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A-Level Psychology > Forensic Psychology > Flashcards

Forensic Psychology Flashcards

1
Q

What is crime?

A

An act committed in violation of the law where the consequences of the conviction by court is punishment.

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2
Q

What is Offender Profiling?

A

An analytic tool that helps investigators accurately predict and describe the characteristics of unknown criminality.

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3
Q

Where did Offender Profiling originate?

A

In the USA from data gathered by the FBI’s Behavioural Science Unit after interviewing 36 sexually motivated killers.

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4
Q

What are the main stages in the top-down profiling process outlined by Douglas?

A
  1. Profiling inputs 2. Decision process models 3. Typology 4. Criminal profile construction 5. Crime assessment. 6. Offender Appprehension
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5
Q

What are Profiling inputs?

A

Data collected from the scene of the crime, background information, and details of the crime such as the weapon used.

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6
Q

What is the purpose of decision process models in profiling?

A

To organize data into patterns based on murder type, time factors, and location factors.

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7
Q

What distinguishes an organised offender from a disorganised offender?

A

Organised offenders plan and target victims, is of higher intelligence and is sexually and socially competent, while disorganised offenders randomly select victims, often leaves clues at the scene of the crime so is of lower IQ and engages with the victim

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8
Q

Fill in the blank: An organised offender is often of _____ intelligence and socially and sexually competent.

A

[high]

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9
Q

What is included in a criminal profile?

A

Hypotheses about the offender, such as background, to develop a strategy to catch them.

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10
Q

What happens if suspects are not identified in the crime assessment stage?

A

The investigation returns to stage 2.

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11
Q

What must be reviewed if a suspect is apprehended?

A

The entire profile to check each stage and conclusions for legitimacy. This is beneficial for future cases

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12
Q

What does top-down profiling assume about personality?

A

That personality is fixed and unchanging.

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13
Q

According to Alison, what does recent research suggest about personality?

A

That personality types are fluid and subject to change.

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14
Q

True or False: Offenders may display characteristics from both organised and disorganised categories.

A

True

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15
Q

What is a weakness of fixed typologies in profiling?

A

They may be too rigid to accurately profile the real offender.

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16
Q

Why can’t typologies of organised and disorganised offenders be applied to mundane crimes?

A

The extreme nature of rapes and murders reveals details about the personality and motivations of the killer.

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17
Q

Fill in the blank: The top-down profiling approach can only be used for _____ crimes.

A

[violent, sexual]

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18
Q

What evidence did Canter find regarding disorganised offenders?

A

Consistent offending but not evidence of disorganised offending.

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19
Q

What does Canter’s findings undermine?

A

The binary and exclusive classification system of organised and disorganised offenders.

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20
Q

What are the three A03 point for the top-down approach?

A
  • It assumes that personality is fixed, but Alison states they they are fluid and Godwin states that offenders can be both so it may eliminate offenders as it is too rigid.
  • It cannot be applied to mundane cases as they do not reveal much about the offenders of speeding so it can only be used for violent crimes.
  • Evidence does not support the Disorganised offender as Canter used the smallest space analysis to find consistent findings of 100 offenders using 39 characteristics for organised but not Disorganised which undermined the exclusive classification system as a whole
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21
Q

What is the primary aim of Offender Profiling?

A

To generate a profile through systematic analysis of the crime scene, routing behaviour, and background without initial assumptions about the offender.

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22
Q

What are the two methods of profiling mentioned?

A
  • Geographical Profiling
  • Investigative Profiling
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23
Q

Who investigated Geographical Profiling?

A

Rossmo

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24
Q

What does Geographical Profiling reveal?

A

An offender’s operational base of possible future offences is revealed by the geographical location of their previous crimes.

25
Q

What is crime mapping?

A

Plotting of locations to reveal patterns of crimes.

26
Q

What does modus operandi refer to?

A

How the offender acts or what transport they use.

27
Q

What is the jeopardy surface in Geographical Profiling?

A

Using different colours to indicate the likelihood of a future attack based on crime scene locations.

28
Q

What does Canter et al propose in the Circle theory?

A

People operate within a limited spatial mindset that creates imagined boundaries for committing crimes.

29
Q

What are the two types of offenders in the Circle theory?

A
  • Marauders: operate close to home
  • Commuters: travel a distance away from their usual residence
30
Q

What is Investigative Psychology?

A

A systematic analysis of all available data from the crime scene to build a profile of the offender.

31
Q

What is interpersonal coherence?

A

The assumption that the way an offender behaves at the scene shows how they may interact in real life.

32
Q

What does forensic awareness refer to?

