Forensic Psychology Flashcards
What is a definition of crime?
Crime is considered as any illegal act which is punishable by incarceration or another type of punishment,after consideration by a judge and jury in a legal trial however there exists historical and cultural issues with defining crime?
What is a definition of crime?
Crime is considered as any illegal act which is punishable by incarceration or another type of punishment,after consideration by a judge and jury in a legal trial however there exists historical and cultural issues with defining crime
What are historical issues with defining crime?
Historical issues show that what was considered a crime at one point in history may not be considered a crime according to modern standards e.g. homosexuality only being illegalised in the uk in 1967 through the sexual offences act of 1967
What are cultural issues with defining crime?
Cultural issues in crime face this same problem e.g smacking a child in one culture may be seen as acceptable or even encouraged as a form of tough love whereas this isn’t the case in the uk smacking a child so that a mark is left is now punishable by law according to the 2004 child’s protection act
What are the 3 methods of measuring crime?
-official statistics
Victim surveys
-offender surveys
What are official statistics?
Describe the number of crimes reported to and recorded by the police which have been processed and published by the home office on an annual basis
What are victims surveys?
Involve 50,000 randomly selected households to self report the number and types of crimes which have been committed against them during the past year and is published by the crime survey for England and wales annually
What are offender surveys ?
Target a randomly selected cohort of criminals who give details of the types and frequency of crimes they have committed across a set time period as recorded by the offender crime and justice survey this is particularly useful for governmental organisations as a view of the patterns and risk factors for crime at a national scale and so can be used to inform crime prevention/management statergies
Why is it a problem that official statistics are susceptible to concealing the dark figure? And what theorists demonstrated the effect of this?
75% of crime goes unreported. This may be due to a lack of standardisation of police recording policies in relation to crime as well as the victim fearing revenge/retribution or feeling untrustworthy of the police the effects of these indiscrepancies was demonstrated by farrington and dowds 1985 who found that sudden increases in incidence rates of theft could be explained by a change in police recording policies where thefts under £10 were recorded this therefore suggests that official statistics may be an inaccurate representation of crime
Why do victims surveys have an advantage over official statistics ?
The dark figure of crime is less likely to be concealed or evident due to the self report technique where individuals may feel that there are less repercussions for their actions
What methodological issues do victim surveys suffer from associated with self report techniques?
The idea of telescoping where the victim may mistakenly believe that a crime had been committed against them significantly more recent than it actually had been due to the trauma and distress associated with it therefore victim surveys maybe no more accurate than official statistics
How have offender surveys been particularly useful in informing crime prevention ?
Useful in informing crime prevention and management statergies due to showing the patterns and risk factors of offending behaviours therefore this demonstrates a real life practical application
Why is the data collected from offender surbeys may be distorted or biased as it has been collected form offenders?
These offenders may want to over exaggerate their crimes to give themselves a feeling of accomplishment and grandeur or under exaggerate their crimes to diminish responsibility this means that too much reliance can’t be placed upon the honesty and integrity of offenders in self report measures
What is the top down approach?
Uses a pre established typology and the fbi method of profile generation to assign offenders to one of two categories :organised or disorganised offenders
What 4 steps does profile generation include?
-crime scene classification
-crime reconstruction
-data assimilation
-profile generation
What are organised offenders?
Socially and sexually competent showing evidence of planning and so are unlikely to leave the body or clues at the crime scene they tend to have a specific type of victims and appear to carry out the attack in an almost surgical manner
What are disorganised offenders?
Show no evidence of planning and so frequently leave the body and clues at the crime scene e.g blood or hair their attacks appear to be random thus no specific target and more likely to occur close to their own home or operational base they are socially and sexually incompetent often living alone and being unemployed
Why is it a limitation that the top down approach can be used to explain certain crimes?
Can only be used to explain obvious,visible characteristics and so are unlikely to be effective in identifying criminals who are responsible for burglary or middle class crimes such as financial fraud this means that the top down approach may only be an effective method of offender profiling for blue collar crimes
Why is it a limitation that it’s unlikely that all offenders are able to be identified as either organised or disorganised ?
