forensic psychology Flashcards
what are the 2 issues when defining crime?
crime is culturally specific i.e, a crime in one culture isnt a crime in another e.g. having one than one wife
crime is historically specific i.e. a crime changes over time e.g. homosexuality used to be a crime
define crime
any act which breaks the law and warrants a form of punishment
what are the 3 main ways of measuring crime?
offender surveys
victim surveys
official statistics
describe and evaluate offender surveys
offenders voluntarily survey the number of crimes they have committed. it targets groups of likely offenders
W- people may be unwilling to give up information about themselves
describe and evaluate victim surveys
asks 50,000 random households to document the crimes they have been victim to in the last year
W- don’t account for victimless crimes e.g. littering
W- ‘telescoping’ may occur when the victim misremembers the crime as happening in the last year when in fact it didn’t.
S- has greater accuracy than OS and may include crimes that weren’t reported to the police
describe and evaluate official statistics
is the total number of crimes reported by the police.
published by the home office annually
it allows gov to develop crime prevention strategies
W- many crimes are unreported due to embarrassment, fear of reprisals or considered a ‘family matter’. 75% of crimes go unreported, known as ‘dark crimes’
national statistics denote how successful the gov is therefore they may influence the figures to make themselves look good
because crime is historically specific it makes it difficult to judge how crime has changed
what are the 2 aspects of offender profiling
topdown approach and bottomup approach
how was the topdown approach developed
through carrying out interviews on 36 sexually motivated serial killers. they used this to develop categories of crime.
what are the 2 main aspects of the topdown approach
organised and disorganised killers
describe the characteristics of organised killers
crime scene- evidence of a planned attack, victim is deliberately targets as a ‘type’, maintained control and operate with surgical precision
offender- above average intelligence, in skilled profession, socially and sexually competent and often married with kids
describe the characteristics of a disorganised killer
crime scene- no planning (spontaneous), impulsive nature, body still at crime scene with little control from the offender
offender- below average IQ, unskilled profession, history of sexual dysfunction and lives alone and close to the scene
evaluate the topdown approach, including HOWARD and HOLMES and 2 other weaknesses
it can only be applied to crimes such as murder and rape, HOWARD, a police officer claimed that his son had killed everyone in his family and then committed suicide. analysis of the crime scene showed the killer was a skilled marksman, the police officer was later convicted. crimes like burlgary isnt suited for topdown approach because it reveals little about the offender
HOLMES suggested that there are 4 types of killers, visionary, missionary, power and hedonistic, the 2 categories are too simplistic
1 made by 36 serial killers which question generalisability
2 the bottomup approach is a better alternative
how was the bottomup approach developed?
by david canter, forensic psychologists take evidence and develop a hypothesis about the likely characteristics and motivations and social background of the offender.
describe investigative psychology regarding the bottomup approach
details of the crime is matched with statistical analysis of typical offender behaviour. this included; interpersonal coherance (in which the offenders actions may reflect their day-to-day behaviour), significance of time/place (which may indicate where the offender lives) and forensic awareness (describes individuals who have been investigated before)
describe geographical profiling regarding the bottomup approach, refer to the marauder and the commuter
is based on the spatial consistency in which the offender restricts their work to specific areas they’re familiar with. according to the circle theory, if a circle is drawn linked to all the crimes the offender will live somewhere in the middle.
the marauder operates in close proximity to their home.
the commuter travels a distance from their base
describe the investigation that supports the idea that supporters geographical profiling regarding internal representations
CANTER used the location of John Duffy (the railway rapists) attacks to predict that hed be involved with the railway network- it turned out that he was a carpenter for British rail
evaluation of bottumup approach, including LUNDRIGAN and CANTER and COPSON and 2 other strengths and 1 strength
LUNDRIGAN and CANTER identified patterns of geographical constancy in 120 murder cases using a program called ‘smallest space analysis’
S1- can be applied to a wider range of offences than the topdown approach
S2- more scientific as it attempts to add statistical procedure
COPSON surveyed 48 British police and identified that advice from profiler was useful 89% of the time but was only accurate 3% of the time
W1- is deterministic in terms of interpersonal coherence that a offenders personality in day-to-day life will determine his behaviour at the crime scene
describe and evaluate LOMOBROSO’s biological explanation for criminal behaviour
1 W and 1S and GOERING
criminals are ‘genetic throwbacks’ who have failed to evolve and therefore have a savage animal nature which means they cant meet the demands of living in a civilized society
they have specific characteristics, dark skin, extra toes/nipples/fingers, prominent jaw.
murders have bloodshot eyes, curly hair and long ears.
rapists have fleshy lips, glinting eyes and projecting ears
fraudesters are thin and reedy
all are insensitive to pain and have slang tattoos and are unemployed
W- is clearly controversial and offensive
S- he did attempt to study criminal behaviour in a scientific way
GOERING, lomobroso’s didnt look at non-criminals as a control group and all his Ps had psychological disorder.. Goering conducted a study of 3000 criminals and noncriminals. he concluded that there is no evidence that offenders are a distinctive group
in genetic explanations for offending behaviour, what 2 genes are responsible and why?
