forensic psychology Flashcards
what is offender profiling?
investigative techniques used by the police to identify perpetrators
There are 2 approaches:
- Top Down
- Bottom Up
what is Top Down Profilling?
- Ressler, Burgess and Douglas
- Offender profilers will match up the crime and the offender to a pre-existing template
- Offender Classified in 1 of 2 categories - Organised or Disorganised
What is an Organised Offender?
- Planned Crime in advance
- Victim is targeted
- Above Average IQ
- High control during crime
- Little evidence left at scene
- Professional Occupation
- Usually married
What is a Disorganised Offender?
- Little evidence of Planning
- Body often left at scene
- Below average IQ
- Often unemployed
- Usually sexually dysfunctional
How is an FBI profile constructed?
4 Stages:
1) Data Assimilation
- Profilers review evidence
2) Crime Scene Classification
- Either Organised or Disorganised
3) Crime Reconstruction
- sequence of events / behaviour in victim
4) Profile Generation
- Hypothesis relating to offender (e.g. demographic, characteristics, behaviour, e.c.t)
Strengths of Top Down Profilling
Distinct Types Evidence
- Ressler created definitions of Organised and Disorganised offenders using interviews with real life serial killers
- Classified 24 as organised & 12 as disorganised
- Suggests distinct ‘types’ of offenders
Real Life Application
- Snook found 94% of Canadian Major Crime Officers agreed Offender Profiling was useful for solving cases
Limitations of Top Down Profilling
Evidence against Types
- Canter interviewed 100 US serial killers
- Found a lack of Disorganised characteristics
- suggests lack of distinction between the Types
Difficult to Assess
- These techniques are never used in isolation - always used with other techniques
- Difficult to identify how much this helped with the solving of a case
What is the Bottom Up Approach?
- Canter & Britton
- Develops a profile at the Crime Scene through Investigative psychology and Geographical profiling
- Uses Computer databases and programme called Smallest Space Analysis
- Programme reveals relationship of types of crime and types of people
- Canter created a 5 factor model for interpreting a crime
What was Canter’s 5 factor model?
(part of the Bottom up approach)
Interpersonal Coherence
- suggests offenders interaction with the offender is reflected in their everyday life
Time and Place Significance
- Offenders are more likely to commit a crime in an area they know well
Criminal Characteristics
- How the Crime was committed suggests characteristics about the offender
Criminal Career
- How crimes by the offender change with more experience
Forensic Awareness
- Does the criminal show knowledge of the Criminal Justice System
What is Geographical Profiling?
(part of the Bottom up approach)
Suggests the location a crime is not random and can be used to profile the offender
Least Effort Principle
- if there are multiple equal locations the offender will choose the closest one
Distance Decay
- the number of crimes around a criminal base will decrease the further you go
- but there will still be a buffer zone surrounding the base
Canter’s Circle Theory
- 2 types of offender behaviour
- Marauder operates close to home base
- Commuter operates away from home
Support for Bottom up Approach
Supportive Evidence
- Lundrigan & Canter collected information from 120 murder cases in the US
- Smallest Space Analysis found spatial consistency in all the killers (able to locate ‘Centre of Mass’ from location of body disposal)
- Supports Canters claim of Geographical Profiling
More Applicable
- Smallest Space Analysis and Spatial Consistency can be applied to crimes such as Burglary and Theft and more serious offences like Rape and Murder
- Better than Top-Down approach for application to range of cases
Limitation of Bottom up Approach
Not fully Consistent
- Copson surveyed 48 Police Forces
- Found that advice provided by the Profiler was ‘useful’ in 83% of cases
- But only led to accurate identification of offender 3% of the time
- Kocsis et al found that Chemistry Students produces more accurate profile than experienced detectives
What is the Atavistic Form?
- Lombroso suggested criminals were ‘genetic throwbacks’ - a primitive species that were biologically different - Homo Delinquents
- Lombroso considered their savage nature to be unable to conform to society
- Saw criminal behaviour as rooted in their genetics
- This lay the roots for offender profiling techniques
What are Atavistic Characteristics?
- Narrow, Sloping brow
- Strong Promenant jaw
- High Cheekbones
- Facial asymmetry
How did Lombroso characterise features to different crimes?
