forensic psychology

Question 1

Canter

Answer 1

+research support of TOP DOWN
David Canter (2004) conducted an analysis of 100 US murders each committed b y different serial killers. - smallest space analysis was used. The analysis revealed that there does seem to be a subset of features of many serial killings which matched the FBI’s organised offenders
HOWEVER —–
many studies suggest that organised and disorganised types are not mutually exclusive - a variety of combinations can occur

Question 2

Meketa

Answer 2

+wider application TOP DOWN
Can be adapted to other kinds of crime - such as burglary
Tina Meketa - reports that top down has recently been applied to burglary leading to an 85% rise in solved cases in three US states

Question 3

Lundrigan and Canter

Answer 3

+evidence for BOTTOM UP
Lundrigan and Canter (2001) collated information from 120 murder cases involving serial killers in the US- smallest space analysis revealed spatial consistency c reating a ‘centre of gravity’ - the offenders base was invariably located in the centre of the pattern

Question 4

Lange

Answer 4

twin studies- genetic explanation
compared concordance rates for prison sentences among 13 identical twins and 17 non-identical twins. 10 of the 13 pairs of identical twins (77%) had both spent time in prison, whereas only 2 of the 17 non-identical twins (12%) had both spent time in prison.

Question 5

Christiansen (1977)

Answer 5

Twin and adoption studies
analysed the concordance rates for criminal convictions among 3,586 pairs of twins. Among males, concordance rates were 35% for identical twins and 12% for non-identical twins. Among females, the concordance rates were 21% for identical twins and 8% for non-identical twins

Question 6

Tiihonen et all

Answer 6

+candidate genes
suggested that the gene MAOA regulates serationin and has been liked to aggressive behaviour - genetic analysis of almost 800 Finnish offenders - 5-10% of all severe violent crimes is attributable to this gene

Question 7

Raine

Answer 7

Neural explanations
conducted many studies of the antisocial personality disorder brain, reporting that there are several dozen brain-imaging studies demonstrating that individuals with antisocial personalities have reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex - the part of the brain that regulates emotional behaviour
-raine also found an 11% reduction in the volume of grey matter in the prefrontal cortex of people with APD compared to controls

Question 9

Furnham

Answer 9

research support for psychological- Eysenck
Furnham (1984) tested 210 subjects using Eysenck’s personality theory, a social skills test, and a test of anomie (which basically means moral values). Of these 3 tests, the results of Eysenck’s personality theory were the most accurate predictors of criminal behaviour, which supports the criminal personality theory explanation of criminal behaviour.

Question 10

Eysenck

Answer 10

+research support

compared 2070 prisoners scores on the personality test with 2422 controls - on all measures - prisoners recorded high average scores than controls - this agrees with the predictions of the theory that offenders rate higher than average across the 3 dimensions Eysenck identified

Question 11

Farrington

Answer 11

-counter research for Eysenck
conducted a meta analysis of relevant studies and reported that offenders tended to score high on measure of psychotisism but not for extraversion and neuroticism

Question 12

Schoenberg and Jusyte

Answer 12

+support for hostile attribution bias
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

Question 12

Palmer and Hollin

Answer 12

+supporting research for cognitive- stages of moral development
Palmer and Hollin (1998) used questionnaires to compare the moral reasoning abilities of 126 male convicted offenders with 122 male non-offenders. The researchers found that the male offenders had significantly poorer moral reasoning compared to the male non-offenders, which supports the idea that underdeveloped moral reasoning contributes to criminal behaviour.

Question 13

Barbaree

Answer 13

+support for minimisation
found among 26 incarcerated rapists, 54% denied they had committed an offence and a furtherr 40% minimised the harm done to the victim

Question 14

Bartol

Answer 14

-limitation of custodial sentencing- negative psychological effects
suggests that for many offenders, imprisonment can be ‘brutal, demeaning and generally devastating’
-ministry of justice reported 119 people killed themselves in prisons in England and Wales in 2016 - an increase of 32% from the previous year - average suicide of 1 every 3 days - 9x higher than general population
also found that 25% of women and 15% of men experienced symptoms of psychosis

however, does not account for offenders who experiencing psychotic symptoms before they were incarcerated and may have pre-existing psychological and emotional difficulties (many explain offending behaviour in first place)
-confounding variables as the psychological problems may stem from the prison regime, or simply being locked up

