forensic psychology

Question 1

define a crime

Answer 1

an action or omission which constitutes an offence and is punishable by the countries law

Question 2

outline the problems in defining crime

Answer 2

Cultural issues defining crime:
-What is considered a crime and how that act is dealt with varies considerably from culture to culture. For example, being gay is illegal in places like Qatar but legal in the UK

Historical issues in defining crime :
-Definitions of crime change over time like homosexually was illegal in Britain until 196

Question 3

define deviance

Answer 3

diverging from usual to accepted standards especially in social or sexual behaviour

Question 4

outline the top down approach for offender profiling

Answer 4

4 stages of constructing a top down profile
1. data assimilation: reviews evidence
2. crime scene classification: organised/disorganised
3. crime reconstruction: how did the crime take place
4.profile generation: hypothesis of characteristics of offender

organised crime: above average IQ, socially and sexually adequate, married/cohabitating, skilled occupation

disorganised crime: live alone, below average IQ, socially and sexually inadequate, unskilled occupation.

Question 5

evaluate the top-down approach

Answer 5

-Can only be applied to sexually motivated kills because of the limitation of the original sample that they interviewed

-Alison et al argues that this approach is outdated as it believes in people’s personality being stable and no external factors affecting offending behaviour

-Reductionist- the classification system is too simple, and offenders are neither disorganised or organised they can have a mix of both features in their crimes and an offender might start off being disorganised and become more organised.

+ helps in cases where there is little evidence to go off and can lead to breakthroughs

Question 6

outline the bottom up approach

Answer 6

canter created the bottom up approach which looks for consistent behaviours in offenders and starts with the details and builds it up to make the bigger picture.

no initial assumptions are made and the bottom up approach relies heavily on computer databases

investigate psychology- using small space analysis you can identify patterns and see if a series of crimes are linked to each other

interpersonal coherance- how does teh crime show us what the person is like in real life

geographical profiling- look at the spatial consistecny of the crime scenes and whether the criminal is a maruander or commuter

Question 7

evaluate the bottom up approach

Answer 7

+ evidence to support investigative psychology, Canter and Heritage analysed 66 sexual assault cases using SSA and identified clear and common patterns

+ evidence to support geographical profiling Lundrigan and Canter collated evidence from 120 murder cases and found that the offenders home base was invariably located in the centre of the crime scene pattern

+ the use of SSA makes this approach much more scientific than top-down typologies

+ bottom up has wider applications, and it can be applied to other crimes not just sexually motivated serial killers like top-down

-Despite Copson saying 83% of police find it useful only 3% of cases lead to an accurate identification of the offender.

-in the case of Rachel Nickell, the offender profile made by bottom-up approach led to a misleading profile and the wrongful arrest of Collin Stagg.

Question 8

what are the biological explanations for crime

Answer 8

Atavistic Form

Neural explanations like APD and mirror neurons

genetic explanations like an extra Y chromsome or the MAOA gene

Question 9

outline atavistic form

Answer 9

This is the biological explanation of criminality. Lombroso used this to explain that offenders are genetic throwbacks, or a primitive sub species not suited to conforming to the roles of modern society

In a study of 383 dead Italian criminals and 3839 living ones he found 40% of them had atavistic characteristics William Sheldon and the Body type Theory

Found male delinquents were much more likely to be mesomorphs than male students of a similar age

Question 10

evaulate atavistic form as a biological explanation

Answer 10

+ it was the first attempt to identify biological explanations for criminality and the beginning of offender profiling and modern forensic science

-Study was not statistically frequent to support it

-Lombroso didn’t have a control group of non criminals so it could have been that those characteristics are common in the general population

-Lombroso had been accused of scientific racism as some of the characteristics he identified were more prevalent in certain racial groups.

-Goring did find evidence that criminals tended to have lower than average intelligence, but this may mean crime is due to lack of education rather than any biological factors

Question 11

what are the diagnostic features of APD

Answer 11

Repeatedly breaking the law

Repeatedly being decietful

Being impulsive

Being irritable and aggressive

Being reckless

Disregard for personal safety and for others

Lack of remorse

Question 12

outline the neural explanations of offending behaviour

Answer 12

Adrian Raine used PET scans and found abnormalities in some parts of the brain in violent criminals. Most of the criminals in these studies were diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder and had reduced brain activity in the prefrontal cortex which is the part of the brain that regulates emotional behaviour. 11% of the ppts with APD also had reduced grey matter.

Keyser’s found that mirror neurons did not function in individuals with APD in the same way as they do in normal controls. Mirror Neurons help us to feel empathy. Individuals with APD were not completely without empathy but had to be told to feel empathy when seeing a film showing an individual experiencing pain. It seems these individuals can switch the mirror neurons on and off.

