Forensic Psychology Key Words Flashcards
Offender profiling
A behavioural and analytical tool that is intended to help investigators accurately predict and profile the characteristics of unknown criminals
Top down profiling
Profilers start with a pre established typology and work down in order to assign offenders to one or two categories based on witness accounts and evidence from the crime scene
Organised offender
An offender who shows evidence of planning, targets the victim, and tends to be socially and sexually competent with a higher than average intelligence
Disorganised offender
An offender who shows little evidence of planning, leaves clues, and tends to be socially and sexually incompetent with a lower than average intelligence
Bottom up approach
Profilers work from evidence collected from the crime scene to develop hypotheses about the likely characteristics, motivations and social background of the offender
Investigative Psychology
A form of bottom up profiling that matches the details from the crime scene with statistical analysis of typical offender behaviour patterns based on psychological theory
Geographical profiling
A form of bottom up profiling based on the principle of spatial consistency - That and offenders operational bases and possible future offences are revealed by the geographical location of their previous crimes
Atavistic form
A biological approach to offending that attributes criminal activity to the fact that offenders are genetic throwbacks or a primitive subspecies, ill suited to conforming to the rules of modern society. Such individuals are distinguishable by a particular facial and cranial characteristics
Genetic explanations of offending behaviour
A biological theory that sees genes inherited from one’s ancestors as forming the basis to an individual’s criminal behaviour
Concordance rates
A measure of similarity, usually expressed as a percentage, between two individuals or two sets of individuals on a given trait
Epigenetic’s
This refers to the material in each cell of the body that acts like a set of “switches” to turn genes on or off
Neural explanations of offending behaviour
A biological theory that sees abnormally functioning brain physiology and biochemistry as forming the basis to an individuals criminal behaviour
Antisocial personality disorder
A mental health condition where a person has a repeated pattern of behaviour manipulating or violating the rights of others. It often leads to crimes against people.
