forensics

Question 1

explain how culture affects definitions of crime

Answer 1

• some countries accept that a man can marry more than one women. In the UK, this is seen as the crime of bigamy
• homosexuality is illegal in Egypt
• what is a crime in one place may not be a crime in another

Question 2

explain why age is a factor that effects definitions of crime

Answer 2

• at what age should we make individuals criminally responsible ?
• currently in the UK this stands at 10 years old. It use to be 8

Question 3

explain how context is a factor that affects definitions of crime

Answer 3

• historical context. The legal system changes its laws over time.
• e.g. homosexuality was eventually legalised in 1967

Question 4

explain how the circumstance is a factor that affects the definition of crime

Answer 4

• within the UK legal system there are two core elements that should be present for it to be considered a guilty act
• Mens rea = the intention to do the crime . Psychological component of the crime
• Actus reus = the crime should be a voluntary act, the individual is in control of what they are doing. The behavioural component of the crime.

Question 5

explain official statistics

Answer 5

• the office for national statistics monitors crime rates throughout England and Wales
• this info is now based on any incident reported to the police or when the police discover an offence

Question 6

explain police recording of crime

Answer 6

• this is recorder crime, not necessarily those resulting in a conviction
• police recorded crime in 2014 remained the same as the previous year. Previously it decreased year on year. This attracted criticism that the police weren’t recording crime accurately

Question 7

problems with official statistics

Answer 7

• victim may feel that police won’t take their incident seriously and therefore don’t report it.
• not all crimes are reported to police
• some types of crime can be difficult to measure
• Walker found that only 42% of crimes reported in the British Crime Survey were reported to the policem

Question 8

victim surveys

Answer 8

• a face to face survey asking people about their crime experiences, to identify which crimes have been commitment against
• the crime survey for England and Wales was started in 1982. involves a sample of 50,000 households that are randomly selected from Royal Mail address book to take part in victim survey. Should mean that all groups of people are represented.
• 75% response rate

Question 9

2 advantages of victim surveys

Answer 9

• potentially provides info about the dark figure of unreported crime
• may be more consistent than official statistics when making comparisons over time because official statistics vary with changes in laws and reporting practices

Question 10

two disadvantages of victim surveys

Answer 10

• issues with sampling. Random sampling aims to have a representative sample , but the fact that only 75% of those contacted take part means that the final sample is biased (those who respond may be people with time on their hands )
• the number of crimes reported from any one individual is capped at 5 in any one year, which may lead to an underestimate of actual crime.

Question 11

explain offender surveys

Answer 11

• the offending crime and justice survey was conducted in England and Wales every year from 2003-2006.
• it was a longitudinal survey to try to pick up on crime trends and patterns of offending behaviour in young adults
• the questions sought to produce info about the extent of offending, anti social behaviour and drug use

Question 12

evaluation of offender surveys

Answer 12

• strength = can pick up unreported crime , more accurate picture of the dark side
• weakness = self report is subject to problems such as lack of accuracy in answers. We might expect people to underplay their criminal involvement

Question 13

what is offender profiling

Answer 13

-a method of working out the characteristics of an offender by examining the characteristics of the crime and the crime scene

Question 14

explain the 6 parts of the top down approach

Answer 14

1. profiling input - collection of description of crime scene, background info about victim and details of crime itself (e.g. weapon used)
2. decision process models - makes decisions about data and organises it. Considered issues are murder type (e.g. serial ), time factors ( e.g. day or night ), and location factors ( was crime scene at same place as murder scene )
3. crime assessment - organised type of offender = crime is planned and victim is specifically targeted. Body often transported and weapon hidden. Disorganised type of offender = unplanned crime and random selection of victim. Crime scene likely to contain clues.
4. criminal profile - profile on offender which includes hypotheses about their likely background. Used to work out strategy to catch offender. Important to think how offender will respond to investigative efforts. Best way to interview them
5. crime assessment - written report to investigating agency. Those matching profile are evaluated
6. apprehension - if suspect is apprehended, the entire profile gathering process is reviewed to check that conclusions are valid at each stage

Question 15

strength of top down approach

Answer 15

• police who have used FBI methods believe it is useful
• Researcher questioned 184 US police officers, of whom 82% said the technique was useful and 90% said they would use it again

