forensic psych

Question 1

what is crime?

Answer 1

an action or omission that goes against the law of the state or crown

Question 2

what is deviance?

Answer 2

an action that is not against the law but is wrong/ against social norms

Question 3

what are cultural issues in defining crime?

Answer 3

what is considered crime/ how its dealt with is diff between cultures
most research is ethnocentric (only relevant where research was carried out)
eg bigamy is illegal in uk but not other cultures

Question 4

what are historical issues in defining crime?

Answer 4

definitions of crime change over time
eg homosexuality became legal in Britain in 1967

Question 5

what is offender profiling?

Answer 5

the process of predicting the characteristics of an offender based on the information available

Question 6

what is the top down approach?

Answer 6

used by the FBI
starts with the big picture and then fills in the details

Question 7

how was the top down approach developed?

Answer 7

1970s
FBIs Behavioural Science Unit gathered data from 36 sexually motivated serial killers

Question 8

problems with how the top down approach was developed?

Answer 8

all men- androcentric
sexually motivated- very specific type of crime
1970s- temporal validity
developed in USA- ethnocentric
36 criminals- quite a small sample size

Question 9

what are the 4 main stages of constructing a profile in top down approach

Answer 9

1) data assimilation- profiler reviews evidence
2) crime classification- organised and disorganised
3) crime reconstruction- hypotheses formation of how crime may have taken place
4) profile generation- hypotheses related to LIKELY characteristics of the offender

Question 10

organised crime

Answer 10

planned, self control at crime scene, few clues, target stranger, controls victim
above avg IQ, socially/sexually competent, married, angry/ depressed, follows media coverage of crimes, skilled occupation

Question 11

disorganised crime

Answer 11

little planning, little attempt to hide evidence, minimum use of constraint random disorganised behaviour, lives alone near crime scene, sexually and socially inadequate, unemployed, abused in childhood, frightened/ confused

Question 12

who produced the theory of organised/ disorganised crimes? when?

Answer 12

Hazelwood and Douglas
1980

Question 13

evaluation of top-down typology

Answer 13

can only be applied to sexually motivated serial killers due to limitations of og sample
alison et al 2002 argues its based on outdated theories of personality being stable (external, situational factors have major influence)
reductionist. offenders arent either organised or not- may be features of both. may start disorganised and become more organised as they develop their modus operandi

Question 14

what is the bottom up approach?
who created it and when?

Answer 14

the UK approach
start with details and create the bigger picture
looks for consistencies in behaviour
no initial assumptions made about offender
relies heavily on computer databases
canter 1990 (more recent)

made up of smallest space and geographical profiling

Question 15

what is Canter’s most famous case?

Answer 15

John Duffy
see page 8

Question 16

what is smallest space analysis?

Answer 16

used to identify patterns and see if a series of offences are linked

Question 17

what is interpersonal coherence?

Answer 17

behaviour of the offender at the time of the crime is comparable to what they are like in every day life
central to approach of investigative psychology and bottom up approach

Question 18

what is geographical profiling/crime mapping?

Answer 18

used to make inferences about where an offender is likely to live

Question 19

what is canters circle theory (1993)?
problem?

Answer 19

proposes 2 models of offender behaviour
marauders- commit crimes close to where live/ feel secure. usually disorganised
commuters- commit crimes away from where live. usually organised
reductionist

Question 20

evaluation of bottom up approach

Answer 20

evidence supports investigative psych- canter and heritage 1990 analysed 66 sexual assault cases using smallest space and identified clear common patterns of behaviour
evidence supports geographical profiling. lundrigan and canter 2001 collated evidence from 120 murder cases and found offenders home base was in centre of crime scene pattern
computer databases and smallest space analysis makes the approach more scientific that top down
wider applications, can be applied to other crimes
despite copson 1995 finding 83% police forces found it useful, in only 3% of cases did it lead to accurate identification of offender. eg Rachel Nickel case- arrested collin stagg instead of robert knapper

Question 21

what was Cesare Lombroso’s theory of anthropological criminology?

Answer 21

stated that criminality is inherited and someone born criminal could be identified by physical defects

Question 22

what is atavistic form? 1876
what is the study?

Answer 22

biological explanation of criminality.
lombroso used it to explain that offenders are genetic throwbacks or a primitive sub-species not suited to conforming to rules of modern society
distinguishable features.
study of 383 dead and 3839 living Italian criminals (ethnocentric and androcentric), found 40% had atavistic characteristics (nowhere near statistically significant)

Question 23

example characteristics of atavistic form

Answer 23

large jaw, forward projection of jaw, high cheek bones, flattered/upturned nose, hard shifty eyes, insensitive to pain, tatoos, baldness etc etc (all very subjective and similar to hitlers ideas of eugenics)

Question 24

what are sheldons body types (1942)- how environmental factors could explain lombrosos characteristics?

Answer 24

ectomorph (skinnier)- artistic, sensitive, apprehensive, introverted
endomorph (larger)- tolerant, relaxed, love comfort/ luxury, pleasant, extraverted
mesomorph (muscley)- courageous, energetic, active, dynamic, assertive, aggressive, risk-taker (most male delinquents are mesomorph)

Question 25

evaluation of biological explanations for crime

Answer 25

outdated and seem ridiculous but represent beginning of offender profiling (lombroso was 1st to move away from lack of morality as cause for crime)
lombroso used scientific methods- evidence based approach to research, hundreds of obs and measurements

no control group so those characteristics could have just been common in general pop
scientifically racist- characteristics he identified are more prevalent in certain racial groups- but still issue today (eberhardt found stereotypically black looking men more likely to get death penalty in USA than others)
characteristics described are likely due to poverty, diet, illness, disease
Goring 1913 found evidence that criminals are likely to have lower IQ but this may mean its due to education not biology
lack of temporal validity- around the time eugenic theories were popular