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Forensic Psychology Flashcards

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1
Q

dark figure

A

amount of crime that goes unreported and unrecorded

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2
Q

introversion

A
  • focused more on internal thoughts, feelings and moods

- rather than seeking external stimulation

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3
Q

extraversion

A
  • outgoing, seeking excitement and stimulation

- likely to engage in risk-taking behaviour

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4
Q

Neuroticism

A
  • have distress/dissatisfaction within themselves and their lives
  • more prone to negative feelings (e.g. anger and guilt)
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5
Q

psychoticism

A
  • cold, unemotional and prone to aggressive and interpersonal hostility
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6
Q

socialisation

A
  • process in which individuals learn to behave in a way acceptable to society
  • individuals who score high on extroversion, psychoticism and neuroticism scale cannot be conditioned –> do not experience anxiety alongside anti-social behaviour and there for are not socialised
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7
Q

biological basis: Eysenck’s criminal personality

A
  • personality traits are biological and come alongside the nervous system we inherit
  • innate
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8
Q

biological explanation for extraverts (EYSENCK)

A
  • extroverts = underactive nervous system
  • cause them to constantly seek excitement and stimulation –> leads to risk taking behaviour
  • less likely to be socialised
  • less likely to learn from mistakes
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9
Q

biological explanation for neuroticism (EYSENCK)

A
  • neurotics = high levels of reactivity in sympathetic nervous system
  • respond quickly to threats –> causes them to be jumpy, nervous and over anxious
  • behaviour is therefore difficult to predict
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10
Q

biological explanation for psychotics (EYSENCK)

A
  • psychotics have higher levels of testosterone - cold, unemotional and prone to aggression
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11
Q

The criminal personality

A
  • neurotic-extravert
  • combines extravert and neurotic characteristics
  • also will score highly on psychoticism scale
  • Eysenck said criminal behaviour was developmentally immature –> selfish and concerned with self-gratification –> impatient and cannot wait for things
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12
Q

Measuring the criminal personality

A
  • Eysenck developed ‘Eysenck’s Personality Inventory’ (EPI)
  • A test that locates respondents along the E and N dimensions
  • P scale was later added
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13
Q

Evaluation: Eysenck’s criminal personality

A

P - culture bias
E- Bartol et al studied Hispanic and African American prisoners in New York
- they were overall less extrovert, than the non-criminal control group
C - this sample was a very different cultural group than that investigated by Eysenck, this questions the generalisability of the criminal personality

P - Evidence support
E - Eysenck compared 2070 male prisoners’ scores on the EPI with 2422 male controls
- groups were subdivided into age groups
- across all age groups prisoners recorded higher
scores on measures P,E & N
C - this is excellent evidence because it uses a control group to compare behaviour, uses a large sample
–>increasing generalisability to the population

P - Too simplistic
E- Mitchell suggested our personalities change depending on who’s around us/where we
- also suggested criminals answers may be influenced by mood
C - we therefore should be careful not to take a reductionist approach in explaining criminal behaviour
- and consider: non-biology e.g. setting

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14
Q

The psychodynamic explanation for criminality

A
  • superego = formed at the end of the phallic stage after children resolve the Oedipus complex
  • Blackburn argued that if the superego is somehow deficient or inadequate then criminal behaviour is inevitable because the id is given ‘free rein’ and not properly controlled
  • there are 3 types of inadequate superego
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15
Q

The weak superego

A
  • if the same-sex parent is absent during the phallic stage, the child cannot internalise a fully formed superego —> no opportunity for identification to internalise any moral values
  • higher chance of immoral or criminal behaviour
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16
Q

The deviant superego

A
  • if the superego that the child internalises has immoral or deviant values = this would lead to offending behaviour

For- e.g. a boy who is raised by a criminal father is not likely to associate guilt with wrongdoing

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17
Q

The over-harsh superego

A
  • A superego inherited from an overstrict same sex parent –> the superego is so harsh the individual is constantly crippled with guilt.
  • this may unconsciously drive the individual to commit criminal acts to fulfil their superegos need for punishment
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18
Q

healthy superego

A
  • healthy superego = kind but firm internal parent, it has rules but is forgiving of wrongdoing
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19
Q

3 types of inadequate superego

A
  1. The weak superego
  2. The deviant superego
  3. The over-harsh superego
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20
Q

