Forensic psychology

Question 1

What are the two problems in defining crime?

Answer 1

1. definitions of crime differ across cultures.

2. definitions of crime change over time.

Question 2

What does it mean for definitions of crime to differ across cultures?

Answer 2

What is considered a crime in one culture may not be judged a crime in another.
For example, in 2014 forced marriage was made illegal in the UK but it is still practised in some cultures.

Question 3

What does it mean for definitions of crime to differ over time?

Answer 3

At different times in history, people defined crime differently.
For example, homosexuality was considered a crime in this country until 1967 but laws change! whoo hoo.

Question 4

What are the three ways of measuring crime?

Answer 4

1. official statistics - government records of reported crime
2. Victim surveys - people’s experiences of crime.
3. offender surveys - people self-report crimes they’ve committed.

Question 5

What are official statistics? - ways of measuring crime.

Answer 5

These are government records of the total number of crimes reported to police and recorded in the official figures.
These are published on an annual basis.
Allows the government to develop crime-prevention strategies.

Question 6

What are victim surveys? - ways of measuring crime.

Answer 6

Victim surveys record people’s experience of crime over a specific period.
It asks people to document crimes they have been a victim of in the past year.
50,000 houses are randomly selected to take part - published annually.

Question 7

What are offender surveys? - ways of measuring crime.

Answer 7

These involve individuals volunteering details of the number and types of crimes they have committed.
These surveys tend to target groups of likely offenders based of previous conviction, age and social background.

Question 8

Evaluation of official statistics.

Answer 8

– They may underestimate crime. So many crimes go unreported to the police that only around 25% of offences are included in official statistics. Crimes may not appear in official figures for many reasons (police mistrust etc). Farrington and dowd found police in Nottingham were more likely to record thefts under £10, hence a spike in their figures.

Question 9

Evaluation of victim surveys.

Answer 9

+ are thought to have a greater degree of accuracy. - surveys include crimes not reported to police, in 2007 they reported a 3% increase in crime which official statistics didn’t.
– however, victim surveys rely on respondents accurately recalling crimes. They may misremember a crime happening in the wrong year. Thus it means that inaccurate victim recall may distort crime figures.

Question 10

Evaluation of offender surveys.

Answer 10

+ they provide insight. - they gather info on how many people are responsible for certain offences.
– but despite anonymity, the offenders responses may be unreliable - they may conceal serious or crimes, or over exaggerate.

Question 11

What are the two types of biological explanations for offending?

Answer 11

1. atavistic form

2. genetic and neural explanations.

Question 12

Who came up with the Atavistic form and what does it propose?

Answer 12

Lombroso came up with it. He proposed that criminals were ‘genetic throwbacks’ - a primitive subspecies who were biologically different - it is now discredited but has helped lay the foundation for modern profiling.

Question 13

Atavistic form - offenders lack evolutionary development - explain!

Answer 13

Offenders were seen as lacking evolutionary development.
They had a savage and untamed nature and could not adjust to society and would inevitably turn to crime.
Saw criminality as innate.

Question 14

Atavistic features - biologically determined - explain. Give examples.

Answer 14

Lombroso argued that criminals could be identified as looking like criminals. These characteristics are then biologically determined.
In terms of characteristics, these included:
1. a narrow, sloping brow.
2. a strong prominent jaw.
3. high cheekbones
4. facial asymmetry.

Question 15

Different types of criminals have different physical characteristics - explain with examples.

Answer 15

Murderers: described as having bloodshot eyes, curly hair and long ears.
Sexual deviants: described as having glinting eyes with swollen fleshy lips.

Question 16

How did Lombroso come up with his atavistic explanation?

Answer 16

He meticulously examined the facial and cranial features of 383 dead criminals and 3839 living ones.

Question 17

Evaluation of the Atavistic form.

Answer 17

+ Lombroso’s research is it’s large contribution to criminology. - he started the beginning of criminal profiling.

• • There are racial undertones in his research - curly hair and dark skin are found in people of African descent.
• • There is contradictory evidence - Goring compared 3000 criminals and 3000 non-criminals and concluded there was no evidence that offenders are distinct with unusual characteristics. +, however, he found that criminals have a lower IQ.
• • poor control in his research - failed to account for other confounding variables eg criminals who had a psychological disorder.

Question 18

Biological explanations - explain genetic explanations for offending. - twin and adoption studies.

Answer 18

Twin and adoption studies suggest genes predispose offenders to crime. Lange studied 13 MZ and 17 DZ twins where one of the twins i each pair had spent time in prision. 10 of the MZ twins had a co-twin also in prision, only ture for 2 of the DZ.
Crowe found that adopted children who had a bio parent with a criminal record had a 50% chance of committing a crime by 18.

