Forensic Psychology

Question 1

What is offender profiling?

Answer 1

A behavioural and analytical tool that is intended to help investigators accurately predict and profile the characteristics of unknown offenders

Question 2

What is the top-down approach?

Answer 2

Profilers start with a pre-established typology and work down to lower levels in order to assign offenders to one of the two categories based on witness accounts and evidence from the crime scene.

Question 3

Where did the top-down approach originate from?

Answer 3

In the United States as a result of work carried out by the FBI in the 1970s.

Question 4

How was the top-down approach established?

Answer 4

The FBI drew upon data gathered from in-depth interviews with 36 sexually motivated murderers including Ted Bundy and Charles Manson;
They concluded that the data could be categorised into organised/disorganised crimes with each category having certain characteristics.

Question 5

How can the top-down approach be used in future crimes?

Answer 5

If the data from a crime scene matched some of the characteristics of one category we could then predict other characteristics, which can be used to find the offender.

Question 6

Define organised offender.

Answer 6

An offender who shows evidence of planning, targets a specific victim and tends to be socially and sexually competent with higher-than-average intelligence.

Question 7

Define disorganised offender.

Answer 7

An offender who shows little evidence of planning, leaves clues and tends to be socially and sexually incompetent with lower-than-average intelligence.

Question 8

Describe the characteristics of an organised offender.

Answer 8

Show evidence of having planned the crime in advance;
The victim is deliberately targeted and this suggests the killer or rapist has a ‘type’ of victim they seek out;
Offender maintains a high degree of control during the crime and may operate with almost detached surgical precision;
There is little evidence or clues left behind at the scene.

Question 9

Describe the characteristics of a disorganised offender.

Answer 9

Show little evidence of planning, suggesting that their offences may be spontaneous;
The crime scene tends to reflect the impulsive nature of the attack - the body usually remains at the crime scene and there appears to be very little control from the offender;
They tend to live alone and close proximity to the crime scene.

Question 10

State the four main stages of constructing a FBI profile.

Answer 10

1. Data assimilation - the profiler reviews the evidence.
2. Crime scene classification - either organised or disorganised.
3. Crime reconstruction - hypotheses in terms of sequence of events.
4. Profile generation - hypotheses related to the likely offender e.g. demographic background.

Question 11

Evaluate the top-down approach.

Answer 11

1. Research support - Canter analysed data from 100 USA murders using smallest space analysis and the analysis matched the FBI’s typology for organised offenders. HOWEVER, Maurice argues that it is hard to classify killers as either organised or disorganised as they could have multiple contrasting characteristics.
2. Wider application - Can be adapted to other crimes e.g. burglary. Tina Maketa reports the top down approach has led to an 85% rise in solved cases in three US states.
3. Flawed evidence - Sample is too small and unrepresentative. Developed using interviews with 36 killers in the US in which 25 were serial killers and 11 were single or double murderers . 24 were organised and 12 were disorganised. Suggests top-down approach does not have sound, scientific basis.
4. Personality - Top-down approach is based on the principle of behavioural consistency e.g. personality drives behaviour rather than by external factors. However situationist psychologists argue that behaviour is much more driven by the situation. This suggests behaviour patterns may tell us very little about how the individual behaves in every day life.

Question 12

Define the bottom-up approach.

Answer 12

Profilers work up from evidence collected from the crime scene to develop hypotheses about the likely characteristics, motivations and social background of the offender.

Question 13

Describe the discipline of investigative psychology.

Answer 13

It is an attempt to apply statistical procedures, alongside psychological theory, to the analysis of crime scene evidence.

Question 14

What is the aim of investigative psychology?

Answer 14

To establish patterns of behaviour that are likely to occur;
This is in order to develop a statistical database which then acts as a baseline for comparison.

Question 15

Describe the central concept of investigative psychology?

Answer 15

Interpersonal coherence - the way an offender behaves at the scene may reflect their behaviour in more everyday situations.

Question 16

What is another key variable of investigative psychology.

Answer 16

The significance of time and place as this may indicate where the offender is living.

Question 17

What is forensic awareness?

Answer 17

Describes those individuals who have been subject to police interrogation before.

Question 18

Describe geographical profiling.

