Forensic Psychology Flashcards
What is a crime
An act committed in violation of the law where the consequence of conviction by court is punishment
(especially a punishment such as imprisonment)
Problems with defining crime
Cultural: Forces marriage was made illegal in the UK in 2014, however it is practice in other countries
Historical: Homosexual is still illegal in many parts of the would and was only made legal in the UK in 1967.
A parents rights to smack their child was outlawed in 2004
Age relative: under 10s can’t be arrested or charged with a crime as they aren’t considered fully responsible
3 ways of measuring crime
Official statistics
Victims surveys
Offender surveys
How are official statistics used to measure crime
The crimes reported to the police and recorded in the official figures that allow the government to formulate prevention strategies and police initiatives
These are published by the Home Office as a “snapshot” of the number of crimes committed across the country
Negative evaluation of official statistics
Unreliable as they significantly underestimate true extent of crime
25% of offences are included in statistics
75% referred to by criminologists as the ‘dark figure’ of crime
Shame and evidence can effect how many crimes are recorded
How are victim surveys used to measure crime
The public’s experience of crime over a particular period
50,000 households are randomly chosen to report on the crimes that they have been a victim of in the past year
Compiled in the Crime Survey for England and Wales
Evaluation of victim surveys
Greater degree of accuracy
Recall telescoping could distort figure
What is telescoping in victim surveys
Telescoping effect refers to inaccurate perceptions regarding time
Where people see recent events as more remote than they are (backward telescoping)
Or remote events as more recent (forward telescoping)
This mental error in memory can occur whenever we make temporal assumptions regarding past events
How are offender surveys used to measure crime
Individuals self-reports on the types of crimes that they have committed
The Offender Crimes and Justice was the first national self report of this kind;
Aimed to identify trends in offending and the relationship between perpetrators and victims
Evaluations of offender surveys
Provides insight into how many people are responsible for certain crimes
Unreliable as they may be exaggerated or concealed
Does not take into account difference between white collar or blue collar crimes (e.g locations)
What is the aim of profiling
Creates an idea of the offender’s likely characteristics.
This helps the police to focus their resources on more likely suspects, and can create new leads within an investigation
Describe the American Top Down approach to offender profiling
FBI interviewed 36 convicted serial killers and sex murderers to gain an insight into their thinking and behaviour.
They were classified into two groups, organised and disorganised:
Organised offenders were intelligent, socially and sexually competent, lived with somebody and planned their attacks.
Disorganised offenders were less intelligent, socially and sexually incompetent, were loners and were more likely to behave impulsively and not plan the attacks in advance.
These groups are used to compare information from new crime scenes to make judgements based on past experience.
However, based on self-report interviews and a restricted sample
Categories devised by the FBI lack validity and can’t be generalised to wider population.
Describe the British Bottom Up approach to offender profiling
Developed by David Canter
Uses investigative psychology (applying psychological research and theories to criminal investigations) more than the FBI approach.
Geographical profiling uses crime scene as a source of information
The behaviour of the offender at the crime scene reveals information about their everyday life and characteristics
Bottom-up approach, as the focus is on the unique circumstances of an individual offender
What are the 4 stages the FBI use when building a profile
Assimilating data: collecting all the information available about the crime scene and victim.
Classifying the crime: identifying the type of crime committed.
Reconstructing the crime: this includes the behaviour of both the offender and the victim.
Creating a profile: making judgements about possible physical and lifestyle characteristics of the offender
What are the 5 stages of the geographical profiling approach used by Douglas to build a profile
Personal characteristics: e.g. personality traits.
Criminal history: types of offences they may have committed in the past.
Residential location: e.g. if a circle is drawn around an offender’s crime scenes on a map, the offender is often found to live in the middle. This is known as circle theory.
Domestic and social characteristics: e.g. if the person is likely to live alone or have a family.
Occupational and educational history: likely type of employment and level of qualifications.
Drawbacks of offender profiling
Only used for a limited range of crime (not applicable for robberies)
Douglas said the aim of profiling is misinterpreted:
Instead of aiming to identify the specific person, it’s used for identifying a type of person
Research into effectiveness of offender profiling shows it is limited
Study found only 14% of policemen felt profiling helped them solve the case
Case of misuse of offender profiling: Rachel Nickel
Rachel was murdered in front of 2yr old son in park
Offender profiler called Paul Britton developed profile which was broadcast on TV
4 people called in describing the same person
Man fitted profile but lacked forensic evidence
Undercover police officer befriended suspect to get him to confess
Didn’t confess and denied involvement
Still arrested and charged him but he was acquitted and misuse of profile was criticised by judge
16yrs later a different man pleaded guilty to crime on grounds of diminished responsibility
Case of successful use of offender profiling: John Duffy
John Duffy is known as railway rapist
Responsible for 24 sexual assaults and 3 murders
Canter was asked to develop profile based on details of the crime as forensic evidence suggest they were all done by one person
Profile made Duffy seem a likely suspect as he fitted Canter’s profile:
Live close to first three crimes: lived in Kilburn.
