Forensic Psychology Flashcards
What is the top down approach to offender profiling?
American (FBI) system, interviewed 36 sexually motivated killers and created organised and disorganised categories
What are characteristics of organised offenders?
Planning / no evidence left behind
Above average IQ
Socially and sexually competent
What are characteristics of disorganised offenders?
Little planning / leaves behind evidence
Impulsive
Below average IQ
Socially and sexually incompetent
What are the 4 main stages in construction of FBI profiles?
- Data assimilation
- Crime scene classification
- Crime reconstruction
- Profile generation
What is the bottom up approach?
Data driven profile building, doesn’t use fixed typologies.
What are the 2 main components to bottom up approach?
- Investigative psychology
- interpersonal coherence
- importance of time and place - Geographical profiling
What are the definitions of marauder and commuter types of offender?
Marauder - offends close to home
Commuter - travels from home to commit crime
Meketa 2017 - advantage of top down approach
Found top down approach also applies to burglary (fit into organised and disorganised)
Goreta 1991 - findings on psychodynamic approach to criminality
Support for over-harsh super ego
All 10 offenders interviewed displayed need for self-punishment
Canter 2004 - findings for top down approach
Analysis of 100 serial killers and found they mostly fit into organised and disorganised categories
Eysenck 1977 - findings on EPQ scores
Compared over 2000 prisoners and 2000 controls and found significant difference
Support for Eysenck’s theory of criminal personality
Lundrigan & Canter 2001 - findings on circle theory
Serial killers almost have a base at centre of crime scene locations
Suggests circle theory is correct
Farrington 2006 - support for differential association theory
Found ‘family criminality’ to be a key risk factor in offending behaviour
Farrington 1982 - findings about Eysenck’s EPQ
There is only significant difference between criminals/non-criminals in psychoticism not neuroticism or extroversion
Suggests biological cause due to high testosterone
Raine - biological causes of criminality
People with APD have 11% less grey matter in prefrontal cortex compared to controls
Suggests criminality is caused by low functioning frontal lobes
Tihonen 2015 - genetic causes of criminality
Found low functioning MAOA is more common in offenders
Suggests MAOA gene is a contributor to criminality
Christianson 1977 - twin study into criminality
MZ = 35% concordance
DZ = 13% concordance
Suggests some genetic link but must have some environmental factors
Crowe 1972 - adoption study into criminality
If criminal mother = 50% risk of having criminal record
No criminal mother = 5% risk
Suggests biological component
Goring 1913 - findings on physical criminal characteristics
Found no link to facial / cranial ‘abnormalities’
Suggests Lombroso’s atavistic theory is wrong
Canter & Heritage 1990 - findings for bottom up approach
Found correlation between behaviours in crimes and everyday life. Also found ‘case linkages’ between crimes committed by same person
Support for interpersonal coherence
Ainsworth 2001 - findings on bottom up approach
Age and timing of offence are more important than geographical profiling
Kocsis 2002 - findings on bottom up approach
Chemistry students produced more accurate profiles than detectives
Suggests bottom up approach may not work
Shirley 1997 - findings on custodial sentencing
Inmates who engage in prison education are 43% less likely to reoffend
Suggests custodial sentencing can rehabilitate offenders
Hobbs & Holt 1976 - findings on behaviour management
Found young offenders in token economies showed more positive behaviours than controls
Suggests token economies are effective behaviour management
Ministry of Justice 2016 - negatives of prison
124 inmate suicides in 2016 (32% increase and 10x higher than non-prison population)
Prison exacerbates mental health issues
Kochanska 2001 - findings on psychodynamic approach to criminality
Found children with harsh parents do not have strong feelings of guilt
Suggests criminality is not due to over harsh super ego
Schonenberg 2014 - findings on hostile attribution bias
55 offenders more likely to interpret neutral faces as hostile compared to controls
Suggests hostile attribution bias is factor in criminality
Kohlberg 1973 - findings on levels of moral reasoning
Found lower levels of moral reasoning in violent offenders (stuck at pre-conventional level)
Suggests lowered moral reasoning causes criminality
Barbaree 1991 - findings on minimalisation
54% interviewed rapists denied crime
Further 40% minimised harm caused
Strang 2007 - findings for restorative justice
Restrictive justice reduced recidivism compared to controls
Suggests restorative justice is effective
Shapland 2008 - findings on restorative justice
85% of survivors report satisfaction with restorative justice
60% = gave them ‘closure’ and helped them move on
2% = made them feel worse and ‘used’ for rehabilitation of offender
Suggests effectiveness
Blackburn 1993 - findings on behaviour modification
Behavioural benefits of token economies tend to disappear upon release
Suggest that they have little lasting rehabilitative power
Howells 2005 - findings on behaviour modification
Anger management has very little overall impact compared to controls
BUT has significant impact on high anger individuals
Palmer & Hollingsworth 1998 - findings on levels of moral reasoning
Found significantly lower levels of moral reasoning than controls (stuck at pre-conventional level)
Bowlby 1944 - findings on causes of criminality
Found 14 of 44 thieves were affection-less psychopaths
12 of 14 had maternal deprivation
X - contradicted by replication
