Forensic Psychology

Question 1

Crime

Answer 1

Breaking the rules of a state

Question 2

Deviance

Answer 2

Breaking societal norms and values

Question 3

Cultural issues defining crime

Answer 3

Certain behaviours are treated as criminal offences in different countries but not in others. Also, forensic research is often ethnocentric.

Question 4

Historical issues defining crime

Answer 4

Crimes change over time, and things become legal as society develops.

Question 5

Top-down approach

Answer 5

Developed by the FBI Behavioural Science Unit from date gathered from 36 sexually motivated serial killer cases. The data is reviewed, the crime scene is classified and potentially reconstructed. They then generate a profile of likely characteristics.

Question 6

Organised crime scene

Answer 6

Planned, clean crime scene, no/ very few clues, targeted victim, attempts to control the victim.

Question 7

Organised criminal

Answer 7

Above average IQ, socially/ sexually competent, married, anger or depression at the time of the offence, follows media coverage, skilled occupation.

Question 8

Disorganised crime scene

Answer 8

Little planning, lots of evidence, minimal use of constraint, random/ disorganised behaviour.

Question 9

Disorganised criminal

Answer 9

Lives alone near the scene, sexually/ socially inadequate, unskilled or unemployed, physically/ sexually abused, frightened or confused at the time of the attack.

Question 10

Top-down approach evalutation

Answer 10

• Can only be applied to sexually motivated serial killers.
• Alison et al 2002- approach is based on outdated theories of personality being stable.
• Reductionist- classification system is too simple- not every offender is organised or disorganised.

Question 11

Bottom-up approach

Answer 11

Canter (1990)- starts with the details to build the bigger picture. The approach uses the Smallest Space Analysis Database to identify patterns with the offence and other offences committed. This is then used with Geographical Profiling to make inferences about where an offender is likely to live.

Question 12

Canter’s Circle Theory (1993)

Answer 12

Marauders commit their homes close to home where they are comfortable (usually disorganised). Commuters travel to another location further away (usually organised).

Question 13

Bottom-up Approach Evaluation

Answer 13

+ Evidence support- Canter and Heritage (1990) analysed 66 sexual assault cases using the approach and found common patterns.
+ Evidence support (Geographical Profiling- Canter and Lundrigan (2001) collated evidence of 120 murder cases and found that the offenders home base was located in the centre of the crime scene pattern.
+ Scientific
+ Wider applications
- Copson (1995) found that 83% of forces found the profile useful but only 3% of cases lead to an accurate conviction.
- Researcher bias- supported by Canter’s own research.

Question 14

Atavistic Form

Answer 14

Lombroso (1876)- offenders are ‘genetic throwbacks’ or a ‘primitive subspecies’ with distinguishing features, like large noses, large jaws, flashy lips, shifty eyes, etc, that they are born with.

Question 15

Sheldon’s Body Types (1942)

Answer 15

Stated that there are three body types: ectomorph (sensitive, apprehensive, introverted), endomorph (relaxed, comfortable, pleasant, extraverted), and mesomorph (courageous, risk taker, aggressive, assertive).

Question 16

Atavistic /Body Type Evaluation

Answer 16

+ The theories were the beginning of offender profiling and lead to a lot of modern forensic research.
+ Championed the use of scientific method.
- No control groups- could’ve just been common characteristics.
- Scientific racism
- Temporal validity

Question 17

Goring (1913)

Answer 17

Criminals tend to have lower intelligence.

Question 18

Eberhardt

Answer 18

Stereotypical ‘black’ looking men were more likely to get the death penalty in the USA.

Question 19

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Answer 19

Impulsive, reckless risk takers with a disregard for the safety of others and a lack of remorse.

Question 20

Adrian Raine (2000)

Answer 20

Used PET scanning techniques to examine the brains of offenders. He found that those with APD had reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex (regulates emotion). Also, individuals with APD had an 11% reduction in the volume of grey matter in their prefrontal cortex.

Question 21

Keysers (2011)

Answer 21

Individuals with APD had less activity in mirror neurones that are responsible for feeling empathy. They had to be asked to feel empathy when watching a sad film.

Question 22

Neuro-ethical dilemma

Answer 22

The usefulness of knowing information about someones neurological condition.

Question 23

Price (1966)

Answer 23

Suggested that males with an extra Y chromosome were predisposed toward violent crime. They were above average height and below average intelligence.

