Forensic psychology Flashcards
What is forensic psychology?
Concerns the application of psychological principles to different stages of the criminal justice system - includes understanding of criminal behaviour + considering how to deal with people who have committed crimes.
What is crime?
Refers to any behaviour that is unlawful and punished by the state. An act that is harmful to an individual, group or society.
Give 2 ways of measuring crime.
Official statistics
Victim surveys.
What is the top-down approach to offender profiling?
An analysis of previous crimes creates a profile of a likely offender. Relies on intuition and beliefs of the profilers.
Is the America FBI approach to profiling.
Give 3 features of an organised offender.
- Planned offences.
- High degree of control during crime.
- Average high intelligence.
Give 3 features of a disorganised offender.
- Victim likely to be random.
- Little evidence of planning.
- Unskilled work/unemployment.
Give an example of an organised offender - what did this person do to put themselves in the organised category. (2 things)
Ted Bundy, an American serial killer. Murdered numerous young women and girls which shows he has a type he targeted.
Bundy was charming and highly intelligent, had a degree in psychology.
Killed he claims up to 30 women, Tf he had high control over his murders because he was able to get away with a lot of murders.
What is offender profiling?
Method of working out the characteristics of an offender by examining the characteristics of the crime and crime scene.
A weakness of the top-down approach is that can only be applied to particular crimes, explain this.
Best suited to crimes that reveal important details about the suspect such as rape, arson.
More common offences such as burglary reveals very little about the offender - Tf unable to create a profile.
What is the undermining evidence about the top-down approach.
Canter et al.(2004) analysed data from 100 murders in USA. Analysed in terms of 40 characteristics, found no evidence of a distinct disorganised type of killer. Suggest most serial killers are organised which undermines the utility of the system as a whole.
Problem of this it has a cultural bias, just to the USA, characteristics of a murderer in collectivist cultures may be different.
However, does have historical validity.
A weakness of the top-down approach is that the organisation types are not mutually exclusive.
Possible for offender to be of high intelligence who commits a spontaneous murder - Tf, difficult to categorise some offenders as one type of another.
A weakness of the top-down approach is it was developed on the basis of 36 killers in the USA.
- Small sample size.
- Cultural bias.
- Based of the most dangerous, sexually motivated killers. Unrepresentative of the typical offenders, cannot be generalised to wider population.
What is the bottom-up approach in offender profiling?
A data-driven approach where statistical techniques are used to produce predictions about the likely characteristics of an offender.
What approach is investigative psychology and geographical profiling?
The bottom-up approach of offender profiling.
What are the 3 features of investigative psychology.
- Interpersonal coherence
- Significance of time and place
- Forensic awareness
What is interpersonal coherence in the investigative psychology - Bottom-Up approach.
Personality is consistent which provides clues, and changes in circumstances which may provide other clues.
What is significance of time and place in the investigative psychology - Bottom-Up approach.
These may give indications about where offender lives.
What is forensic awareness in the investigative psychology - Bottom-Up approach.
An experienced criminal may reveal their knowledge, eg: wiping fingerprints.
What is geographical profiling in the bottom-up approach.
Form of bottom-up approach based on pattern shown by the location of locations of a series of crimes.
What is the circle theory in geographical profiling (Canter and Larkin).
Criminals commit crimes within a circle: marauder (live within the circle) or commuter (travels to circle).
Where did geographical profiling originated from?
Rossomo
Spatial consistency - offender’s operational base and possible future offences are revealed by the geographical location of their previous crimes.
Produces a 3D map which will show probability of an offenders residence.
2 limitations of the bottom-up approach. Eval points.
- Not as scientific as they claim to be. Uses objective statistical techniques and computer analysis which makes them appear scientific. Data used to drive these systems is only related to offenders who have been caught. In practice inevitably biased.
- Lack of success of circle theory. Not a useful approach because the research support for Canter and Larkin showed 91% of offenders identified as marauders, Tf classification not very useful.
- Lack of value in geographical profiling. Rossomo claims that while it may not solve crimes it can prioritise house-to-house searches but cannot distinguish between multiple offenders in same area. Therefore, critics question how much more it offers than the critical method of policing placing pins on a map.
1 strength of investigative psychology in the bottom-up approach. Eval point.
Canter’s first attempt at profiling was very successful and allowed eg: Gary and Copson (1995) using investigative profiling and found over 75% of officers questioned said the profilers’ advice had been useful.
What are cognitive distortions in the psychological explanations of offending behaviour.
Faulty, irrational ways of thinking that mean we perceive ourselves and others in a way that does not match reality. As a result our perceptions are wrong and allow the offender to deny or rationalise their criminal behaviour.
What is hostile attribution bias in the psychological explanations of offending behaviour.
One example of cognitive distortion which is where the other people’s actions are misinterpreted as aggressive.
What is minimalisation in the psychological explanations of offending behaviour.
Offender downplays seriousness of one’s offences to explain the consequences as less significant or damaging than they already are.
What is Kohlberg’s level of moral reasoning in the psychological explanations of offending behaviour.
Refers to how an individual draws on their own value system to determine whether an action is right or wrong.
What are the three levels of morality Kohlberg suggested in the psychological explanations of offending behaviour.
Pre-conventional morality
Conventional
Post-conventional
What stage of morality are offenders most likely to be in the psychological explanations of offending behaviour.
Pre-conventional, characterised by avoiding punishment and gaining rewards, associated with less mature and child-like reasoning.
How do people progress through the stages of Kohlberg’s moral reasoning.
People progress as a consequence of biological maturity and by having opportunities to discuss and develop their thinking.
Conventional levels of morality people who break the law would feel what?
Feel their behaviour was justified to break the law because it helps maintain relationships or society.
What is Schonenberg and Aiste (2014) research support for hostile attribution bias.
Give a weakness.
- Showed 55 violent offenders in prison, shown ambigious faces and found they are more likely to interpret angry faces as aggressive than normal.
- Small sample size of this study has been generalised to ‘violent offenders’.
What is the research support for minimalisation in the psychological explanations of offending behaviour.
Eval point.
Kennedy and Grubin (1992) found that sex offenders ofren downplayed their behaviour saying that it was something people typically do.
What is the real world application for cognitive distortions in the psychological explanations of offending behaviour. Eval point.
Give a weakness.
Heller et al. (2013) worked with a group of young men who were mainly disadvantaged groups in Chicago. CBT techniques for those who attended 13x1 hour sessions had a 44% reduction in arrests.
-Mainly young men, beta gender bias.
What is a criticism of Kohlberg’s moral reasoning. Eval point.
Krebs and Denton argue moral principles JUSTIFY behaviour, not cause it.
What is an ISSUE of Kohlberg’s moral reasoning? Eval point.
Ignores the differences women have to men in offending and morals - beta bias.
How does Kohlberg’s moral reasoning have real worl application. Eval point. What does Kohlberg gather and say from this?
Gilligan set up Cluster Schools that can encourage moral discussions which foster moral development.
led them to suggest Belonging to a democratic group and being involved in making moral judgements facilitated moral development.
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