Forensics Flashcards
What is offender profiling
This is a behavioural and analytical tool used by investigators to accurately predict and profile characteristics of unknown offenders
What are the two approaches
Top Down - US
Bottoms up - UK
What is the top down approach and how does it work?
- In Depth interviews with 36 sexually motivated murders
- Start with pre established typology
- Data was categorised into organised and disorganised murders by using the witsness accounts and evidence
- By placing one characteristic into one category we can predict the other likely characteristics
What is the difference between organised and disorganised?
Organised offenders show evidence of planning targeting a specific victim.
They have high levels of control leaving little evidence, tend to have iq, stable relationships and careers
Disorganised offenders tend to have spontaneous, impulsive acts
They have evidence left, low iq, unskilled, unemployed,
How do you construct an FBI profile? - top down
- Data Assimiliation - Review evidence
- Crime scene classification - organised and disorganised
- Crime Scene reconstruction - sequence of events, behaviour of victim
- Profile generation - Hypotheses related to likely offender eg demographic, physical characteristics, behaviour
A03 - offender profiling - TOP DOWN
STRENGTH - Canter conducted an analysis of 100 US murders commited by a different serial killer each time
- A technique called Smallest Space Analysis used to identify correlations across different samples of behaviour
- He looked at 39 killings and whether there was torture, concealing of body, murder weapon and cause of death
- These features matched typology of organised characteristics
COUNTERPOINT
- there are a variety of combinations that occur at any crime scene so oranised typology more of a continuum
- STRENGTH - wide range of application for Top Down
> Meketa recently revealed it can also apply to burglary (85% rise in solved cases in US)
> Adds 2 new categories - interpersonal (steals something of significance) and opportunistic (inexperienced)
LIMITATION - Evidence on which it was based
- FBI profiling using 36 murderers in the US (25 Serial, 11 single/double murders)
- At the end 24 organised and 12 disorganised
- Not big sample
- No standard set of questions
What is the Bottoms up approach
Profilers work up from the evidence collected from the crime scene to develop hypothesis about likley characteristics, motivations and social background of the offender
What is investigative psychology
This is where they attempt to apply statistical procedures alongside psychological theory to the analysis of crime scene evidence in order to establish patterns of behaviour. This allows them to develop a statiscal database that allows for comparison
How does investigative psychology work - bottoms up
Specific details of an offence are matched against a database to reveal important details of an offender, personal history and family background
Central to the approach is the concept of interpersonal coherence where the way a criminal acts at the scene reflects their every day life
What is geographical profiling?- bottoms. up
This is where they use information about the location of linked crime scenes to make inferences about the likely base of an offender
What is the centre of gravity ?- bottoms up
The assumption that serial offenders will restrict their work to geographical areas they are familiar with meaning it can highlight the offenders base
What is Canters Circle Theory- bottoms up
- The pattern of offending forms a circle around the offenders home base
- The Marauder : operates in close promximity to home base
- The commuter : travelled a distance from usual residence
a03 offender profiling : bottoms up approach
STRENGTH : Evidence for investigative psychology
- Canter and Heritage used the smallest space analysis to analyse 66 sexual assault cases
- Several behaviours identified in different samples of behaviour such as impersonal language and lack of reaction to the victim
- This can help establish whether 2 or more offences were committed by same person
- Supports one of the basic principles of investigative psychology that people are consistent in their behaviour
STRENGTH : evidence to support geographical profiling
- lundrigan and canter collated information from 120 murder cases involving serial killers in the US
- Smallest space analysis revealed spatial consistency in the behaviour of killers and the location of each body disposal created a centre of gravity
LIMITATION : geographical profiling may not be sufficient on its own
- the success is only reliant on the quality of data that the police can provide
- Recording of crime is not accurate and 75% are not even reported to the police
- Other factors are just as important in creating a profile such as timing of offence, age and experience
What is the main point of the historical approach (biological explanations)
Lombroso suggests that criminals were genetic throwbacks - a primitive species who were biologically different from non criminals
What is lombrosos theory of the atavistic form?
Physiological markers that make offenders physically different to us
What are the features for the atavistic form?
