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A Level: Psychology > Forensics > Flashcards

Forensics Flashcards

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1
Q

What is offender profiling

A

An investigative technique used to narrow down the list of suspects by identifying the major personality and behavioural characteristics of the offender from an analysis of the crimes they committed

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2
Q

Briefly describe the top down approach

A
  • aka typology approach
  • offender profilers will match what is known about the crime and the offender to a pre existing template the FBI developed
  • organised/ disorganised
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3
Q

Describe an organised offender:

Crime scene

A 
Crime Scene: 
The victim is deliberately targeted- a ‘type’
Crime has been planned in advance 
Body hidden 
No weapon at crime scene
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4
Q

Describe an organised offender:

Personality

A 
Planned the crime in advance 
High degree of control 
Above average intelligence
Skilled professional occupation 
Socially competent
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5
Q

Describe disorganised offender:

Crime scene

A 
Victim is known 
Little evidence of planning 
Spontaneous 
Body left at scene 
Little control
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6
Q

Describe the disorganised offender:

Personality

A

Lower than average IQ
Unskilled work
History of sexual dysfunction
Live alone

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7
Q

Evaluate the top down approach

A

❌canter, investigated 100 murders, found characteristics for ‘organised’ criminals to be true but not for ‘disorganised’
❌Alison: predictive validity
assumes how they act at the crime scene is how they act in real life

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8
Q

What is the bottom up approach

A

Profilers work up from the evidence gathered at the crime scene to develop hypotheses about the likely characteristics and social background of the offender

To generate a profile of the offender

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9
Q

What is investigative profiling

A

A type of bottom up profiling:

  • aim is to establish patterns of behaviour that are likely to occur or coexist across crime scenes so to establish a statistical ‘database’
  • an attempt to apply statistical procedures alongside psychological theory to the analysis of crime scene evidence
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10
Q

What is interpersonal coherence

A

The idea that the way an offender behaves at the scene reflects their behaviour on more everyday situations

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11
Q

Define geographical profiling

A

A form of bottom up profiling based on the patterns shown by the locations of a series of crimes

Allows the researcher to make educated guesses about where the offender is likely to strike next

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12
Q

How is timing of offences related to georgraphical profiling

A

Information about the geographical location is more useful when it’s combined with the information about when the crime was committed

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13
Q

Canters ‘circle theory’ proposed two models of offender behaviour, what are they

A

The marauder- who operates in close proximity to their home base
The commuter- who is likely to have travelled a distance away from their usual residence

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14
Q

Evaluate the bottom up approach

A

✅John Duffy, ‘railway rapist’ carried out 24 sexual attacks and 3 murders in women near railway, canter analysed geographical information from crime scenes and details from past similar offences, profile was surprisingly accurate
✅lundrigan & canter, investigated spatial consistency in the behaviour of killers. The location of each body disposal created a centre of gravity where the offenders base was in the centre, supports the role of spatial information

✅comparison, bottom up profiling is more objective and scientific than the top down approach as it is more grounded in evidence and psychological theory and less driven by speculation and hunches

❌Rachel Nickell - took 16yrs to find real killer after killed was ruled out because he was several inches taller than profile

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15
Q

What are the two biological explanations of offending

A

Atavistic form
Genetic explanations
Neural explanations

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16
Q

Define atavism

A

Relating to or characterised by reverting back to something ancient or ancestoral

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17
Q

Who suggested atavistic form

A

Lombroso

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18
Q

What did lombroso suggest

A

-Criminals were a more primitive version of humans, essentially a genetic throwback to an earlier species
‘-Less evolved people’
-Not evolved enough to function in a civilised society

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19
Q

Name 3 physical anomalies that lombroso suggested

A

Narrow sloping brow
High cheek bones
Long ears

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20
Q

What are the characteristics of the two sub types of criminal according to lombroso

