HARD Flashcards
top down ao1
The top-down approach to profiling originated in the US as a result of work carried out by the FBI in the 70s.
* Interviews with 36 sexually motivated serial killers.
* Determined that data could be split into 2 categories.
* Organised and disorganised.
* Certain characteristics → predictions can be made.
* Profilers gather data and then assign to a category.
* Typology approach.
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There are four main stages in the construction of an FBI Profile.
1. Data assimilation.
Reviewing Evidence.
2. Crime scene classification-organised/disorganised.
3. Crime reconstruction
Hypothesis in terms of sequence of events, behaviour of victim and suspect.
4. Profile generation
* Hypothesis relating to the likely offender.
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There is support for a distinct organized category of offender
* Canter (2004) analysis of 100 US murders committed by different serial killers.
* Smallest space analysis - statistical technique that identifies correlations across different samples of behaviour.
* In this case the analysis was used in order to assess the current occurrence of 39 aspects of serial killings.
* Torture or restraint; attempt to conceal; murder weapon; cause of death.
Revealed that there does seem to be a subset of features of many serial killings which matched the FBI is typology for organized offenders
counterpoint-However many studies suggest that the organized and disorganized types may not mutually exclusive
Maurice Godwin (2002) - it is difficult to classify killers as one or the other type.
* Could have multiple contrasting characteristics.
* High intelligence and sexual competence, but commit a spontaneous murder, leaving the body at the crime scene.
Could mean that the typology is more of a continuum, rather than one or another.
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A strength of the top down approach is that it can be adapted to other crimes.
* Meketa (20017) reported that the top-down approach had been recently applied to burglary → 85% rise in solved cases in three separate US states.
* Organised and disorganised remain
* Interpersonal and opportunistic have been added.
Suggests that the approach has a wider application than was originally assumed.
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Interpersonal Coherence
* The way the offender behaves at the scene inc. the way they interact with the victim.
Time and Place
* Could indicate something about where they live or work.
Forensic awareness
* Behaviour could indicate that they have been involved with the police in the past.
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One strength of investigative psychology is that evidence supports its use.
David Canter and Rupert Heritage (1990) conducted an analysis of 66 sexual assault cases. The data was examined using smallest space analysis and several behaviours were identified as common in different samples of behaviour, such as the use of impersonal language and lack of reaction to the victim.
Each individual displayed a characteristic pattern of such behaviours and this can help establish whether two or more offences were committed by the same person.
This supports one of the basic principles of investigative psychology, that people are consistent in their behaviour.
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Lundrigan and Canter (2001) collated information from 120 murder cases involving serial killers in the US. Smallest space analysis revealed spatial consistency in the behaviour of the killers.
* The location of each body disposal site created a centre of gravity,
* Offenders start from their home base they go in different directions each time they dump body, but in the end this creates a circular effect around the home base.
* The offenders base was invariably located at the centre of the pattern
* Especially with marauders.
This supports the view that geographical information can be used to identify an offender.
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The success rates for offender profiling and the views of police forces who have used the techniques suggest that what profiling can’t reliably do is identify an offender.
* It is a tool for narrowing down possibilities, not one that provides exact answers.
* There is a danger is sticking too closely to the profile.
* Rachel Nickell - stabbed 47 times and sexually assaulted on Wimbledon Common in 1992.
* Profile led to the wrong man being arrested.
While an offender profile can be helpful in narrowing down possibilities it must be used with great caution to avoid wrongful arrest and convictions.
atavistic ao1
This sub-type could be identified via physiological markers.
These are linked to specific types of crime and mainly (but not exclusively) involve face and head
* Narrow, sloping brow
* Strong jaw
* High cheek bones
* Facial asymmetry
* Dark skin & extra toes, nipples or fingers.
* Insensitivity to pain; use of slang; tattoos and unemployment
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Lombroso went on to categorise particular types of offenders in terms of their physical and facial characteristics.
* Murderers → Bloodshot eyes; curly hair; long ears.
* Sexual deviants → Glinting eyes; swollen fleshy lips; projecting ears.
* Fraudsters → Thin reedy lips.
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Lombroso studied the facial and cranial features of many Italian convicts.
* 383 dead and 3839 living criminals.
* Concluded there was an atavistic form and that these features were key indicators of criminality.
* Concluded that 40% of criminal acts are committed by people with atavistic characteristics.
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Goring (1913) set out to establish whether there were any physical or mental abnormalities among offenders.
* Compared 3000 offenders and non-offenders.
* No evidence to support Lombroso’s ideas.
* Although he did suggest a lower level of intelligence.
This challenges the idea that offender can be physically distinguished from the rest of the population and are therefore unlikely to be a sub-species.
genetic ao1
Criminals inherit a gene.
* Twin Studies
* Christiansen (1977) - 3500 twin pairs in Denmark.
* CR for offender behaviour 35% vs. 13%
* Suggesting behaviour and underlying predisposing traits are inherited.
- Adoption Studies
- Crowe (1972)
- Biology lead to a 50% risk of having a criminal record by the age of 18 vs. 5%. (criminal mother)
Tihonen et al. (2014) - genetic analysis of 800 offenders
* Abnormalities on two genes.
* MAOA - controls dopamine and serotonin in the brain and is linked to violent crime.
* CDH13 - Substance abuse and ADHD
* 5-10% of all several violent crime in Finland is attributable to the MAOA and CDH13 genotypes.
