Forensics key words

Question 1

crime

Answer 1

an act committed in violation of the law where consequences of conviction by court is punishment, like imprisonment

Question 2

official statistics

Answer 2

based on number reported/recorded by police, used by government to inform crime prevention strategies

Question 3

offender profiling

Answer 3

behavioural and analytical tool intended to help investigators accurately predict and profile characteristics of unknown criminal

Question 4

top-down approach

Answer 4

start with pre-established typology, work down to assign offenders to category based on witness and crime scene

Question 5

bottom-up approach

Answer 5

work up from evidence collected from crime scene, develop hypotheses about likely characteristics, motivations, social backgrounds

Question 6

investigative psychology

Answer 6

form of bottom-up profiling, match details from crime scene with statistical analysis of typical offender behaviour patterns based on psychological theory

Question 7

geographical profiling

Answer 7

form of bottom-up profiling, principle of spatial consistency, offender’s operational base and possible future offences revealed by geographical location of previous crimes

Question 8

atavistic form

Answer 8

offenders are genetic throwbacks or a primitive sub-species ill-suited to conforming to rules of modern society, have certain facial and cranial characteristics

Question 9

extraverts

Answer 9

underactive nervous system so seek excitement, stimulation, engage in risk-taking, not condition easily or learn from mistakes

Question 10

neurotic

Answer 10

nervous, jumpy, over-anxious, instability so behaviour difficult to predict

Question 11

psychoticism

Answer 11

cold, unemotional, prone to aggression

Question 12

criminal behaviour

Answer 12

developmentally immature, selfish, immediate gratification, impatient

Question 13

level of moral reasoning

Answer 13

process by which individual draws upon their own value system to determine whether an action is right or wrong

Question 14

differential association

Answer 14

through interaction with others individuals learn values, attitudes, techniques, motives for criminal behaviour

Question 15

custodial sentencing

Answer 15

judicial sentence determined by a court, where offender punished by serving time in prison (incarceration) or in other closed therapeutic/educational institution

Question 16

anger management

Answer 16

therapeutic programme involves identifying signs that trigger anger and learn techniques to ccalm and deal with situation positively

Question 17

restorative justice

Answer 17

dealing with criminal behaviour, focus on rehabilitation through reconciliation with victims, see impact of crime, empower victim and give voice