A

Murderers:
Bloodshot eyes
Curly hair
Long ears

Sexual deviants:
Glinting eyes
Swollen fleshy lips
Projecting ears

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21
Q

Evaluate atavistic form

A

✅lombroso
Examined facial and cranial features of hundreds of Italian convicts, found 40% of criminal acts could be accounted by atavistic characteristics
❌scientific racism
Many of the facial characteristics identified were typical of African origin, this theory would offer support for eugenics (selective breeding)
✅father of modern criminology
Lombroso has been credited for shifting the emphasis in crime research away from
Being ‘weak minded’ towards a more scientific credible claim

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22
Q

Define neural explanation

A

An explanation of behaviour in terms of the brain and nervous system

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23
Q

Describe Raine as supporting evidence for the neural explanation

A

Studied 41 violent offenders using PET scans, found violent offenders showed significantly less activity in prefrontal lobe than the controls

Suggesting they have less control over impulsive behaviour

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24
Q

What does the genetic explanation suggest

A

People may inherit a gene that makes them pre determined to criminal behaviour

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25
Q

Describe Tihonen

A

A genetic analysis of almost 900 offenders revealed abnormalities one the MAOA gene (responsible for dopamine and serotonin- links to aggression)

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26
Q

What does the MAOA gene do

A

Monoamine oxidase A

ENZYME↪️ breaks down neurotransmitters in the brain including dopamine and serotonin

Low levels of serotonin have been associated with impulsive and aggressive behaviour

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27
Q

Describe Christiansen (1977)

A

Looked at over 3,500 twin sets in Denmark

52% concordance rate for criminality was found for MZ twins

22% CC for DZ twins

❌not 100% = other factors must be involved

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28
Q

Evaluate neural and genetic explanation

A

❌diathesis stress model
Diathesis= a genetic predisposition
Stress= triggered by a stressor
The idea of epigenetics suggests that genes are switched on or off as a result of environmental factors Eg childhood
✅Caspi
Longitudinal study of 1000 people, found a significant number of men with low MAOA genes had experienced maltreatment when they were babies
❌Jim Fallon
Low activity of prefrontal cortex. Defective MAOA gene, not a serial killers as not had trauma in childhood
❌reductionism, reduces behaviour down to our biological components such as na and brain structures

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29
Q

What did Hans Eysenck Argue

A

There are identifiable personality traits and that these have a genetic basis

A personality is a mix of biological tendencies combined with learning experiences

NATURE and NURTURE

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30
Q

How was Eysencks criminal personality tested

A

Using a questionnaire designed to give a

N score- neuroticism
P score- psychotism
E score- extraversion

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31
Q

What is the biological basis of a high neurotic score

A

Over active sympathetic nervous system

↪️unstable and therefore unpredictable

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32
Q

What is the biological basis of a high extravert score

A

Under active nervous system

↪️more likely to do risky behaviour, requires more stimulation to gain arousal

33
Q

What is the biological basis of a high psychotic score

A

Men more psychotic- higher levels of testosterone = aggression

34
Q

What is the process of socialisation

A

Where children are taught to become more able to delay gratification

35
Q

What did Eysenck argue about people with high E and N scores

A

We’re less easily conditioned, therefore do not learn to avoid antisocial behaviour the same, consequently would not learn to respond to antisocial impulses with anxiety

36
Q

Evaluate Eysencks criminal personality

A

✅ Eysenck and Eysenck
-2000 male prisoners were given the questionnaire, prisoners had higher PNE scores than controlled. However scores fell with age

❌Bartol and Holanchock
Cultural differences of Hispanics and AA,
Found no difference in P&N scores but prisoners had lower E scores

❌determinism

37
Q

What are the two cognitive explanations For offending

A

Levels of moral reasoning

Cognitive distortions

38
Q

Describes Kohlbergs work into levels of moral reasoning

A

Kohlbergs used moral dilemmas and found that a group of violent youths were significantly lower in their moral development than non violent youths (controlled for social background)