Evidence suggests neural differences between criminals and non-criminals.
* Lots of research on APD
* Reduced emotional responses, lack of empathy, impulsive, needing stimulation etc.
* Raine et al. reported several brain imaging studies showing reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex in people with APD.
* Raine et al. also found an 11% reduction in grey matter in the prefrontal cortex.
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Support for the diathesis stress model.
* Mednick et al. (1984) conducted a study on over 13,000 adoptees.
* It was found that when neither the biological nor adoptive parents had convictions the percentage of adoptees that did was 13.5% 20% when either of the biological parents did | 25% when both sets of parents did.
Inheritance plays a role but environment cannot be disregarded.
Eysenck ao1
Hans Eysenck was an important figure in intelligence and personality research during the middle of the 20th century.
- Behaviour can be represented along two dimensions.
- Introversion - extroversion (E)
- Neuroticism - stability (N)
- Later a third dimension was added.
- Psychoticism - socialibility (P)
These dimensions combine to form a variety of personality characteristics or traits
* Measured using the EPQ
* Allowed him to conduct research relating personality variables to other behaviours e.g. criminality.
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One strength of the theory is there is evidence to support the criminal personality.
Eysenck and Eysenck (1977) compared 2070 male prisoners scores on the EPQ with 2422 male controls.
Across all the age groups that were sampled prisoners recorded higher average scores in terms of E, N, and P than the controls.
This agrees with the prediction that offenders rate higher than average across the three dimensions identified by the theory.
counterpoint-However, a meta-analysis of relevant studies conducted by Farrington et al. (1982) reported that offenders tended to score high on measures of P but not for E and N
Furthermore EEGs have provided inconsistent evidence of differences between extroverts and introverts, which casts doubt on the physiological basis of the dimensions identified by the theory.
This means that some of the central assumptions of the theory have been challenged
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A further limitation is that cultural factors were not taken into account.
* Bartol and Holanchock (1979) studied Hispanic and African-American offenders.
* 6 groups based on offences and offending history.
*All 6 groups scored lower on E then non-offender controls.
* Suggested to be due to the fact the sample was culturally different to Eysenck’s sample.
This questions how far the criminal personality can be generalised and suggests that it maybe a culturally relative concept.
cognitive ao1
Faulty, biased and irrational ways of thinking that mean we perceive ourselves, other people and the world inaccurately and usually negatively.
* Hostile Attribution Bias
* Minimalisation
Hostile Attribution Bias
- A tendency to judge ambiguous situations, or the actions of others, as aggressive and/or threatening when in reality they may not be.
* Schönenberg & Justye (2014) - 55 violent offenders were more likely to perceive an emotionally ambiguous face as angry and hostile.
Minimalisation
* A type of deception that involves downplaying the significance of an event or emotion. A common strategy when dealing with feelings of guilt.
* Denying or downplaying the seriousness of offences - applying a euphemistic label. (Bandura, 1973)
* Burglar may refer to “doing a job or supporting the family”
* Kennedy and Grubin (1992) found that sex offenders often downplay their behaviour e.g through denial or by claiming the victims behaviour in some way contributed to the crime.
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One strength is evidence for the link between levels of moral reasoning and crime.
Palmer and Hollin (1998)
* Moral reasoning in 332 male and female non-offenders and 126 convicted offenders using the Socio-Moral Reflection Measure Short Form (SRM-SF)
* 11 moral dilemma related questions referring to things like not taking things that belong to others and keeping a promise to a friend.
* The offender group showed less mature moral reasoning than the non-offender group.
custodial ao3
As so many ex-inmates reoffend, 77% according to one 2020 study, prisons may not deter or reform offenders and only incapacitate for the time they are in prison. However as reoffending rates are much higher for short sentences of less than 6 months at 84.9% compared to more than 4 years at 32.2% it could argued that short sentences are not long enough to deter or reform.
restorative justice strength
The restorative justice Council (Shapland et al., 2008) reported the results of a seven-year research project in which 85% of survivors reported satisfaction with the process of meeting their offender face-to-face and 78% would recommend it to other people experiencing a similar situation. 60% of survivors felt the process had made them feel better about the incident enabling them to feel closure and move on and only 2% said it made them feel worse. This suggests that restorative justice achieves some of its aims, helping survivors of crime cope with the aftermath of the incident and has positive outcomes long term.
However not all findings have been overwhelmingly positive. Wood and Suzuki (2016) argue that restorative processes are not as survivor focused as often reported in surveys. Restorative justice processes can become distorted, such as when survivors of crime are used as a way of helping to rehabilitate offenders, rather than being helped themselves. This suggests that the needs of a survivor and restorative justice may be seen as secondary to the need to rehabilitate offenders.
restorative justice strength
A further strength is that restorative justice seems to lead to a decrease in rates of reoffending. A meta-analysis of 10 studies by Heather Strand et al.
(2013) compared offenders who experienced face-to-face restorative justice schemes with those who just experienced a custodial sentencing, and it was found that the restorative justice group was significantly less likely to reoffend. This reduction was larger in offenders convicted of violent crime than crimes against property. Similarly, a review of 24 published studies by Kristin Bain (2012) found lower recidivism rates with adult offenders, especially when using one-to-one contact rather than general community involvement. This suggests that restorative justice has a positive impact on reoffending, maybe more so for specific types of offence and specific approaches.