Answer 18

Uses information about the location of linked crime scenes to make inferences about the offender’s likely home or operational base - which is known as crime mapping and is based on the principle of spatial consistency.

Question 19

What assumption does geographical profiling have?

Answer 19

Serial offenders will restrict their ‘work’ to geographical areas they are familiar with, which is the basis of Canter’s circle theory.

Question 20

What is Canter’s Circle Theory?

Answer 20

The pattern of offending forms a circle around the offenders home base.

Question 21

Describe the two ways offenders are described as in Canter’s Circle Theory.

Answer 21

Marauder - who operated in close proximity to their home base.
The commuter - who travels a distance away from their usual residence.

Question 22

Evaluate the bottom-up approach.

Answer 22

1. EVIDENCE FOR INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY - Canter and Heritage conducted an analysis of 66 sexual assault cases and found several behaviours as common in different samples of behaviour, which helps to establish whether to or more offences were committed by the same person. HOWEVER, case linkage depends on historical crimes that have been solved.
2. EVIDENCE FOR GEOGRAPHICAL PRORFILING - Canter and Lundrigan collated information from 120 murder cases involving serial killers in the US and revealed spatial consistency in the bhaviour of the killers.
3. GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION INSUFFICIENT - not sufficient on its own, as it is reliant on the quality of data that the police can provide which is not always accurate and 75% are not reported.
4. MIXED RESULTS - regarded differently by police forces. Copson surveyed 48 police departments and found that the advice provided by the profiler was judged to be useful in 83% of cases. However in only 3% of cases did it lead to the accurate identification of the offender.

Question 23

What did Lombroso suggest criminals were?

Answer 23

They were ‘genetic throwbacks’ - a primitive sub-species who were biologically different from non-criminals.

Question 24

How were offender’s seen as by Lombroso?

Answer 24

Seen as lacking evolutionary development so their savage nature meant they would find it impossible to adjust to the demands of civilised society.

Question 25

What did Lombroso believe about offending behaviour?

Answer 25

He believed offending behaviour was innate and therefore an offender should not be blamed for his actions.

Question 26

What did Lombroso also argue about the biological characteristics of an offender?

Answer 26

They have biologically ‘atavistic’ characteristics such as a narrow, sloping brow, strong jaw, high cheekbones and facial asymmetry.

Question 27

What did Lombroso go on to categorise?

Answer 27

He went on to categorise particular types of offenders in terms of physical and facial characteristics e.g. murderers have blood shot eyes and curly hair, whereas, fraudsters were thin and ‘reedy’.

Question 28

What did Lombroso examine and what did he conclude from his examinations?

Answer 28

Examined the skulls of 383 dead convicts and 3839 living ones and concluded 40% of criminal acts are committed by people with atavistic characteristics.

Question 29

Evaluate the atavistic form.

Answer 29

1. LOMBROSO’S LEGACY - changed the study of crime - shifted crime research away from a moralistic discourse towards a more scientific approach - HOWEVER there are racial undertones - suggests some aspects were highly subjective.
2. CONTRADICTORY EVIDENCE - Goring compared the physical characteristics of 3000 offenders to 3000 non-offenders - found there was no evidence that offenders are a distinct group with unusual facial and cranial characteristics - challenges the idea offenders can be physically distinguished - limits the applicability of Lombroso’s theory.
3. POOR CONTROL - unlike Goring he did not compare his offender sample with a non-offender control group - could have controlled many confounding variables e.g. poverty - Lombroso’s research doesn’t not meet scientific standards - reduces validity.
4. NATURE OR NURTURE? - questions whether criminals are born or made - AF suggests crime has a biological cause but having atavistic features does not mean this is the CAUSE of their offending - they may be influenced by other factors e.g. poverty.

Question 30

What do genetic explanations suggest?

Answer 30

Suggests that would be offenders inherit a gene or combinations of genes that predispose them to commit crime.

Question 31

Describe twin studies for the genetic explanations for offending behaviour.

Answer 31

• Christiansen studied over 3500 twin pairs in Denmark.
• He found concordance rates for offender behaviour for 35% identical twin males and 13% for non-identical twin males.
• Offender behaviour was checked against Danish police records.
• This data indicates that it is not just the behaviour that might be inherited but the underlying predisposing traits.

