Forensic Psychology (definitions) Flashcards

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1
Q

Crime

A

An act committed in violation of the law

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2
Q

Official Statistics

A

Figures based on number of crimes reported and recorded by police
Used by government to inform crime prevention strategies

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3
Q

Victim Survey

A

A questionnaire that involves asking a sample of people which crimes have been committed against them and whether they were reported or not.

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4
Q

Offender Survey

A

A self-report measure

Requires people to record the number and types of crime committed over a specific period

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5
Q

Offender Profiling

A

A behavioural and analytical tool intended to help investigator predict and profile characteristics of unknown criminals

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6
Q

Top-Down Approach

A

Profilers start with a pre-established typology and work down in order to assign offenders to one of two categories

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7
Q

Organised Offender

A

Shows evidence of planning, targets the victim, tends to be socially and sexually competent, higher than average intelligence

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8
Q

Disorganised Offender

A

Shows little evidence of planning, leaves clues and tends to be socially and sexually incompetent, lower that average intelligence

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9
Q

Bottom-Up Approach

A

Profilers work from evidence collected from crime scene to develop hypotheses about likely characteristics, motivation and social background of offender

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10
Q

Investigative Psychology

A

A form of bottom-up profiling
Matches details from the crime scene with statistical analysis of typical offender behaviour patterns based on psychological theory

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11
Q

Geographical Profiling

A

A form of bottom-up profiling
Based on the principle of spatial consistency: an offender’s operational base and possible future offences are revealed by geographical locations of their previous crimes

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12
Q

Atavistic Form

A

Biological approach to offending
Attributes criminal activity to the fact that offenders are genetic throwbacks/ primitive sub species ill-suited to conforming to rules of modern society
Distinguishable by facial and cranial characteristics

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13
Q

Genetics

A

DNA produces ‘instructions’ for general physical features of an organism and also specific physical features (e.g eye colour)
These may impact on psychological features (e.g. intelligence)
Genes are inherited

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14
Q

Neural Explanation

A

Any explanation of behaviour in terms of (dys)functions of the brain and nervous system
Includes the activity of brain structures (e.g. hypothalamus) and neurotransmitters (e.g. serotonin)

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15
Q

The Criminal Personality

A

An individual who scores highly on measures of extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism and cannot be conditioned easily
Likely to engage in offending behaviour

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16
Q

Level of Moral Reasoning

A

The process where an individual draws upon their own value system to determine whether an action is right or wrong

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17
Q

Kohlberg’s Model and Criminality

A

Objectified the process of ‘Level of Moral Reasoning’ by identifying different levels of reasoning based on people’s answers to moral dilemmas

18
Q

Hostile Attribution Bias

A

Tendency to judge ambiguous situations/ actions of others, as aggressive and/or threatening

19
Q

Minimalisation

A

Type of deception that involves downplaying the significance of an event/ emotion

20
Q

Cognitive Distortions

A

Faulty, biased and irrational ways of thinking that mean we perceive ourselves, other people and the world inaccurately and often negatively

21
Q

Differential Association Theory

A

An explanation for offending: proposes that, through interaction with others, individuals learn their values, attitudes, techniques and motives for criminal behaviour

22
Q

Psychodynamic Explanations

A

A group of theories influenced by the work of Freud

Share the belief that unconscious conflicts, rooted in early childhood, drive future behaviour

23
Q

Custodial Sentencing

A

Judicial sentencing determined by a court

Offender is punished by serving time in prison/ in some other closed therapeutic and/or educational institution

24
Q

Recidivism

A

Reoffending

25
Q

Behaviour Modification

A

Treatment based on the principles of operant conditioning to replace undesirable behaviours with more desirable ones through use of positive and negative reinforcement

26
Q

Anger Management

A

Therapeutic programme which involves identifying signs that trigger anger, as well as learning techniques to calm down
Offered in prisons to encourage self-awareness and facilitate rehabilitation

27
Q

Restorative Justice

A

System for dealing with criminal behaviour
Focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims
Enables offenders to see impacts of their crime and empowers victims by giving them a ‘voice’

28
Q

Atavistic Characteristics

A

Cranial - narrow sloping brow, strong prominent jaw, high cheekbones, facial asymmetry
Physical - dark skin, extra toes, nipples or fingers
e.g. Murderers - bloodshot eyes, long ears, curly hair
Sexual deviants - glinting eyes, swollen fleshy lips, projecting ears

29
Q

Candidate Genes

A

Jari Tiihonen et al (2014) revealed abnormalities on two genes that may be associated with crime - MAOA gene (linked to aggression) and CDH13 (linked to substance abused and attention deficit disorder)

30
Q

Diathesis-Stress Model

A

A tendency towards criminal behaviour may come about through the combination of genetic predisposition and biological/ psychological trigger (e.g. having criminal role models)

31
Q

Prefrontal Cortex

A

The part of the brain that regulates emotional behaviour
Raine (2011) reported that there are many brain-imaging studies demonstrating individuals with antisocial personalities having reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex

32
Q

Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD)

A

Associated with reduced emotional responses, a lack of empathy for the feelings of others, a condition that characterises many convicted criminals

33
Q

Affectionless Psychopathy (Bowlby)

A

Characterised by a lack of guilt, empathy and feeling for others
These individuals are likely to engage in acts of delinquency

34
Q

Deterrence - Aims of Custodial Sentencing

A

Based on the behaviourist idea of conditioning through punishment
Unpleasant prison experience is designed to put off the individual from engaging in in offending behaviour

35
Q

Incapacitation - Aims of Custodial Sentencing

A

Offenders are taken out of society to prevent them reoffending as a means of protecting the public
Likely to depend on the severity of the offence

36
Q

Retribution - Aims of Custodial Sentencing

A

Based on the biblical notion an ‘eye for an eye’

The idea that the offender should pay in some way for their actions (e.g. prison)

37
Q

Rehabilitation - Aims of Custodial Sentencing

A

Reform - prison should provide opportunities to develop skills and training or to access treatment programmes for drug addiction

38
Q

Institutionalisation - Effects of Custodial Sentencing

A

Inmates become accustomed to prison routines and norms and are no longer able to function on the outside

39
Q

Prisonisation - Effects of Custodial Sentencing

A

Behaviour that may be considered unacceptable in the outside world may be encouraged and rewarded inside the walls of the institution

40
Q

Stress and Depression - Effects of Custodial Sentencing

A

Suicide rates are considerably higher in prison, as well as self-harm
Stress in prison may increase the risk of psychological disturbance following release

41
Q

Token Economy

A

Based on operant conditioning

Reinforcing desirable behaviour with a token that can then be exchanged for some kind of reward

42
Q

Restorative Justice Council (RJC)

A

Independent body whose role it is to establish clear standards for the use of restorative justice and to support victims and specialist professionals in the field