Question 19

Biological explanations - explain genetic explanations for offending. - genes

Answer 19

A genetic analysis of 900 offenders by Tiihonen revealed two genes that may be associated with violent crime:
* The MAOA gene controls serotonin and dopamine and is linked to aggressive behaviour.
* CDH13 is linked to substance abuse.
This high-risk combination led to individuals being 13x more likely to commit a crime.

Question 20

Biological explanations - explain genetic explanations for offending. - diathesis-stress model.

Answer 20

If genes have an influence on offending, this influence is likely to be at least partly moderated by environmental factors.
A tendancy to criminal behaviour may come through a combination of:
- genetic predisposition (diathesis)
- A psychological stress or ‘trigger’ eg a dysfunctional upbringing.

Question 21

Neural explanations - explain neural explanations for offending. - APD.

Answer 21

Antisocial personality disorder (APD) is associated with a lack of empathy and is suffered by many convicted criminals.
Thus there may be neural differences in the brains of criminals and non-criminals.

Question 22

Neural explanations - explain neural explanations for offending. - prefrontal cortext.

Answer 22

Raine found 11% reduction in the volume of grey matter in the prefrontal cortext of people with APD compared to controls. This is the part that regulates emotional behaviour.

Question 23

Evaluation of the genetic and neural explanation for offending.

Answer 23

– there are methodological problems with twin studies. Lange’s research was poorly controlled eg judging whether they were twins based on appearances. Furthermore, most twins are reared in the same environment so concordance rates may be due to shared experiences rather than genetics.
+ support for diathesis-stress model - Mednick studied 13,000 adoptees and criminality: no bio parent had conviction = 13.5% of adoptees had conviction. one bio parent had conviction = 20% “ “. both bio parents had conviction = 25% “ “.
– explanations are biologically reductionist - hard to untangle the effects of genes and neural stuff from other influences.

Question 24

What are the four types of psychological explanations for offending?

Answer 24

1. Eysenck’s theory
2. Cognitive explanations
3. Differential association
4. Psychodynamic explanation.

Question 25

Explain Eysenck’s theory for offending.

Answer 25

Eysenck proposed that personality could be represented along three dimensions:
- Introversion-extraversion (E)
- Stability-neuroticism (N)
- Socialisation-psychoticism (P)
The dimensions combine to form a variety of personality characteristics.

Question 26

How is our nervous system linked to out personality types due to Eysenck’s theory?

Answer 26

He suggested that personality types are innate and based on the nervous system we inherit.
EXTRAVERTS - underactive nervous system which means they seek excitement and risk taking.
NEUOTIC - high level of reactivity in the sympathetic nervous system - they respond quickly to situations of threat - thus they tend to be nervous and over-anxious so their behaviour is hard to predict.
PSYCHOTIC - higher levels of testosterone - they are cold, unemotional and prone to aggression.

Question 27

What does high extraversion and neuroticism together do to criminaltiy? - eysenck.

Answer 27

Eysenck believed that people with high E and N scores had nervous systems that made it difficult for them to learn and subsequently delay gratification. (eysenck believed criminals needed immediate gratification). As a result, these people are less likely to learn anxiety resposes to antisocial impulses.

Question 28

Evaluation of Eysenck.

Answer 28

– cultural bias - Bartol and Holanchok studied African-american offenders in prision and they found that all the prisioners studied were less extravert than the control group. They suggested this was because Eysenck studied a different cultural group. - thus it cannot be generalised.
– Farrington found that offenders scored high o P but not E and N so there is little evidence.
+ recognises that criminality may have a genetic basis, however it is biologically reductionist as it does not consider environmental factors.

Question 29

Cognitive explanations for offending. Explain the theory of levels of moral reasoning.

Answer 29

Kohlberg proposed that people’s decisions and judgements about right and wrong can be identified in his stage theory of moral development.
The higher the stage, the more sophisticated the reasoning.
His stages are as follows:
LEVEL 1 - preconventional (personal gain)
LEVEL 2 - conventional (maintenance of social order)
LEVEL 3 - postconventional (morality of conscience)
He found that criminals tend to be at the preconventional level of moral reasoning.

Question 30

Psychological explanations for offending. Explain the theory of cognitive distortions. (including hostile attribution bias and minimalisation)

Answer 30

Cognitive distortions are errors or biases in people’s information processing system characterised by faulty thinking. - it is a typical way for criminals to interpret their behaviour and justify actions.
EXAMPLE: hostile attribution bias - Justye found violent offenders were more likely to perceive ambiguous facial expressions as angry and hostile. - they misread non-agressive cues eg being ‘looked at’.
EXAMPLE: Minimalistaion - reduces a person’s sense of guilt. Hashmall found that 35% of a sample of child molestors argued that the crime they committed was non-sexual and 36% argued consent had been given.