Question 32

Describe adoption studies for the genetic explanations of offending behaviour.

Answer 32

Crowe found that adopted children whose biological mother had a criminal record had a 50% risk of having a criminal record by the age of 18, whereas adopted children whose biological mother didn’t have a criminal record only had a 5% risk.

Question 33

Describe the study for candidate genes for the genetic explanations of offending behaviour.

Answer 33

Tiihonen et al conducted an analysis of almost 800 finnish offenders.
It was suggested that the two genes MAOA and CDH13 may be associated with violent crime.
The analysis found that about 5-10% of all severe violent crime in Finland is due to the MAOA and CDH13 genotypes.

Question 34

What is the role of the MAOA gene?

Answer 34

Regulates serotonin in the brain and has been linked to aggressive behaviour.

Question 35

What is the role of the CDH13 gene?

Answer 35

Has been linked to substance abuse and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Question 36

Describe the diathesis-stress model as a genetic explanation for offending behaviour.

Answer 36

A tendency towards offending behaviour may come about through combination of genetic predisposition and biological/psychological trigger.
For example, being raised in a dysfunctional environment or having criminal role models.

Question 37

What are the three biological explanations for offending behaviour?

Answer 37

• Atavistic
• Genetic
• Neural

Question 38

Which evidence is associated with genetic explanations of offending behaviour?

Answer 38

• Twin and adoption studies
• Candidate genes
• Diathesis-stress model

Question 39

What does neural explanation suggest?

Answer 39

Antisocial personality disorder is a condition that characterises many convicted offenders and is associated with reduced emotional responses and a lack of empathy for the feelings of others.

Question 40

Which evidence is associated with neural explanations of offending behaviour?

Answer 40

• Prefrontal cortex
• Mirror neurones

Question 41

Describe the study of the prefrontal cortex as a neural explanation of offending behaviour.

Answer 41

• Raine reported that several brain imaging studies have showed that individuals with antisocial personalities have reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain that regulates emotional behaviour.
• He also found an 11% reduction in the volume of grey matter in the pre-frontal cortex of people with APD compared to controls.

Question 42

Describe mirror neurones as a neural explanation for offending behaviour.

Answer 42

• Recent research suggests that offenders with APD can experience empathy but more sporadically than the rest of us.
• Keysers found that only when offenders were asked to empathise with a person depicted on film experiencing pain did their empathy reaction activate.
• This suggests that APD individuals are not totally without empathy but may have neural ‘switch’ that can be turned on and off, unlike the neurotypical brain which has the empathy switch permanently turned on.

Question 43

Evaluate the biological explanations for offending behaviour. (genetics and neural)

Answer 43

ISSUES WITH TWIN EVIDENCE - one limitation is the assumption of equal environments - however this shared environment may apply much more to MZ twins then DZ twins because they are treated more similarly - therefore higher concordance for MZ twins may be because they are treated more similarly.
SUPPORT FOR DIATHESIS-STRESS - Mednick studied 13000 Danish adoptees - found when neither biological or adoptive parents had convictions the percentage of adoptees that did was 13.5%, rose to 20% when either of biological parents had convictions and 24.5% when both adoptive and biological parents had convictions.
BRAIN EVIDENCE - Kandel and Freed reviewed evidence of frontal lobe damage and antisocial behaviour - such damage tended to show impulsive behaviour, emotional instability and an inability to learn from their mistakes - supports the idea that brain damage may be a CAUSAL factor.

Question 44

Describe Eysenk proposal that personality has a biological basis.

Answer 44

According to Eysenk, our personality traits are biological in origin and come about through the type of nervous system we inherit.

Question 45

Describe introversion as stated by Eysenck.

Answer 45

Introversion is a personality trait characterised by a focus of internal feelings rather than on external sources of stimulation.

Question 46

Describe extraversion as stated by Eysenck.

Answer 46

Extraversion is a personality trait characterised by a focus on external sources of stimulation to gain pleasure;
Extraverts have an under active nervous system so they constantly seek excitement and tend not to condition easily and do not learn from their mistakes;

Question 47

Describe neuroticism as stated by Eysenck.

Answer 47

People who are neurotic have a high level of reactivity in the sympathetic nervous system;
Neurotic individuals tend to be nervous, jumpy and over-anxious.

