Forensics

Question 1

Provide three characteristics of the organised offender.

Answer 1

Above average intelligence, controlled even in the attack that looks frenzied, in a skilled/professional job, mostly married with kids, well thought of in the community, organised about the attack, bring instruments, escape plan etc.

Question 2

Provide three characteristics of the disorganised offender.

Answer 2

Spontaneous, impulsive, lower than average IQ, in unskilled work/unemployed, history of sexual dysfunction and failed relationships, tend to live alone and near where the offence took place.

Question 3

What are the four stages of an FBI profile?

Answer 3

1. Data assimilation.
2. Crime scene classification.
   3 Crime reconstruction.
3. Profile generation.

Question 4

What is the top down approach?

Answer 4

Profilers start with a pre-established typology and work down to lower levels in order to assign
offenders to one of two categories based on witness accounts and evidence from the crime scene.

Question 5

What is a strength of the top-down approach?

Answer 5

+Research support: 100 serial killings (smallest space analysis) supported organised category (Canter
et al).

+Wider application: Applied to burglary, 85% rise in solved cases in the US (Meketa)

Question 6

What is a weakness of the top-down approach?

Answer 6

-Counterpoint: most killers have multiple contrasting characteristics, don#t fit into one #type#
(Godwin).

-Flawed evidence: Interview sample small, not random, similar kinds of offender, non-standard
questions (Canter et al)

Question 7

What is the bottom-up approach?

Answer 7

Profile emerges from analysis of the crime and comparison with other crimes in a database, using
investigative psychology and geographical profiling.

Question 8

What is the difference between a marauder and a commuter?

Answer 8

A marauder operates in close proximity to their home whereas a commuter travels to commit their
crime.

Question 9

Which approach uses the organised/disorganised categories?

Answer 9

Top-down

Question 10

Which approach uses investigative psychology and geographical profiling?

Answer 10

Bottom-up

Question 11

Provide a strength of the bottom up approach

Answer 11

+Evidence for investigative psychology – 66 sexual assaults, smallest space analysis, consistent
pattern of behaviours = case linkage (Canter and Heritage)

+Evidence for geographical profiling – 120 US serial killer cases, place where bodies left created a
circle of gravity, pointing to home base (Lundragin and Canter)

Question 12

What two parts of the body form the atavistic form?

Answer 12

Cranial and facial

Question 13

Provide a strength of the atavistic approach.

Answer 13

+Lombroso’s legacy –’Father of modern criminology’ (Hollin) moved from moralistic to scientific discourse and
marked the beginning of offender profiling.

Question 14

Provide a weakness of the bottom-up approach.

Answer 14

-Counterpoint- database of solved crimes using case linkage which may have been easy to link.

-Geographical information insufficient – recording of crime inaccurate (75% of crimes not reported), age and
experience matter (Ainsworth)

Question 15

What are the two genes involved in the genetic explanation of offending?

Answer 15

MAOA-L and CDH13

Question 16

What is interpersonal coherence?

Answer 16

The way an offender acts the crime scene, including how they interact with the victim.

Question 17

What are the three levels of Kohlberg’s model?

Answer 17

Pre conventional morality, conventional morality, post conventional morality.

Question 18

What type of crimes are likely to show pre conventional moral reasoning?

Answer 18

Crimes committed for financial gain eg. Burglary

Question 19

What is a strength of Kohlberg’s model?

Answer 19

Research support – Palmer and Hollin compared moral reasoning between 332 offenders and
126 non-offenders by getting them to answer 11 moral-dilemma related questions. The
offender groups showed less mature moral reasoning than the non-offender group

Question 20

What is minimalisation?

Answer 20

Downplaying the significance of a crime.

Question 21

What are the 6 stages in Kohlberg’s theory of moral
reasoning?

Answer 21

Punishment orientation, instrumental orientation, good
boy/girl orientation, maintenance of the social order,
morality of contract and individual rights, morality of
conscience.

Question 22

What is a limitation of cognitive distortions?

Answer 22

-Type of offence: Non-contact sex offenders used more
cognitive distortions.

Question 23

Outline the differential theory of offending.

Answer 23

Individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques and motives for offending behaviour, through interactions with others.

Question 24

What is the difference between a learning attitude and a learning technique?

Answer 24

A learning attitude forms the values and attitudes towards the law. These can either be
pro-crime or anti-crime. Learning techniques are ways of committing offences; eg.
Pickpocketing or using a hair grip to pick a lock.

Question 25

What is a strength of cognitive distortions as an explanation of offending behaviour?

Answer 25

+Application to therapy. Studies suggest that reduced incidence of denial and
minimalization in CBT is highly associated with reduced risk of reoffending.

Question 26

Why do convicts who have been to prison tend reoffend when they are released?

Answer 26

Whilst inside, prison inmates will learn specific techniques of offending from more
experienced offenders and have their pro-crime attitudes reinforced

Question 27

State a strength of differential association theory.

Answer 27

+Shift of focus: away from biological accounts (Lombroso) or accounts of weakness
of morality.

+Wide reach: Can account for both working-class and ‘white-collar crime.’

Question 28

What are the three inadequate superegos?

Answer 28

Weak, deviant and over-harsh

Question 29

What are the two candidate genes that cause offending behaviour?

Answer 29

MAOA and CDH13

Question 30

Provide a limitation of differential association theory.

Answer 30

-Counterpoint: risks stereotyping people from pro-crime backgrounds,
ignores individual decision making.

-Difficulty testing: Concepts are hard to operationalise (e.g. measures
pro-crime attitudes a person is exposed to.)

Question 31

Why does an over-harsh superego lead to offending?

Answer 31

The child has very strict parenting which leads to feelings of guilt and anxiety. This leads to a craving to be punished so commits crime on purpose to fulfil this craving.

Question 32

According to Kohlberg, what level of moral reasoning are offenders classified at?

Answer 32

Pre-conventional morality

Question 33

Explain what Lombroso meant by ‘genetic throwbacks’ and why these people offend.

Answer 33

These people have not evolved to conform to a civilised society and so commit crime
to fulfil their needs.

Question 34

What is spatial consistency?

Answer 34

The idea that offenders will commit crimes within a limited geographical space.

Question 35

How does a child gain a deviant superego?

Answer 35

A child will internalise the superego of their deviant same-sex parent.

Question 36

Provide a strength of the psychodynamic explanation of offending

Answer 36

+Research support: 10 offenders had disturbances in Superego
formation and a need for self-punishment.