MAOA because it has been linked to aggression as it influences levels of dopamine and serotonin
CDH13 is linked to substance abuse and ADHA, a mutation of the gene undermines impulse control
in neural explanations for offending behaviour, what 3 aspects does it concern?
the pre-frontal cortex is concerned with impulse control and therefore abnormalities to this area may mean people are less able to control their actions. this may therefore led to aggressive crimes
anti-social personality disorder is characterised with impulsive, irresponsible behaviour and often criminal behaviour. APD are reckless and manipulative resulting in crime
neurotransmitters has been linked to aggression, high levels of dopamine has been liked with this.
evaluate neural and genetic explanations of offending behaviour. including KEYSER, LANGE and the diathesis stress model and FALLON and one W
Keyser found that APD can experience empathy but irregularly. they may have a neural off switch because whilst watching an actor experiencing pain they were able to feel empathy as a result of mirror neurons.
LANGE stuied 13 MZ and 17 DZ twins with sibilings in prison. 10 of the MZ twins had also spent time in prison but only 2 of the DZ twins had, this supports genetic
FALLON murders have low activity in their pre-frontal cortex, supporting neural
the diathestis stress model suggests that offending behaviour is due to genes and environment
W1 is biologically reductionist and deterministic
who proposed the psychological explanation for offending behaviour
eysenck
what does the psychological explanation explain about behaviour?
personability can be measured by extroversion, neuroticism or psychoticism
high extroversion have a chronically under aroused NS which means they need excitement to secrete electrical impulses which leads to sensation seeking behaviour
high neurotism are highly emotionally unstable and unpredictable. they get more angry easily
high psychoticism lack empathy and need to have poer over others and enjoy manipulating and lying
evaluate eysencks psychological explanation, 1 S and 3W including digman and moffitt
S eysenck compared 2070 male prisoner scores on the EPI with 2422 male controls. prisoners recorded higher scores on extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism compared to the control
DIGMAN suggests that is is possible to have high extraversion and neuroticism and still not offended according to his 5 factor model of personality
human personality is complex and therefore cant be reduced down to a score on a personality test
MOFFITT 2 subtypes of offenders- adolescence limited and life course persistence because the distinction between criminal and non-criminal is too simplistic
who proposed the cognitive theory of offending behaviour
kohlbergs theory of moral reasoning
what did kohlbergs theory suggest
he suggested that our abilities of right and wrong can be summarized in a series of stages. the higher the stage the more sophisticated the reasoning
he based his theory on the Heinz dilemma in which Ps had to decide whether the husband should steal medicine for his dying wife
what are the moral stages of kohlbergs theory
level 1 (pre-convential morality where rules arent internalized) -depends on punishment -depends on gain level 2( conventional morality where rules are internalised) -obey to gain social approval -obey to maintain social approval level 3 (post conventional morality where rules are internalised and reflected upon) -obeyed if not morally correct and chanllegened if affeccting rights of others -established own rules, based on personal ethical principles
offenders are classified as pre-conventional and is characterised by the need to aviod punishment and gain reward
what are cognitive distortions
hostile attribution bias- judge situations as aggressive or threatening
minimisation - downplay the seriousness of an event, this is common strategy for dealing with guilt. sex offenders are prone to this
evaluate the cognitive distortions for offending behaviour, 2S
SCHONENBERG and JUSIN
S 54% of rapists denied they had committed and offence and 40% minimalised the harm they caused. 35% argued the crime was non-sexual and 36% said their victim was concented
S SCHONENBERG and JUSTIN showed 55 offenders emotionally ambiguous expressions, they were more likely to percieve them as violent than controls
evaluate cognitive explanations for offending behaviour 1S and 2W
S PALMER and HOLLIN compared moral reasoning with offenders and non offenders. the offenders showed less mature moral reasoning
W THORNON and REID crimes for financial gain showed pre-conventional moral reasoning but assault showed even less then pre-conventional
W intelligence may be a better predictor of criminality as lower IQ are less likely to commit even though theyre pre-conventional
what are the aims of custodial sentences
rehabilitation- offenders should leave prison better adjusted with access to develop skills and treament
incapacitation- protecting the public by removing them from society
deterrence- convince other people not to commit. general deterrence “crime wont be tolerated” individual deterrence “stop recidivism”
retribution - society enacting revenge
describe the effects of custodial sentencing
stress and depression- common at the start as they adjust and at end when they worry about life on the outside. may commit suicide
institutionalisation - accustom to routine and find it difficult to adjust
prisonisation- normal prisoners behaviour may not be considered acceptable outside of prison
what does recidivism mean
re offending rates
what does labeling refer to
in prison you are labelled as criminal which affects how theyre viewed by others. once out theyll find it difficult getting a job therefore more likely to reoffend
evaluate the effects of custodial sentencing 2S and 2W
S prison suicide rates 15x higher than general population. particularly high in young men 24 hours into prison.