Question 16

weakness of organised/ disorganised classification in top down approach

Answer 16

• the original data on which the organised/ disorganised classification was put forward came from 36 of the most dangerous murderers, including Ted Bundy.
• this data used to identify characteristics that would help police read a crime scene.
• this is a problem as such individuals are Hugh,h manipulative so age not likely to be the best source of reliable info
• the approaches of these individuals may be very different to more ‘typical offenders’

Question 17

another weakness of organised/ disorganised classification of the top down approach from Turvey

Answer 17

• organised and disorganised types of offender is more likely to be a continuum rather than two distinct categories
• solution was to have a third category called the ‘mixed’ offender but this would seem to lessen the usefulness of the classification.
• David canter a amused 39 aspects of serial killings committed by 100 US serial killers. Found no clear division between organised and disorganised types of offenders

Question 18

what are the two parts of the bottom up approach

Answer 18

investigative psychology and geographical profiling

Question 19

explain the three parts of investigative psychology

Answer 19

1. interpersonal coherence - people are consistent with their behaviour and therefore there will be links with elements of the crime and how people behave in everyday life
2. Forensic awareness - certain behaviours may reveal an awareness of particular police techniques and past experiences
3. smallest space analysis -statistical technique. Days about many crime scenes and offender characteristics are correlated so that most common connections can be identified

David canter analysed the co occurrence of 48 crime scenes and offender characteristics from uk murder case where victim was stranger. Identified 3 themes-

• instrumental opportunist (using murder to accomplish a goal)
• instrumental cognitive (concern for being detected so more planned )
• expressive impulsive (uncontrolled, in the heat of strong emotions )

Question 20

explain geographical profiling

Answer 20

• analyses the location of a connected series of crimes and considers where the crimes were committed, the spatial relationship between different crime scenes and how they might relate to an offenders place of residence
• circle theory = most offenders have a spatial mindset, commit crime in imagined circle. Marauder = comics crime in area of home. Commuter = travels away from home to commit crime
• criminal geographical targeting = computerised system. Produces 3 dimensional image displaying spatial data related to time, distance and movement to and from crime scenes. The different colours indicate likely closeness to crime scene

Question 21

weakness of the bottom up approach

Answer 21

• Canter and Larkin studies 45 sexual assaults and found that 91% of the offenders were identified as marauders.
• if almost all offenders are marauders then the classification doesn’t seem very useful

Question 22

another weakness of the bottom up approach that uses the case of Rachel Nickell

Answer 22

• profiling can’t rely identify an offender, it can only assist the police in narrowing down the field of possibilities
• E.g. Rachel Nickell was stabbed and the police created a perils which led to the identification of Colin Stagg but it later turned out that the actual murderer was Robert Napper who had been ruled out as he was taller than the picture from the profile

Question 23

what is a strength of the bottom up approach

Answer 23

• Gary Copson surveyed 48 uk police forces using investigative profiling and found that over 75% of the police offers said that profilers advice has been useful
• however, only 3% said that the advice has helped identify the actual offender
• this suggest that the method may not be that useful in catching offenders

Question 24

Explain the criminal personality type as a biological explanation of offending behaviour

Answer 24

• Atavistic form = offenders have similar characteristics to lower primates and this could explain their criminality
• empirical evidence = Lombroso used post mortem examinations of criminals and studied the faces of living criminals
• environment influences - Lombroso recognised that more than one factor would be the course of criminality.
• three types of criminals. Born criminals = the atavistic type, insane criminals = suffering from mental illness , criminaloids = general class whose mental characteristics predisposed them to criminal behaviour

Question 25

Explain the weakness of Lombroso’s ideas that they are gender bias

Answer 25

• he had androcentric ideas about women
• didn’t actually studies women directly
• he believed that women were less evolved. They were naturally jealous, low in intelligence and had a maternal instinct - all of which neutralised their negative traits and meant they were less likely to be criminals
• those women who are criminals have masculine characteristics

Question 26

Explain the weakness of Lambroso’s ideas that they lack adequate controls

Answer 26

• when he studied prisoners he didn’t pay the same kind of attention to non prisoners
• had he done so, it is likely that he would have found as many non prisoners with the same characteristics as he found in prisoners
• Charles Goring did just this. Compared 3,000 convicts with non convicts and found no differences