Murderers had
- Bloodshot eyes
- Curly Hair
- Long ears
Sexual Deviants had
- Fleshy lips
- Glinting eyes
- projecting ears
What was Lombroso’s research for the Atavistic Form?
He examined the facial and cranial features of 383 Dead and 1839 living Italian Convicts
- Associated physical anomalies for features of Criminality
- Concluded that 40% of crime could be accounted for by Atavistic Characteristics
Strength of Atavistic Form
Important for Future Developments
- Lombroso has been dubbed the ‘Father of Modern Criminology’
- He is credited for the shift towards a more scientific realm
- Suggests Lombroso paved the way for more empirical way of offender profiling
Limitations of Atavistic Form
Socially Sensitive
- Delisi drew attention to the racist ideas in this theory
- Many of the features (e.g. Curly Hair / Dark skin) are likely to be found amongst people of African Descent
- The words ‘savage, uncivilised, primitive’ would support many eugenic ideas of the time
- Reduced Temporal Validity
Deterministic
- Atavistic Characteristics do not necessarily cause offending
- Facial and Cranial abnormalities could be influenced by other factors such as Poverty or Poor Diet
- This is both deterministic and Socially sensitive
Not reliable
- Lombroso didnt use a control group, which could decrease the validity of Atavistic form
- Lombroso also failed to account for other important factors such as psychological disorders
What is General Personality Theory?
- Proposed by Eysenck
- Idea of Personality based on Biological Factors - individuals inherit a certain type of nervous system that affects their ability to learn and adapt
Behaviour can be represented in 3 dimensions
- Introversion / Extraversion
- Neuroticism / Stability
- Psychoticism (added later)
What control your levels of Extraversion?
Reticular Activating System
- acts as a filter that controls stimulation in the brain
- Introversion is the result of higher levels of cortical arousal / stimulation
- Extraversion is the result of lower levels of cortical arousal
What controls your levels of Neuroticism?
An Overactive Limbic System will increased responses of fear and aggression
- A person who reacts stronger to stress will be more Neurotic
- An Stable person will be able to remain calm and composed under stress
What control your levels of Psychoticism?
Someone who is
- Less empathetic
- Antisocial
- Cold emotionally
What is the Criminal Personality in Eysenck’s Theory?
- High Extraversion
- High Neuroticism
- High Psychoticism
Support for Eysenck’s Theory of Criminal Personality
Supporting Evidence
- Eysenck & Eysenck compared 2070 male prisoners scores on the EPI with 2422 male controls
- They found across all age groups that prisoners scored higher than controls
Limitations of Eysenck’s Theory of Criminal Personality
Opposing Evidence
- Farringdon et al found that offender tended to score higher on the Psychoticism but not Extraversion or Neuroticism
- Also found very little difference in EEG (measured Cortical Arousal) between extraverts and introverts
Cultural Differences
- Bartol and Holanchock found in 6 groups of African-American and Hispanic offenders they were less Extraverted than non-offenders
- Challenges generalisability to other Cultures / races
What is the Cognitive explanation to offending?
- Kohlberg’s Model of Moral Reasoning
- Cognitive Distortions
What is Kohlberg’s Model of Moral Reasoning?
- Proposed people’s decisions on issues of right and wrong can be summarised in a stage theory of moral development
- Based on people’s responses to Moral Dilemmas
How did Kohlberg test his theory?
- Kohlberg et al tested a group of 72 Chicago violent youths with a set of moral dilemmas
- Found that violent youths were at a much lower level of moral development compared to non-violent youths
- Even after controlling for social backgrounds
What are the levels of Moral Reasoning in Kohlberg’s Theory?
3 distinct levels
- Pre-conventional - bases morals on Reward / Punishment and Self Interest
- Conventional - bases morals on Pleasing Others and Law & Order
- Post-Conventional - bases morals on Social Contract and Principle
People can only pass through these levels in the order listed
What are Cognitive Distortions?
- Idea that Criminals have faulty thinking of the way the interpret other peoples behaviour and their own actions
2 types of Cognitive Distortion
- Hostile Attribution Bias
- Minimalisation
What is Hostile Attribution Bias?
When an Offender interprets social cues as hostile when they are not
- Schonenberg and Justye presented 55 offenders with an ambiguous face and most perceived this as hostile
What is Minimalisation?