S the prison reform trust found that 25% women and 15% men showed psychotic symptoms
W individual differences will influence peoples time in prison
W different factors will effect psychological effects; prison, length of sentence, pre-existing health issues and previous prison experience
evaluate recidivism WALKER
GLASER
W statistics in normway and UK show that recidivism is higher in the UK, suggesting were falling to rehabilitate
W WALKER found that among habitual offenders, length of sentence didnt influence recidivism rates, 55% went on to re-commit
S GLASER found that recidivism rates are lower when new offenders were supervised. this was significantly true with people in stable relationships and good job prospects
describe behaviour modification in custody
“using operant conditioning to alter behaviour”
this involves token economy- when an inmate produces appropriate behaviour they are given a token which can be exchanged for a reward.
theyre a form of secondary reinforcement as theyre not rewarding in themselves but through their association with a reward.
to be effective staff should be consistant and made clear that failure to comply to good behaviour will result in removal of the token (punishment)
evaluate the use of token economy
S easy to implement and no need for expertise.
S cost effective
W BASSETT and BLANCHARO found that benefits were lost if staff was inconsistant
W BLACKBURN suggests that any behaviour learnt in prison will be lost on the outside
W ethical issues, behaviour modification is manipulative and dehumanising. token economy isnt optional and punishment involving withdrawal from loved ones is very unethical
what are the psychodynamic explanatons for offending behaviour
the SUPEREGO works on the morality principle, punishing with guilt for wrong doing. if the SUPEREGO develops inadequately then criminal behaviour may occur
WEAK SUPEREGO developed as a result of abnormal relationships within the family. they would act in ways that gratify the ID, regardless of the social restraints on doing so
DEVIANT SUPEREGO develops the superego in a normal way. a child raised with a criminal same sex parent might develop a SUPEREGO that doesnt punish criminal acts that the parent would engage in
STRONG SUPEREGO a person commits crimes in order to get caught and punished to reduce the guilt imposed by their SUPEREGO
evaluate psychodynamic explanations
W if children raised by offending behaviour go onto commit crimes this may be due to genes and socilisation rather than a deviant superego
W gender biased- freud would predict girls to be more inclined to offend due to the electra complex because they have a weak superego. this isnt supported in reality with only 5% of people in prison being women
what is differential association theory
SUTHERFORD proposed that individuals learn the values, attitudes and techniques and motives for criminal behaviour through association and interaction with different people.
learning pro-criminal acts- socialising with a particular group means youre exposed to the values of the group. if the number of pro-criminal acts outweigh the number of anti-criminal attitudes youll go onto offend
learning criminal acts-learning techniques for committing crime
evaluate differential association theory
FARRINGTON
FARRINGOTN completed a longitudinal study of 411 male offenders. they lived in deprived inner cities. when followed up at 50, conviction records were analysed and 41% had been convicted. a risk factor was family criminality, low academic achievement and poor parenting.
W not everyone who is exposed to crime becomes an offender, there is danger in this theory of sterotyping people who come from poverty backgrounds as ‘unavoidable criminal’
describe anger management
anger management is based on the theory that anger can cause crime
3 stages
cognitive preparation- the offender discusses the situation which made them angry, which may be irrational. the therapist points out irrational thinking, hoping to alter thinking
skills acquisition- introduced to cognitive and behavioral techniques to help them manage anger. C talking to keep calm B express views in a non-aggressive way. also relaxation techniques
application of practice- practise new skills in controlled environment. they act out situations which caused anger in the past. a welldone as postivie reinforment
evaluate anger management
IRELAND
BLACKBURN
S IRELAND compared 2 groups of offenders. controlled and anger management were interviewed and did questionairres. 92% of anger management showed improvement
W can be expensive and requires highly trained specialists
BLACKBURN suggests that it does little to reduce recidivism because it relies on roleplay that doesnt properly reflect real life situation
describe restoring justice
bringing about reconciliation between victim and offender. the victim expresses their feelings and the offender should come to realise the impact of their crime. they meet with a mediator and hope for a positive effect for both parties
what is the problem with restoring justice
it is difficult to accurately assess the effectiveness because restoring justice is flexible and all measure different things. it is also difficult to measure recidivism rates because we only know if someone reoffenders if they get caught
the motives of the offender and victim may be negative. the offender may agree to avoid punishment or reduce sentences without feeling remorse. the victim may see this as revenge
high drop out rate
doesn’t receive public support because it is seen as a sort option
