Forensic Psychology Flashcards
Crime
An act committed in violation of the law where consequence of conviction by court is punished
Problems with defining crime (2)
- Cultural: forced marriage was made illegal in the U.K. in 2014, however it is still practiced in other countries.
- Historical: homosexuality is still illegal in many parts of the world and was made illegal in the U.K. in 1967. A parents right to smack their child was outlawed in 2004.
Telescoping
When a crime is witnessed or reported from a viewpoint which doesn’t show the whole picture
Offender profiling
A behavioural and analytical tool that is intended to help investigators accurately predict and profile characteristics of unknown criminals
Top down approach
Profilers start with a pre established typology and work down in order to assign offenders to one of two categories based on witness accounts and evidence from the crime scene.
Modus operandi (ways of working) for Top down
- organised
- disorganised
Organised crime
- planned
- deliberate
- Type
- high degree of control and precision
- little evidence
- above average IQ
- sexually competent
Disorganised crime
- spontaneous
- spur of moment
- impulsive
- lower IQ
- sexual dysfunction
FBI profile
- data assimilation
- crime scene classification
- crime reconstruction
- profile generation
Copson (1995)
Argued police need 4 types of information from profilers:
- type of person
- how great a pose in the future
- to what extent are the cases linked to others
- how the police should interview suspects
Evaluation of top down approach
- application to crime
- outdated models of personality as typology classification system based on assumptions of behaviour. Alison (2002) states it was old-fashioned model.
- doesn’t support the ‘disorganised offender’. Canter (2004) found no evidence for disorganised killers.
- classification is too simplistic
Bottom up approach (British)
When research and statistics of similar crimes are used to develop a profile of the criminal based on previous convictions. They can:
- generate a picture of the offender
- characteristics, routine behaviours and social background
Investigative psychology
- applying statistical procedures and psychological theory or analyse crime scene evidence
- patterns of behaviour that behave or coexist
- create a statistical data base with a baseline for comparison
- interpersonal coherence
- forensic awareness
Interpersonal coherence
The way the offender behaves at the scene, including how they interact with the victim, may behaviour in more everyday situations
Forensic awareness
Describes those individuals who have been subjects of police interrogation before: their behaviour may denote how mindful they are of ‘covering their tracks’
Geographical profiling
- Rossmo (1997) Using information about the locations of the crime scene to make inferences about the likely home or operational base of an offender-crime mapping
- used to create hypothesis about what the offender was thinking and their modus operandi
Modus operandi for bottom up
- serial offenders restrict their ‘work’ to geographical areas they are familiar with
- criminals often operate in a similar way and this reflects their personality
- provides investigators with vents of gravity. This includes their base and jeopardy surface-educated guess on where the offender is likely to strike next
Canter and Larkin (1993) circle theory
- the marauder: who operates in close proximity to their home base
- the commuter: travels a distance away from their usual residence
+ All to commit murders or crimes
Evaluation of top down approach
- canter and heritage (1990) most cases used impersonal language and lack of reaction to the victim
- Lundrigan and canter (2001) found most body disposal sites were in different direction to the previous creating centre of gravity
- using AI investigators can more quickly find geographical, biographical and psychological data
- abumere (2012) more than 75% of police said advice from the profiler had been useful to them
- Netherlands police however stated the advice was vague and that it was not financially viable
- despite the high number of usefulness claims only 3% led to accurate identification of the offender
Atavistic form
A biological approach that attributes criminal activity to the fact that offenders are genetic throwbacks of a primitive sub species ill-suited to conforming to the rules of modern society. Such individuals are distinguishable by particular facial and cranial characteristics
L’Homo delinquente (1873)
Lombrosso believed offenders were lacking evolutionary development, their savage and untamed nature meant they found it impossible to adjust to the demands of civilised society and therefore eventually turn to from
Cranial characteristics of a criminal
- narrow sloping brow
- strong prominent jaw
- high cheekbones
- facial asymmetry
Other physical markers included: - dark skin
- extra toes, fingers and nipples
Lombrosos research
Examined cranial characteristics of dead and living criminals. Concluded 40% of criminals had atavistic features
- murderers- bloodshot eyes, strong jaws, long ears, curly hair
- sexual deviants- were said to have glinting eyes, swollen fleshy lips and projecting ears
- fraudster- lips were thin and reedy
Evaluation of Lombroso
- shifted the emphasis in crime research away from moralistic discourse towards a scientific and credible realm
- the atavistic characteristics was the foundation of criminal profiling
- however it was scientifically racist
- De Lisi (2012)- distinct racial undertones. Many of the features that lombroso identifies are more likely to be found among people of African descent.