When an offender downplays the seriousness of their actions
- Bombaree found that in 26 convicted rapists 54% denied committing an offence and 40% minimalised their actions
Strengths of Cognitive Approach to Offending
Supporting Evidence
- Palmer & Hollin compared moral reasoning 332 male & female non-offenders and 126 Convicted Felons in a series of moral dilemmas
- The offender group showed lower moral reasoning than the non-offenders
- Blackburn suggested that offender show lower moral reasoning due to a lack of role playing opportunists in childhood
Limitation of Cognitive Approach to Offending
Social Desirability Bias
- Theory is based off of Theoretical Moral Dilemmas and therefore may not be answered truthfully
- Not representative of real life scenarios
Types of Distortions
- Howitt and Sheldon found that the cognitive distortions differ between types of offenders
- Non-contact Sexual Offenders (accessed images online) used much more Cognitive Distortions than Contact Sexual Offenders
- Those with a history of Sexual Offence are more likely to use Cognitive Distortions as justification
What is the Genetic Explanation to Crime?
Suggests Offenders inherit a Gene or Combination of Genes that predispose them to Crime
its made up of:
- Twin & Adoption Studies
- Candidate Genes
- Diathesis Stress Model
What are Twin & Adoption Studies in the Genetic Explanation to Crime?
Twin Studies
- Christiansen demonstrated the importance of genetics through studies 3500 pairs of twins in Denmark
- He found concordance rates of 35% in MZ twins and 13% in DZ twins
- Suggests Offending may not be genetic but it has a underlying predisposition
Adoption Studies
- Crowe found that adopted children whose biological mothers were offenders had a 50% risk of offending before 18
- Whereas children whose biological mother wasnt an offender had a 5% risk
What are Candidate Genes in the Genetic Explanation to Crime?
- Tiihonen did a genetic analysis of 800 Finish Offenders
- Suggested that 2 Genes were associated with violent behaviour
- the MAOA Gene is regulates serotonin levels and is associated with aggressive behaviour
- The CDH13 Gene is associated with substance abuse and ADD
- The study found that around 5-10% of crime in Finland is due to these genes
What is Diathesis Stress in the Genetic Explanation to Crime?
- The idea that Offending may have a Genetic Disposition but is only Triggered by an Event / Stress
- e.g. Being raised in a Dysfunctional House or having Role Models who are criminals
Strength of Genetic Explanation to Crime
Supportive Evidence for Candidate Genes
- Brunner did a case study on a Dutch family where the males had a history of aggression
- Found that 5 of them had Defective MAOA Genes
- Suggests there is some Genetic Origin to Crime
Supportive Evidence for Diathesis Stress
- Mednick et al did a study of 13,000 Danish adoptees
- Found when neither the Adoptive or Biological parents had convictions the risk of offending was 13.5%
- When one of the Biological parents had a conviction this rose to 20%
- When both the Biological and Adoptive Parents had convictions this rose again to 24.5%
- Suggests there is genetic and environmental factor
Limitation of Genetic Explanation to Crime
Biologically Deterministic
- The idea that our genetics define whether we will offend or not does is deterministic as not all people with the Candidate Genes will Offend
- This also doesn’t work with the Criminal Justice System as it may cause people to be convicted just due to their biology
What is the Neural Explanation for Crime?
There may be Neural differences in Offenders and Non-Offenders
- Much of this is linked to Anti-Personality Disorder
It is made up of:
- Prefrontal Cortex
- Mirror Neurons
What is the Prefrontal Cortex in the Neural Explanation for Crime?
- Raine conducted research with Brain Scans on the APD brain
- Found less activity in the Prefrontal Cortex in people with Anti-Personality Disorder which regulates emotional responses
- Also found and 11% Reduction in Grey Matter in the Prefrontal Cortex
What are Mirror Neurons in the Neural Explanation for Crime?
