencies using profiling v ‘traditional’ police methods on burglary arrest rates
Analysis on data and statistics
After a 3 week training programme the arrest dates data was collected
The other police department received no training
Arrest rates were 3x higher with the trained profilers
= profiling has a positive effect
bowlby
psychodynamic explanations - maternal deprivation hypothesis
Receive love and care = grow to be able to develop positive attachments
Does not receive = difficulty forming relationships
Disruption in the relationship with primary caregiver = maternal deprivation
Means child forms negative representation of the world = leads to delinquent behaviour
sutherland
differential association theory
Explains how people learn to become criminals from their environment
Recognises the differing factors playing a part
Crime is learned
Learning motivations, attitudes of criminals around them
The contact with favourable messages towards crime that increases delinquency = ‘favourable differentiations’
alarid et al
Tested newly convicted criminals for the extent that differential association theory can explain their behaviour
It served as a good general theory
Its necessary to look at the context
Gudjonsson
cognitive distortions - hostile attribution bias
Measure for attributions: the blame attribution inventory - measured 3 things
1. Extent to which offenders blame circumstances in the environment
2. Extent to which they blame mental illness
3. Extent to which they feel guilt
Offenders differ in attributions depending on crime committed
Holtzworth-Munroe and Hutchinson
cognitive distortions - hostile attribution bias AO3
Link between HA and domestic violence
Shows men vignettes of difficult marital situations
Asked to rate the women’s behaviour
Men who had been violent towards wives = more likely to think woman was being negative
crick and dodge
cognitive distortions - hostile attribution bias AO3
Relationship between HA and aggression in children
Was in hypothetical situations and also actual situations
The explanation applies to everyday behaviour too
Kennedy and Grubin
cognitive distortion - minimalisation
research support
Sex offenders
Researchers rated accounts of denia
l
Excuse their behaviour by blaming someone else, usually the victim
1/4 believed their victim benefited in some way from the abuse
Kohlberg
cognitive explanations: level of moral reasoning
3 stages and their 2 stages:
1. pre conventional morality
punishment stage & reward stage
2. conventional morality
good-girl/boy stage & law and order stage
3. post conventional morality
social contract & ethical principle
palmer
cognitive explanations : level of moral reasoning - research
Association between moral development and offending behaviour
Suggests specific moral values that are associated with offending, there is a relationship between the two
Implication is that intervention programmes should incorporate training to increase offenders’ level of reasoning
Ashkar and Kenny
cognitive explanations: level of moral reasoning - AO3
Compared the moral reasoning level of juvenile sex and non-sex offenders so see whether there was difference
When asked about their reasoning in contexts similar to their crimes, both groups had pre-c level and conventional levels in context unrelated to crime
Suggests that reasoning varies by context and offenders have low reasoning which is specific to their crime.
= the method is useful in explaining some crimes
Gilligan
cognitive explanations: level of moral reasoning - AO3 limitation
developed a theory that proposed gender differences
She argued that women focus on how an action affects people and that men consider fairness and justice
Given varying rates of crime between men and women it may be that moral development in genders is different
Kohlberg doesn’t take this into account
Walker
cognitive explanations: level of moral reasoning - AO3 strength
WALKER showed development over time as KOHLBERG suggested
This can account for the incidence of anti-social behaviour in younger adults
lombroso
biological explanation/ historical approach
atavistic features = criminal behaviour
kaplan
A historical approach AO3 strength
Kaplan’s self-derogation theory states that poor social interactions (due to appearance) can bring about criminal behaviour due to poor self-esteem and reluctance to conform
Agnew
A historical approach AO3 strength
unwanted interactions (due to appearance) can increase frustration and anger.
Is called general strain theory
goring
A historical approach AO3 limitation - no control group
Compared 2,350 London convicts with a control group
Failed to replicate Lombroso’s findings
Concluded criminal behaviour does not link to physical appearance
Christiansen
Genetic explanations AO1 twin studies
Mz concordance = 35%. Dz = 13%
farrington
Genetic explanations AO1 - family studies
Farrington Cambridge study
Nearly 400 families monitored
Conviction rates compared with family
75% of convicted mothers and fathers had a convicted child
= offending is strongly concentrated in families
Brunner
Neural explanations - Strength: Brunner’s research on MAOA gene
The effects of the gene alter the levels of neurotransmitters
This is then linked to aggressive behaviour so could be applied to violent crime
Krakowski
Neural explanations - Limitation: individual differences
The relationship between serotonin and impulse control is complex
Other factors are involved
Eysenck
Psychological explanations for offending
Character traits:
Extraversion: extravert = sociable, impulsive, expressive. Introvert = cautious, happy with own company
Neuroticism: scores high = behaviours such as nervousness, anxiety, obsessiveness. Score low = stable, calm
Psychoticism: insensitive, unconventional, lack a conscience
Harris
sentencing aims - retribution
retribution is no longer the main sentencing objective
Thomas and Peterson
Psychological effects of custodial sentencing
prisonisation theory
the negative effects of socialisation in prison including the process of acceptance and role adaption
Cheeseman
Psychological effects of custodial sentencing - mental illness
many aggressive incidents in prison occur due to the need to relieve stres
Becker
Psychological effects of custodial sentencing - labelling theory
When they are released they have to adjust to a society that treats them as ‘ex-cons’
Many crimes carry stigmatised labels that will impact the offender and their interactions
Hollin
Psychological effects of custodial sentencing AO3 - support - prison reform trust counter
evidence suggest that prison became ‘home’
The fact that prisoners had 3 meals a day and a bed was preferable to them than what they had on the outside
Cheeseman
Psychological effects of custodial sentencing - Mental illness
many aggressive incidents in prison occur due to the need to relieve stress
Becker
Psychological effects of custodial sentencing - Labelling theory
When they are released they have to adjust to a society that treats them as ‘ex-cons’
Many crimes carry stigmatised labels that will impact the offender and their interactions
Can it lead to reoffending - self-fulfilling prophecy
Hollin
Psychological effects of custodial sentencing AO3
evidence suggest that prison became ‘home’
The fact that prisoners had 3 meals a day and a bed was preferable to them than what they had on the outside
cartier
recidivism AO1 research
clear link between substance abuse and reoffending rates = its obvious addiction and mental health issues needs to be treated in prison.
Marlott and Fromader
recidivism AO3 - Limitation: prison may not be the sole cause
male offenders released from prison were asked what would reduce the rates of recidivism. Many felt unsupported upon released and lacked resources
Reppucci and Saunders
Behaviour modification in prison AO3 - Strength: easy and cheap to implement
in practise the systems are hard to run.
Staff can be inconsistent, resources limited
Keen
Anger management AO3 - Limitation: motivation is needed
national anger management package for young offenders 17-21
8 2 hour sessions over 3 weeks, last session is a month afterwards to identify progress
Some issues with offenders not taking it seriously
But there were mainly positive results with offenders increasing their self-awareness and control
Braithwaite
restorative justice
‘crime hurts justice should heal’
miers et al
restorative justice programmes
doubted the sincerity of the offender and their motivation for taking part e.g reduced sentence