Question 48

Describe Eysenck’s criminal personality.

Answer 48

The criminal personality type is neurotic-extravert;
The typical offender will also score highly on measures of psychoticism - personality type that is characterised as cold, unemotional and prone to aggression.

Question 49

Describe the role of socialisation in Eysenck’s theory.

Answer 49

Personality is linked to criminal behaviour via socialisation processes;
Eysenck saw criminal behaviour as developmentally immature as it is selfish and demands instant gratification for their needs;
Through the process of socialisation children are taught to become more able to delay gratification and more socially orientated;
Eysenck believed people with high E and N scores have nervous systems that make them difficult to condition so they would not learn easily to respond to antisocial impulses with anxiety.

Question 50

How can we measure the criminal personality?

Answer 50

Eysenck developed the Eysenck Personality Inventory, which is a form of psychological test which locates respondents along the E and N dimensions to determine their personality type.

Question 51

Evaluate Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality.

Answer 51

1. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE - Sybil and Hans Eysenck compared 2070 male prisoners’ scores on the EPI with 2422 male controls - prisoners recorded higher scores than controls - HOWEVER, Farringdon dr al reviewed several studies and reported that offenders tended to score high in P measures but not for E and N - casts doubt on the psychological basis on Eysenck’s theory.
2. IDEA OF A SINGLE CRIMINAL TYPE - has been heavily criticised - Moffitt proposed several distinct types of adult male offender based on the timing of the first offence and how long offending persists - high E and N score does not mean offending is inevitable.
3. CULTURAL BIAS - Bartol and Holanchock looked into cultural differences - studied hispanic and African-American offenders in a maximum security prison in New York - found all 6 groups were found to be less extravert than a non-criminal control group - Bartol et al suggested that this was because their sample was a very different cultural group than that investigated by Eysenck which questions the generalisability.
4. PERSONALITY TYPE MAY NOT BE REDUCIBLE TO A “SCORE” - many critics argue there is no such thing as personality - on a daily basis we play many different parts and our personality may change depending who we are with and the situation.

Question 52

Describe level of moral reasoning (cognitive explanation)

Answer 52

Kohlberg proposed that people’s decision and judgements on issues of right and wrong can be summarised in a stage theory of moral development - the higher the stage the more sophisticated the reasoning;
Many studies have suggested that criminals tend to show a lower level of moral reasoning than non-criminals.

Question 53

Describe Kohlberg’s model and criminality. (cognitive explanations)

Answer 53

Criminal offenders are more likely to be classified at the pre-conventional level whereas non-criminals progress to the conventional level and beyond;
The pre-conventional level is characterised by a need to avoid punishment and gain rewards and is associated with less mature, childlike reasoning - people who reason at this level may commit crime if they can get away with it or gain rewards in the form of money, increased respect;
This assumption is supported by studies which suggest that offenders are often more egocentric and display poorer social perspective-taking than non-offenders.

Question 54

What are cognitive distortions?

Answer 54

Faulty, biased and irrational ways of thinking that mean we perceive ourselves, other people and the world inaccurately and usually negatively.

Question 55

State two examples of cognitive distortions.

Answer 55

Hostile Attribution Bias;
Minimalisation

Question 56

Define hostile attribution bias.

Answer 56

The tendency to judge ambiguous situations, or the actions of others, as aggressive and/or threatening when in reality they may not be;
Schoenberg and Justye presented 55 violent offenders with images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions;
When compared with a non-aggressive matched control group, the violent offenders were significantly more likely to perceive the images as angry and hostile.

Question 57

Describe minimalisation.

Answer 57

A type of deception that involves downplaying the significance of an event or emotion which is a common strategy when dealing with feelings of guilt;
Barbaree found among 26 rapists 54% denied they had committed an offence at all and a further 40% minimised the harm they had caused to the victim.

Question 58

Evaluate cognitive explanations.