- Keysers found that only when people with APD were asked to empathise (with a video of a person getting hurt) did their Empathy Response (Mirror Neurons) activate
- Suggests people with APD can empathise but not in the same way as everyone else
Strength of Neural Explanation for Crime
Supportive Evidence
- Kandel and Freed found reviewed evidence of Frontal Lobe damage (including Prefrontal Cortex) and APD
- Found people with this damage tended to show impulsive behaviour, emotional instability, and inability to learn from mistakes
- Suggests Brain Damage may be a factor
Limitation of Neural Explanation for Crime
Intervening Variables
- Farringdon et al studied a group of men that scored high on Psychopathy (APD)
- Found that the men had experienced many risk factors during childhood (e.g. raised by convicted parent or physically neglected)
- These factors could have caused APD or other neural issues
- Suggests the link between APD and offending isn’t as clear and other variables could be affecting it
What is Differential Association Theory?
Proposes the idea that Criminal Behaviour is learnt through interaction with others
- Frequency + Intensity + Duration = Likelihood of Offending
Made up of:
- Scientific Basis
- Offending as a Learnt Behaviour
- Socialisation in Prison
What is Scientific Basis in Differential Association Theory?
Sutherland Developed a set of Principals that could explain all types of Offending
- 1) Criminal Behaviour is learnt not Inherited
- 2) It is Learnt through Association with Others
- 3) It is Learnt from Intimate Personal Groups
- 4) Techniques & Attitudes / Motivations are learnt
- 5) Learning is Directional (either for or against crime)
- 6) If the number of positive attitudes (for crime) outweigh the negatives a person will offend
- 7) Learning experiences differ in Frequency & Intensity from person to person
- 8) Criminal Behaviour is learnt through the same process as any other behaviour
- 9) General Need is not a Sufficient Explanation for Crime
What is Socialisation in Prison in Differential Association Theory?
- Sutherland’s theory also explains why so many Convicted offenders go on to reoffend
- Inmates will learn specific techniques in prison and will go on to use them upon release
Strengths of Differential Association Theory
Focus Shift
- Sutherland was able to move the emphasis from early biological explanations for Crime to something based around Social Circumstances and Environments
- Less Deterministic approach
Supportive Evidence
- Mednick et al found that boys who had Criminal Adoptive Parents and Non-Criminal Biological parents were more likely to offend (14.7%)
- Illustrates the importance of Family Influence
Limitation of Differential Association Theory
Hard to Test
- Many of Sutherland’s concepts are not Operationalised which makes them very difficult to test
- E.g. its hard to see how many Pro-Crime attitudes a person has / has been exposed to
- This means that its difficult to pinpoint the criminal career is initialised
What is the Psychodynamic Approach to Crime?
It is made up of:
- The Inadequate Superego
- Theory of Maternal Deprivation
What is the Inadequate Superego in the Psychodynamic Approach to Crime?
- The Superego works on the Morality Principle by Punishing the Ego through Guilt
- Blackburn suggested that a deficient Superego will cause Offending as the Id is not properly controlled
3 Types of deficient Superego’s were proposed:
- The Weak Superego
- The Deviant Superego
- The Over-Harsh Superego
What is the Weak Superego?
- A boy with no father figure doesn’t internalise normal Characteristics
- The lack of Identification would make Offending or Immoral behaviour more likely
What is the Deviant Superego?
- If the Superego a child develops is Immoral this would lead to Criminal Behaviour
- E.g. If the Child has a Criminal Father they may not associate Guilt with Wrongdoing
What is the Over-Harsh Superego?
- An Overly-Harsh Parenting Style leads to a child with an Overly Harsh Superego
- Would lead to Child being Crippled by Guilt and Anxiety
- Could drive the Individual to commit crime to Satisfy the Superego’s need for Punishment
What is Maternal Deprivation in the Psychodynamic Approach to Crime?
- It can lead to Affectionless Psychopathy which is Characterised by a Lack of Guilt, Empathy or Feelings for Others
- This can lead to Delinquency (based of the 44 Thieves study)
Strength of Psychodynamic Approach to Crime
Supportive Evidence
- Goreta did a Freudian analysis on 10 offenders and found each Offender had Unconscious Feelings of Guilt and the Need for Self-Punishment
- Suggests this is the result of a Over-Harsh Superego
Counterpoint
- The principles of Inadequate Superego are not supported
- This is because we would expect to see much more offending in children who experienced Punitive Parenting Styles
Limitations of Psychodynamic Approach to Crime
Gender Bias
- Freud suggests that Females dont resolve the Oedipus Complex and therefore would have much weaker Superegos
- This is Alpha Bias as it has been shown that Females are less likely to offend than Males
Unscientific Explanation
- Bowlby’s theory cannot be seen as Scientific Evidence for a faulty Superego causing Offending
- This is because concepts like the Superego are not Directly Observable or Falsifiable
- This means that it cannot be Empirically tested and should be seen as Unscientific
What is Custodial Sentencing?