Question 27

Explain the strength of Lambroso’s ideas that he contributed to the science of criminology

Answer 27

• praised as he brought science to the study of crime
• regarded as the founder of criminology
• based his ideas on empirical observation and detailed measurements

Question 28

Define genetic explanations

Answer 28

The likelihood of behaving in a particular way is determined by a persons genetic makeup

Question 29

Explain genetic explanations as a biological explanation for offending behaviours

Answer 29

• Monoamine oxidase = researcher analysed DNA of males members of family who had a history of criminal behaviour. Found that they shared a particular gene that led to abnormally low levels of MAOA
• cadherin 13 = study with 900 offenders found evidence of low MAOA activity and low activity from the CDH13 gene
• Diathesis-stress= current thinking in terms of epignetics (the material in each cell acts like an off/on switch) are also affected by environmental factors.
• longitudinal study with 1,000 people from when they were babies. Analysed anti social behaviour at age 36 and found that 12% of those men with MAOA has experienced maltreatment when baby

Question 30

Define neural explanations

Answer 30

Considers how structures of the Brian may be different in criminals

Question 31

Explain generic and neural biological explanations for offending behaviour

Answer 31

• prefrontal cortex = researcher looked at 71 brain imaging studies showing that murderers, psychopaths has reduced function in this area, which is associated with emotions
• serotonin = suggested that low levels of this neurotransmitter may predispose individuals to aggression and criminal behaviour
• noradrenaline = High levels of this neurotransmitter are associated with fight or flight response and linked to aggression. Low levels reduce ability to react to threats

Question 32

Weakness of genetic and neural biological explanations for offending behaviours

Answer 32

• most of the research relates to the association between offending and violent or aggressive behaviour.
• offending behaviour includes theft, fraud - non violent.
• biological explanations may just account for certain kinds of crime such as those involving violence and psychopathy

Question 33

Weekends of genetic explanations as a biological explanation for offending behaviour

Answer 33

• evidence shows that criminality cannot be 100% explained in terms of genetics
• in a study those with the defective gene gene were 13 times more likely to have a history of related violent behaviour, but this means that not everyone with the gene had become an offender

Question 34

Explain a strength of genetic biological explanations for offending behaviour

Answer 34

• study of 14,000 adoptees found that 15% of sons adopted by a criminal family went on to be criminals compared to 20% whose biological parents were criminal
• this suggest that inherited genes are a more significant factor

Question 35

Strength of neural biological explanations for offending behaviour

Answer 35

• could lead to possible methods of treatment
• e.g. If low levels of serotonin cause increased aggressiveness in criminals, then people in prison could be given first that would enhance their serotonin level and hopefully decrease their aggression

Question 36

Outline Eysenck’s theory of personality

Answer 36

• individuals inherit a type of nervous system that affects their ability to learn and adapt to the environment
• extraversion- introversion = outgoing, positive emotions, get bored easily. Enjoy risk as nervous system under aroused . Those with high level extraversion have a low level arousal so require more stimulation from environment which may result in criminal behaviour
• neuroticism- stability = negative emotional states e.g. Depression, anxiety . Over sensitive to fight or flight. High neuroticism scores = more likely to take part in criminal behaviour
• psychoticism- normality = egocentric, aggressive, not concern about others welfare. High testosterone

Question 37

Explain the biological basis to Eysneck’s theory of personality

Answer 37

• Extraversion = determined by level of arousal in nervous system. If under aroused they require more stimulation. If over aroused they don’t need any stimulation
• neuroticism = determined by level of stability (fight or flight) . Neurotic person is slightly unstable. Stable person has more reactive nervous system
• psychoticism = high levels of testosterone

Question 38

explain Eysenck’s link to criminal behaviour

Answer 38

• a person may be born with a personality trait but due to interaction within the environment causes the development of criminality
• the link between personality and criminality can be explained due to arousal. more arousal = more likely to engage in dangerous activities

Question 39

explain the weakness to Eysenck’s theory that personality may not be consistent

Answer 39

• assumes that personality is consistent
• number of psychologists support situational perspective suggesting that people may be consistent in similar situations but not across all situations. e.g. someone may be relaxed at home but neurotic at work

