forensic psychological

Question 1

what does the psychological explanation involve

Answer 1

eyesncks theory of criminal personality

cognitive explanations

differential association theory

psychodynamic explanations

Question 2

what is Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality

Answer 2

Eysenck identified three personality variables and developed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). He believed that personality is 67% due to genes.

Question 3

what are the three personality variables eyesnck developed

Answer 3

extroversion vs introversion
neuroticism vs stability
psychoticism vs normality

Question 4

what does extraversion involve

Answer 4

Extraverts seek new experiences more than introverts, as they have under-stimulated nervous systems. As a result, they are more likely to commit crimes, especially impulsive crimes or those that give the offender an adrenaline rush.

Question 5

what does neuroticism involve

Answer 5

Neurotics are less emotionally stable and unpredictable, as they have more sensitive fight or flight responses. As a result, they are more likely to commit crimes, especially crimes of passion or provoked violent attacks.

Question 6

what does psychoticism involve

Answer 6

Psychotics are aggressive, egocentric and feel less empathy, as they have high levels of testosterone. As a result, they are more likely to commit crimes, especially violent crimes, about which they would feel no remorse.

Question 7

strengths for eysncks theory

Answer 7

• Research support for link between personality and criminal behaviour
  Dunlop (2012) found that extraversion and psychoticism were good predictors of delinquency (minor offences).
  BUT,Van Dam found that very few male offenders scored highly on all 3 scales – lacks predictive validity.
• Real world application
  Children with these traits could be socialised to avoid becoming offenders.
  BUT, this could lead to prejudice from a young age and self- fulfilling prophecy.

Question 8

limitations for Eysenck theory

Answer 8

• Personality may not be consistent
  Personality changes depending on what situation we are in. Mischel & Peake (1982) asked people to rate the personality of 63 ppts in different scenarios and found no correlation in their personality across the scenarios
• Personality tests may not be reliable
  Eysenck’s Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) forces a ‘yes/no’ choice when people might want to say ‘sometimes’. They may answer in a way that gives them a desired outcome, for example if they consider themselves introverted.

Question 9

what does the cognitive explanation involve

Answer 9

cognitive distortions and kohlbergs levels of moral reasoning

Question 10

what do cognitive distortions involve

Answer 10

These are the irrational ways of thinking that offenders demonstrate, which help to cause and justify offences.

Hostile attribution bias – offenders see ambiguous behaviour from others as having a negative or aggressive motive, so are more likely to act negatively.

Minimalisation – offenders downplay the severity of their crimes in the way that they think or talk about them.

Question 11

what do Kohlberg’s Levels of Moral Reasoning involve

Answer 11

As we mature, our sense of morality develops and matures too.

Preconventional stage (under 6 years) is where we are only concerned with preventing punishments for bad behaviour

Conventional stage (7-11 years) is where we are concerned with preserving our reputation as a ‘good boy/girl’

Postconventional stage (over 11 years) is where we develop our set of ethics and principles.
Offenders are more likely to remain as preconventional because they don’t have moral principles to prevent crime.

Question 12

research to support for hostile attribution bias

Answer 12

Dodge (2014) found that aggressive children were more likely to perceive ambiguous hypothetical scenarios as having a negative motive BUT, this doesn’t necessarily apply to adult offending behaviours

Question 13

research to support for minimalization

Answer 13

Kennedy & Grubins (1992) interviewed sex offenders and found that 1/2 were unwilling to take full responsibility, and only 1/3 believed they had harmed the victim.

BUT, this may be a social desirability bias and they may not actually believe these things.

Question 14

research to support for levels of moral reasoning

Answer 14

Palmer & Hollins (1998) found that male offenders scored significantly worse on moral reasoning tests than non-offenders.
BUT, who is it to judge what counts as good or bad moral reasoning? Offenders may have a different set of moral principles.

Question 15

limitations for the cognitive explanations

Answer 15

• Cognitive explanations rely on inference
  We cannot directly observe thoughts so we must make assumptions about them based on behaviour. This lacks objectivity as subjective interpretation is required.
• Cognitive explanations are reductionist
  They may be forgetting other factors that could interact with irrational thinking patterns to prevent offending behaviour. For example, a person may have a hostile attribution bias but they were raised to have anti-crime attitudes.

Question 16

what is the differential association theory

Answer 16

Edwin Sutherland believed that offending behaviour is learnt from our close relationships (e.g. friends, family), similar to social learning theory

Question 17

what type of offending behaviour is learnt

Answer 17

• Pro-crime attitudes – we learn that offending behaviour is desirable and that there are specific moral codes
  (e.g. burglary is acceptable but violence against children is not)
• Specific criminal acts – we learn how to commit crime for the most gain and least risk (e.g. how to identify a
  house with a weak security system)
  If we learn more pro-crime attitudes than anti-crime attitudes, we are likely to become offenders

Question 18

strengths of the Differential Association Theory

Answer 18

• Osborne & West (1979) found that 40% of sons with criminal convict fathers had a conviction by age 18, compared to 13% of the control group (whose fathers had no convictions)
  BUT Could be explained by genetic influences just as easily
• Helps us to understand and prevent crime, including white collar crime – genetic and atavistic explanations fail to explain rich people committing crime, and treating genes is more difficult than CBT (for example).
  BUT Could be used to justify white collar crime and remove moral responsibility

Question 19

limitations of the Differential Association Theory

Answer 19

• Ignores the role of genetics – studies such as Mednick (1984) demonstrate that adoptees with criminal biological fathers are more prone to offending behaviour than those with non-criminal biological fathers
• Ethical implications – children of criminals could be unfairly labelled and discriminated against
  However, this could help identify at-risk youths for socialisation programmes to prevent crime

Question 20

what two psychodynamic explanations are involved

Answer 20

• Psychodynamic Approach and the Inadequate Superego
• Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis

Question 21

what is involved in Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis

Answer 21

Children with an inconsistent mother figure at a young age are likely to grow to become affectionless psychopaths, who feel little guilt or empathy. This makes it easier to commit crimes.

Question 22

what is involved in Psychodynamic Approach and the Inadequate Superego

Answer 22

Freud theorised that children in the phallic stage go through the Oedipus/Electra Complex. In order to resolve this they must identify with their same-sex parent and learn morality from them in developing a superego

Question 23

from Freud what did Blackburn then theorise

Answer 23

Weak superego – absent same-sex parents lead to an underdeveloped superego and therefore they are more driven to commit crimes by the selfish Id.

Deviant superego – pro-crime parents teach a superego with poor morality and therefore encourage criminality.

Over-harsh superego – strict parents make the superego overdeveloped, so the person learns to crave guilt and shame and thus turns to offending behaviour.

Question 24

strengths of the psychodynamic explanations

Answer 24

• Official statistics (e.g. Kroese, 2020) show that offenders are more likely to be from single parent households than non-offenders Not proof of a causal relationship. Could be explained by an increased risk of poverty due to having one income.
• Bowlby’s 44 juvenile thieves – he found that 14/44 adolescent delinquents were affectionless psychopaths. 12/14 suffered frequent separation from their mother before the age of 2.
  BUT Bowlby carried out the interviews himself, which could be subject to investigator effects and researcher bias

Question 25

limitations of the psychodynamic approach

Answer 25

• Based on unscientific evidence – Freud’s theories are based on case studies and the theory of the superego is not falsifiable as it cannot be observed
  It has been an influential approach and still has clinical uses today, even if we cannot directly observe the unconscious forces
• Ethical implications – children of single-parents;
  same-sex couples and single-parents could be discriminated against