Due to thsi oversimplification of the classification system it may be more useful to study the motives that each criminal has as suggested by Keppel and Walter 1999 in thsi wat seemingly contradictory crimes can still be explained e.g. a criminal who leaves no clues at the crime scene but appears to be sexually incompetent and who carried out an impulsive attack on a stranger
What evidence is there to support the existence of an organised offender type ?
Canter et al 2004 used the statistical technique of smallest space analysis to analyse the data from 100 murders in the us with comparison of each made to 39 typical traits of both offender types the face that disorganised offenders can’t be identified as distinctly different from organised offenders suggests that this system lacks validity and breadth
What is the bottom up approach ?
Uses no pre-established typology but develops a profile as the crime scene and eyewitness testimonies are increasingly analysed the two hallmarks of the bottom up appprach are investigative psychology and geographical profiling
What is investigative psychology?
The process whereby each crime is recorded onto a database. Then the details of each new crime are matched with this database in order to develop hypotheses about the likely characteristics, social demography and motivations of the culprit therefore there is a much greater emphasis on scientific methods of investigation and statistical analysis compared to the top down approach
What is geographical profiling?
Each offender has an operational base which can be inferred through mapping the locations of previous crimes this should form a circular shape where the operational base or centre of gravity is at the centre and can also be used to predict future crimes through the analysis of a jeopardy surface
According to canter and Larkin 1993 what a re the to types of offenders in geographical profiling?
Marauders-carrying out crimes close to the centre of gravity
Commuters- carrying out crimes far away from the centre of gravity
Based on the assumption that the way and signature of offenders in carrying out their crimes are constant
What research suggests that the bottom up approach doesnt always lead to the correct identification of the offender?
Copson 1995 found that info from an offender profile only led to the successful identification of the offender in 3% of cases but was useful 83% of the time this suggest that offender profiling is best reserved from simply narrowing the field of enquiry as opposed to being relied upon as a chief means of offender identification
Why is it an advantage that the bottom up approach relies on scientific methods of enquiry?
Many supporting studies have used the method of smallest space analysis to establish correlations between two variables or offender characteristics thsi is more specific and based on psychological theory compared to the top down approach which is over simplistic
What evidence is there supporting the use of the smallest space analysis in geographical profiling ?
As a way of narrowing the field of enquiry and identifiying offenders as either marauders or communters as suggested by lundrigan and canter 2001 following the smallest space analysis of 120 serial murder cases the researchers were able to identify characteristic traits of spatial consistency such as the presence of a jeopardy surface as well as the centre of gravity therefore this is particularly useful in establishing the modus operandi of the offender
What is the atavistic form, biological explanation suggested by Lombroso?
He suggested that criminals were genetic throwbacks who weren’t accustomed to the social norms of normal cilivlised society and so in this sense were more suited for crime criminals could be identified by signature atavistic characteristics
What are the atavistic characteristics ?
Long ears,dark skin,extra toes and nipples and curly hair
What characteristics are associated with what features?
Murders were identified as having bloodshot eyes,fraudsters had reedy lips, sexual deviants had glinting eyes
What did lombroso base his study off of?
Based his theory upon studying the cranial features of 383 dead and 3839 alive criminals whereby approximately 40% of crime could be explained using the offender profiles based upon certain atavistic characteristics
Why does delisi 2012 brand lombroso theory as racist?
Just because an individual had certain atavistic characteristics doesnt mean that they are or are destined to become criminal following this logic it appears that certain races are more likely to become criminal than others such as African Americans amongst whom curly hair is common therefore this may have landed itself to giving scientific justification for discriminatory practices and eugenics
Why is the atavistic form theory considered unscientific ?
The dated methodology adopted by lombroso didn’t use statistical analysis or a control group from another culture since the entire sample was Italian we don’t know whether the findings are significant and if so to what confidence leve comparison with a control group are needed to establish statistical significance particularly through the additional use of random allocation
Why is it an advantage that lombroso was considered the father of criminology? And who suggested this
Hollin 1989. Lombroso is the father of criminology because lombrosso methods of attributing certain atavistic or cranial features to certain types of criminals with specific traits was the basis from which modern criminal profiling was developed from although not entirely scientific due to the lack of a control group and no statistical analysis lombrosso conclusions can still be considered as credible,considering the large sample size
What do genetics explanations focus on ?
