Forensic Psychology

Question 1

how is their a biological basis to personality

Answer 1

Eysenck believes that personality is based on the type of nervous system you inherit.so all personality types including the criminal personality have a biological basis.

Question 2

describe extraverts, neurotics and psychotics

Answer 2

extraverts -have underactive nervous system,so always seek out excitement ,stimulation and so more likely to partake in risky behaviour. Dont condition easily so do not learn from mistakes.

neurotics- over reactive sympathetic nervous system.respond quickly to threats,jumpy overanxious , hard to predict

psychotic-prone to aggression,high levels testosterone,unemotional.

Question 3

Explain the role of socialisation in offending.

Answer 3

socialisation is the process of learning how to delay gratification and become socially oriented. Criminals have high E and N levels so are not easily conditioned and have not learnt how to delay gratification. Therefore they are less likely to learn anxiety responses to antisocial impulses and are more likely to offend.

Question 4

how is the criminal personality measured?

Answer 4

The Eysenck’s Personality Questionnaire(EPQ).

this puts a person on a scale with E, N & P dimensions.

high E,N,P= criminal personality.

Question 5

Eysenck

+ research support

Answer 5

+ Eysenck & Eysenck(1977)

compared 2070 criminals to 2422 controls using the EPQ.On average the criminals scored higher on all 3 dimensions in comparison to the controls.

strength because it proves that Eysenck’s theory is correct giving it higher internal validity and reliability.

Question 6

Eysenck

• cultural factors

Answer 6

bartol & Holanchock(1979)

• studied hispanic and african american offenders in NY. -Put offenders in groups of 6 depending on nature of crime and history of offending.
• They found that the offenders all were less extroverted than the control group.

Question 7

Eysenck

-reductionist way of testing

Answer 7

EPQ may not be best way for testing criminal personality.The questionnaire only consists of 3 dimensions and critics argue that personality type cant be reduced to a ‘score’. Human personalities are very complex and at the time of offending, individual could be feeling multiple different emotions. Furthermore, Eysenck’s Personality Questionnaire suggests that all criminals have the same personality which is simply not possible as there could be individual differences.Therefore Eysenck’s theory is not well rounded and his questionnaire may not test what it claims to be testing, reducing its internal validity

Question 8

State the 3 different levels of moral reasoning

Answer 8

1. preconventional
2. conventional
3. post-conventional

Question 9

Describe level 1 of moral reasoning

Answer 9

stage 1. rules obeyed to avoid punishment

stage 2. rules obeyed for personal gain

Question 10

Describe level 2 of moral reasoning

Answer 10

stage 3. rules obeyed for approval

stage 4.rules obeyed for maintenance of social order

Question 11

Describe level 3 of moral reasoning

Answer 11

stage 5.rules challenged if infringes on rights of others

stage 6. individuals have own set of ethical principles

Question 12

Explain how criminals are linked to the moral reasoning

Answer 12

criminals more likely to be at preconventional level, whilst non-offenders are more likely to score higher as they sympathise w others, attributes like honesty etc.Low level individuals are interested in personal gain and punishment and is linked to childlike reasojing,immaturity.As suggested by chandler (1973) criminals are egocentric and have lower social perspective-taking skills than their non-offending peers.

Question 13

What are cognitive distortions and give 2 examples

Answer 13

1. Hostile attribution bias
2. Minimalisation

cognitive distortion- errors/biases in person’s info processing system characterised by faulty thinking

Question 14

use Hostile attribution bias (hab)to explain offending behaviour.

Answer 14

ppl w hab have a tendency to interpret normal behaviour as aggressive/confrontational.

Schonenber & Justyle (2014)
55 offenders shown photos of ppl w ambiguous facial expression. In comparison with control group offenders more likely to interpret photos as hostile

Question 15

Use minimalisation to explain why offenders commit crime

Answer 15

an attempt to downplay the seriousness of crimes.

Barbee(1991)-26 incarcerated rapists
54% denied they committed a crime
40% downplayed the harm they caused.

Question 16

Cognitive explanation

+reserrch support

Answer 16

P-link between level moral reasoning and crime
E-Palmer and Hollins study-332 offenders and 126 offenders using socio moral reflection short form(SRM-SF), which contains 11 moral dilemma related questions such as keeping a promise to a friend. Found:offenders showed less mature moral reasoning.

E
L consistent with kohlbergs theory