Question 14

Shirley

Answer 14

+strength of custodial sentencing - provides opportunity for training and treatment through rehabilitation
The Vera Institute of Justice claims that offenders who take part in college ediucation programmes are 43% less likely to reoffend following release

Question 15

Hobbs and Holt

Answer 15

+research support for behaviour modification
Hobbs and Holt introduced token economy programme with groups of young offenders across 3 behavioural units (and fourth as a control) - they observed a significant difference in positive behaviour compared to the non token economy group

Question 16

Field

Answer 16

+research support for behavioural modification (use with Hobbs and Holt)
-found a token economy programme used with young people with behavioural problems was generally effective, although there were still a number of young people who did not respond
they were later placed on special programmes where the rewards were more immediate and frequent and results were more positive

Question 17

Basset and Blanchard

Answer 17

Counter Hobbs and Holt, and Field
The success of such systems depends on a consistent approach from prison staff
-found that any benefits were lost if the staff applied the techniques inconsistently
due to lack of appropriate staff training

Question 18

Keen

Answer 18

AO1
positive outcome with young offenders using anger management
-studied the progress made with young offenders aged between 17 and 21 who took part in a nationally recognised anger management programme
Although there were initial issues in terms of offenders not taking the course seriously, and individuals forgetting routines such as bringing their diaries, the outcomes were generally positive
Offenders reported increased awareness of their anger management difficulties and increased capacity to exercise self control

Question 19

Howells

Answer 19

-individual differences on anger managements
conducted an investigation with Australialian offenders
researchers found that participation in an anger management programme has little overall impact when compared to control group who received no treatment
however, this was not true for all offenders in treatment programme
significant progress was made with those offenders who had showed intense anger levels before the programme and offenders who were open to change and highly motivated rom the outset, experienced similar gains

Question 20

Shapland

Answer 20

+evidence supporting restorative justice
-reported results of a major seven year research project
85% of survivors reported satisfaction with the process of meeting their offender face to face and 78% would recommend to other people in similar situation
60% of survivors felt the process had made them feel better about the incident- enabling them to feel closure and move on

Question 21

Suzuki

Answer 21

counters Shapland
-not all research for restorative justice is positive
-argues that restorative processes are not as survivor focussed as they often report in satisfaction surveys - can be distorted- such as when survivors of crime are ‘used’ as a way of helping to rehabilitate offenders, rather than being helped
-survivor as secondary to process of rehabilitation

Question 22

Strang

Answer 22

-evidence of decrease in recidivism after restorative justice
-meta analysis of 10 studies by Sting compared offenders who experienced face to face restorative justice schemes with those who just experienced custodial sentencing
-restorative justice group were significantly less likely to reoffend

Question 23

Blain

Answer 23

Similar to Strang
found lowered recidivism rates with adult offenders, especially when using a one to one contact rather than general community involvement

Question 24

Holanchock and Bartol

Answer 24

-limitation of Eysenck - cultural limitations
-studied hispanic and African American offenders in max security prison in New York
-divided these offenders into 6 groups based on their offending history and the nature of their offences
-found that all 6 groups were less extraverted than a non offender control group

Question 25

Thornton and reid

Answer 25

-limitation of level of moral reasoning
-depends on the offence
found that people who committed crimes for financial gain were more likely to show pre convential moral reasoning than those convicted of impulsive crimes
-pre moral associated with crimes in which offenders believe they have a good chance of evading punishment

Question 26

Howitt and Sheldon

Answer 26

-limitation of cognitive distortion -depends on type of offence
-gathered questionnaire responses from sexual offenders
they found that non-contact sex offenders (accessed sexual images on the Internet) used more cognitive distortions than contact sex offenders

Question 27

dodge and frame

Answer 27

suggests roots of HAB are in childghood
showed children a video clip of an ‘ambitious provocation’ - children who had been identified as ‘aggressive; prior to the study interpreted the situation as more hostile than those classed as ‘non aggressive’

Question 28

Goreta

Answer 28

-research support of psychodynamic
-conducted a freudian style analysis of ten offenders referred for psychiatric treatment
in all those assessed, disturbances in superego formation were diagnosed
each offender experienced unconscious feelings of guilt and the need for self punishment -over harsh superego

Question 29

-Kochanska

Answer 29

counters Goreta
general principles of inadequate superego theory was not supported
as if the theory was correct, we would expect harsh punitive parents to raise children who experience guilt -however research says opportune
parents who rely on harsher forms of discipline tend to raise rebellious children