A

How mindful the offender is at covering their tracks.

33
Q

What did Canter and Heritage conduct a study on?

A

A content analysis of sexual assault cases.

34
Q

What technique did Canter and Heritage use in their study?

A

Smallest space analysis.

35
Q

What did Lundrigan and Carter find in their research?

A

Spatial consistency in the behaviour of serial killers.

36
Q

What is a significant finding regarding marauders?

A

They are more likely to show patterns of short distance for body disposal.

37
Q

What did Copson’s survey of police forces reveal about profiling?

A

Advice provided by the profiler was useful in 83% of cases but only led to accurate identification of the offender in 3% of cases.

38
Q

What did Kocsis demonstrate about untrained students vs trained police officers?

A

Untrained chemistry students produced a more accurate profile than trained police officers in a mock investigation.

39
Q

What is a potential issue with the bottom-up approach in profiling?

A

It can lead to inaccurate profiles, as seen in the Nickell murder case.

40
Q

Fill in the blank: The bottom-up approach can lead to inaccurate profiles as seen in the _______ murder case.

A

Nickell

41
Q

Evaluate Bottom Up Approach

A

-Evidence supports the importance of investigative psychology. Canter and Heritage, smallest space analysis, found some common characteristics within the same offender behaviour so can tell if more offences were committed
-Geographical Profiling is useful, Lundrigan and Carter found spatial consistency in 120 murder cases; marauders travel short distance to dispose body. Spatial information is key in determining the base of offender
-Mixed results of effectiveness. Copson found that only 3% of 83% led to identification of offender. Kocsis found that chemistry students are better than officers. Can laso lead to inaccurate profiles as a suspect (the offender) was removed because he was a bit short. Not always useful.

42
Q

What is the Atavistic form as proposed by Lombroso?

A

An early biological explanation of criminality suggesting criminals are subspecies lacking evolutionary development.

43
Q

What does Lombroso argue about the nature of criminality?

A

He saw criminality as a natural tendency rooted in the genealogy of those who engage in it.

44
Q

How did Lombroso’s ideas impact criminology?

A

They moved criminology into a more scientific realm and laid the foundation for modern offender profiling techniques.

45
Q

What physiological markers did Lombroso associate with different types of criminals?

A
  • Strong jaws and high cheekbones for general criminals
  • Bloodshot eyes and curly hair for murderers
  • Glinting eyes and projecting ears for sexual deviants
  • Thin lips for fraudsters
46
Q

What additional aspects did Lombroso suggest characterized criminals?

A
  • Insensitivity to pain
  • Use of criminal slang
  • Unemployment
  • Tattoos
47
Q

How many individuals did Lombroso investigate in his study of criminals?

A

3839 living criminals and 383 dead ones.

48
Q

What percentage of crimes did Lombroso attribute to atavistic characteristics?

A

40%.

49
Q

What was one significant contribution of the atavistic form to modern criminology?

A

It challenged the view that all crime was due to individual choice and introduced deterministic forces.

50
Q

What contemporary interpretations relate to Lombroso’s biological causes of criminality?

A

Research linking neural functions or genetics.

51
Q

What methodological innovations did Lombroso introduce in criminology?

A

He was the first to apply scientific methods by empirically measuring characteristics of criminals.

52
Q

What limitation exists regarding Lombroso’s atavistic characteristics?

A

They may reflect biases against non-White non-European populations.

53
Q

What evidence suggests Lombroso’s observations may have been biased?

A

Influences from Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest and colonial dominance of white Europeans.

54
Q

What methodological issue is present in Lombroso’s study of criminals?

A

The absence of a control group.

55
Q

What conclusion did Goring reach in his comparison of criminals and non-criminals?

A

There is no evidence of distinct facial characteristics in criminals.

56
Q

What aspect of intelligence did Goring uphold regarding criminals?

A

Criminals generally have a below average intelligence level.

57
Q

True or False: Lombroso’s approach is considered scientifically valid.

A

False.

58
Q

What negative consequence arose from Lombroso’s theories and observations?

A

The practice of eugenics causing physical and psychological injury.

59
Q

Evaluate the Atavistic form

A

-Significant contribution to the development of modern criminology by challenging that crime is by choice and suggesting biology which is credible and also empirically measures which was integral to establishing criminology
-Scientific racism; atavistic characteristics reflect non-European populations; could be due to bias and colonialism; De Lisi states obvious bias so lacks scientific validity
-Methodological issues and contra evidence, missing control group to compare to and Goring compared both and found no evidence of facial characteristics being in criminal group but saw less IQ so sig critique

A-Level Psychology (9 decks)

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