Be aged in his mid to late 20s: Duffy was.
Work in a semi-skilled or skilled occupation: Duffy was a carpenter.
Be knowledgeable about railways: worked for British Rail.
Have a criminal record that included violence: Duffy had been interviewed by the police for raping his wife at knifepoint.
Be small and feel physically unattractive: Duffy was 5’ 4” and suffered from acne.
Fantasise about sex and violence: Duffy had hard-core pornography videos.
Be interested in martial arts: Duffy was in a martial arts club.
Lead to Duffy’s arrest and he confessed to murdering victims as he was nearly recognised
Also learned to burn bodies to destroy forensic evidence after he was arrested for taping his wife
Negative evaluation of top down approach: application to crime
Misses our important details for crimes such as: rape, arson and cult killings
Limited approach to identifying a criminal
Negative evaluation of top down approach: outdated models of personality
Classification system used by top down approach assumes the patterns of behaviour and motivations remain consistent
Alison suggested the approach is naive and informed by old-fashioned models of personality
Approach suggests behaviour as being driven by dispositional traits
Poor validity
Negative evaluation of top down approach: classification is too simplistic to types of killers
Not mutually exclusive; a variety of combination could occur
Would be hard for police to classify a highly intelligent and sexually competent killer who commits a spontaneous murder, where the body is left at the scene
Holmes and Holmes and DeBurger - 4 types of serial killer: visionary, mission, hedonistic and power/control
Negative evaluation of top down approach: original sample
Original sample: 36 killers
Too small and unrepresentative
Canter - not sensible to rely on self report data of convicted killers
What is geographical profiling
Using information about the location of the crime scene to make inferences about the likely home or operational base of an offender (crime mapping)
Used to create hypotheses about what the offender was thinking and their modus operandi
What is a modus operandi
Core assumption of profiling
Provides investigators with a ‘centre of gravity’
Includes offender’s base (often in the middle of the spatial pattern)
Used to make predictions where the offender is likely to strike next
Serial offender restrict their work to geographical areas they are familiar with
Criminal often operate in a similar way and this reflects their personality
What are the types of killers from circle theory developed by Canter and Larkin
Two models of offenders behaviour
The Marauder - who operates in close proximity to their home base
The commuter - who is likely to have travelled a distance away from their usual residence
Positive evaluation of bottom up approach: evidence supports investigative psychology
Canter and Heritage conducted a content analysis of 66 sexual assault cases
Common in most cases: impersonal language and lack of reaction to victim (impersonal and sudden)
Supports the use of statistical techniques in profiling
Positive evaluation of bottom up approach: evidence supports geographical profiling
Lundrigen and canter collated information from 120 murder cases involving serial killers in the USA
Smallest space analysis: the location of each body disposal site was in a different direction from the previous, creating a ‘centre of gravity’
The offender’s base was invariably located in the centre of the pattern
More noticeable for marauders
Positive evaluation of bottom up approach: scientific bases to support bottom up approach
Canter: bottom up profiling is more objective and scientific than top down approach, as it is grounded in evidence and psychological theory
With the use of AI, investigators are able to manipulate geographic, biological and psychological data quickly to produce insight
Smallest space analysis can be applied to different crimes such as theft (Top down is generally murder)
Mixed Evaluation: research on offender profiling (for and against)
75% of the British police officers said advice of the profiler helped them to make predictions about the crime
Improved their understanding of the offender
Supported their ideas and feelings about the offender
Police from Netherlands stated that they found the profiler’s advice as vague, not financially viable and needed follow up
Also ignored advice if they didn’t agree with it
Negative evaluation of profiling: Mixed results for profiling
Some significant failings and studies examining the effectiveness have mixed results
Copson surveyed 48 police forces found that the advice provided by the profiler was judged to be ‘useful’ in 83% of cases but in only 3% did it lead to accurate identification of the offender
Study argued there is little empirical research into the skills required for profiling - chemistry students could profile better than senior detectives
What is the atavistic form
A biological approach to offending
Attributes criminal activity to the fact that offenders are genetic throwbacks or a primitive subspecies who can’t conform to the rules of modern society.