Question 24

Christiansen (1977)

Answer 24

Studied 3586 twin pains in Denmark- found a 52% concordance rate for criminality in MZ twins compared to 22% in DZ twins.

Question 25

Brunner (1993)

Answer 25

Studied 5 males from a family affected by a syndrome of borderline mental retardation and abnormal violent behaviour, including aggression, arson, attempted rape and exhibitionism. He collected urine samples over 24 hours and studied medical, school and criminal records. He found that a mutation of the X chromosome for the gene that produces MAOA was present. High levels of MAOA causes reduction in serotonin (sleep and mood), dopamine (emotional arousal) and noradrenaline (arousal).

Question 26

Genetic Evaluation

Answer 26

- Diathesis stress model- biological tendencies can cause crime if triggered by an environmental stressor. - Biological determinism- everyone has free will, plus crime is extremely complex- Jim Fallon has the brain of a serial killer but isn’t one. - Crime is a social construct- how can you have a biological predisposition to society's set of rules. - Neuro-ethical dilemma- usefulness of knowing someone has a biological predisposition to crime.

Question 27

Neurological Evaluation

Answer 27

- Not every criminal has APD or abnormal brain structure and everybody has free will. + Scientific method/ equipment- reliability - Neuro-ethical dilemma

Question 28

Eysenck's theory of personality

Answer 28

He believed that our personality is oinnate and has a biological basis. The criminal personality is seen with people who score highly on measures of extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism and are difficult to condition and interact with.

Question 29

Extraversion

Answer 29

Enjoys being around people, outgoing, confident

Question 30

Neuroticism

Answer 30

Moody, anxious, angry, jealous, no set mood

Question 31

Psychoticism

Answer 31

Impulsive, risk taker, unpredictable

Question 32

Eysenck's Study

Answer 32

Studied 2070 male prisoners and 2422 male controls- the prisoners scored higher on the measures of personality.

Question 33

Eysenck Evaluation

Answer 33

- Farrington- reviewed several studies and found evidence of prisoners only scoring higher on psychoticism. - The idea of one personality type explaining all offending behaviour isn't plausible- not all criminals are the same. - Culturally biased- Holanchock studied Black and Hispanic criminals in America, finding them less extroverted than non-criminal groups. - The validity of measuring personality through a psychometric test is questionable as personality isn't entirely stable.

Question 34

Cognitive distortions

Answer 34

Offenders have faulty, biased or irrational ways of thinking.

Question 35

Hostile attribution bias

Answer 35

An offender misreads or misinterprets the actions or intentions of another person. This is probably learnt during childhood.

Question 36

Schonenberg and Justye

Answer 36

Presented 55 violent offenders with images of emotionally ambiguous faces- more likely to perceive them as angry/ hostile than the control.

Question 37

Dodge and Frame

Answer 37

Showed children video clips of 'ambiguous provocation'- those who had been identified as rejected or aggressive were more likely to classify it as hostile.

Question 38

Minimalisation

Answer 38

The offender downplays or denies the seriousness of their offence (more common in sex offenders).

Question 39

Barbaree

Answer 39

Found 54% of 26 convicted rapists denied their offence and 40% minimised the harm caused.

Question 40

Internal Attribution

Answer 40

When a person accepts full responsibilty for their own behaviour.

Question 41

External Attribution

Answer 41

When a person sees the cause of their behaviour as an external factor, denying guilt/ responsibility.

Question 42

Fundamental Attribution Error

Answer 42

Attribute more significance to situational factors when considering the causes of our own behaviour but attribute more significance to personality when considering others behaviour.

Question 43

Personality Evalutation

Answer 43

+ Practical applications- CBT can be used to alter the way offenders think and therefore behave. - Cognitive distortions can't explain all crimes- individual differences. - We can't really know what someone is thinking.

Question 44

Morals

Answer 44

A set of norms and values about what is right and wrong, often learnt from out parents.

Question 45

Kohlberg (1963)

Answer 45

Heavily influenced by the work of Piaget- a child's cognition develops through stages. He presented a set of moral dilemmas to a group of 58 middle/working class boys to see how they reacted to then. They were followed up ever 3 years.

Question 46

Stages of Morality

Answer 46

Level 1- Pre-morality- < 9 years of age: stage 1- punishment and obedience orientation (fear of punishment, stage 2- hedonistic orientation (personal gain/ reward). Level 2- Conventional Morality- 9-adolescence: stage 3- interpersonal concordance orientation (majority), stage 4- law and order orientation (duty to help society). Level 3- Post-conventional Morality- adolescence +: stage 5- social contract or legalistic orientation (morally right over lawfully right), stage 6- universal ethical principles (following inner conscience morality).