They focus on the heritability and role of candidate genes in the development of criminal behaviour
What did christiansen et al 1977 find about concordance rates?
Found concordance rates of 33% for identical twins but only 12% concordance for non identical twins since mz twins share 100% of their genetic info with each other whereas dz twins share only 50% then thsi suggests that there is a moderate genetic or heritable basis of criminal behaviour
What does it suggest that the concordance rates for mz twins isn’t 100%? And who suggests this?
It suggests that an interaction between the environment and genetics together produces the outcome of criminality as suggested by mednick et al 1984 and so the traditional diathesis stress model can be used to account for this
What did tilhonen ET al 2014 say about candidate genes?
Candidate genes each represent slight genetic variations which increase the risk of developing criminal behaviour in this case as suggested by tilhonen. Abnormalities in the MAOA and CDH-13 genes which both code for neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine and so are also implicated in the development of ADHD increases the likelihood of becoming criminal by 13-fold this gives further support to the role of a genetic diathesis in the development of criminality
What do neural explanations focus on?
Focus on individuals with antisocial personality disorder APD a disorder which is very common amongst criminals
What did raine ET al 2000 find to support neural explanation?
Found that criminals have a lower volume and activity level (11% reduction) in the prefrontal cortex which is responsible for logical thinking and decision making therefore this supports the idea that criminals may have difficulties in regulating their emotions and so make irrational decisions
What are neural abnormalities associated with criminality and who suggested them?
Keysers et al 2011 found that criminals appear to have a neural switch which they can use to turn heir capacities for empathy on or off this may explain why and how criminals lack empathy towards their victims
What is a key methodological issue with the use of twin studies as a means of investigating the genetic basis of bahviour ?
Such studies assume that the only difference between twins is the amount of genetic information they share that is an incorrect assumption and would be better addressed through the use of an interactionist approach for example the fact that mz twins are likely to share the same environment as opposed to normal siblings may explain why mz concordance rates are higher than for normal siblings despite both sharing 50% of their genes this suggests that casual conclusions about the genetic basis of criminality have incorrectly been reached
What support is there for the use of a diathesis stress model in explaining criminality ?
Mednick et al 1984 after analysing the court convictions of 14,427 adoptees with adoptive and biological parents, the researchers concluded that siblings adopted serparetly into different homes tended to be concordant for convictions,especially if they shared biological father also had a record of criminal behaviour this supports the idea that criminality is only likely to be an outcome if a genetic susceptibility is paired with environmental stressors as predicted by the diathesis stress model
Why does the neural explanation of criminality suffer from biological reductionism and who suggested it?
Katz et al 2007 although it does appear that criminality runs in families so do other risk factors associated with criminality e.g a high frequency and intensity of exposure to pro criminal attitudes a lack of educational opportunities,economic deprivation etc. therefore it is important not to stereotype children from criminal families as criminal as this may lead to the realisation of self fulfilling prophecies
What eysencks theory?
He suggested that there was a specific criminal personality (neurotic-extravert) which could be measured across two dimensions initially (neurotic-stable and extravert-introvert) with the thrid dimension of psychoticism being added at a later date
What is the criminal personality theory?
The theory views criminal behaviour as being due to the activity of the nervous system which is attributed to specific personalities for example extraverts have an under active nervous system and so are continuously looking for new simulation which may explain their nervous and impulsive nature
Why is a personality type important?
The type of personality a person has and the activity of the nervous system which they inherit both affect the extent to which the individual is affected by socialisation which occurs in childhood and aims to teach children essential social communication skills as well as the value of delayed gratification those with a neurotic-extravert personality are unable to perceive antisocial behaviour as negative or underiable and so act accordingly
How can personality be measured?
Personality can be measured across the 3 dimensions using the EPI i.e eysecks personality inventory
Who suggest that the EPI takes on a reductionist approach to assessing and measuring personality?