Such individuals are distinguishable by particular facial and cranial characteristics
What did Lombroso believe about why people become criminals
Lombroso believed offenders were lacking evolutionary development
Savage and untamed nature meant they found it impossible to adjust to the demands of civilised society
Inevitably turn to crime
What are some cranial characteristics of criminals according to Lombroso
Narrow, sloping brow
A strong prominent jaw
High cheekbones
Facial asymmetry
Other physical features:
Dark skin
Extra toes, nipples of fingers
Other signs of criminality according to Lombroso
Insensitivity to pain
Tattoos
Unemployment
Use of slang
How did Lombroso research the atavistic form
Examined cranial and facial features of living and dead criminals
383 dead and 3839 living criminals (skulls)
Concluded that 40% of all criminal acts could be accounted for by people with atavistic characteristics
How did Lombroso identify the characteristics of murderers, sexual deviants and fraudsters
Murderers were thought to have bloodshot eyes, strong jaws, long ears and curly hair
Sexual deviants were said to have glinting eyes, swollen, fleshy lips and projecting ears
Fraudsters had lips which were thin and reedy
Positive evaluation of atavistic form
Lombroso shifted the emphasis in crime research away from moralistic discourse towards a scientific and credible realm
The atavistic characteristics was the foundations of criminal profiling
Negative evaluation of Lombroso’s research: Criticisms against Lombroso as scientifically racist
DeLisi said distinct racial undertones
Many of the features that Lombroso identifies are more likely to be found among people of Africa descent
Lends support to the Eugenics movement - ‘uncivilised, primitive and savage’
Negative evaluation of Lombroso’s research: Methodological criticisms
Lombroso did not compare his sample to a non-criminal control group
Significant difference may have disappeared
Failed to account for other variables: people he studied had a history of psychological disorders or chromosomal abnormalities- confounding variables
Negative evaluation of Lombroso’s research: causation as an issue
Facial and cranial differences may be influenced by other factors such as poverty or poor diet rather than being an indication of delayed evolutionary development
In later work, the view was les extreme: criminals could be made as well as born due to a range of environmental
What is the neural explanation of offending
Any explanation of behaviour (and its disorders) in terms of (dys)functions of the brain and nervous system
Includes the activity of brain structures such as the hypothalamus and neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine
Details of Lange’s Time in Prison Study
13 monozygotic pairs of twins
17 dizygotic pairs of twins
Results:
MZ concordance: 77% of the time both twins went to prison
DZ concordance: 12% of the time both twins went to prison
Details of Christiansen’s Study of Criminal Behaviour
3500 twin pairs
35% of MZ males both committed a crime
21% of MZ females both committed a crime
13% of DZ males both committed a crime
8% of DZ females both committed a crime
Method of Mednick’s study of criminal behaviour in children
Concordance analysis of 14427 Danish adoptees conducted
Rates of criminality between adoptees and their adopted and biological parents compared
Results of Mednick’s study of criminal behaviour in children
13.5% of adoptees with parents (biological or adoptive) without a criminal conviction had a criminal conviction themselves
14.7% of adoptees with at least one criminally convicted adoptive parent had a conviction themselves
24.5% of adoptees with at least one convicted adoptive and biological parent had a conviction themselves
Conclusion of Mednick’s study of criminal behaviour in children
A genetic link is supported
Concordance rates are low suggesting other factors that lead to criminality
Evaluation of Mednick’s study of criminal behaviour in children
Adoption studies allow separation of genetic and environmental influences
A person may not be convicted for a crime,but it doesn’t mean they haven’t committed one
Results and conclusion of genetic analysis of 900 Finnish offenders
Research into MAOA candidate gene
This controls dopamine and serotonin
Link with aggression
CDH13 (protein coding) Linked to substance abuse and attention deficit disorder
Conclusion: Individuals with abnormalities on both of the genes were 13 times more likely to have a history of violent behaviour
How may criminality be linked to having an extra Y chromosome
Study found a higher percentage of people from a prison population had the atypical sex chromosome pattern XYY
Led to increased testosterone and increased violence
However, people with this chromosomal abnormality are more likely to be hyperactive, impulsive and have a lower IQ which may explain their criminality
How may criminality be linked to diathesis stress
There is evidence to suggest that some people have a genetic predisposition to having the candidate gene.