39
Q

What stages of moral reasoning are criminals at

A

Level 1: Pre- conventional

Stage 1- punishment- obey to avoid punishment
Stage 2- reward- obey for personal gain

40
Q

Describe Chen and Howitt

A

✅300 male offenders & controls from 3 high schools in TAIWAN

found moral reasoning development stage was significantly lower despite being older

Kohlbergs theory is universal

41
Q

Describe an issue with levels moral reasoning

A

❌hypothetical

  • concerned with moral thinking rather than behaviour
  • situation which the children have never faced so there answer may differ from how they would really act

.: lacks ecological validity

42
Q

Define cognitive distortions

A

Errors in people’s information processing, characterised by faulty irrational ways of thinking so we perceive ourselves and other people inaccurately and usually negatively

43
Q

Define hostile attribution bias

A

The tendency to judge ambiguous situations, or the actions of others as aggressive or threatening when in reality they may not be

44
Q

✅schonenberg and Justye

A

They presented 55 violent offenders with images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions

Found the violent offenders were significantly more likely to perceive the images as angry and hostile

45
Q

Define minimalisation

A

Downplaying then significance of an event or emotion, often done when dealing with feelings of guilt

46
Q

✅Describe Barbaree

A

Found among 26 imprisoned rapists

  • 54% denied they had committed an offence at all
  • further 40% downplayed the harm they had caused the victims

Therefore suggests that individuals who commit sexual offences are prone to minimalistion

47
Q

Criticise cognitive approach

A

❌descriptive rather than explanatory
One key failing with the cognitions approach is that it’s good at describing the criminal mind but not explaining it

.: neural explanation better at identifying cause

48
Q

Who propose differential Association theory

A

Edwin Sutherland

49
Q

What does differential Association theory mean

A

We learn from the people that we associate with and the different people you are around

Sutherland argues that if the number of pro criminal attitudes a person acquires outweigh the anti-criminal attitudes

50
Q

What two theories does DAT include

A

Behaviourism:
C/c, reward (respect), avoid punishment

Social learning theory:
Vicarious reinforcement: seeing others rewarded
Identification: older/ role model

51
Q

Evaluate differential Association theory

A

✅Osborne and West
Found that when the father is a convicted criminal 40% of the sons had committed a crime by the age of 18 compared to 13% of noncriminal fathers
(❌ biological explanation: GENES)

❌Environmental determinism

Removes moral responsibility

Biological explanation

52
Q

What are the two psychodynamic explanations for offending

A

The inadequate superego and Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation

53
Q

Explains the inadequate superego

A

Offending behaviour can be explained by an imbalance between the three components of personality because the ID is not sufficiently controlled

ID= pleasure principle

54
Q

What did Blackburn suggest three types of superego where

A

The week superego
absence of same-sex parent in the phallic stage not been able to internalised moral standard

The deviant superego
the same sex parent is in moral child internalises in moral standard

The over harsh superego
would commit a crime with the wish of being caught and then punishment will reduce their feelings of guilt think Dobby

55
Q

Evaluate inadequate adequate

A

❌Gender biased
Freud was alpha biased demonstrates women are morally inferior due to passively identifying
↪️❌However females commit less crime than males more serial killers are men

❌concept relates to unconscious
Unfalsifiable
Subjective cannot be observed

56
Q

What was Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation

A

If You don’t form in attachment within the critical period there will be negative consequences in the future

57
Q

Evaluate of maternal deprivation theory

A

✅bowlby 44 thieves study
14 had affectionless psychopathy
12/14 had experienced maternal deprivation
❌criticised= can’t establish cause and effect so can’t directly say that the IV affects DV, no control of extraneous variables

❌retrospective data

58
Q

Define incapacitation

A

This means that an offender is prevented from offending it’s essentially protecting the public

59
Q

Define rehabilitation

A

Involves changing the offender for the better so that they become a law abiding citizen

