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paper 3 psych > Forensic psych > Flashcards

Forensic psych Flashcards

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1
Q

offender profiling definition

A

a behavioural and analytical to that is intended to help investigators predict + profile the characteristics of unknown criminals

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2
Q

aim of offender profiling

A

narrow the field of enquiry and the list of key suspects

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3
Q

where is top down profiling from?

A

america from FBI

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4
Q

2 types of top down approach

A

organised + disagorganised

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5
Q

organised offender characteristics

A
  • plan crime
  • victim type
  • high control degree
  • deliberate target
  • skilled profession
  • intelligent
  • family
  • little evidence left
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6
Q

disorganised offender

A
  • spontaneous
  • live alone/close to crime
  • unemployed
  • history of failed relationship
  • little planning
  • lower than average IQ
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7
Q

4 stages of FBI profile

A

1) data assimation
2) crime scene classification
3) crime reconstruction
4) profile generation

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8
Q

top down profiling limitations

  • only applies to specific crimes
  • based on outdated model of personality
  • evidence doesn’t support disorganised offender (Canter)
A
  • only apples to particular crimes such as rape/ arson not common crimes like burglary - limited approach to criminal identification
  • based on idea that behaviour remains same across different crimes - critics suggest approach is naïve as doesn’t include external factors affecting personality - reduces validity as can’t predict offenders next move
  • Canter - analysed 100 USA murdered with 39 characteristics of organised and disorganised - no evidence for distinct disorganised type
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9
Q

bottom up profiling definition

A

profilers collect evidence and develop hypotheses about likely characteristics, motivation + social background of offender

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10
Q

2 types of bottom up profiling

A
  • investigative psych

- geographical profiling

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11
Q

investigative profiling definition

A

matches details from crime scene with statistical analysis or typical offender behaviour patterns, based on psychological theory

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12
Q

geographical profiling definition

A

based on principal of spatial consistency (offenders operational base) and possible future offences are revealed by geographical location of previous crimes

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13
Q

3 features or investigative psychology

A
  • interpersonal coherence
  • time + place
  • forensic awareness
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14
Q

interpersonal coherence definiton

A

offenders behaviour at scene and how it may reflect behaviour in more everyday situations

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15
Q

forensic awareness definition

A

certain behaviours might reveal awareness of police techniques + past experiences

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16
Q

two models of offender behaviour

A

marauder + commuter

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17
Q

marauder definition

A

offender who operated in close proximity to home base

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18
Q

commuter definition

A

offender who has likely travelled a distance away from usual residence

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19
Q

what does geographical profiling do?

A

understands spatial pattern of offender behaviour and provides investigator with a ‘centre of gravity’ - ‘the jeopardy surface’ is where the offender is likely to stike next

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20
Q

bottom up to profiling supportive evidence

A

lundrigan + canter (2001)

  • 120 murder cases with serial killers
  • location of each disposal sight different from previous ‘centre of gravity’
  • supports canters claim that spatial info is key factor to determining offenders base
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21
Q

bottom up profiling strengths

  • scientific
  • application
  • evidence supports investigative psych (canter + heritage)
A
  • more scientific then top down, more grounded in evidence, less speculation, offenders are more accurately + quickly identified
  • can be applied to wide range of offences
  • 66 sexual assault cases - used smallest space analysis for behaviour patterns e.g. lack of victim reaction - shows offender behaviour changing over different crimes - shows support of investigative psych as shows how ST can be applied
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22
Q

bottom up profiling weaknesses evidence (rachel)

A

rachel nickell’s death

  • original suspect ruled out due to height difference
  • might lead investigation in wrong direction
  • only good to narrow potential offenders
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23
Q

bottom up weakness evidence (copson)

A

copson (1995)

  • surveyed 48 police officers
  • only led to accurate offender identification in 3%
  • reliability + accuracy issues
24
Q

4 psychological explanations of offending behaviour

A
  • Eysenck’s theory
  • Cognitive explanations
  • Differential association theory
  • Psychodynamic explanation
25
Q

5 parts of Eysenck’s theory

A
  • general personality theory
  • biological basis
  • the criminal personality
  • the role of socialisation
  • measuring the criminal personality
26
Q

what is general personality theory?

A

includes introversion/ extraversion + neuroticism/ stability to form personality characteristics + psychoticism

27
Q

what is biological basis?

A

-personality comes from what we inherit e.g extroverts have under active nervous system

28
Q

what is the criminal personality?

A

it is neurotic-extrovert + will score highly in psychoticism

29
Q

what is the role of socialisation?

A

people with high N and E scores are more likely to act anti socially in situations

30
Q

what is measuring the criminal personality?

A

personality can be measured usind EPI using E and N dime tons to determine personality type

31
Q

Eysencks theory strengths

-evidence (combo)

A

-Eysenck + Eysenck compared 2070 male prisoners EPI scores with 2422 male controls - subdivided into age groups - prisoners had higher E N + P scores than controls
HOWEVER
-Farrington reviewed studies where offenders had high P scores but not E+N - there is little evidence of EEG differences between extroverts + introverts = doubt on eysencks theory

32
Q

Eysencks theory weaknesses

  • single criminal type
  • Cultural bias
A
  • offending behaviour as single criminal type is criticised -Moffitt proposed several types of male offender based on first offence timing - e.g Digmans 5 factor model suggests there are other combinations to help define offender so E + N scores don’t mean offending is inevitable
  • Bartol + Holsnchock - studies hispanics + African American offenders in prison in New York- divided into 6 groups based in crime - all found less extrovert than control group - due to different cultural group used than Eysenck - lacks generalisability
33
Q

3 types of cog explanations

A
  • level of moral reasoning
  • kohlbergs model + criminality
  • cog distortions
34
Q

what is level of moral reasoning?