Mischel 1988 personality traits are unlikely to all be accounted for using only 3 dimensions and measured by being assigned a single number these traits are also likely to change depending on who we interact with and under what circumstances thus not always being stable thsi means that such a reductionist approach may not offer an accurate account of personality
How does eysencks criminal personality theory suffer from cultural bias?
Due to the largely western culture from which the sample was drawn as suggested by Bartol and holanchock 1979 for example these researchers found that a group of Hispanic convicts were less extravert compared to non criminals which suggests that eysencks theory is not universal and so lacks generalisability to all cultures
How is the criminal personality type an oversimplification of the classification of criminals?
It’s unlikely that there is only one criminal personality type as suggested by digmans five factor model which suggests that there are additional dimensions along which personality can be measured these include extraversion, agreeableness,conscientiousness,neuroticism and openness to experience
What did kohlberg suggest the 3 levels of moral reasoning are?
3 universal levels of moral reasoning each characterised by a certain logic these include the pre-conventional level (punishment orientation ) the conventional level (maintence of the social order) and the post conventional level (morality of contract and individual rights)
What did kohlberg sya about criminal reasoning?
He proposed that criminals have a childlike immature sense of reasoning and so reason at the pre conventional level whilst non criminals will reason at the conventional or post conventional levels thus being able to display more civilised and empathic behaviours as suggested by chandler 1973
What are cognitive distortions? And what are the two types?
They’re a major feature of cognitive explanations for offending behaviour. These distortions are examples of dysfunctional thought processing where we show errors in our logic
The two types are hostile attribution bias HAB and minimalisation
What is hostile attribution bias?
Is the tendency for offenders to view emotionally ambiguous or non threatening situations as hostile and threatening and so is an automatic reaction to novel situations
What research supports the hostile attribution bias?
Schonenberg and justye 2014 when 55 violent offenders were exposed to pictures of facial expressions which were neither clearly hostile nor clearly neutral the overwhelming majority viewed the images as aggressive or hostile this may be the result of being a rejected and aggressive child according to dodge and frame 1982
What is minimalisaiton?
It’s common in sex offenders and is used as a coping mechanism for guilt or regret where offenders will under exaggerate the significance of their crimes and the emotional consequences suffered bu their victims as suggested by pollock and hasmall 1991 in their sample an astounding 35% of child molesters attempted to justify their crimes as non malicious and simply being a way of showing their affection whilst 36% didn’t accept committing a crime at all as they percieved the child as consenting
What evidence is there that cognitive theories may not be able to explain all examples of offending behaviour and specifically not all types of crimes?
For example impulsive crimes appear to be carried out by offenders with no reasoning whatsoever whilst middle class financially driven crimes are more frequently carried out by offender who display pre conventional reasoning as suggested by thornton and R.L.Reid 1982 as suggested by Langdon 2010 intelligence may be a more important factor in determining the likelihood of an individual committing a crime and is a more quantifiable and objective characteristics compared to levels of moral reasoning therefore cognitive explanations are only suited towards explaining specific types of crime
What other researchers have suggested a different method of organising and naming these stages kohlberg suggested?
Gibbs 1979 his ideas of mature and immature reasoning are very similar to kohlbergs levels with immature reasoning being represented by the pre conventional level and mature reasoning being represented by the conventional level and mature reasoning being represented by thr conventional level whilst the culturally biased post conventional level was removed therefore this suggests that the theoretical basis of kohlbergs ideas were sound but a modern update on the organisation of this theory increases the validity
How does an improved understanding of cognitive biases have real life practical applications?
Since such offenders are especially susceptible to using minimisation to justify their crimes cognitive therapies such as CBT may specifically tackle this problem and result in reduced recidivism rates this offers a refreshing alternative or addition to the traditional morality solution to criminality which would be lengthy incarceration with few opportunities for learning and rehabilitation
What is Sutherland 1924 differential association theory?
Suggests that crime is essentially a learned behaviour and can be explained using the principles of social learning theory where the role models are criminal peers or a criminal univeristy (in the form of a prison)
The scientific emphasis of thsi theory suggests that it’s possible to accurately predict the lieklihood and an individual will become. Criminal based on their exposure to pro criminal and anti criminal attitudes
When is it highly likely that the individual will become criminal?