The cranial characteristics
- Narrow, sloping brow
- Prominent Jaw
- High cheekbones
- Facial Symettry
Physical Characteristics
- dark skin
- extra toes, nipples, fingers
Other Aspects
- insensitivity to pain
- slang
- tattoos
- unemployment
What difference in categories did murderes and sexual deviants have
Murderers
- bloodshot eyes
- curly hair
- long ears
Sexual Deviants
- glinting eyes
- swollen fleshy lios
- projecting ears
- lips of fraudsters thin and reedy
What are the research/ statistics of Lombrosos research - historical approach (biological explanation)
- He examined the facial and cranial features of Italian convicts that were atavistic
- He concluded these were features of criminality
- Lombroso examined the skulls of 383 dead convicts and 3839 living ones and conluded 40% are commited by people with atavistic characteristics
a03 - biological explanations (historical explanations)
STRENGTH : Lombrosos study changed the face of the study of crime
- He coined the term criminology
- Shifted crime from moralistic to scientific
COUNTERPOINT
- racist undertones
LIMITATION : Contradictory evidence between atavism and crime
- Goring conducted a study comparing 3000 offenders with 3000 non offenders
- No evidence that offenders have unusual facial and cranial features
LIMITATION : Poor control
- He did not compare offender to non offender group
- Counfoundig variables that could have been present for higher crime rates
- Research has demonstrated links between poverty and poor education to unemployment
- lombroso doesnt meet modern standards
3 factors that support genetic explanations (biological)
Twin and adoption studies
Candidate Genes
Diathesis Stress
How do twin and adoption studies support genetic explanations?
- 3500 twin pairs studied in Denmark
- Concordance rates of 35% for MZ and 13% not DZ
- Not just behavior inherited but underlying predisposing traits
- Crowe found that adopted children whose biological mother had a criminal record had a 50% chance of having a criminal record by age of 18 and those that didnt have criminal record of only 5%
How do candidate genes support genetic explanations?
- Analysis of 800 finish offenders that suggested two genes MAOA and CDH13 associated with violence
- MAOA regulates serotonin and liked to aggression
- CDH13 links to substance abuse and ADHD
What percent of severe violent crime in finland contributes to the genes
5-10% of severe violent crime attributes to maoa and cdh13
How do diathesis stress support genetic explanations?
Combination of genetic predisposition and biological/psychological trigger
What is an example of diathesis stress
Growing up in a dysfunctional family
or
Criminal role models
What is APD and how does it relate to neural explanations
ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER (psychopathy)
- Associated with reduced emotional response
- Lack of empathy for feelings of others
- Charactises many convicted offenders
Non offenders and offenders will have neural differences in the brain
What does prefrontal cortex regulate
Emotional Behaviour
How does the prefrontal cortex support neural explanations
- Adrian Raine conducted studies of APD brain and found those with antisocial behaviours have reduced activity in pre frontal cortex
- 11% reduction in grey matter in prefrontal cortex of people with APD compared to controls
How does mirror neurons support neural explanations
- Offenders with APD experience empathy irregularly
- Only when asked to emphatise they would activate empathy reaction
- Mirror neurons are like switches
a03 genetic explanations
LIMITATION - Issues with twin evidence
- assumed by researched that studying twins must experience similar environments
- shared environment may apply to MZ than Dz as they are identical and people treat them similiarly which affects behaviour
- Higher concordance for MZ simply because of how they are treated
STRENGTH - Support for Diathesis
- Mednick conducted a study of 13000 danish adoptees for offending
- When neither biological or adoptive parents had convictions percent of adoptees 13.5%
- Figure rose to 20% when either of biological parents had convictions
- 24.5% when both had convictions
- environment also important
a03 neural explanations
STRENGTH - Link between crime and frontal lobe
- Kandel or Freed reviewed evidence for frontal lobe damage and antisocial behaviour
- People with damage tended to show impulsive behaviour, emotional instability, inability to learn from mistakes
- Frontal lobe associated with planning behaviour
- Brain damage is a causal factor in offending behaviour
LIMITATION - Link between neural differences and APD complex
- other factors may contribute to APD
- farrignton studied a group of men who scored high on psychopathy
- these individuals were neglected or raised by convicted individuals
- these traumas caused Apd causing reduced activity in frontal lobe
- other intervening variables
What is eysenecks theory? (psychological explanations)
The theory of criminal personality - A criminal who scores highly on E, N , P scores, cannot be easily conditioned, cold and unfeeling and is likely to engage in offending behaviour
What does eyseneck believe about the biological basis?