Answer 58

1. APPLICATION - CBT encourages offenders to ‘face up’ to what they have done and a establish a less distorted view of their actions - studies suggest suggest reduced incidence of denial and minimilastion in therapy is highly associated with a reduced risk of reoffending - suggests the theory has practical application.
2. DEPENDS ON THE TYPE OF OFFENCE - Howitt and Sheldon gathered questionnaire responses from sexual offenders - non-contact sexual offenders used more cognitive distortions than contact sex offenders - suggests distortions are used in the same way by all offenders.
3. RESEARCH SUPPORT - Palmer and Hollin compared moral reasoning in 332 non-offenders and 126 convicted offenders using SRM-SF - the non-offender group showed less mature moral reasoning than non-offender group.
4. THINKING VERSUS BEHAVIOUR - theory provides insight into the mechanics of the criminal mind that offenders are more childlike and egocentric when it comes to making moral judgements - however, moral thinking is not the same as moral behaviour - Kohlberg’s moral reasoning is more likely used to justify behaviour after it has happened.

Question 59

What is differential association theory?

Answer 59

An explanation for offending which proposes that, through interaction with others, individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques and motives for offending behaviour.

Question 60

What did Sutherland propose about offending behaviour?

Answer 60

Sutherland argues that if the number of pro-criminal attitudes the person has outweighs the the number of anti-criminal attitudes, they will go on to offend.

Question 61

How is offending behaviour acquired?

Answer 61

In the same way as any other behaviour through the processes of learning;
This learning occurs most often through interactions with significant others who the child values most and spends most time with, such as family and peer group.

Question 62

How can we mathematically predict how likely it is that an individual will commit offences?

Answer 62

Differential association theory suggest we need to know the frequency, intensity and duration of exposure to deviant and non-deviant norms and values.

Question 63

What two factors does offending arise from?

Answer 63

Learned attitudes towards offending;
Learning of specific offending acts/techniques

Question 64

Describe learning attitudes.

Answer 64

When a person is socialised into a group they will be exposed to values and attitudes towards the law - some pro-crime and others anti-crime;
Sutherland argues that if the number of pro-criminal attitudes the person comes to acquire outweighs the number of anti-criminal attitudes, they will go on to offend.

Question 65

Describe learning techniques.

Answer 65

The would-be offender also learns techniques for committing offences.

Question 66

According to Sutherlands theory, explain why convicts go on to reoffend.

Answer 66

Whilst inside prison inmates will learn specific techniques of offending from other, more experienced offenders that they may put to practise once released from prison;
Learning may occur through observational learning and imitation or direct tuition from offending peers.

Question 67

Evaluate differential association theory.

Answer 67

1. SHIFT OF FOCUS - Sutherland was successful in moving the emphasis away from early biological theories such as the atavistic theory - approach is more desirable because it offers a more realistic solution to the problem of offending instead of eugenics or punishment - HOWEVER, differential association runs the risk of stereotyping individuals who come from impoverished, crime-ridden backgrounds - suggest exposure to pro-criminal values is enough to produce offending in those who are exposed to it - ignore la the fact that people may choose not to offend despite such influences.
2. CAN ACCOUNT FOR OFFENDING WITHIN ALL SECTORS OF SOCIETY - Sutherland recognises some types of offences such as burglary may be clustered within certain inner-city, working class communities and other offences clustered amongst more affluent groups in society - corporate offences may be a feature of middle class social groups who share deviant norms and values - shows it is not just ‘lower’ classes who commit offences.
3. DIFFICULT TO TEST - many of the concepts are not testable because they cannot be operationalised - hard to see how the number of pro-crime attitudes a person has or has been exposed to could be measured - theory does not have scientific credibility - reduces its reliability when explaining offending behaviour and there is limited evidence to support its claims.

Question 68

Define psychodynamic explanations.

Answer 68

A perspective that describes the different forces, most of which are unconscious, that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experience.

Question 69

What is meant by the inadequate superego?

Answer 69

Blackburn argued that if the superego is somehow deficient or inadequate then offending behaviour is inevitable because the Id is given ‘free rein’ and not properly controlled.

Question 70

Describe the three types of inadequate Superego that have been proposed.

Answer 70

The weak Superego - if the same-gender parent is absent during the phallic stage, a child cannot internalise a fully-formed Superego as there is no opportunity for identification.
The deviant Superego - if the Superego that a child internalises has immoral or deviant values this would lead to offending behaviour. This occurs as they have identifies with their same-sex parents but their parent is immoral.
The over-harsh Superego - a result of strict parenting and the superego is crippled with anxiety and guilt. This drives the individual to perform criminal acts where they will be reprimanded in order to satisfy the superego’s overwhelming need for punishment.