When an Offender spends time in Prison or another Closed Institute
There are 4 main reasons for this:
- Deterrence
- Incapacitation
- Retribution
- Rehabilitation
What is Deterrence in Custodial Sentencing?
- Prison is designed to ‘Put people off’ from doing crime
- General Deterrence sends a broad message to society against crime
- Personal Deterrence puts individuals who have experiences Prison from Reoffending
- Based on Behaviourist ideas of Vicarious Punishment
What is Incapacitation in Custodial Sentencing?
- Offenders are taken out of Society for the Protection of the Public
- The need for Incapacitation is dependant on the Severity of the persons Crime (e.g. Rapists and Murderers are more of a threat than someone not paying tax)
What is Retribution in Custodial Sentencing?
- Society enacting revenge on an Offender for their Crimes
- The level of Suffering should be Proportionate to the Crime
- Based on biblical notion of ‘An Eye For An Eye’
What is Rehabilitation in Custodial Sentencing?
- Prison being somewhere for Offenders to be reformed
- Offenders should come out better adjusted for Society
- Prison should provide Opportunities for Offenders to develop skill and access to Treatment Programmes
What are the Psychological Effects of Custodial Sentencing?
Stress & Depression
- High Suicide Rates
- Increases risk of Psychological Disturbance following Release
Institutionalisation
- Adopted norms and routines of Prison Life
- Makes harder to Adjust to Society on Release
Prisonisation
- Adopted ‘Inmate Code’
- Unacceptable behaviour in Society may be Praised in Prison
What are the Problems of Recidivism in Custodial Sentencing?
Refers to Reoffending Rates
- 57% of Offenders will Reoffend within a Year
- 2007 14 Prisons in England & Wales recorded Reoffending Rates over 70%
Strength of Custodial Sentencing
Support for Rehabilitation
- Rehabilitation model is built on idea that Offenders may become ‘better people’ in Prison
- Access to Education and Training will allow them to live Crime Free on release
- Also things like Anger-Management or Social Skills Training will allow them to function better
- Decreases Recidivism
Limitations of Custodial Sentencing
Evidence for Psychological Harm
- Bartol suggested Prison was Brutal, Demeaning and Devastating
- In last 20 years Suicide rates are 15x Higher in Prison than regular life
- Prison Reform Trust found that 25% of women and 15% of men reported symptoms of Psychosis
Better Alternatives
- Davis & Raymond said that Government Ministers often Exaggerate the Benefits of prison
- In Reality it does little to Deter or Rehabilitate
- Community Service and Restorative Justice have been proposed to be better alternatives
What is Behaviour Modification in Custody?
Idea of Reinforcing Positive Behaviours in Offenders and Punishing Disobedience so that they are better adjusted to Regular Life
What are Token Economies in Behaviour Modification?
- It is the Process of Reinforcing Desirable Behaviour with a token than can be Exchanged for Rewards
- Desirable Behaviour may be: Avoiding Fights, Following Rules, Cleaning, E.c.t.
- Tokens are Secondary Reinforcers as their value come from Association with Rewards
- Rewards may be: Phone call, Yard Time, Extra Food, E.c.t
What is Required to Implement a Token Economy?
- Operationalised Target Behaviour
- A Scoring System known by both Staff and Prisoners
- Staff Training to ensure Standardised Procedures
Strengths of Token Economy
Supportive Evidence
- Hobbs and Holt introduced a Token Economy in 4 Groups of Young Delinquents (1 was a control)
- Observed a Significant Difference in Positive Behaviour compared to Control
- Allyon found Similar Results in an Adult Prison
Easy to Implement
- No need for Specialist Training
- Cost-Effective
- Easy to follow once workable Methods of Reinforcement are Established
Limitation of Token Economy
Limited Rehabilitative Value
- Works in Prisons but doesn’t extend beyond Custodial Setting
- Blackburn “Little Rehabilitative Value”
Ethical Issues
- Can be regarded as Manipulative and Dehumanising (Moya & Achtenburg)
- Programme isn’t optional
- Withdrawal of contact with Loved ones and Exercise is questionable
How is CBT used in Anger Management?