Question 13

evaluate the neural explanation of offending behaviour

Answer 13

-Not every criminal has APD or an abnormal brain structure

-Everyone has free will to break the law or not

+ studies are scientific as they use scientific equipment like PET scans

-some don’t believe that mirror neurons exist as there isn’t enough scientific evidence to prove they do yet

Question 14

outline the genetic explanations for offending behaviour

Answer 14

Price: males with an extra Y chromosome were predisposed to violent crime as they were below average intelligence

Christiansen: 3586 twin pairs in Denmark and 52% concordance rate for criminality was found for Mz twins compared to just 22% for Dz twins

Brunner- took a family from the Netherlands where males were affected by low intelligence and abnormal violent behaviour (arson, attempted rape, flashing). Brunner collected data like medical records, school reports and criminal records. He found that there was a mutation in a gene on the chromosome responsible for MAOA which leads to lower levels of neurotransmitters which can lead to behavioral problems, sleep problems and emotional arousal.

Question 15

evaluate the genetic explanations for offending behaviour

Answer 15

+ support for the diathesis stress model of crime as someone may have biological tendencies towards crime but that they will need some biological trigger to become a criminal

+ use of scientific method and equipment e.g. PET scans

-Sample sizes are very small so can’t generalise

-Criminals have free will and not biologically determined to commit crime

-Explaining complexity of crime through brain structure and genes is very reductionist

-Individual differences as JIM FALLON has the brain of a serial killer and have the mutation of the MAOA gene but he is a normal behaving ppt of society

-Crime is a social construct so how can we have a biological predisposition to break laws that society invented

Question 16

what is Eysenck’s theory of personality for offending behaviour

Answer 16

Out personality is innate and has a biological basis

There is a personality type known as the criminal personality and these personalities score high on measures of extraversion, neuroticism (moody, anxious, fearful, jealous) and psychoticism (impulsive, lack of remorse or care for safety) and are difficult to condition

Eyesenck had a personality questionnaire which was designed to measure how you usually feel or act and then you were given a score on the Extraversion, Neuroticism and Psychoticism and was a way of measuring the personality

Question 17

evaluate Eysencks thoery of personality as an explanation for offending behaviour

Answer 17

+supporting evidence from Eysenck’s study of 2070 male prisoners and 2422 control males and the prisoners scored higher on extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism than the non-criminal controls.

• Farrington reviewed several studies and only found evidence of prisoners scoring higher on measures of psychoticism
• The idea of personality explaining all offending behaviour is not very plausible as there are many different types of offenders, and all crimes are different.
• Culturally biased and Holancock studied black and Hispanic criminals in America and found them to be less extroverted than non criminal groups which goes against Eysenck’s
• Low validity of measuring personality through psychometric test is also questionable as is the notion that personality is a stable entity and people would argue personality changes

Question 18

outline the cognitive explanation for offending behaviour

Answer 18

Cognitive distortions

1. Hostile attribution bias: when an offender misreads the actions or intentions of another person and they may assume someone is being confrontational when they are not. E.g. being looked at with a blank expression and sating “ what you looking at”
   ——>Schoenberg and Justyne presented 55 violent offenders with emotionally ambiguous faces compared to non-aggressive matched control group they were much less likely to perceive faces as angry and hostile
   ——–>Dodge and frame showed a clip to children a video clip of ambiguous provocation children who had been identified as rejected or aggressive were much more likely to classify the situation as hostile
2. Minimalisation is an attempt to downplay or deny the seriousness of an offence
   —–>Barbaree found amongst 26 convicted rapists 54% denied they had committed the offence and 40% minimized the harm caused to the victim. E.g. it was just banter when being racist.
3. Internal and external attribution is when you either justify our behavior by taking full responsibility or blaming someone or something else. e.g. so and so told me to do it
4. Fundamental attribution errors are when we blame the external factors like childhood for out own behaviour but attribute more significance to others personality when considering behaviour of others. e.g. good grade due to your hard work, bad grade due to teachers

Question 19

evaluate the cognitive explanations for offending behaviour

Answer 19

+ If offending behaviour can be explained by cognitive distortions than this has practical applications for rehab as we can use CBT to change the way offenders think and therefore change their behaviour

• Individual differences between criminals and not all cognitive distortions can explain crime because we can never truly know what a person is thinking and can only ask and infer thoughts from behaviour and both methods lack validity and reliability.

Question 20

outline research into moral development

Answer 20

Kohlberg believed that children’s cognition and development through stages. His research involved presenting groups of boys with moral dilemmas and asking questions about them

Aim- find evidence to support a progression through stages of moral development

Procedure- 58 working, middle class boys from Chicago aged 7,10,13,16 were given a two-hour interview with 10 dilemmas to solve. Some of these boys were followed up at 3 yearly intervals and the study was repeated in 1969 in the UK, Mexico, Taiwan and the USA.