Individuals learn general attitudes towards crime as well as the skills and knowledge required to carry out specific crimes if the frequency and intensity of an individuals exposure to pro criminal attitudes is greater than their exposure to anti criminal attitudes then its highly likely the individual will become criminal
Why is it difficult to objectively and reliably measure the frequency and intensity of exposure to criminal attitudes from Sutherland theory ?
This means that any conclusion or predictions drawn about the likelihood that an individual will become criminal is likely to be lacking in validity even if such a measure was created it would likely to be a self report measure which doesn’t avoid the problems of retrospective research and memory decay
Why is it incorrect to assume that simple because an individual has been exposed to more pro criminal attitudes compared to anti criminal attitudes and what does this suggest about Sutherland theory ?
Then this doesn’t necessarily mean that they will become criminal and is a determinist approach which may lead to increased crime itself through the realisation of self fulfilling prophecy or in addition may lead to scientific justification for discrimination and justification
Why is it an advantage that Sutherland differential association theory offers a refreshing approach towards the explanation of crime ?
Offers an explanation where the environment whereas the individual is blamed this means that the extreme polices of eugenics (the solution for criminality from a bio perspective ) are rightfully not an option as a method for dealing with offending behaviour. Therefore this theory provides a fair and realistic explanation of crime which doesn’t hold the individual entirely accountable
According to Blackburn 1993 what are the 3 types of inadequate superegos?
(Formed at the end of the Phallic stage and containing the child’s internalised sense of right and wrong form their same sex parent as suggested by Freud)
The deviant superego
The weak superego
Over harsh superego
What is the deviant superego ?
Means that the child will internalise abnormal moral standards from their criminal parents
What is the weak superego?
Present due to a lack of identification with the same sex parent during the phallic stage perhaps because they were absent
What is the over harsh. Superego?
Craves for punishment due to being accustomed to such a feeling because the child had grown up with over harsh parents
What does a dysfunctional superego suggest?
Means the id is able to excecise control and be selfish/demand instant gratification thus leading to the selfish and impulsive characteristics of criminals
What theory was the inadequate superego based on?
Bowbys theory of maternal deprivation where the absence of a mother figure or mother substitute during the critical period of attachment formation would result in irreversible emotional and intellectual consequences namely affectionless psychopathy and mental retardation as demonstrated in Bowlbys 44 juveniles thieves study
What evidence is there that contradicts the findings of bowlbys 44 juvenile thieves study?
Lewis 1959 found that maternal deprivation during childhood was not indicative or a reliable predictor of the likelihood of becoming criminal in the future nor were maternally deprived children at a significant disadvantage in terms of forming close relationships during adulthood therefore this decreases the validity of blackburns conclusion that inadequate superegos are a reliable predictor of criminality
According to Hoffman 1975 why do the psychodynamic explanations suffer from genre bias ?
In line with freuds psychodynamic approach girls should be at a greater risk of becoming criminal because they suffer from penis envy instead of castration anxiety and so their superego has been internalised to a smaller extent compared to boys however statistical evidence doesn’t support this idea instead girls within the phallic stage actually display a greater appreciation of the value of delayed gratification compared to boys however statistical
How does the psychodynamic explation for criminals lack scientific rigour?
Superego/an individuals internalised sense of right and wrong is embedded within the unconscious tripartite personality meaning that such a concept can’t be empirically and objectively measured therefore since the sugerego is a concept which can’t be proven wrong this suggests that according to poppers criterion of falsification that it is unfalisfiable and therefore pseudoscientific this does little to increase the scientific credibility of psychology
What are the 3 types of custodial sentencing ?
-incapacitation (to protect the public from the criminal)
-retribution (following the eye for an eye philosophy but ensuring that the punishment is in accordance to the severity and types of crime committed)
-rehabilitation (opportunites for training and treatment further reduce the rates of recidivism through addressing the distal cause of offending)
What are the effects of custodial sentencing?
