Forensic Psychology Flashcards
What is hostile attribution bias?
The extent to which an individual interprets the actions of others as hostile. An individual with a high level of hostile attribution bias is more likely to see the benign and innocuous actions of another as hostility directed towards them.
An individual who has high hostile attribution bias could be inclined to become angry about what they have seen, making them more likely to be aggressive and therefore more likely to engage in criminal behaviour.
What are disorganised offenders?
Hazelwood and Douglas (1980) suggested that disorganised offenders are ‘lust murderers’ who typically conduct unplanned crimes where the victim is not targeted. This type of offender tends to be of low intelligence, socially awkward and unlikely to have a partner. They are likely to have a poor employment history and very little interest in their crimes.
What are the cognitive distortions?
Patterns of negative thought-
hostile attribution bias (interpreting the actions of others as being hostile) and minimalisation (playing down the severity of the circumstances that you are in).
What is differential association theory?
According to Sutherland, if individual experiences repeated attitudes that are positively associated with crime, rather than negatively (in terms of punishment), then they are more likely to engage in criminal behaviour. RELATES TO SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY.
What is Eysenck’s Theory of Criminal Personality?
Suggests that personality is biologically based and that personality traits include dimensions of extraversion and neuroticism that can be measured using a personality questionnaire. Later, Eysenck added a third personality dimension, psychoticism.
He argued for there being a criminal personality which would mean the person scores highly on the three dimensions.
What is extraversion?
Extraversion refers to a biological need individuals have for high or low levels of environmental stimulation, determined by the level of arousal in a person’s central and autonomic nervous system.
What is neuroticism?
refers to the stability of personality and a high neuroticism score would represent someone who is more reactive and volatile and perhaps more likely to engage in offending behaviour.
What is Psychoticism?
the degree to which somebody is anti-social, aggressive and uncaring.
What is the genetic explanations for offending behaviour?
Propose that offending behaviour is inherited as one or more genes predispose people to commit crimes.
Raine (1993) reviewed research looking at the delinquent behaviour of twins, finding 52% concordance for MZ (identical) twins and 21% concordance for DZ (non-identical) twins. Some researchers have attempted to identify genes that might be linked to crime, and one example is the MAOA gene, which causes a deficiency in monoamine oxidase A (MAOA), an enzyme responsible for the metabolism of neurotransmitters such as serotonin (which has links to aggression).
What is geographical profiling and who proposed this theory?
David Canter suggested that people reveal themselves through the locations where they commit crimes, Geographical profiling involves analyzing the location of a connected series of crimes, and looking at factors such as the spatial relationship between the different crime scenes and what this these reveal in relation to the perpetrator. (ROSSMO 1997)
What is investigative psychology?
Another word for the bottom up approach developed by David Canter.
Key assumptions of the bottom up approach are?
interpersonal coherence (there is a consistency between the way offenders interact with their victims and with others in their everyday lives);
time and place (the time and location of an offender’s crime will communicate something about their own place of residence/employment);
criminal characteristics (characteristics about the offender can help to classify them, which helps the police investigation).
What is the historical approach (atavistic form)?
Proposed by Lombroso.
Suggests that some people are born with a criminal personality- it is INNATE. It is throwback to a previous more primitive ancestor.
Findings for Lombroso’s study for atavistic approach.
Lombroso found that the criminals examined shared a number of common physical characteristics (e.g. sloping brow, pronounced jaw, high cheekbones, large ears) and concluded that these indicated that such people were more primitive in an evolutionary sense.
He also said that such individuals were not responsible for their actions, as they could not be blamed for their innate, inherited physiology.
What are organised offenders?
Hazelwood and Douglas (1980) suggested that organised offenders are ‘lust murderers’ who tend to plan their crimes and specifically target the victim. The weapon is usually hidden and the body removed from the scene. Violent fantasies will often have been acted out on the victim. This type of offender is typically of high intelligence, has a skilled job and is socially and sexually competent.