Findings- younger boys tended to perform at stages 1 and 2 with older boys at stage 3 and 4 this pattern was consistent across different cultures

Question 21

what are the stages of moral development

Answer 21

Level 1- Pre-mortality/conventional(up to 9)
- Stage 1: Punishment and obedience orientation. Doing what is right in fear of punishment
- Stage 2: Hedonistic orientation. Doing what is right for personal gain like a reward

level 2- conventional moraility ( 9 to 19)
- Stage 3: interpersonal concordance orientation .Doing what is right according to majority
- Stage 4: law and order orientation. Doing what is right because it is your duty and helps society

Level 3- Post conventional morality (adolescence+)
- Stage 5: social contract or logistic orientation .Doing what is right even if it is against the law
- Stage 6: universal ethical principles orientation .Doing what is right because of our inner conscience which has absorbed the principles of justice, equality and sacredness of human life

Question 22

evaluate the moral development theory as an explanation of offending behaviour

Answer 22

Thorton and Reid with criminal samples suggest that criminals committing crime for financial gain show more immature reasoning than those committing violent crimes

Chandler: found individuals that function at higher levels of moral reasoning tend to sympathise more with the right of others and exhibit more conventional behaviour such as honesty, generosity and non-violence

• Kohlberg’s research was Androcentric, Ethnocentric, Longitudinal (effects over time but people tend to drop out)

Question 23

what are the psychological explanations for offending behaviour

Answer 23

Eysenck’s personality theory
cognitive distortions
moral development
differential association hypothesis

Question 24

outline the differential association hypothesis

Answer 24

suggests that through interaction with other individuals learn values and motivation for criminal behaviour
Sutherland presented his theory in the form of 9 principles

1. Criminal behavior is learnt
2. Criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other people

3.Learning of criminal behavior occurs within intimate groups

4.In learning criminal behavior, it can include techniques, motive, aggression not just the actual crime.

5.The direction of motives is learned from the definitions of the legal codes as favorable or unfavorable

6.A person becomes delinquent because there are more positives to committing crime then not

7.Differing associations may vary in frequency, duration and priority

8.The process of learning criminal behaviour requires all the mechanisms of learning

9.While criminal behaviour is an expression of needs but not explained by general needs as all people have the same needs, but don’t all commit crime.

Question 25

evaluate the differential association hypothesis

Answer 25

+ theory shifted the emphasis away from biology and eugenic arguments for criminality

+ can account for all crimes for race, gender and social groups

-Impossible to test this theory as you can’t count someone’s associations and influences quantitatively

-Farrington found that the family is a large influence on offending and crime can be seen as intergenerational suggesting genetic explanation

-Doesn’t account for individual differences as some people are much more susceptible to the influence of others

Question 26

Outline the psychodynamic explanations for offending behaviour

Answer 26

Blachburn argues that if the superego is deficient then criminality is inevitable as the Id is not properly controlled and we are going to give into our impulses

1.Weak superego may develop if the same sex parent is absent during the phallic stage of psycho-sexual development and this would mean the child dint internalize the moral values of the same sex parent leading to offending behaviour.

2.Deviant superego may develop if the child internalizes the morals of the criminal or deviant same sex parent

3.Over harsh superego may develop is the same sex parent is overly harsh and this may mean the individual is crippled by guilt and commits crime to satisfy the superegos need for punishment

Question 27

evaluate psychodynamic explanation for offending behaviour

Answer 27

• There is little evidence to back this theory up as it is psychodynamic and many children grow up without a same sex parent that aren’t criminals
• The idea of the superego wanting to be punished doesn’t stand well as most criminals do a crime intending not to be caught and try to get away with it
• The ideas are pseudoscientific and cannot be tested
• There is a correlation between maternal deprivation and criminality like in Bowlbys study of the Juveniles but correlation doesn’t equal causation

Question 28

what are the 4 aims of custodial sentencing

Answer 28

1. deterrence- the thought of prison as a punsihment should deter
2. retribution- society is taking revenge on the criminal
3. incapacitation- criminal unable to commit further crime
4. rehabilitation- reform the criminal through education, therapy so they leave changed

Question 29

what are the 3 psychological effects of custodial sentencing

Answer 29

stress and depression- suicide rates are higher in prison than in the general population and if a pirsoner suffers from mental helath issues it is likely to worsen in prison

institutionalisation- having adopted to the norms and values of prison life some prisoners find it impossible to cope in the real world on release

prisonisation- some behaviour that are unacceptable in normal society may be acceptable in prison meaning prisoners learn to accept prisoner code to survive like the unofficial hierarchy of prisoners

Question 30

what are the stats of recidivism

Answer 30

57% of prisoners will reoffend within a year on release and over 2/3 of under 18 year olds are reconvicted within a year of release