Question 40

explain Eysnecks study

Answer 40

• 2070 male prisoners and 2442 male controls
• prisoners scored higher on extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism than the non criminal controls
• shows characteristics that are associated with crime
• support from Dunlop who found that extraversion and psychoticism were good predictions of minor crime however sample was all students

Question 41

explain a strength and weakness of research in generic basis of personality from Eysenck’s theory

Answer 41

• Zuckerman did twin studies and found a +0.52 correlation for identical twins on neuroticism compared with 0.25 for non identical twins. This shows a large genetic component in characteristics associated with criminal behaviour
• however the genetic component isn’t as high as Eysenck had claimed -a +.50 correlation means 40% of the variance in these traits is due to genes. this figure may also be inflated a identical twins tend to be treated more similary

Question 42

4 weakness of eysneks theory

Answer 42

• the idea of one personality type explaining all offending behaviour is not very plausible, there as many typos or both crimes and offenders. All criminals are not the same
• culturally biased. Holanchock studied black and Spanish criminals in America and found them to be less extroverted than non criminals
• could be accused of biological determinism as it sees personality as innate and unchanging
• relies heavily on self report measure of personality. People may give certain answers to fit Eysenck’s theory. This generates response bias

Question 43

explain kolberg’s levels of moral reasoning

Answer 43

• Pre conventional level = accept rules of authority figure and judge actions by consequences. Stage 1 = if someone is punished they have done wrong. Stage 2 = realises that what is right is down to ones needs
• conventional level = continue to belief that conformity to social roles is desirable. Stage 3 = what is right is defined by what others expect. Stage 4 = becomes aware of wider rules in society
• post conventional level = moves to norms of social system. Stage 5 = individuals rights may be more important than the law. Stage 6 = universal ethical principles
• each stage represent more advanced form of moral understanding
• criminals likely to be at pre conventional level as believe that breaking law is justifiable if punishment can be avoided

Question 44

3 strengths of Kohlberg’s stages of moral development

Answer 44

• Colby tested 58 male participants from the original Kohlberg’s study 6 times over 27 years and found support for Kohlberg’s original conclusion. 10% adults read post conventional.
• Palmer and Hollin compared moral reasoning between female and male non offenders and 126 convicted offenders. Found that minor crime group had less mature moral reasoning then the non crime group.
• Chen and Hawitt used a test based on Kohlberg’s stages to asses 330 male adolescent offenders in Taiwan. Those offenders who showed more advance moral reasoning were less likely to be included in crime

Question 45

3 weaknesses of Kohlberg’s stages of moral development

Answer 45

• individuals don’t always progress through stages. Rest found that 1 in 14 actually slipped backwards
• Thornton and Reid found individuals who committed different levels of moral reasoning e.g. robbers were more likely to show pre conventional moral reasoning , whereas this who committed impulsive crimes e.g. assault had no indication of moral reasoning at all. Varies with crime time
• Kohlberg’s research was based on male samples. Can’t be generalised to whole population as gender biased. Focused on male perspectives only

Question 46

outline cognitive distortions as a psychological explanation of offending behaviour

Answer 46

• errors in info process system, characterised by faulty thinking
• the result is that a person’s perception of events is wrong but they think it is right
• hostile attribution bias = thinking the worst. Offenders may misread non aggressive cues and this may trigger violent response. e.g. being looked at. What we think when we observe someone’s actions and draw an inference about what it means.
• minimalisation = an attempt to downplay or deny the seriousness of an offence. Consequences of situation are either over or under exaggerated. Can explain how an offender may reduce negative interpretations of their behaviour before/ after crime committed

Question 47

3 strengths of cognitive distortions

Answer 47

• researchers showed emotionally ambiguous faces to 55 violent offenders and compared responses to control group. Offenders were more likely to interpret any picture as angry and aggressive than the control group. Supports hostile attribution bias
• researchers found that sex offenders accounts of their crimes often downplayed their behaviour. e.g. suggested that their victims behaviour contributed to the crime
• real world application for treatment. Researcher worked with men from disadvantaged groups in Chicago and used cognitive behavioural techniques to reduce judgment and decision making errors. (cognitive distortions) . Those who attended 13 one hour sessions had a 44% reduction in arrest compared to control group

Question 48

weakness of cognitive distortions

Answer 48

• descriptive not explanatory

- may be useful when predicting re offending, but don’t huge us might insight into why the offender committed crime