Question 71

Describe the theory of maternal deprivation.

Answer 71

Bowlby argued that the ability of forming meaningful relationships in adulthood was dependent upon the child forming a stable relationship with the mother-figure - failure to establish such relationship means a child is likely to experience a number of damaging and irreversible consequences in later life, such as the development of the particular personality type affectionless psychopathy.

Question 72

Describe the 44 juvenile thieves study.

Answer 72

Bowlby found through interviews with 44 juveniles that 14 showed personality and behavioural characteristics that classified them as affection-less psychopathy.
Of this 12/14 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers, in particular during the first two years of their lives.
In a non-offender group only 2 had experienced a similar early separation.
Bowlby concluded that the effects of maternal deprivation had caused affectionless psychopathy and delinquent behaviour among the juvenile thieves.

Question 73

Evaluate the psychodynamic explanation.

Answer 73

1. RESEARCH SUPPORT - Goreta conducted a Freudian-style analysis of ten offenders referred for psychiatric treatment - each offender experienced unconscious feelings of guilt and the need for self punishment - Goreta explained this as a consequence of an over-harsh superego - supports the role of psychic conflicts - HOWEVER, the central principles of the inadequate Superego theory are not supported.
2. GENDER BIAS - Freud’s theory is that girls develop a weaker superego than boys because identification with the same-gender parent is not as strong - girls do not experience castration anxiety so their superego is less fully realised - women should be more prone to offending behaviour than men however the rate of imprisonment in the UK show that opposite is more likely - this suggests there is alpha bias in Freud’s theory - this reduces its credibility when explaining behaviour as it may not be generalisable to everyone in the same way.
3. OTHER FACTORS - Lewis analysed data drawn from interviews with 500 young people and found that maternal deprivation was a poor predictor of future offending - there are other reasons for example growing up in poverty - this suggests that maternal deprivation may be one reason for later offending behaviour but not the only reason.

Question 74

What is custodial sentencing?

Answer 74

A decision made by a court that punishment for a crime should involve time being in ‘custody’ or another closed institution such as a psychiatric hospital.

Question 75

Describe the four main reasons for custodial sentencing?

Answer 75

1. DETERRENCE - the unpleasant prison experience is designed to put off the individual or society at large from engaging in offending behaviour;
   Works on two levels: general deterrence aims to send a broad message to members of a given society that crime will not be tolerated.
   Individual deterrence should prevent the individual from repeating the same offences in light of their experience.
2. INCAPACITATION - Offender is taken out of society to prevent them from reoffending as a means of protecting the public.
3. RETRIBUTION - Society is enacting revenge for the offence by making the offender suffer, and the level of suffering should be proportionate to the seriousness of the offence which is based on the biblical notion of ‘eye for an eye.”
4. REHABILITATION - the objective of prison is not being to punish but to reform - upon release, offender should leave prison better adjusted and ready to take their place back in society as prison should provide opportunities to develop skills and training.

Question 76

Describe the psychological effects of custodial sentencing.

Answer 76

1. STRESS AND DEPRESSION - Suicide rates are considerably higher in prison than in general population, as are incidents of self-mutilation and self-harm. The stress of the prison experience also increases the risk of developing psychological disorders following release.
2. INSTITUTIONALISATION - Having adapted to the norms and routines of prison life, inmates may become so accustomed to these they are no longer able to function on the outside.
3. PRISONISATION - refers to the way in which prisoners are socialised into adopting an ‘inmate code’. Behaviour that may be considered unacceptable in the outside world may be encouraged and rewarded inside the walls of the institution.

Question 77

Define recidivism.

Answer 77

Reoffending, a tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behaviour e.g. a convicted offender reoffending.

Question 78

State the problems of recidivism.

Answer 78

It is difficult to obtain clear figures for recidivism as it depends whether you are looking at reoffending within a year of release or a longer period.
Reoffending rates vary with time period after release, age of offender, crime committed and country - the US, Australia and Denmark regularly record rates in excess of 60% whereas in Norway rates may be as low as 20%.