This gene can be switched on by an environmental stressor
e.g. trauma
If this gene is “switched” on, this could lead to criminal behaviour.
Diathesis vulnerability stress- negative psychological experience
Psychological trauma such as child abuse can affect the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal system
Neural explanations of crime
Evidence suggests there may be neural differences in the brains of criminals and non-criminal
Most of this research in this area has investigated individuals diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder (APD) (psychopathy)
APD - reduced emotional responses and a lack of empathy for others
How is the prefrontal cortex linked to Anti Social Personality Disorder
Prefrontal cortex: individuals who experience antisocial personality disorder shows reduced activity in the PFC, the part of the brain that regulates emotional behaviour
Raine found an 11% reduction in the volume of grey matter in the PFC of people with APD compared to control group
How can mirror neurons show an explanation for criminality
Found that only when criminals were asked to empathise with others (person being depicted on film experiencing pain), their empathy reactions was activated
This is controlled by mirror neurons
This suggests that APD individuals do experience empathy, although it is not an automatic response
These neurons fire in response to the action of others
Method of Raine’s study for the neural explanation of criminality
Raine used PET scans to create 3D images of the functional processes happening in the brains of 41 murderers (pleading not guilty by reason of insanity) and 41 control ppts
Results of Raine’s study for the neural explanation of criminality
The murderers showed:
Reduced glucose metabolism in the prefrontal cortex
Superior parietal gyrus and the corpus callosum
Asymmetrical activity in the two hemispheres.
Meaning some of their brain processes were dysfunctional.
Conclusion of Raine’s study for the neural explanation of criminality
The evidence supported a link between brain dysfunction and predisposition to violent acts
Evaluations of Raine’s study for the neural explanation of criminality
The researchers used a control group who were matched on variables such as age and sex.
Researchers could not randomly allocate participants to the ‘control’ or ‘killer’ groups, so needed to be cautious when drawing conclusions about causal relationships
Positive evaluation for candidate genes
Studied violent and non violent criminals
1,154 murders, manslaughters, attempted murder and battery
Warrior gene present and not in non-violent criminals
All extremely violent criminals had consumed drugs or alcohol before committing their crimes
Alcohol and drug abuse is shown to cause hyperactivity in dopamine levels
Negative evaluation against twin studies
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 reared in the same environment
Concordance rate may be due to shared learning experiences and not genetics
Positive evaluation for the diathesis stress model of crime
Mednick’s study of Danish adoptees
Showed genetic inheritance and environmental influence play a role in criminal behaviour
Negative evaluation against adoption studies
Hard to separate genetic and environmental influences in adoption studies
Late adoption means that infancy and childhood would have been spent with biological parents
May have been regular contact 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
Negative evaluation of biological explanations of criminality: biological reductionism
Criminality is complex so genetic and neural explanations are simplistic and inappropriate.
Studies show crime does run in families but so does emotional instability, social deprivation and poverty.
Exposure to crime rather than poverty (learned from environment)
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
What is neurotism-stability personality
Individuals towards the neurotic end of this dimension show traits such as anxiousness and restlessness.
Traits at the other end of the scale include reliability and calmness
What is extraversion-introversion personality
Individuals towards the extravert end of this dimension tend to be sociable, impulsive and assertive.
Those at the other end tend to be quiet, passive and reserved
What is the psychotism personality
This scale shows how disposed an individual is to psychotic breakdown
Those who score highly tend to be aggressive, hostile and uncaring
How did Eysenck say that these personality types develop
Genetic predisposition and environmental factors lead to a particular personality type
This leads to particular behaviours, including criminal behaviours.
What personality types does Eysenck say that criminal behaviour comes from
Believed that psychoticism was a good predictor of criminal behaviour
Extraversion was a good indicator of criminal behaviour for young people
Neuroticism a better indicator for criminal behaviour in older people
What do the personality types psychotic, neurotic, stable, extrovert, introvert mean
Psychotic: Someone who is insensitive, unconventional and lacks conscience
Neurotic: Someone who is nervous, anxious and obsessive
Stable: Someone who is reliable and calm
Extrovert: Sociable, impulsive expressive and risk taking
Introvert: Cautious and happy in their own company
Process of socialisation
This is where children are taught to delay gratification and become more socially oriented
Mostly taught through conditioning where children are punished if they act immaturely
They come to associate anxiety with antisocial behaviour
When this process is successful, thinking about behaving antisocially produces anxiety so they don’t do it