Our personality traits are biological in origin and come about through the type of nervous system we inherit.
What does the criminal personality type consists of?
Extraverts - underactive nervous system so they constantly seek excitement, stimulation and engage in risk taking behaviours
Neurotic individuals - respond quickly, jumpy, instable so hard to predict behaviour
Psychotic - high levels of testosterone, unemotional and prone to aggression
What is the role of socialisation?
Offending behaviour is selfish and concerned with immediate gratification.
The process is where children are learnt to delay gratification and become more socially orientated
Which type of the criminal personality would act more unsocially?
E and N as they have different nervous systems hard to condition
How do you measure the criminal personality?
Through the EPQ which allowed him to conduct research relating personality variables to other behaviours
a03 eysencks theory
STRENGTH - evidence to support criminal personality
- 2070 prisoners score on epq compared to 2422 controls
- Prisoners recorded higher on this for all E,P,N compared to control
- Supports eysencks theory
LIMITATION - All offending behaviour can be explained by personality traits alone
- drew a distinction between offending behaviour that only occurs in adolescence which continues into adulthood
- personality traits alone were a poor predictor of how long offending behaviour would go on for
- doenst consider the role the environment plays and the reactions to those traits
LIMITATION : doesnt take into account cultural factors
- bartol and holanchock studied hispanic and african American offenders in a maximum security prison
- divided offenders based on nature of offences and offending history
- the groups less extravert than what eysench predicted
- sample was different culture group
What is the level of moral reasoning (cognitive)
The higher the level the more that behaviour is driven by a sense of what is right and less is driven by avoiding punishment or disaaproval of others
What is the first level of moral reasoning and the stages within ?
Preconventional morality :
Stage 1 - punishment orientation
- rules obeyed to avoid punishment
Stage 2 - rules are obeyed for personal gain
What is the second level of moral reasoning and stages within ?
Conventional morality :
Stage 3 - Good boy or good girl orientation
Stage 4 - Maintenance of social order
What is the third level of moral reasoning and stages within ?
Post Conventional morality
Stage 5 - Morality of contract and individual rights
Stage 6 - Personal set of ethical principles
What is the link with criminality?
Offenders are more likely to be classified at the pre conventional level whereas non offenders are at conventional
What is the preconventional level characterised by (linking to criminality)
Need to avoid punishment and gain rewards and is associated with childlike reasoning
Which studies support the link with criminality assumption?
Offenders are more egocentric, display poorer social perspective skills than non offenders
What is a cognitive distortion?
Faulty, biased and irrational ways of thinking that means we perceive ourselves, other people and the world inaccurately and negatively
What are the two examples of cognitive distortions?
Hostile attribution bias
Minimalisation
What is hostile attribution bias?
This is where offenders misread non aggressive cues triggering a disproportionate aggressive response
What was the study for hostile attribution bias?
55 violent offenders were presented with emotionally ambiguous facial expressions and when compared with a non aggressive control group the violent offenders presented the photos as angry and hostile.
Where could the roots of hostile attribution bias come from and what is the study to support?
Childhood
Children were shown a video clip of an ambiguous provocation. Children who had been identified as ‘aggressive’ and ‘rejected’ prior to the study interpreted the situation as more hostile than those classed as ‘non aggressive’ and ‘accepted’
What is minimalisation?
This is where there is an attempt to downplay the seriousness of an offence
What is an example of minimalisation?
A burglar breaking into a house might describe it as supporting their family or doing a job
What are the results of the studies for minimalisation and what do they show?
