Forensic Populations Flashcards
What are the different interacting factors that are likely to be causes of a violent act? (4)
Environmental
Social
Biological
Psychological
Aetiology of violence requires what? (4)
Distal antecedents
Early indicators
Developmental processes
Maintenance
What are distal antecedents? (3)
Biology - neurological problems
Psychology - impulsiveness
Environment - heat, crowding, high crime area
What are early indicators? (4)
Conduct disorder
Poor/harsh parenting
Early aggression, perhaps reinforced
Anger
What are developmental processes? (3)
Poor school attainment
Cognitive style: e.g. hostile attributions
Substance abuse
What is maintenance? (3)
Peers
Opportunities
Poverty and deprivation
What are the several potential links between illicit drug use and crime? (3)
Illicit use leads to other types of crime (e.g. to get money for more, disinhibition)
Crime may lead to drug use (e.g. providing money and contacts, coping, particularly in prison)
More complex interactions – facilitation, diversification
What are the major problems in assessing the scale of sexual offences? (4)
Societal denial
Secrecy of the offence
Consequences of disclosure for victims
Lack of standard definitions and methods of assessment
What are the myths surrounding sexual offenders? (8)
They are all men
They are all adults
They are all strangers
They are all abnormal in personality or mentally ill
Majority report abuse as children
They are a homogeneous group
They are persistent offenders
They are untreatable
Problems surrounding sexual offenders (3)
Media reporting has created the impression that women
and children face a constant threat of attack - yet the data do not support this
Fear leads to rushed legislative changes
Fear leads to both a rational increase in reporting and an
irrational one
What are sexual offenders? (2)
Most interest in those who offend against those who did not, or
cannot consent: rapists, child sex offenders
What is a paedophile? (3)
A clinical diagnosis, associated with the ‘paraphilias’ and paraphilic disorders in the DSM-V.
It is possible to be a paedophile and not a sexual offender