60
Q

Divine retribution

A

Making the offender pay back to society in some way

61
Q

Define deterrence

A

Putting the rest of the population off from committing the crime

62
Q

What Is the fancy term for reoffending rates

A

Recidivism

63
Q

According to the prison reform trust what percentage of adults are reconvicted within one year of release

A

46%

Under 18s = 67%

64
Q

What is available to prisoners

What’s a ❌ of this

A

Access to education and training, gives an alternate to crime so can get a job rather than reoffend

Anger management schemes

❌not all prisons have access to these resources

65
Q

What are three psychological effects of custodial sentencing

A

1) institutionalisation
Where u forget how to function outside the prison

2) prisonisation
Learning antisocial behaviour in prison (inmate code) how to become a better criminal

3)depression
Suicide rates considerably higher than gen pop

66
Q

Evaluate research into psychological effects of custodial sentencing

A

✅zimbardos-
Deindividuation, mental breakdowns, humiliation

❌pop and ecological validity and volunteer sample

67
Q

Evaluate custodial sentencing

A

❌cause and effect:
Some prisoners may have issues before they go into prison, can’t be certain that prison caused these effects

✅treatments
Eg anger management (Ireland et al)

✅incapacitation, protects public

68
Q

What idea is behaviour modification built around

A

The idea that criminal behaviour is learnt and so can be unlearnt

69
Q

Explain token economies

A

In prisons behaviour modification programs used token economy to modify behaviour

Appropriate and desirable behaviour is rewarded with a token that can be exchange for material goods

based around the idea of operant conditioning

70
Q

Evaluates behaviour modification

A

✅ Cullen and seddon
At a young offenders institute boys were reinforced with tokens to be exchanged at the shop for sweets, positive behaviours were rewarded with tokens and undesirable behaviours such as hostility were ignored = extinction, boys showed more positive behaviour over course of study

❌Long-term impact
after three years reoffending rates were the same token economies may delay recidivism but it doesn’t resolve the heart of the problem

❌Ethics
behaviour is manipulated there is a lack of active involvement in the process prisons in the system a very passive

71
Q

What is anger management A form of

A

Cognitive behavioural therapy

72
Q

What model is anger management based off

explain

A

Stress inoculation model

1) conceptualisation
identify triggers

2) skill acquisition
a range of coping techniques such as positive self talk improve communication or relaxation

3)Application practice
role-play scenario teach them to prevent getting worked up with a positive reinforcer

73
Q

Describe research conducted by Ireland

A

Young male offenders were assessed using a self-report questionnaire and were also assessed by prison officers

Took 12 one hour sessions over three days

Eight weeks later all participants were reassessed using same method found significant improvements in experimental group

74
Q

Criticise anger management

A

❌Not for everyone requires the participants to be motivated

❌Variation across anger management studies is wide which makes it difficult to draw effective conclusions

❌Loza & Loza-fanous
They found no difference between violent and non-violent offenders in terms of anger suggest violence can take place without anger being a factor

75
Q

Compare behaviour modification and anger management

A

1) BM external AM internal
2) BM delays recidivism AM long terms
3) BM passive AM requires motivation
4) BM wide application AM purely anger related crimes

76
Q

Define restorative justice

A

Reconciliation between offender and victim meet face-to-face for discussion

77
Q

What are the three aims of restorative justice

A

Rehabilitation for offenders
made to feel guilty and come face-to-face with what they’ve done

Atonement for wrongdoing
visible attachments of what they have done

Victims perspectives
involves victims in the justice process

78
Q

Evaluate restorative justice

A

✅uk restorative justice council report 85% satisfication from victim

✅Sherman and strang
Meta analysis
Recidivism rates significantly reduced
victim PTSD was reduced

✅cost effective
Less recidivism= less people to fund to go through prison

❌not all crimes
Severity may mean it would cause the victim too much trauma

❌offender may not feel any remorse

A Level: Psychology (11 decks)

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