Barbaree found among 26 incarcerated rapists
54% denied they commited an offence at all
40% minimised the harm they had caused to the victim
a03 - level of moral reasoning
STRENGTH : link between moral reasoning and crime
- Palmer and Hollin compared moral reasoning in 332 non offenders and 126 convicted offenders SRM-SF (contains 11 moral dilemmas)
- offender group had less moral reasoning
LIMITATION : moral reasoning depends on offence
- people who comiited offences for financial gain were more likely to have pre conventional moral reasoning than impulsive crimes
- pre conventional occurs when they are more likelt to evade conseqences
- kohlberg not apply to all crimes
a03 - cognitive distortions
STRENGTH : Application to therapy
- aims to challenge irrational thinking
- offenders encouraged to face up to to what they have done and have a less distorted view of their actions
- studies suggested that incidence of reduced denial and minimalisation in therapy is highly associated with a risk of reoffending.
LIMITATION : level of cognitive distortion depends on type of offence
- Howitt and Sheldon gathered questionnaire responses from sexual offenders
- Found non contact sex offenders used more cognitive distortions than contact sex offenders
- Those who had previous history of offending would use distortions as justification
What is differential association theory?
An explanation for offending which proposes that through interactions with others, individuals learn the techniques and motives for offending behaviour
What is sutherlands scientific basis for the theory?
The conditions which are said to cause crime should be present when crime is present and be absent when crime is absent.
His theory was to discriminate between individuals who became offenders and those who do not whatever social class or ethnic background
How can offending behaviour be acquired?
Through interactions with others who the child values and spends the most time with such as family
What does d.a.t mathematically predict?
frequency, intensity, and duration of exposure to deviant and non deviant norms and values
What factors does offending arise from?
Learning attitudes
Learning techniques
What is learning attitudes?
When a person is socialised into groups they will be exposed to values and attitudes towards the law
If they learn pro criminal attitudes they will be more likely to offend
What is learning techniques and an example?
The would be offender may also learn particular techniques for commiting offences eg how to break into someones house through a locked window
How does socialisation in prison occur?
When inmates learn specific techniques of offending from others more experienced offenders will put this practice into their release
How does the learning in prison occur through socialisation?
Observational Learning
Imitation
Direct tuition
a03 - d.a.t
STRENGTH : SHIFT OF FOCUS
- Successful as he moved the emphasis away from early biological eg lombrosos atavistic as well as offending being the product of immorality
- d.a.t draws attention to the social circumstances and environment
COUNTERPOINT
- ignores the fact that people who may choose to not offend even if introducted to pro crime attitudes
STRENGTH : wide reach
- can account for offending within all sectors of society
- Sutherland recognised that some types of offences such as burglary might be clustered within inner city
- Interested in white collar offences and how this is a feature of middle class social groups who share norms and values
LIMITATION : difficult to test the predictions of differential association
- Sutherland aimed to provide a scientific framework in which offending behaviour can be predicted
- many concepts not testable as they are not operationalised
- built on assumption that offending behaviour will occur when pro crime outnumbers anti crime
- cannot know the point where we urge to offend and where it is triggered
What does psychodynamic explanation mean?
A perspective that describes the different forces, most of which are unconcscois and operate on mind, human experience and behaviour
What makes up the triparte structure of personality
Superego
Id
Ego
When is the superego formed?
Formed at the end of the phallic stage of development when children resolve the Oedipus complex
What is the role of the superego?
Works on the morality principle and exerts its influence by punishing the ego through guilt for wrongdoing whilst rewarding it with pride for good moral behaviour
What are the three types of the inadequate superego?
- WEAK SUEPEREGO
- when same gender parent is absent during phallic stage, a child cannot internalise a fully formed superego as there is no opportunity for identification —> more offending behaviour - OVER HARSH
- an overly harsh parenting style leads to a child with an over harsh super ego crippled with guilt so they will perform criminal acts to satisfys super ego need for punishment - DEVIANT
- if a superego that a child internalises has immoral values would lead to offending behaviour so they dont associate guilt with wrong doing
What happens if the superego is deficient?
Offending behaviour is inevitable because the ID is given free rein and not properly controlled
What is the role of emotion in the psychodynamic explanation for offending?
The effect of an inadequate super ego is to allow emotional demands to become uppermost in guding moral behaviour
- acknowledges role of anxiety and guilt in offending behaviour
How does the theory of maternal deprivation link to psychodynamic explanations of offending?