Question 47

Thornton and Reid (1982)

Answer 47

Criminals committing crime for financial gain show more immature reasoning than those committing violent crimes.

Question 48

Chandler (1973)

Answer 48

Individuals who function at higher levels of moral reasoning tend to sympathise more with the right of others and exhibit more conventional behaviours such as honesty, generosity and non-violence.

Question 49

Kohlberg Evaluation

Answer 49

- Limited sample (ethnocentric, androcentric) - Lacks ecological validity + Supports idea of stage theory + Longitudinal - covers multiple developmental stages

Question 50

Sutherland (1939) Differential Association Hypothesis

Answer 50

1. Criminal behaviour is learnt. 2. Criminal behaviour is learned in interaction with other people in a process of communication. 3. The principle part of the learning of criminal behaviour occurs within intimate personal groups. 4. When criminal behaviour is learned, the learning includes the techniques of committing the crime, which are sometimes very complicated, sometimes very simple and the specific direction of motives, drives, rationalisations and attitudes. 5. The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of the legal codes as favourable or unfavourable. (Dominant view of individual) 6. A person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favourable to violation of law over definitions unfavourable to violation of law. (Peer pressure) 7. Differential associations (number of contacts with criminals over non-criminals) may vary in frequency, duration, priority and intensity. 8. The process of learning criminal behaviour by association with criminal and anti-criminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning (behaviourism). 9. While criminal behaviour is an expression of general needs and values, it is not explained by those general needs and values, since non-criminal behaviour is an expression of the same needs and values.

Question 51

Summary of Sutherland's theory

Answer 51

- Deviance occurs when people define a certain human situation as an appropriate occasion for violating social norms or criminal laws. - Definitions of the situation are acquired through an individual's history of past experience.

Question 52

Sutherland Evaluation

Answer 52

+ This theory shifted the emphasis away from biology. + Accounts for white-collar crime- representative of all kinds of crimes and offenders. - Impossible to test. - Farrington found that family is a large influence- inter-generational crime. - Doesn't account for individual differences in susceptibility/ influence.

Question 53

Superego

Answer 53

Formed around the age of 5-6 years in the phallic stage. This contains our moral values and our internalised same-sex parent, ensuring that the ego doesn't use unacceptable means to satisfy the id.

Question 54

Blackburn (1993)

Answer 54

If the superego is deficient, criminality is inevitable as the id is uncontrolled.

Question 55

Weak Superego

Answer 55

May develop if the same-sex parent is absent during the phallic stage of psycho-sexual development.

Question 56

Deviant Superego

Answer 56

May develop if the child internalises the morals of a criminal or deviant same-sex parent.

Question 57

Over-harsh Superego

Answer 57

May develop if the same-sex parent is overly harsh. May result in crippling guilt/ anxiety, so the person commits crime to satisfy the superego's need for punishment.

Question 58

Psychodynamic Evaluation

Answer 58

- Freud's theory is seen as sexist as he focuses on the Oedipus Complex. - Little evidence to back up the theory. - The idea of an over-harsh superego and the need for punishment can't be proven- most criminals make attempts to not be caught. - Unconscious motivations are not testable and unfalsifiable, therefore are pseudoscientific. - Bowlby's research is bias and he did not distinguish between deprivation and privation. - Correlation does not equal causation.

Question 59

UK Prison Population

Answer 59

As of 2024, 88,691 people are in prison, 4% women and 422 under 16.

Question 60

Universities of Crime

Answer 60

Prisoners regularly come out of prison much more educated in crime- link to differential association hypothesis.

Question 61

Prison Reform Trust 2007

Answer 61

Prisoners have not reached the levels of literacy and numeracy of an average 11 year old child. 50% do not have the skills required by 96% of jobs.

Question 62

Parole

Answer 62

Applications to be released after a minimum time set by the judge has been served. The nature of the offence, the judge's comments on sentencing and the inmates behaviour are all considered. Gives inmates an incentive to behave and comply with rules in prison.

Question 63

Deterrence

Answer 63

Prison should be unpleasant to deter people from wanting to return or commit offences in the first place.

Question 64

Incapacitation

Answer 64

Taking a criminal out of circulation means they are unable to commit more crimes, keeping society safe.