The superego

A
  • formed at the end of the phallic stage after children resolve the Oedipus complex
  • It operates on the morality principle and punishes the ego through guilt for wrongdoing and rewarding it with pride for moral behaviour.
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21
Q

The psychodynamic explanation for criminality: Evaluation

A

P - Gender bias
E - theory suggests that girls develop a weaker superego because they cannot suffer from castration anxiety
- and therefore do not have as much motivation to identify with the same-sex parent
C - implies girls should be more prone to criminality
- evidence does not support this —> why are 80-90% of prisoners in all countries male

P - poor validity
E - criminals actively go to great lengths to try to conceal their behaviour
C - therefore it is unlikely that they want to get caught so they can be punished because of their unconscious desire for punishment

P - unfalsifiable
E - nobody can prove that they didn’t experience identification through fear of castration —> since experience is repressed at the last stage (people can’t remember)
C - you cannot prove nor disprove the theory –> highly unscientific

correlation not causation
simplistic = drugs? alcohol?

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22
Q

Sutherland’s theory of differential association

A
  • proposes that through interaction with others, individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques and motives for criminal behaviour
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23
Q

differential association: criminality arises from 2 factors…

A
  • learning attitudes towards crime

- learning specific criminal acts

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24
Q

the differential association suggests we learn through…

A

interaction and communication

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25
Q

the differential association suggests we learn from…

A

significant others e.g. family, friends/peer group

26
Q

differential association theory: learning pro-crime attitudes

A
  • pro-crime attitudes outweigh anti-crime attitudes –> individual will go on to offend
  • and visa versa
  • criminal morals include
    e. g. 1 ‘it’s okay to steal from them because they have insurance’

e.g. 2 ‘its just a bit of fun and nobody is getting hurt’

27
Q

differential association theory: learning criminal acts

A
  • whilst being exposed to pro-crime attitudes individuals may be exposed to particular techniques for committing a crime
  • e.g. picking a lock, hot wiring a car
28
Q

how likely a person is to commit a crime is affected by…

A
  • frequency - how often they are exposed to crime
  • duration: how long they are exposed to crime
  • priority: how important the person who is expressing the criminal acts/moral is
  • intensity: do they see the crime irl or on tv
29
Q

Evaluation: differential association theory

A

P - useful applications
E - explains why imprisonment doesn’t prevent reoffending
- whilst in prison surrounded, by other criminals, may learn more criminal acts and morals
- over 50% of criminals re-offend, usually for a worse crime
C - instead community service that does not expose offenders to criminals and instead non-criminals and non-criminal attitudes

P - untestable and unscientific
E - cannot do a mathematical calculation of criminal behaviour
- cannot identify the exact point in which exposure to criminality causes criminality
C - therefore cannot prove the theory, reducing its scientific credibility

P - Versatile theory
E - has the ability to explain more than just juvenile delinquency but also white-collar, corporate and organised crime
C —-> since crime is understood to be learnt behaviour the theory is applicable to a wide range of crime

30
Q

cognitive explanations for criminality: moral development:

A
  • Kohlberg suggested crime is a result of people’s decisions and judgements of right and wrong
  • used moral dilemmas (Heinz) to study moral reasoning
31
Q

morality

A
  • sense of what is right and wrong
32
Q

Kohlberg’s moral ladder

A
  1. pre-conventional level
  2. conventional level
  3. post-conventional level
  • people have different levels of moral reasoning
  • work up
  • can’t skip levels (stage theory)
33
Q

pre-conventional level

A
  • rules are obeyed to avoid punishment

- rules are obeyed for personal gain

34
Q

conventional level

A
  • rules are obeyed to gain approval ‘good girl’ ‘good boy’

- rules are obeyed to maintain social order

35
Q

post-conventional level

A
  • rules are obeyed if they are fair to everyone
  • democratic rules are challenged if they infringe on the rights of others
  • the individual establishes their own rules in accordance with a personal set of ethical principles
36
Q

criminal level of morality

A
  • criminal offenders are more likely to be at the pre-conventional level
  • with a need to avoid punishment and gain rewards
  • non-criminals are more likely to progress to the conventional level and beyond
37
Q