Not being able to form a warm continuos relationship with a motherly figure so they have consequences in later life
What is the consequence of the maternal deprivation?
Affectionless psychpathy characterised by a lack of guilt, empathy and feelings for others
What is the maternal deprivation study?
the 44 juvenile thieves
a03 - psychodynamic approach
STRENGTH : Research support between link between offending and superego
- Analysis of 10 offenders referred for psychiatric treatment
- disturbance in superego formation diagnosed as they had feelings of guilt and self punishment
- supports overharsh superego
COUNTERPOINT
- central principles not supported
- parents who rely on harsher forms of discipline tend to raise children who are rebellious and rarely express feelings of guilt
LIMITATION : Freudian theory is Gender biased
- Assumption is that girls develop a weaker superego than boys as their identification with same gender parent isnt as strong
- girl do not experience the intense emotion associated with castration anxiety so are under less pressure to identify with their mothers
- implication is that women are more likely to offend
- however research showed women are more moral
LIMITATION : Only based on an association between maternal deprivation and offending
- Lewis analysed data drawn from interviews with 500 young people and found maternal deprivation was a poor predictor of future offending and formation of close relationships
- Not a causal relationship
- eg other factors such as growing up in poverty
What is custodial sentencing?
A decision made by court that punishment for a crime should involve time in prison or another institution
What are the 4 aims of custodial sentencing?
- DETERRENCE
- INCAPACITATION
- RETRIBUTION
- REHABILITATION
What is deterrence?
Based on conditioning principles that the unpleasant experience of a prison will put the individual off from repeating the same crime again
What is the difference between general and individual deterrence?
INDIVIDUAL : The unpleasant experience of prison is designed to put the individual off repeating the same crime again
GENERAL : It also aims to send a message to members of society that crime will not be tolerated
What is incapacitation?
The offender is taken out of society to prevent them reoffending and this need is likely to depend on severity and nature of offender
What is retribution?
Revenge against offender and making sure the level of suffering should be proportionate to the severity of the crime
What is rehabilitation?
Reform of the offender and prisons should provide an opportunity to develop skills, access addition treatments and reflect on crime
What are the psychological effects of custodial sentencing?
Stress and depression : suicides rate and self harm are higher in prison than general pop.
Institutionalisation : inability to function outside of prison as youve adapted to norms of prison life
Prisonisation: behaviours unacceptable outside prison are encouraged via socialisation into an inmate code
What is recidivism?
Looks at convicted offender that reoffends
What is the rate of recidivism in the UK and norway
45% and 20%
What factors affect reoffending rates?
Time period after release, age of offender, crime committed and country
A03 : Custodial Sentencing
LIMITATION : Negative psychological effect on prisoners
- Bartol suggested that for many offenders imprisonment can be brutal, demeaning and devastating
-119 people killed themselves average to one suicide every 3 days
- 25% of women and 155 of men reported symptoms of psychosis
COUNTERPOINT
- The figures do not include the number of inmates who were experiencing prepsychotic symptoms before they were incarcerated
- The importation model argues that prisoners may import their psychological problems so we do not know the effect prison truly has
STRENGTH : Provides opportunity for training and treatment
- rehabilitation
- research claims that offenders who take part in college education programmes are 43% less likely to reoffend following release
LIMITATION : prison becones a school of crime
- may undergo other dubious education
- learn tricks from more experiences offenders
- acquire criminal contacts
- may undermine attempts to rehabilitate prisoners making reoffending more likely
What is behaviour modification in custody?
Management approach based on the principles of operant conditioning where undesirable behaviours are replaced with desirable ones through operant and classical conditioning
What is an example of a behaviour modification and what does it consist of?
Token economies where prisoners are given a token every time a behaviour is performed and it can be withdrawn every time a behaviour isn’t.
Why are tokens secondary reinforcers? - behaviour modification
Associated with a reward
What are primary reinforcers? -behaviour modification
The things tokens are exchanged for as they are directly rewarding
How do you design a token economy? - behaviour modification
Operationalising target behaviour so broken down into component parts so they can be measured and objective
Why is a scoring system necessary when designing a target behaviour?- behaviour modification
Behaviour is hierarchal in the way that some behaviours are more demanding than others so the hierarchy allows you to see how much a certain behaviour is worth
What does the ratio 4;1 show? - behaviour modification
reinforcements : punishment
Why and how is the aim in training staff in behaviour modification?