A

-right + wrong can be summarised in theory of moral development - higher stage = more sophisticated reasoning - criminals have lower - kohlberg used moral dilemma tech ire on criminals

35
Q

what is kohlbergs model + criminality?

A
  • criminals are at pre-conventional level of model (punishment + rewards)
36
Q

what are cog distortions?

A

-errors in people info processing system characterised by faulty thinking

37
Q

2 cog distortion examples

A
  • hostile attribution bias

- minimalisatioj

38
Q

hostile attribution bias definiton

A

misinterpret others actions e.g think someone is being confrontational when they aren’t

39
Q

minimalisation definiton

A

attempt to deny it or downplay seriousness of the offence

40
Q

cog explanations strengths

  • level of moral reasoning evidence
  • application of research
A
  • Palmer + Hollin compared moral reasoning between 210 female + 122 male non-offenders with 126 offenders using SRM-SF (contained 11 moral dilemma related questions) -criminals showed less mature moral reasoning (consisted with kohlbergs predictions )
  • understanding cog distortions is beneficial in criminal behaviour treatment - CBT is best treatment in rehabilitation of sex offenders as encourages then to face up to their actions - studies show reduced denial + minimalisation in therapy is correlated with reduced risk of reoffending + this is key feature of anger management - practical applicant job
41
Q

cog explanation weaknesses

- alternative theories

A

-Gibbs proposed revised version of Kohlberg’s theory using 2 levels (mature + immature) - first level uses punishment + personal gain and second level uses one’s own conscience - these equivalent to kohlbergs pre-conventional + conventional stages - gibbs argued post-conventional shours be discarded as was culturally biased - Gibbs may be better kohlberg as isn’t biased

42
Q

study for hostile attribution bias

A

Schonenberg + Justye presented 55 offenders with images of facial expressions - compared to control group - violent offenders more likely to perceive images as angry and hostile

43
Q

study for minimalisation

A

Barbaree found among 26 rapists, 54% denied commuting offence + 40% minimised harm caused

44
Q

differential association theory definition

A

individuals learn values, attitudes, techniques + motives for criminal behaviour through association + interaction with different people

45
Q

4 parts of DAT

A

scientific basis
crime as a learned behaviour
pro criminal attitudes
learning criminal acts

46
Q

what is scientific basis of DAT?

A

“the conditions which are said to cause
crime should be present when crime is present, and they should be absent when the
crime is absent’’

47
Q

what is crime as a learned behaviour in DAT?

A

Criminality arises from two factors: learned attitudes towards crime, and the learning
of specific criminal acts.

48
Q

what is pro-criminal attitudes in DAT?

A

-values and attitudes of a group that are pro-crime - says we should be able to mathematically predict how likely an individual will be to commit a crime from how much they have been exposed to pro-crime values

49
Q

what is pro crime attitudes in DAT?

A

how often a person is exposed to pro crime attitudes can help us mathematically predict how likely they are to commit a crime

50
Q

what is learning criminal acts in DAT?

A

learning techniques for commuting a crime

51
Q

DAT strengths

  • explanatory power
  • shift focus
A
  • can account for crime within all sectors of society - e.g burglary in working class communities or crime in affluent groups - sutherland interested in ‘white collar crimes’ or corporate crimes - good application
  • sutherland moved emphasis away from biological - DAT draws attention to the fact social circumstances + environments may be more to blame for criminality that dysfunctional people - makes approach more desireable as offers more realistic solution to problem or crime
52
Q

DAT weakness

-difficulty testing (combo)

A

-hard to see how the number of pro-criminal attitudes someone has or has been exposed to could be measured - theory is built on how anti and pro crime attituges outweigh eachother - can’t measure - theory doesn’t provide solution to these issues -undermines scientific credibility

53
Q

psychodynamic explanations of offending 2 parts

A
  • inadequate superego

- maternal deprivation theory

54
Q

inadequate super ego description

A

Blackburn suggested that if superego is deficient then then criminal behaviour is inevitable as id is given free rein
3types
- weak = same sex parent absent in phallic stage then no oppurtunity for identification
-deviant = superego has immoral values (don’t associate guilt with wrongdoing)
-overharsh = crippled with anxiety so commit crimes to satisfy need for punishment

55
Q

maternal deprivation theory description

A

-failure to establish mother figure bind can result in affection less psychopathy meaning more likely to engage in acts of crime

56
Q

psycho explanations weakness

  • gender bias
  • contradictory evidence
  • unconscious concept
A
  • girls have weaker superego than boys having not experienced castration anxiety - means girls should commit more crimes however there is no evidence to support this from male-female ratio in prison - Hoffman found hardly any evidence for gender differences and when there was, girls were more moral than boys
  • little evidence that children without same sex parent are less law abiding - contradicts blackburn - similarly children raised by parents with pro crime attitudes could commit crim from generic rather than deviant super ego - overharsh superego doesn’t make sense as most criminals try not to get caught
  • lack of falsifiability - superego can’t be empirically tested - can only be judged by face value rather than scientific worth -psychodynamic is pseudoscience

paper 3 psych (4 decks)

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