Forensic Psychology Flashcards
Define Deviance.
Breaking society’s norms and values.
Define Crime.
An act or behaviour that breaks the law.
What’s the Problem with Defining Crime?
Variations between cultures: what’s considered a crime in one culture may not be in another.
Definitions of crime can change over time; homosexuality was illegal until the late 1960’s.
Define Official Statistics.
Government records of all recorded crimes from the previous year.
Based upon police reports and published annually by the Home Office.
What’s the problem with official statistics?
Lack validity as not all crime is recorded by or to the police.
Lack reliability as differences between police forces may cause some crimes to go unreported.
They inky count number of criminal acts, not number of criminals, so overall picture may be misleading.
Define Victim Surveys.
Use large random sample and ask them to document any crimes they have been a victim of in the past year.
What’s the problem with victim surveys?
Respondents may mix up years and report crime form previous years.
Some victims may be unaware that they have been a victim to a crime.
Define Offender Surveys.
Involve individuals volunteering the number and types of crimes they have committed.
What’s the Problem with Offender Surveys?
Lack validity as offenders are unlikely to be honest about the true extent of their criminality, cannot be accurate as offenders are unlikely to remember every single crime they’ve committed.
General Criticisms of Measuring Crime?
Hampered by the dark figure of crime, should take a multidisciplinary approach to get a more accurate picture of crime.
Define Offender Profiling?
An investigative tool used by law enforcement agencies to identify likely suspects and can be used to link cases that may have been committed by the same perpetrator.
What is the Top-Down Approach?
Uses evidence from the crime scene and previous similar crimes to create a profile.
Created by FBI, their behavioural science unit interviewed 36 sexually motivated serial killers to help create the approach.
What is an Organised Offender?
Actions are premeditated, clean up after the crime and usually choose the victim in advance.
What is a Disorganised Offender?
Unplanned crime, more likely to leave evidence behind and choose a random victim.
Evaluate the Top-Down Approach.
- reductionist Approach: system is too simple as the modus operandi developers they may move from one type to the other.
- can only be applied to sexually motivated criminals as they only interviewed sexually motivated killers.
- Alison et al (2002) suggested the model is outdated.
What is the Bottom-Up Approach?
Developed by David Canter.
Relies heavily on computer databases of past crimes.
Evaluate the Bottom-Up Approach.
- wider application as it can be used for numerous crimes.
- profiles are useful but could mislead police about other possibilities.
- could lead to a miscarriage of justice if used incorrectly.
What is Investigative Psychology?
Uses computer databases to identify possible links between a series of offences.
Surrounds the idea of interpersonal coherence (behaviour are Crime is similar to behaviour in everyday life).
Evaluate Investigative Psychology.
- Canter and Heritage (1990) analysed 66 sexual assault cases and identified clear common patterns of behaviour.
- scientific and objective.
What is Geographical Profiling?
Used to make inferences about where the offender is likely to live. Circle Theory (1993) - Canter.
Define a Marauder.
Commit crimes close to home.
Define a Commuter.
Travel away from home to offend.
Evaluate Geographical Profiling.
- Lundrigan and Canter (2001) collected evidence from 120 murderers and found offenders home base was invariably located in the centre of the crime scene pattern.
- objective
- can be applied to crimes varying in severity.