Question 79

Evaluate Custodial Sentencing.

Answer 79

1. PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS - Bartol suggested that for many offenders imprisonment can be brutal - according to the Ministry of Justice a record of 119 people killed themselves in prisons in England and Wales in 2016 - this supports the view that oppressive prison regimes may be detrimental to psychological health which could impact on rehabilitation - HOWEVER, figures do not include the number of inmates who are were experiencing psychotic symptoms before they were incarcerated which suggests there may be confounding variables that influence that link between prison and its psychological effects.
2. TRAINING AND TREATMENT - one objective of imprisonment is rehabilitation - access to education in prison increases the possibility they will find employment upon release - suggests prison may be a worthwhile experience assuming offenders are able to access these programmes.
3. SCHOOL FOR CRIME - offenders may learn to become better offenders - incarceration with long-term offenders may give younger inmates opportunities to learn the ‘tricks of the trade’ from more experienced prisoners - this form of ‘education’ may undermine attempts to rehabilitate prisoners and consequently make reoffending more likely.

Question 80

Define behaviour modification.

Answer 80

Based on the principles of operant conditioning;
The aim is to replace undesirable behaviours with more desirable ones through the selective use of negative reinforcement.

Question 81

Describe the use of token economies to modify prison behaviour.

Answer 81

Each time a prisoner performs a desirable behaviour such as following prison rules they are a given a token;
Each of the behaviours and rewards are made clear to the prisoners before the programme is implemented;
The tokens are secondary reinforcers as their value is a result of their association with a reward;
The token can then exchanged for the reward e.g. a phone call to a loved one which is a primary reinforcer.

Question 82

Describe the designing and using of a token economy.

Answer 82

Operationalised target behaviours - a target behaviour is operationalised by breaking it down into component parts - the ‘units’ of behaviour should be objective and measurable and agreed with prison staff and inmates in advance.
Scoring system - each behaviour is worth something different - some are regarded as more demanding than others so receive greater rewards.
Train staff - train the prison staff in order to standardise the procedures so that all prison staff are rewarding the same behaviours in the same way. Staff must also record when they have awarded tokens so the progress of individual prisoners can be assessed.

Question 83

Evaluate behaviour modification in custody.

Answer 83

1. RESEARCH SUPPORT - Hobbs and Holt introduced a token economy programme with young offenders - observed a significant difference - suggests token economy systems do work- HOWEVER, success depends on the consistency of the prison staff.
2. EASY TO IMPLEMENT - easy to be administered as there is no need for specialist professionals - can be designed and implemented by virtually anyone in any institution - also cost-effective and easy to follow - suggests that behaviour modification techniques can be established in most prisons and accessed by most prisoners.
3. LITTLE REHABILITATIVE VALUE - Blackburn says any positive changes in behaviour that may occur whilst an offender is in prison may quickly be lost when they are released - more cognitive-based treatments such as anger management may be more likely to lead to permanent behavioural change as they enable offenders understand the cause of their offending.
4. ETHICAL ISSUES - been associated with decreased conflict and more successful management of the prison population - can reduce pressure - however, critics have described behaviour modification as manipulative and dehumanising - withdrawal of privileges such as exercise and contact with loved ones is unethical.

Question 84

Describe the three stages of anger management.

Answer 84

1. Cognitive Preparation - requires offender to reflect on past experience and consider the typical pattern of their anger. If the way in which the offender interprets the event is irrational the therapists role is to make this clear.
2. Skills Acquisition - offenders are introduced to a range of techniques and skills to help them deal with anger-provoking situations more rationally including:
   cognitive techniques - positive self-talk to encourage calmness.
   behavioural techniques - assertiveness training in how to communicate more effectively which will become an automatic response if practised regularly.
   psychological techniques - deals with physical reaction to anger such as using relaxation training or meditation - the aim is to control one’s emotions rather than being controlled by them.
3. Application Practise - offenders are given the opportunity to practise their skills within a carefully controlled environment. The role play is likely to involve the offender and the therapist re-enacting scenarios that may have escalated feelings of anger and acts of violence in the past.

Question 85

Define anger management.

Answer 85

A form of cognitive behaviour therapy - the individual is taught how to recognise the cognitive factors that trigger their anger and loss of control, and then encouraged to develop techniques which bring about conflict resolution without the need for violence.