- Therefore lends support to the eugenics movement- ‘uncivilised, primitive and savage’
- not all criminals however have this have his appearance
- sharma (2015) found criminals had average normal intelligence but scored lower on emotional intelligence
- Goring did not find criminals had unusual facial or cranial features
- lombroso didn’t come place with a non criminal control group
- ethical issues as some cranial features come due to poor diet or poverty rather than evolutionary development. Also a Chinese study found people who’s eyes were closer to the nose were more likely to be criminals
- it was decided by later work criminals could be made as well as born
Neural explanation
Any explanation of behaviour in terms of dysfunctions/functions of the brain and nervous system. This includes the activity of brain structures such as the hypothalamus and neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine
Genetic explanations of crime
- Lange (1930) Identical twins were more likely to both be criminals than non identical (77% vs 12%)
- Christiansen (1977) criminal behaviour- 3500 twin pairs, 35% male, 21% female for identical twins, 13% male, 8% female for non identical
- Crowe (1972) looked at adopted children with a biological mother with a criminal record. 50% of children had one by 18
- Mednick (1984) criminal behaviour in adopted children. 14,427 danish adoptees found 13.5 had a criminal record without an adopted parent whereas 14.7 had one with the criminal parent. Similar differences with biological parents
- Brunner (1993) large family in Netherlands who had anti-social and criminal (Brunner syndrome). Lower Iq, family avg of 85. Causes a deficiency in MAOA- enzyme responsible for the metabolism of serotonin
- Jacobs (1965) higher % of people in prosoma popularism had the sex chromosome XYY leading to increased testosterone and increased violence
Diathesis stress model as a genetic explanation for crime
- Meehl (1962) and Ripke (2014)
- link between genetic predisposition and biological and psychological trigger. For example, being raised in a dysfunctional environment or having criminal role models
- diathesis-vulnerability: stress- negative psychological experiences
- psychological trauma such as child abuse can affect the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal system
- stated genetic inheritance plays a role as well as environmental influence
Neural explanations of crime
- evidence suggests there may be neural differences in the brains of criminals and non criminals
- most of this research in this area has investigated individuals diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder
- APP- reduced emotional responses and a lack of empathy for others
- individuals who experience antisocial personality disorder show reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that regulates emotional behaviour
- Raine (2000) found an 11% reduction in the volume if grey matter in the PFC of people with APD compared to control groups
Mirror neurons: Keysers (2011)
- found that only when criminals were asked to emphasise with others, their empathy reactions would activate
- this is controlled by mirror neurons. This suggests that ADP individuals do experience empathy, although it is an automatic response. These neurons fire in response to actions of others
Supporting the candidate gene
- tiihonen (2014) violent and non violent criminals, 78 rated as extremely violent
- found a ‘warrior gene’ - non violent criminals did not have this
- alcohol and drug abuse is shown to cause hyperactivity in dopamine levels. All extremely violent criminals had consumed drugs or alcohol before committing their crimes
Against twin studies
- Lange (1930) study was poorly controlled and judgements related to zygosity were based on appearance and not DNA testing
- studies with twins use small sample sizes and may not represent the whole population
- confounding variable: most twins are raised in the same environment
- concordance rate mag be due to shares learning experience and not genetics
Against adoption studies
- late adoption would mean that infancy and childhood would have been spent with biological parents
- regular contract with biological parents
- difficult to access the environmental impact the biological parents might have had
- criminality could be due to inherited emotional instability or mental illness (Andrew and Bonta, 2006)
- Mednick (1984) only petty offences were committed rather than violent crimes
Biological reductionism
- criminality is complex and genetic and neural explanations are simplistic and inappropriate
- Katz (2007) crime does run in families but so does emotional instability, social deprivation and poverty
- exposure to crime rather than poverty
- no study has found 100% concordance rate between MZ twins and often they have been low
- ‘criminal gene
- presents ethical problems for our legal system since it negates free will
- raises the ethical question question surrounding what society does with people who carry ‘criminal genes’
- presents problems for society and implications for sentencing