Question 31

Evaluation of the cognitive explanations.

Answer 31

+ there is evidence - Palmer found that offenders showed less mature moral reasoning than non-offenders - this is in line with Kohlbegs predictions.
– there are better theories and it is culturally biased towards westerners. - the preconventional level should be abandoned because it does not represent a natural stage of maturational development.
+ helped therapy - understanding cognitive distortions help treat criminla behaviour as CBT helps offenders get a less distorted view of their actions. Studies suggest that reducing denail and minimalisation in therpy helps reduce reoffending.

Question 32

Psychological explanations for offending: differential association. Explain this theory.

Answer 32

Sutherland attempted to come up with a set of scientific principles to help explain offending. He believed there were clear cause and effect links between the backgrounds of people who become criminals and those who do not.

Question 33

Differential association: crime is learned through interactions with significant others - explain.

Answer 33

Offending behaviour is acquired through the process of learning. Learning occurs through interactions with significant other such a friends and family.
‘Differential’ association refers to the degree to which a person associates with indivduals - they spend time with some people more than others.
Criminality arises from 2 factors:
LEARNED ATTITUDES TOWARDS CRIME.
LEARNING OF SPECIFIC CRIMINAL ACTS.

Question 34

Differential association: how will someone turn to crime - eg pro-crime attitudes vs fine attitudes ect…

Answer 34

When a person is socialised into a group they will be exposed to certain values and attitudes. Sutherland argues that if the number of pro-criminal attitudes the person comes to aquire outweighs the number of anti-crime attitudes, they will go onto offend.

Question 35

Differential association: how will someone turn to crime - eg criminal techniques.

Answer 35

In addition to being exposed to prp-criminal attitudes, the would-be-offender may also learn particular techniques for committing a crime. - eg how to break into a house through the window.
Reoffending may be due to socialisation in prison- they are surrounded by pro criminal attitudes and how to commit certain crimes.

Question 36

Evaluation of differential association.

Answer 36

+ The theory can account for crime in all sectors of society. Sutherland recognised some crimes are more likely in WC, but other crimes in more affluent areas. - corporate crime = middle class.
+ offeres a more desirbale approach to restorative justice and is more realistic.
– difficulty testing the theory - unclear how many pro or anti criminal attitudes a person is exposed to and which one and when triggeres criminality.
– overly deterministic because not everyone exposed to criminal influences commit a crime - also sterotypes people from an impovrished background as more likely to commit a crime.

Question 37

Dealing with offending behaviour - Aims of custodial sentencing - number one = deterrence - explain.

Answer 37

Deterence = putting people off a crime. It is based in conditioning principles:

1. the unpleasent experience of prision is designed to put the individual off repeating the same crime again(individual deterrence)
2. it also aims to send a message to the members of society that crime will not be tolerated. (general detterence)

Question 38

Dealing with offending behaviour - Aims of custodial sentencing - number two = incapacitation - explain.

Answer 38

Ensures that the offender is taken out of society which protects the society from further offending. The need for incapacitation depends on the severity of the crime.

Question 39

Dealing with offending behaviour - Aims of custodial sentencing - number three = retribution - explain.

Answer 39

Society enacting revenge by making the offender suffer. The level of suffering should be proportionate to the severity of the crime.

Question 40

Dealing with offending behaviour - Aims of custodial sentencing - number four = rehabilitation - explain.

Answer 40

Reform of the offender - he/ she learns new attitudes and values and stops them from being a criminal. Prision should provide and opportunity to develop skills. access addition treatments and reflect on crime.

Question 41

What are the psychological effects of custodial sentencing?

Answer 41

Several psychological effects are associated with prision time:

1. stress and depression - suicide rates and self-harm are higher in prision than in the general population.
2. institutionalisation - inability to function outside of prision having adapted to the norms and rutines of prision life.
3. prisionisation - behaviours unacceptable outside prision are encouraged via socialisation into an ‘immate code.’

Question 42

What is recidivism?

Answer 42

Recidivism refers to reoffending. Rates vary according to the type of offence committed.
UK and US recidivism rates are amongst the highest in the world. Rates are lower in Norway, where there is more emphasis on rehabilitation.

Question 43

Evaluation of custodial sentencing.

Answer 43

– psychological effects - Bartol suggested prison is brutal and suicide rates are 15% than in the general public. - bad at rehabilitating, especially those that are vulnerable.
+ there are opportunities for rehabilitation in prision - there is access to education, training and anger managements schemes. – however not all have access to these schemes.
– prisons can help increase crime due to younger offenders learing bigger crimes from the more experienced.