Stress,depression,institutionalisation and prisonisation
Institutionalisation in particular is a problem because the constant rhythm of prison life may impair the offenders ability to adjust to normal life beyond the prison walls
Constantino et al 2016 7.5% of women and 6.3% of men in prison suffer from depression
Who has the lowest and highest rates of recidivism ?
Europe e.g 57% will reoffend within a year after release
Norway has the lowest and focus more on rehabilitation
Why is it a disadvantage of custodial sentencing that prison doesn’t affect each individual in the same way?
The extent of the effects will depend on the dispositional traits of the convict, the length of their prison sentence, any previous experiences in prison and the type of prison in which they served previous sentences and the number/gender of prison officers
This means that custodial sentencing can be more or less effective for certain individuals and so should not be viewed as a universally effective method of dealing with all types of offending behaviour
Why is it an advantage of custodial sentencing that prisoners are surrounded by opportunities for learning and training?
Sex offenders may partake in compulsory CBT schemes to reduce the effects of their minimalisation (type of cognitive disorder ) and so reduce the likelihood of recidivism
Violent offenders can partake in anger management schemes whilst others may opt for token economy systems or restorative justice in return for a more lenient prison sentence therefore this suggests that prison is a useful method of dealing with offending behaviour
Why is it a disadvantage that the use and favourability of custodial sentencing may be affected by political motives according to Davies and Raymond 2000?
The majority of the public favours custodial sentencing as the main method for dealing with offending behaviour behcause society typically wants to see the criminal suffer and be remorseful for their actions this may lead some political parties to focus on toughening up prions and prison sentences in an attempt to please the public and appear as tough on crime despite this custodial sentencing still produces high recidivism rates and so its not as effective as it is portrayed to be.
What are behaviours modification in custody ?
Token economy-which are systems based upon operant conditioning principles and mainly reinforcement
Reinforcement-increases the likelihood of a desired behaviour being repeated in the context of custody this means that selected socially desirable behaviours are more likely to be repeated by offenders
How does token economy act in custody?
Every time a desired behaviour is carried out by an offender they receive a token this acts as a secondary reinforcer because its value is derived from being able to be swapped for a privilege or reward which is known as a primary reinforcer rewards may include exercise time outside of the prison guards or access to a favourite tv show through positive reinforcement the offender is more likely to repeat these desirable behaviours because they are motivated by achieving the same reward each time
Who demonstrated the effectiveness of token economy?
Hobbs and holt 1976 who studied 125 criminal male juveniles in the Alabama boys industrial school the researchers found that across 14 months there was a significant increase in the displaying of desirable behaviours for the majority of the boys this suggests that token economy systems can be used to improve the running of the prisons by decreasing the violence and conflicts within such a setting
Why is it a weakness that a comparison to anger management behaviour modification can be seen as only treating the proximal cause of offending ?
Whereas anger management can address the distal cause of offending for example behaviour modification only temporarily improves the behaviour of offenders as long as they are motivated by rewards and these rewards are given immediately after the displayed behaviour however these same rewards may not be present in life outside prison where citizens are expected to abide to social norms and rules without always be rewarded directly therefore behaviour management may be a short term solution to offending behaviour
Why did Moya and achtenburg 1974 question the ethical basis of the use of token economy systems ?
These researchers took particular concern with the idea that participation in such schemes in compulsory in many prisons and failure to do so would mean that prisoners are declined certain rewards which may be seen as rights by many others e.g. the opportunity to call home or have family visits therefore it is important to conduct a cost benefit analysis to assess the utility of token economy systems
Why is it a strength that the behaviour modification systems are flexible ?
They can change according to the aims of each institution and are easy to implement for example token economy systems used in psychiatric hospitals may be very different from those used in maximum security prisons and so as long as the implementation of the rules and tokens in consistent (as suggested by Bassett and Blanchard 1977) a significant improvement in prisoner conduct is likely to be seen
What does Novaco 1975 suggest about anger management ?
Anger management focuses on identifying and dealing with the emotions which precede anger as opposed to preventing anger in the first place this is an eclectic approach in the sense that offenders are taught skills from a variety of different approaches in psychology such as communication skills and positive self talk
What are the three stages involved in anger management ?