Question 31

outline why prisons don’t work

Answer 31

• suicide rate are 15x higher in prisons than in society and around 25% of female and 15% of male prisoners have symptoms of psychosis
• rehabilition doesnt work due to cuts to the prison bugdets meaning education and theroayp are not available at the level they need to be effective in prisons
• university of crime: putting inexperienced criminals into a prison environment may mean that the type of education they get makes them a better criminal and encourages them to commit crime more
• easier alternatives to imprisonment like fines, ankle monitors, community service

Question 32

what is behaviour modification

Answer 32

it involves rewarding desired behaviour and withholding rewards for undesirable behaviour and usually works best with children or in institutions like mental hospitals, schools and prisons

e.g. token economies

Question 33

evaluate token economies

Answer 33

+ you don’t need a professional to run it and its easy to introduce

• You can’t always keep tabs on it and they may have done something bad like fight, but you don’t know and then you are conditioning them that fighting is a desirable behaviour
• The incentive has to be correct for the target audience otherwise they won’t feel motivated to do it e.g. adult doesn’t want a toy from toy shop so money would be more appropriate
• Hobbs and holt introduced token economies into 3 young delinquent behavioural units and 1 control and they observed significant improvement in positive behaviour as a result

Question 34

what is restorative justice

Answer 34

brings those harmed by crime and those responsible for the harm into communication enabling everyone to play a part in repairing the damage done

Question 35

what are the 3 components of restorative justice

Answer 35

victim reparation- helping the victim heal and feel safe again
communities of care and reconciliation - services there to help the communication and keep offender in check
offender responsibility- taking responsibility and making amends genuinely and remorsefully

Question 36

why does restorative justice help the victim

Answer 36

Opportunity to tell the offender about the impact of their crime on the victim

An acknowledgement of the harm caused

A chance to ask questions

Some control and choice

Peace of mind

Question 37

what are the general aims for restorative justice

Answer 37

Rehabilitation of offenders- being punished is a passive process whereas restorative justice requires offender to be active

Atonement of wrongdoing- offender may offer concrete compensation or atone by showing genuine feelings of guilt and remorse

Victims’ perspective- restores power to the victim as their voice is heard in the legal process helping them feel safe again

Question 38

evaluate restorative justice as an alternative to custodial sentencing

Answer 38

+ helps the offender take accountability and understand the impact of their actions by talking victims

+ they must participate actively allowing them to make amends and work harder to become better instead of going to a juvenile jail

+ helping the community as the offender builds a connection to the community reducing the likelihood of reoffending.

The victim might feel pressure to forgive and accept an inadequate resolution

Not suitable to all offenders as some may not have the maturity to take part in the process meaningfully, potentially undermining its effectiveness.

Question 39

what is anger management

Answer 39

Anger management programmes are a form go CBT which aims to change the way a prisoner thinks and therefore act

Question 40

what are the three stages to anger management

Answer 40

1. Cognitive preparation- the offender is encouraged to reflect on their past behaviors and what makes them angry, and the therapist works with them to show that the response is irrational and helps them redefine the situation. Taught to recognise their own triggers(cognitive)
2. Skill acquisition- offenders are taught a range of techniques and skills to enable them to avoid triggers and deal with anger provoking situations more rationally and this might require assertiveness and effective communication from the therapist (behavioral)
3. Application practice- offenders practice through role play and the therapist deliberately provoke them to see how they react, and the therapist will positively reinforce the successful strategies (SLT)

Question 41

outline the investigation into the effectiveness of anger management in prisons

Answer 41

Ireland 2000

Aims- assess whether anger management programmes work with young male offenders

Procedure-
Natural experiment with 50 prisoners who had completed CALM and a group of 37 who were assessed as suitable but hadn’t taken the course.
Prisoners were given a cognitive behavioural interview and the prison officers completed a WBC rating 29 angry behaviours with a score of 0,1 or 2 the week before the interview
Prisoners completed a self-report questionnaire on anger management with 53 questions

Results-
Prisoner that had completed CALM course rated themselves lower on the anger questionaire amd were rated lower by prison officers than the control group
92% showed improvements on at least one measure of aggression and anger

Conclusion- in the short term the treatment seemed effective, but there is no reoffending data

Question 42

evaluate anger management as a way of preventing offender behaviour

Answer 42

+ Wide ranging approach as it uses cognitive, behaviorism and social learning theory to improve anger

+ Anger management is more long term and is more likely to lead to a permanent change

• We don’t know the long-term effects of anger management is prisoners as when the offenders are released, we lose the data, so we don’t know the long-term effects. It is different from role playing in therapy to the outside world.
• Anger management is limited in its application as not all crimes are motivated by anger
• Anger management is very time consuming and expensive and requires highly skilled therapists and the prisoner must also want the CBT to work and want to change.