Question 44

Dealing with offending behaviour - behaviour modification. Explain the aims of this.

Answer 44

The behaviourist approach proposes that behaviour is leaned - it should be possible to unlearn behaviour using the same principles. These programmes are designed with the aim of reinforcing obedient behaviour whilst punishing disobedient behaviour.

Question 45

Dealing with offending behaviour - behaviour modification. Explain token economy.

Answer 45

Token economy systems are managed by prison staff to modify the behaviour of inmates.
Based on operant conditioning - desirable inmate behaviours are rewarded and reinforced with tokens.
Tokens are not rewarding themselves, but rewarding because they can be exchanged for something desirable. - eg extra food idk… haha
Tokens are secondary reinforcers because they derive their value from the primary reinforcer.
Behaviours and rewards would be made clear in advance to the inmates.
Disobedience will result in tokens and rewards being taken away.

Question 46

How are desirable behaviours broken down s=during token economy?

Answer 46

1. the desirable behaviour is identified eg avoiding confrontation.
2. it is broken down into small steps called INCREMENTS
3. a baseline measure is established eg a way of objectively identifying whether the offender is displaying the behaviour.
   For example, a desired behaviour, being polite, is broken down into a set of behaviours - not raising voice, having a convo with guard.

Question 47

Evaluation of behaviour modification - dealing with offending behaviour.

Answer 47

+ it is very easy to implement - does not need specialist professionals as other treatments do. - it is also cost effective and easy to follow.
– Bassett found that any benefits of token economy are lost if staff application is inconsistent - there are factors to undermine its success.
+ the effectivness can be maximised when the rewards and the frequency of rewards suit each individual - field et al found this out.

Question 48

Dealing with offending behaviour: anger management. The aim of it and who came up with it.

Answer 48

Novaco suggests that cognitive factors trigger the emotional arousal that comes before aggressive acts.
He argued that in some people, anger is quick to surface in situations they perceive to be threatening or anxiety-inducing. Becoming angry is then reinforced by the individuals feeling of control in that situation.

Question 49

Dealing with offending behaviour: anger management. CBT and the stages to help offenders with this.

Answer 49

CBT: the individual is taught to, recognise the cognitive factors that trigger their anger and loss of control, and develop behavioural techniques that bring about conflict-resolution without the need for violence.
STAGE 1: This stage requires the offender to reflect on past experience - they learn to identify triggers to anger and the ways their interpretation of events may be irrational.
STAGE 2: In this stage, offenders are introduced to a range of techniques and skills to help them deal with anger-provoking situations.
STAGE 3: In this stage, offenders are given the opportunity to practise their skills in a carefully monitored environment. eg role play.

Question 50

Evaluation of anger management.

Answer 50

+ positive outcomes - Keen studied the progress of young offenders between 17 and 21 who took part in eight two hour anger management sessions. - by the end offenders generally reported increased awareness of their anger and self-control.
+ lower rates of recidivism - it gives offenders new insight into the causes of their criminality and it thus enables them to discover new ways of handling themselves outside of prison.
– lack of evidence for long-term effectiveness - Blackburn claimed that follow up studies show little evidence it reduces reoffending in the long-term.
– it is very expensive and requires commitment - they require trained specialists used to dealing with violent offenders. - needs those who participate to be committed.

Question 51

Dealing with offending behaviour: restorative justice. what is the basic definition?

Answer 51

Restorative justice programmes look at the emphasis on the needs of the victim.

Question 52

Dealing with offending behaviour: Restorative justice. What are its aims?

Answer 52

Victims are encouraged to take an active role in the processes. Offenders are required to take responsibility and face up to what they have done.
RJ is a process of managed collaboration between offender and victim based on the principles of healing and empowerment. The victim is given the opportunity to explain how the incident affected them(including emotional distress) - very important in the rehabilitative process.

Question 53

Dealing with offending behaviour: Restorative justice. What are the key features?

Answer 53

RJ key features include:

1. focus on acceptance of responsibility and positive change, less emphasis on punishment.
2. non-courtroom setting where offenders voluntarily choose to meet face-to-face with the victim.
3. active rather than passive involvement of all parties.
4. focus on positive outcomes for both survivors and offenders.

Question 54

Evaluation of restorative justice.

Answer 54

+ RJ programmes can be adapted for the individual and the circumstance that they are in. – however, this does prevent difficulties in terms of drawing conclusions about the effectiveness of the approach.
– the RJ’s success relies on the offenders actually feeling remorse and thus some offenders may sign up to have a reduced sentence or avoid prison.
+ Shapland concluded that every £1 spent on RJ programmes, saves the criminal justice system £8 through reduced offending.