-cognitive preparation
-skill acquisition
-application practice
The aim of these is to increase the offenders self awareness of their anger and to also increase their self efficacy in dealing with their anger
What is cognitive preparation ?
Cognitive preparation takes on a cognitive approach where offenders identify and rationale the patterns of emotion which occurs before,during and after. Aggression this helps them to understand and predict why and when they are likely to become angry
What is skills acquisition?
When the therapist teaches the offender techniques which can be used to manage their anger and prevent them from spiralling out. Of control these can include breathing techniques, the use of medication and positive self talk this is a form of direct learning where the therapist demonstrates the techniques and the offender copies them
What happens during the application practice?
The offender applies the skills learnt above to a real life situation which would normally trigger anger e.g during a role play their behaviour if the techniques are successfully implemented is then positively reinforced by the therapist
How did keen et al 2000 demonstrate the effectiveness of such programmes?
He found that the majority of prisoners who’d partaken in the national anger management package were able to control their anger to a greater extent and were more aware of such anger compared to the beginning of the therapy
Who suggests that anger management therapies may be guilty of making the incorrect assumption that violent offences are cause by an inability to control anger and how do they expand on this?
Loza and loza fanous 1999 in fact there may be very few or no differences between violent and non violent offenders in terms of their anger which draws questions over the validity of the use of anger management for the majority of violent offenders it could be the case that such use could be exploited by offenders in return for rewards or a more lenient prison sentence
What did Blackburn suggest about anger management have little effect on controllling anger in real life?
This is because the therapist will not be present to positively reinforce any desirable behaviours and the prisoner may find themselves surrounded by stimuli/cues which trigger such anger therefore this suggests that such therapies are best reserved for improving prisoners conduct within prisons as opposed to providing a long term solution to offending.
Why is it an advantage that anger management is the idea that it incorporates behavioural theories and skills from a variety of different psychological approaches?
For example cognitive preparation focuses on the cognitive basis of aggression whilst application practice focuses on the behaviourst principles of operant conditioning and positive reinforcement this is a strength as it suggests that anger management recognises the variety of different triggers and bases of aggressive behaviour
According to braithwaite 2004 what is the restorative justice proagrames?
RJ programmes take on a different perspective/ emphasis compared to the other three methods RJ places emphasis on giving the survivor a voice and showing the offfender the emotional consequences of their behaviour the focus is placed upon positive outcomes and meditated discussions between the offender and survivor don’t need to occur within traditional courtroom settings
What needs to happen for the offender to show remorse for their actions?
Apologies can be made and they can also pay for any damages to the survivors property or fix it themselves the guidelines as to what survivors,offenders and meditators are advised to do are set by the restorative justice council
How did Latimer et al 2005 show the effectiveness of RJ schemes ?
Found that RJ was significantly more effective than traditional nonrestorative approaches in terms of increasing victim and offender satisfaction restitution compliance and reducing recidivism
How do RJ schemes take a naive approach to dealing with offending behaviour and why is it a weakness?
They have a naive approach as they assume that the offender and survivor will always show remorse when participating. This may not always be the case especially considering that the offender may receive a shorter prison sentence or more rewards for participating in the scheme whilst survivors may want revenge on their criminal in the form of physical or verbal abuse therefore although RJ is useful in theory it may be less so in real life
Why has have feminsts criticised RJ?
They have particularly criticised them when used in cases of domestic abuse or violence this is because RJ doesn’t place the offender and victim on an equal power balance as the victim will seem accusatory of the offender therefore in cases where there is such a power imbalance as in domestic abuse cases, RJ schemes can fail to adequately place the blame upon the offender as well as being traumatic and distressing for the survivor this means that RJ can’t be used as a way of dealing with offending behaviour for all crimes and so has limited utility
RJ schemes are flexible and easy to implement why is this a strength ?
RJ can be modified for prions, psychiatric institutions and schools,according to the specific problems faced in these organisations the increasing use of RJ may encourage methods of conflict resolution other than violence and aggression because the offender is made aware of the consequences of their actions first hand