Question 65

Retribution

Answer 65

Revenge on the criminal- they are paying for their offences by having their freedom taken away from them.

Question 66

Rehabilitation

Answer 66

Prison can be used to reform criminals through training, education and therapy so they don't commit any more offences.

Question 67

Stress and Depression

Answer 67

Suicide rates are extremely high in prisons as mental health issues are worsened significantly in prison.

Question 68

Institutionalisation

Answer 68

Some prisoners find it extremely hard to adapt back to life in society. It is common for offenders to reoffend to go back to the comfort of prison life.

Question 69

Prisonisation

Answer 69

Some behaviour are unacceptable outside but encouraged within prison, so prisoners learn to accept the rules within the prison.

Question 70

Recidivism

Answer 70

When a prison reoffends after being released. 57% of offenders reoffend within a year of release (2013).

Question 71

Prison Evaluation

Answer 71

- Curt Bartol (1995)- prison is "brutal, demeaning and generally devestating". - Suicide rates are extremely high. 15% of mean and 25% of women experience psychosis. - Individual differences- not all prisoners or crimes are the same- punishment should fit the individual. - Rehabilitation- opportunities are limited due to budget cuts. - University of Crime - Alternatives include restorative justice and probation.

Question 72

Economic Implication

Answer 72

The government are reluctant to invest in prisoners due to economic restraints and public opinion.

Question 73

Behaviour Modification - Operant Conditioning

Answer 73

Therapies based on the principles of operant conditioning aim to bring about specific changes in behaviour. This involves rewarding appropriate behaviour and withholding rewards for inappropriate behaviour. This works best in mental hospitals, schools and prisons.

Question 74

Token Economy

Answer 74

Rewards are given for good behaviour and can be exchanged for certain privileges.

Question 75

Hobbs and Holt (1976)

Answer 75

Introduced a token economy in three young delinquent behaviour units. They observed significant improvement in positive behaviour in these units.

Question 76

Allyon (1979)

Answer 76

Found token economies work well in adult prisons.

Question 77

Token Economy Evaluation

Answer 77

+ Easy to implement and do not require training. - Requires consistency. - The effects may be due to increased attention instead of the actual economy. - They may not actually change behaviour- demand characteristics. - Clinton Field (2004)- for maximum affect, the rewards and frequency of them must be individually tailored to the inmate.

Question 78

Restorative justice

Answer 78

Communication between offender and victim to enable everyone affected to find a positive way forward.

Question 79

Aims of Restorative Justice

Answer 79

- Rehabilitation of offender- punishment is passive where RJ involves active participation enabling the offender to take full responsibility for their offence. - Atonement for Wrongdoing- allows the offender to offer compensation (physically or emotionally) and express remorse. - Victim's Perspective- allows the victim to show how they have been affected and how they feel in response to the crime.

Question 80

Sherman and Strang 2007

Answer 80

Studied 20 studies involving 142 men convicted of violence and property offences and found only 11% reoffended when participating in Restorative Justice compared to 37% of a control group.

Question 81

Restorative Justice Evalutation

Answer 81

- Cost- Shepland 2007- every £1 spent on RJ, the government would save £8 from reduced reoffending. However, it costs a lot to train mediators and there is a high drop out rate. - Offenders must feel full remorse. - Must not replace punishment. - Crimes like domestic violence or rape should not undergo RJ. - Works most effectively on first time offenders.

Question 82

Anger Management

Answer 82

Therapy to learn how to deal with feelings of anger and frustration effectively.

Question 83

Stages of Anger Management

Answer 83

1. Cognitive Preparation- reflect on what makes them angry. 2. Skill Acquisition- taught skills to manage anger and techniques to deal with stress/ triggers. 3. Application Practice- the therapist will deliberately provoke the offender to see how they react.

Question 84

Ireland 2000

Answer 84

Conducted a natural experiment comparing a group of 50 prisoners who had undergone anger management with a group of 37 who hadn't. They underwent a cognitive behavioural interview, a questionnaire and prison officers completed a checklist to rate angry behaviours. Found that those who had the therapy were less aggressive and had a 92% improvement on at least one measure of aggression/ anger.

Question 85

Anger Management Evaluation

Answer 85

- Involves cognitive, behaviour and social approaches- holistic. - More likely to lead to a permanent change. - Works in the short term, but there is a lack of data considering reoffending behaviour. - Not all crime is motivated by anger. - Very expensive and time consuming.