Standardise all procedures so that all prison staff are rewarding behaviours in the same way and they also must record when they have awarded tokens
a03 : dealing with offending behaviour - modification in custody
STRENGTH : Evidence to support
- introduced a token economy across 3 behavioural units and a fourth unit acted as a control
- significant difference in positive behaviour compared to non- token economy group
- Another researcher found a token economy used with young people with behavioural problems was effective
- these youths were then placed on a special programme where rewards were immediate and frequent and results still positive
STRENGTH : Easy to implement
- easy to administer
- no need for specialist professional to be involved
- cost effective and easy to follow once methods established
LIMITATION : Little rehabilitative value
- positive changes in the rehabilitation might be quickly lost when released
- cognitive based such as anger management more likely to lead to permanent behavioural change
- such treatments require the offender to take responsibility for their own rehabilitation
- offenders can play along with token economy
What is anger management? - dealing with offending behaviour?
A therapeutic programme that involves identifying the signs that trigger anger and the techniques to calm down
How is anger management a form of CBT?
The individual is taught to recognise the cognitive factors that trigger anger and how to bring about resolution
What are the three stages in anger management
Cognitive preparation
Skills Acquisition
Application Practice
What is the first stage of anger management and what does it entail?
Cognitive preparation
- Reflect on past experiences
- Consider typical pattern of anger
- Identify triggers
- Break automatic response
What is the second stage of anger management and what does it entail?
Skills Acquisition
Cognitive - positive self talk to encourage calmness
Behavioural - training in how to communicate effectively which becomes an automatic response
Physiological - Deal with physical reactions such as through meditation
What is the third stage of anger management and what does it entail?
Application practice
- Role play in controlled environment
- Offender and therapist reeenact situations that escalated anger in the past
- Positive reinformcement
What is the study for anger management?
Keen et al studied the progress made with young offenders between 17 and 21 who took part in an anger management programme
The course compromises eight 2 hour sessions, the frst seven in 2 weeks and the last one a month later
What was the issues and findings with the anger management study?
- offenders not taking it seriously
- forgetting the diaries
- outcome was positive and self control increased
A03 : anger management
STRENGTH : lasts longer than behaviour modification
- tackles cognitive processes
- behaviour modification only deals with surface behaviour
- anger management gives new insight and allows way to manage
COUNTER
- still has rates of recidivism
- relies on role play which isnt accurate
LIMITATION : Depends on individual factors
- ppt in an anger management group had no impact compared to control
- progress was made only by those who showed high levels of anger before the programme
- offenders who were open to change and motivated from outset
LIMITATION : Expensive
- highly trained specialists
- may not have resources
- progress based on those who coorpoerate
- chnage takes time which adds to costs
-
What is restorative justice?
Focuses on rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims
What are the key features of restorative justice?
- trained mediator supervisors
- non courtroom setting
- face to face or via video link
- survivor can confront
- active rather than passive process
- focus on positive outcomes for survivors and offenders
- focus on positive outcomes
- community members can have a role
When does restorative justice occur in terms of sentencing?
Pre trial
Alongside a sentence
Alternative to prison
Incentive to reduce sentence
What is restitution?
Monetary payment from offender to survivor to reflect damage done
What is the role of the restorative justice council?
Independent body used to establish clear standards for the use of restorative justice and to support survivors.
a03 - restorative justice
STRENGTH : Evidence suggests it has positive outcomes
- 85% of survivors reported satisfaction with the process of meeting the offender face to face
- 78% recommends it to the other people experiencing a similar situation
- 60% felt closure
- 2% said it felt worse
STRENGTH : decrease in recidivism
- meta analysis of 10 studies of those who had custodial sentencing and justice
- restorative group less likely to reoffend
- larger for violent crimes
- Bain found lowered recidivism rates with adult offenders especially when using 121 contact rather than community
LIMITATION : offenders may abuse the system
- offender has to want to make amends and has regret
- however some may use to avoid punishment, playing down faults, take pride
