Forensic Psychology Flashcards
What is the purpose of offender profiling?
Offender profiling helps police narrow down the list of likely suspects by analyzing crime scene details to infer characteristics of the offender (e.g., age, occupation, background).
What are the two main approaches to offender profiling?
Top-Down Approach – Uses pre-existing categories to classify offenders.
Bottom-Up Approach – Develops offender characteristics based on data and patterns from crime scenes.
What is the top-down approach to profiling?
A method that categorizes offenders as either organised or disorganised based on crime scene evidence and offender characteristics.
What are the characteristics of an organised offender?
- Plans the crime in advance.
- Targets a specific type of victim.
- Operates with control and precision.
- Leaves little evidence.
- High intelligence, skilled job, socially competent.
What are the characteristics of a disorganised offender?
- Acts impulsively, with little planning.
- Leaves evidence at the crime scene.
- Lower intelligence, unskilled or unemployed.
- Often has a history of failed relationships and social isolation.
What are the weaknesses of the top-down approach?
- Only applies to certain crimes (e.g., serial murder, rape, arson).
- Based on a small, unrepresentative sample of 36 serial killers.
- The organised/disorganised distinction may be too simplistic—Holmes (1989) suggested four types of serial killers:
Visionary: Kills due to hallucinations or delusions.
Mission-oriented: Kills to eliminate a certain group.
Hedonistic: Kills for pleasure or thrill.
Power-seeking: Kills for control over victims.
How does the bottom-up approach differ from the top-down approach?
It does not use fixed offender categories.
Instead, it relies on data analysis and patterns from crime scenes to build a profile.
It is considered more scientific and objective.
What is investigative psychology?
A method that identifies patterns in offender behavior by comparing crime scene details to statistical databases. It helps determine if multiple crimes were committed by the same person.
What are the two models of geographical profiling proposed by Canter and Larkin?
Marauder – Offender commits crimes close to home.
Commuter – Offender travels away from home to commit crimes.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the bottom-up approach?
✅ More scientific and based on psychological theory.
✅ Can be applied to a wider range of crimes, including burglary and theft.
❌ Kocsis et al. found that chemistry students produced more accurate profiles than senior detectives, suggesting the approach may not be highly specialized.
What was Cesare Lombroso’s theory of criminal behavior?
He believed criminals were “genetic throwbacks” who were biologically different from law-abiding citizens.
Criminals had atavistic (primitive) facial features, such as a sloping brow, strong jaw, and high cheekbones.
What are the criticisms of Lombroso’s theory?
It has racial undertones, as many “criminal features” (e.g., dark skin, curly hair) are common in people of African descent.
Modern studies found no link between facial structure and criminality.
What evidence supports genetic explanations of criminality?
Lange’s twin study – Found higher concordance rates for criminality in monozygotic (MZ) twins than dizygotic (DZ) twins.
Tihonen et al. – Identified two genes linked to violent crime:
MAOA gene – Regulates dopamine and serotonin, linked to aggression.
CDH13 gene – Linked to substance abuse and attention deficit disorder.
What role does the brain play in criminal behavior?
Criminals with antisocial personality disorder (APD) show reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex, which controls impulse regulation and decision-making.
Raine et al. found an 11% reduction in grey matter in the prefrontal cortex of APD individuals.
What personality traits are associated with criminality?
High extraversion – Thrill-seeking, risk-taking.
High neuroticism – Emotionally unstable.
High psychoticism – Aggressive, unemotional, lacks empathy.
What criticisms exist for Eysenck’s theory?
Farrington et al. found that criminals scored high on psychoticism, but not extraversion or neuroticism.
Personality may not be stable—it changes based on social and environmental factors.
What is moral reasoning and how does it relate to crime?
Kohlberg proposed that offenders tend to reason at a preconventional level, meaning they act based on punishment and reward rather than moral principles.
What are cognitive distortions?
Hostile attribution bias – Misinterpreting neutral situations as aggressive.
Minimalization – Downplaying the seriousness of an offense.
What does differential association theory propose?
Criminal behavior is learned through interaction with others who hold pro-crime values.
What is a weakness of differential association theory?
It assumes exposure to criminal influences inevitably leads to crime, ignoring free will.
What are the four aims of custodial sentencing?
Deterrence – Prevents future crimes through fear of punishment.
Incapacitation – Removes dangerous individuals from society.
Retribution – Punishes offenders for their actions.
Rehabilitation – Helps offenders reintegrate into society.
What are the psychological effects of imprisonment?
Higher rates of depression and anxiety.
Institutionalization – Difficulty adjusting to life outside prison.
Brutalization – Reinforcement of criminal norms.
What is the token economy system?
A prison-based reinforcement system where good behavior earns tokens that can be exchanged for rewards.
What are the three phases of anger management?
Cognitive Preparation – Recognizing anger triggers.
Skill Acquisition – Learning coping mechanisms.
Application Practice – Using learned skills in role-play situations.
What is restorative justice?
A process that allows offenders to meet victims, take responsibility, and repair harm.
What is a major challenge of restorative justice?
Success depends on the offender showing genuine remorse.