Question 86

Describe Keen et al’s study in anger management.

Answer 86

Studied the progress made by young offenders who took part in the National Anger Management Package developed by England and Wales prison service;
Eight two hour sessions were given to the offenders - the first 7 over three weeks and the last session a month afterwards.
There were initial issues of offenders not taking the course seriously and forgetting to bring a diary;
However, the final outcomes were positive and offenders reported increased awareness of their anger management difficulties and an increased capacity to exercise self-control.

Question 87

Evaluate anger management as dealing with offending behaviour.

Answer 87

ECLECTIC APPROACH - works on a number of different levels including cognitive, behavioural and social levels - acknowledges behaviour is a complex social and psychological activity.
TACKLES CAUSES OF OFFENDING - does not just focus on superficial offending behaviour - gives offenders new insight into the cause of their criminality enabling them to self-discover ways of managing themselves outside of prison - lead to permanent behavioural chnage and reduce recidivism rates.
ASSUME A CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP - Loza and Loza-Fanous used a range of psychometric measures and found no difference in levels of anger between offenders classes as violent and those classed as non-violent - if anger is not the cause of offending behaviour then anger management is illogical.
EXPENSIVE - they require the services of highly trained specialists - many prisons may not have the resources to fund such programmes - the opportunity for an offender to access such support may come down to whether the prison has the funding - practical issues limiting the effectiveness of the programme.

Question 88

Define restorative justice.

Answer 88

A system for dealing with offending behaviour which focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims. This enables an offender to see the impact of their crime and serves to empower survivors by giving them a ‘voice’.

Question 89

Describe the basic principles of restorative justice.

Answer 89

All about changing the emphasis;
Historically, a person convicted of a criminal offence would have been regarded as having committed a crime against the state;
In contrast to this, these programmes switch the emphasis from the needs of the state to the needs of the individual victim;
Victims are encouraged to take an active role in the process, whilst offenders are required to take responsibility and face up to what they have done.

Question 90

How does restorative justice benefit the victim?

Answer 90

1. Enable them to put crime behind them, for example why they were targeted. Acts as closure.
2. Gives victims a greater voice in the Criminal Justice System.
3. Empowerment in terms of sense of personal power.
4. Develop an understanding of why the crime was committed.

Question 91

How does restorative justice benefit the offender?

Answer 91

Opportunity to address and heal the underlying issues and opportunity to change.
Opportunity to apologise and accept responsibility.
Opportunity to repair the harm done as a result of the crime.
Develop an understanding the effect of their actions.

Question 92

How does restorative justice benefit the community?

Answer 92

Shows the community that offenders are making up for their actions so gives sense of retribution.
Restorative justice reduces the frequency of reoffending, so community is safer.
Saves money - £8 in savings to the criminal justice system for every £1 spent of restorative justice.

Question 93

Describe three key features of the restorative justice programme.

Answer 93

1. Non-courtroom setting where offenders voluntarily meet with survivors.
2. The survivor is given the opportunity to confront the offender and explain how the incident affected them which enables the offender to comprehend the consequences of their actions, including the emotional distress it caused.
3. The focus is on the positive outcomes for both survivors and offenders.

Question 94

Evaluate restorative justice.

Answer 94

1. A SOFT OPTION - Davies and Raymond suggest that politicians are keen to convince the electorate they are ‘tough on crime’ but with restorative justice offender can still remain in the community - does not fulfil the retribution sim as the offender does not suffer.
2. FLEXIBLE - can take place in many settings such as schools or hospitals - means schemes can be adapted to the needs of the individual - HOWEVER, means we are unable to draw general conclusions.
3. RELIES ON OFFENDERS SHOWING REMORSE - offenders may sign up to avoid prison - victims may have ulterior motive - restorative justice programmes may not lead to positive outcomes - reduces the validity of the effectiveness.
4. NOT SUITABLE FOR ALL CRIMES - women’s aid have called a legislative ban on the use of restorative justice in domestic violence cases - other options need to be considered.

Answer 95

The criminal personality type is neurotic-extravert;
The typical offender will also score highly on measures of psychoticism - personality type that is characterised as cold, unemotional and prone to aggression.