Kohlberg’s moral ladder evaluation

A

P - Evidence support: Palmer
E - compared moral reasoning of offenders vs non-offenders
- using 11 moral dilemmas such as not taking things from others and keeping a promise to a friend
- criminals showed less moral reasoning
C - this is consistent with Kohlberg’s predictions increasing the validity of the theory

P - research has validity issues
E - morality is often measured through self-reports (Palmer) which are subject to social desirability bias
C - reduces the validity of the results
- just because you know the right thing to do doesn’t mean you actually would if it came down to it

P - Individual differences
E - moral reasoning may be dependent on type of crime
- impulsive crime: less thought, moral reasoning isn’t practised
- whereas in crimes for financial gain e.g. robbery pre-conventional reasoning is more likely
C - theory may not apply to all types of criminals —> tends to be associated with crimes in which criminals belive they can avoid punishment

38
Q

cognitive explanations for criminality: cognitive distortions:

A

suggests criminals have errors in the way that they interpret other people’s behaviour and justify their own actions

39
Q

distortions

A

errors in people’s information processing system ‘faulty thinking’

2 types of cognitive distortion:

  1. hostile attribution bias
  2. minimalisation
40
Q

2 types of cognitive distortions

A
  1. hostile attribution bias

2. minimalisation

41
Q

attribution

A

how we assign a cause of behaviour

42
Q

hostile attribution bias

A
  • the theory suggests that criminals may be violent because they misinterpret non-aggressive cues (e.g. being looked at)
  • they may see someone as being confrontational when in reality they are not
  • this may trigger a disproportionate, often violent response
43
Q

evidence for hostile attribution bias

A
  • 55 violent offenders
  • presented images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions
  • compared to non-aggressive matched control group
  • violent offenders were significantly more likely to perceive images as angry and hostile
44
Q

minimalisation

A
  • a type of deception that involves downplaying the significance of event or emotion
45
Q

evidence for minimalisation

A
  • 26 imprisoned rapists
  • 54% denied believing they had committed an offence
  • 40% minimised the harm they had caused to the victim
  • child molesters
  • 35% claimed the crime was non-sexual (just being affectionate)
  • 36% stated the victim had consented
46
Q

cognitive explanations for criminality: cognitive distortions: Evaluation

A

P - evidence support for both hostile attribution bias and minimalization
E - 55 violent criminals (more likely to identify emotionally ambiguous expressions as hostile)
- group child molesters (35% ‘just being affectionate’ - non-sexual and 36% ‘child had consented
- 26 imprisoned rapists (54% no crime committed and 40% minimised harm caused to victim)
C - such vast amounts of evidence increase the validity of the theories explanations

P - applications
E - CBT such as anger management therapy have shown high levels of success
- include accepting crimes and not minimising them which has been linked with lower chances of reoffending
C -This gives the cognitive explanation a useful real-world application

P - descriptive not explanatory
E - explains what may be going in the criminal mind
- but does not explain how this faulty thought processing comes about
C - this is a weakness because where it is useful in predicting reoffending there is insight into why the crime was committed in the first place

47
Q

The top-down approach

A
  • based on in-depth interviews with 36 sexually motivated serial killers e.g. Ted Bundy
  • offender, is matched to a pre-existing ‘template’, provided by the FBI from these interviews e.g. organised or disorganised
  • used to guide police investigations
  • suggests that the criminal has a particular way of working
48
Q

Top-down approach: Template

A
  • offender, is matched to a pre-existing ‘template’, provided by the FBI e.g. organised or disorganised
  • used to guide police investigations
  • suggest that the criminal has a particular way of working
  • Templates were created through in-depth interviews with serial killers such as Ted Bundy and Charles Manson (36 sexually motivtated killers)
  • based off of the theory that criminals ways of working often correlate with a certain set of social and psychological characteristic
49
Q

Organised offender

A
  • evidence of planning the crime in advance
  • high degree of control during the crime
  • little clues or evidence left behind e.g. body
  • above-average intelligence
  • skilled
  • professional occupation
  • socially and sexually competent
  • usually married and may have children
50
Q

unorganised offender

A
  • little evidence of planning
  • may be spontaneous
  • crime scene shows impulsiveness nature
  • body usually left at scene
  • lower than average IQ
  • unskilled work or unemployed
  • history of sexual dysfunction or failed relationships
  • live alone and close to location of offence
51
Q

constructing an FBI profile - four stages

A

four stages:

  1. data assimilation: review of evidence
  2. crime scene classification: organised or disorganised
  3. crime reconstruction: hypotheses of events, behaviour of victim, etc
  4. profile generation: compile hypotheses related to offender
52
Q

The top-down approach: Evaluation

A

P - only works for some crimes
E - works well for premeditated murder, rape & torture etc. because methods reveal info about the offender
- doesn’t work for crimes such as burglary because crime-scene doesn’t reveal much about the criminal
C- cannot be used to help solve all crimes

P - based of a small sample size
E - 36 killers in the USA
- male
- and all were caught
C - suggests theory can’t be representative since it is small AND since it can’t be generalised to those who weren’t caught
- also manipulative: why would they want to help police

P - classification is too simplistic
E - organised and disorganised categories are not mutually exclusive
- people can be both
- Godwin: ‘how would you categorise a criminal with high intelligence but commits a spontaneous murder’
C - another model may be more sufficient
- can’t categorise all criminals with this typology

53
Q

The bottom-up approach

A
  • generate a profile of the offender by looking at the available evidence
  • no fixed typologies
  • starts with details and creates big picture
  • no initial assumptions
  • data driven - uses databases to link crimes and predict actions of criminals
  • generates characteristics of the criminal
  • INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHICAL PROFILING
54
Q

Investigative psychology

A
  • applies statistical procedures alongside psychological theory to analyse crime scene evidence
  • to establish patterns of behaviour that are likely to occur
  • which allows for the creation of a database = from which comparisons can be made
  • databases reveal important info about offender or links crimes
  • uses interpersonal coherence
55
Q

commuter

A

travels a distance away from their residence

56
Q

Database

A
  • all previous crimes are in a database for comparisons with new crimes
  • similarities and differences
  • can compare old crimes with new crimes
  • Can establish if a series of crimes were committed by the same person (serial crimes)
  • and predict important details about the criminal based off of previous criminals or based off of how they act at the crime scenes e.g. personal hsitory, family, etc
  • yes/no system: yes weapon, drop down menu etc
57
Q

The bottom-up approach: Evaluation

A

P - evidence support (Canter)
E - supports idea that profiling can be used to link serial cases
- 66 cases
- 27 offenders
- several common charvateristc occured such as ‘lack of reaction to the victim’ and ‘surprise attacks’ and ‘disturbance of clothing’
- nut they occured in diff patterens in diff induviduals
- e.g. one may rip clothes and another may use scissors
C - hilights how behaviour can be used to link several crimes to the same criminal –> strength - success

P - Slow
E - requires a lot of cases preferably with live victims to build a good picture of the criminal
- Duffy –> 18 known rape victims were interviewed over 12mnths and they still could not identify him
C - if victim testimonies contradict it makes it difficult to build a profile and find the victim

H - however criminal profiling was useful during the DUFFY case in whcih the profile moved him from suspect 1505 to suspect 1

  • allowed him to be survied sooner than if they had to work through all the suspects
  • prevented further rape/murder and removed him from the streets

P - Relies on databases
E - many SA victims do not report their assults
- criminals do not end up in databases
- they are then less likely to be put on the suspect lsit
- dark figure
C - reduces usefullness of this system and makes it more difficult to sue by the police

58
Q

forensic awareness

A
  • describes individuals who have be subject of police investigation/interrogation before so they now know how to/ now deliberately cover their tracks
  • police will know they’ve committed before
59
Q

Interpersonal coherence

A
  • the way in which a crime is committed e.g how they ‘interact’ with the victim will reflect their traits/everyday behaviour
60
Q

marauder

A

operates in close proximity to their home

61
Q

Geographical Profiling

A
  • based on the principle of spatial consistency: an offenders operational base and possible future offences are revealed by the geographical location of their previous crimes.
  • Uses information to do with location of linked crimes to make inferences about likely home or operational base of an offender known as crime mapping.
62
Q

criminal profiling

A
  • aim: to narrow the suspect list
  • involves inspection of the crime scene and analysis of evidence (including witness reports)
  • –> and drawing conclusions about characteristics of the killer, e.g., age, occupation, and so on.

Psychology (11 decks)

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