Forensic psychology Flashcards
What is the currently accepted definition of forensic psychology?
Any application of psychological knowledge to a task faced by the legal system
Where and how do forensic psychologists work mainly?
In prison/probation service, developing intervention techniques and treatment programmes for use with offenders - aim to address offending behaviours and psychological needs using expertise based on psych theory
What was Lombroso’s perspective on criminals?
Distinct physical appearance similar to first primitive humans, different for different crimes
Argued that criminals represented an earlier evolutionary stage of development, and essentially suggested that criminal behaviour was hereditary
What did Eysenck suggest?
Criminals inherit a particular type of nervous system, leading them to develop crime-prone personalities
How does the psychodynamic perspective explain criminal behaviour?
Attachment theory (Bowlby) - juvenile delinquents more likely to have experienced early separation from their mothers for at least 6 months compared to non-delinquents Role of parenting and families - offending associated with harshness of parental discipline, poor supervision. overcrowding in the home and lack of warmth in parent-child relationship
What is the behavioural conditioning theory of criminal behaviour?
Consequences of crime play role in acquiring and maintaining such behaviour - positive reinforcement e.g. behaviour gains approval from friends, or negative reinforcement e.g. the behaviour is the way out of an aversive home life
By this theory, punishment could alleviate offending behaviours
What is Bandura’s social learning theory of criminal behaviour?
Agrees with idea of conditioning while adding two ideas:
MEDIATING COGNITIVE PROCESSES - between stimuli and responses e.g. attention, retention, reproduction of behaviour and motivation, all relating to IMITATION of behaviour
This theory suggests that behaviour is learned from the environment through observational learning i.e. modelling
What does social learning theory suggest regarding reinforcement of criminal behaviour?
Can be external (rewards from surrounding environment), vicarious (seeing another’s behaviour reinforced) and self-reinforcements (e.g. sense of pride in own behaviour)
What is the cognitive psychology perspective on criminal behaviour?
Interested in how thoughts can shape behaviour - interpersonal/social cognitions have been linked to offending, such as impulsivity, social perspective-taking, empathy, and social problem solving skills
What two types of assessments can forensic psychologists conduct?
Assessing risk - if we can estimate risk of something happening, this helps inform management and treatment of that eventuality e.g. if high risk of re-offending, greater security measures might be needed
Assessing and identifying treatment needs - criminogenic needs such as substance dependence, impulsivity, pro-criminal attitudes etc should be addressed (not non-criminogenic needs)
What are interventions based on?
Psychological theory about why people offend which inform us of possible treatment targets
Psychological techniques of behaviour change
What are 3 psychological techniques of behaviour change?
Psychotherapeutic - therapeutic communities in prisons, where groups can meet in a democratic way and work together to make decisions for their community (reward-focused)
Behavioural - behaviour modification and techniques such as token economy i.e. where punishment for a behaviour involves taking a privilege away
Cognitive-behavioural - form majority of interventions, changing behaviour by changing cognitions e.g. make them less anti-social, social skills training. coping skills, anger management etc
What is the RNR model of evaluating effectiveness of offender interventions?
RISK PRINCIPLE - higher risk of reoffending requires more intensive intervention
NEED PRINCIPLE - only focus on treating criminogenic needs
RESPONSIVITY PRINCIPLE - delivery style of intervention needs to engage the person and suit their learning style
What is offender profiling?
Uses info about the crime and crime scene to aid police investigations by narrowing search for a suspect
Behaviour will have occurred at a crime/a series of similar crimes, and studying this behaviour allows inferences to be made about the likely offender
Has been criticised for relying too heavily on “erroneous beliefs” about consistency of human behaviour and ability to classify individuals into discrete types
What are the 2 main types of offender profiling?
Clinical - clinical judgement based on experience and psychological theory e.g. personality theories;
psychologists investigate the crime scene and based on findings will recommend how the investigation should be targeted e.g. what behaviour may have been exhibited by offender and victim at crime scene as part of an ongoing social interaction
Statistical/structured - Draws on established psych theory/method of analysis e.g. multi-dimensional scaling - visualising level of similarity of individual cases of a dataset; focus is still on crime scene but primary aim is to IDENTIFY A PATTERN OF CO-OCCURRING CHARACTERISTICS through use of statistical tests (how likely it is that certain crime scene features would co-exist at other crime scenes)