Novaco suggests that Cognitive factors trigger emotional arousal which cause Aggressive Acts
Therapy made up of 3 Stages:
- Cognitive Preparation
- Skills Acquisition
- Application Practice
What is Cognitive Preparation in Anger Management?
- Offender learns to Identify Situations that act as a Trigger
- Therapist tries to Redefine the situations as Non-Threatening to break the automatic response
What is Skills Acquisition in Anger Management?
- Offenders are taught Techniques to help deal with Anger-Provoking Situations
Techniques may be: - Positive Self Talk (Cognitive)
- Behavioural Assertiveness Training (Behavioural)
- Physiological Methods of Relaxation (Physiological)
What is Application Practice in Anger Management?
- Offenders Practice their skills within a Carefully Monitored Environment
- Role Play often used to Re-enact Scenarios that may have escalated feelings of Violence
What did Keen find about Anger Management?
- Studied Progress of offenders aged 17-21 who did Anger Management Programme consisting of 8 two hour lessons
- Generally Positive Outcomes with Increased Capacity of Self Control
What did Ireland find about Anger Management?
Compared Progress of 2 groups of Offenders
- group 1 took part in 12 session Anger Management Programme and the Other was a Control
- Outcomes were assessed by: an Interview, a Behaviour Checklist, and a Self Report Questionnaire
- 92% showed Improvement on at least 1 Measure
- 48% showed an Improvement on both the Checklist and Self Report
Strength of Anger Management
Outlasts Behaviour Modification
- Tackles Cognitive Processes that Trigger Anger not just Surface behaviour
- May give Offenders insight into the cause of their Criminality and allow for them to manage themselves outside of Prison
- Leads to more Permanent Change
Limitations of Anger Management
Individual Differences
- Howells et al found that participation had Little Overall Impact when compared to a Control Group
- However this was not true for all people as Significant Progress was made by:
- Offenders who had showed Intense Anger Levels beforehand
- Offenders who were Open to Change and Motivated
- Suggests Anger Management will only help Certain People
Expensive
- Require Highly Trained Specialists
- Also Requires Commitment to participation from Offender (who may be uncooperative and apathetic)
- Change takes time and therefore will increase costs
- Suggests Anger Management may not work in all Prisons
What is Restorative Justice?
Aims to rebuild relationships between the Offender and the Victim / Community
- Techniques used include Face-to-Face meetings between Victim and Offender
- Considers the Offender to have committed a Crime against an Individual Victim rather than the State
- Braithwaite - “Crime hurts, Justice should Heal”
What are the Key Features of Restorative Justice?
- Trained Mediator Supervises meetings
- Non-Courtroom setting
- Victim given Opportunity to explain to Offender how they affected them
- Active Involvement from both Parties
- Focus on Positive Outcomes
- Inclusion of Other Community Members
What is Sentencing and Restitution in Restorative Justice?
- Restorative Justice may occur Pre-Trial
- Could also Function alongside a Prison Sentence or as an Alternative
- Restitution may be a Financial Payment relative to the Crime, but could also have the Offender repair damaged property Themselves
- Restitution could also be a Emotional repayment
What is the Restorative Justice Council?
- An Independent Body whose role it is to Establish clear Standards for the use of Restorative Justice
- Supports Victims or Specialists in the Field
Strengths of Restorative Justice
Supportive Evidence
- Shapland et al reported results from a 7 year long study
- Found that 85% of Survivors reported satisfaction with the process of Face-to-Face meetings
- 78% would recommend this to others and 60% said it helped them move on
Evidence for Recidivism
- Strang et al 10 study Meta-Analysis Compared Offenders in Restorative Justice programmes with those in Custodial Sentencing
- Found Restorative Justice group was significantly less likely to Reoffend
- Bain found in review of 10 Studies found Lowered Recidivism rate in Adult Offenders when using Face-to-Face Contact
Limitation of Restorative Justice
Reliance of Agreement
- The Programmes Succession may be Dependant on the extent that the Offender feels Remorse
- There is Danger that some Offenders may sign up just to get a reduced sentence rather than genuine willingness
- The Victim may also only be attending to get Retribution of their own
