Midterm Review Flashcards
Forensic Psychology
a field of psychology that deals with all aspects of human behaviour as it relates to the law
Psychology and the Law
the use of psychology to study the operation of the legal system
Psychology in the Law
the use of psychology in the legal system as it currently operates
Psychology of the Law
the use of psychology to study the law itself
Clinical Forensic Psychologist
concerned with the assessment/treatment of mental health issues as they pertain to the law
Researcher
concerned with the study of human behaviour as it relates to the law
Legal Scholar
promote interdisciplinary collaboration in research and in training areas related to mental health and policy
Psychoanalytic
internal dynamics and early experiences
Learning
through indirect and direct consequences
Personality
people commit crime because of their personality traits
McNaughten (1843)
- attempted assassination of Robert Peel
- found not guilty due to reason of insanity
- established McNaughten rule
Cattell (1895)
- developed on expertise in the study of human cognitive processes
- had the potential to assist in “courts of justice”
- questions about everyday observations
- relationship between confidence and accuracy
- one of the 1st to study eyewitness testimony
Binet (1900)
suggestibility in children and impact of leading questions
Stern (1910)
- creator of eyewitness reality experiment
- impact of emotional arousal
- weapon focus (details)
Munsterberg (1908)
- father of forensic psychology
- pushed psychology into the legal arena
- pushed false confessions
State v. Driver (1921)
- first use of expert testimony
- partial victory for forensic psychology
Frye v. USA (1923)
- Frye tried for murder
- passed polygraph exam
- results inadmissible
- lead to the creation of the general acceptance test
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
- psychologists submitted court brief outlining detrimental effects of segregation
- US Supreme court referenced brief
- psychologists were contributing to case law and modern generation
Jenkins v. USA (1962)
- ruling that some psychologists are qualified to provide testimony
Police Selection Procedures
used by police to either screen out undesirable candidates/select desirable candidates
RCMP Aptitude Test
assesses cognitive abilities including composition, comprehension, judgment, observation, logic and computation
Job Analysis
agency must define what knowledge, skills and abilities make a good police officer
Construction Validity
develop an instrument to measure KSAs and ensure they are related to performance
Cognitive Ability Tests
procedure for measuring verbal, mathematical, memory and reasoning abilities
Predictive Validity
the extent to which scores on a test predict scores on some other measures
Police Discretion
knowing when to define/enforce the law and when to allow for some latitude
Racial Profiling
the initiation of police action based on the race of an individual rather than evidence of wrongdoing
Intra-organizational Stress
excessive paperwork, lack of advancement/resources
Inter-organizational Stress
jurisdictional isolation, unhealthy competitive relationships
Occupational Stress
human suffering and shift work
Criminal Justice System Stress
unfavourable court decisions (recidivism rates)
Public Stress
distorted views of police, ineffective referral agencies, under their microscope (constant)
Resiliency Training
training developed to police offices to improve their ability to effectively adapt to stress and adversity
Selection Instruments
- selection interview
- psychological tests
a. cognitive ability b. personality - physical tests (PARE)
- assessment centres (situational)
- integrity evaluation
a. polygraph b. drug tests
Police Selection Process
- job analysis (conducted by psychologist & police organization) - includes surveys, observations, and interviews
- construction and validity (must consider predictive validity) - deciding on performance measures
Why allow discretion?
- limited resources
- alienate the public
- some laws minor/vague and open to interpret
- overwhelm justice system (courts and prisons)
Youth Crime
- discretion encourages
- approx 80% of police attempt to handle info
- belief that formal sanctions are ineffective
- informal processing responses include: community referrals/resolution
Mental Illness
- arrest when pose danger to self/others or causing serious disturbances
1. informal resolution
2. escort to psychiatric facility
3. arrest
4. leads to criminalization
Physical Health Problems (police stress)
can result in chronic activation of the body’s stress response systems to a point where physiological breakdown occurs
Psychological and Personal Problems (police stress)
- depression
- PTSD
- drug/alcohol abuse
- marital issues
- suicide
Police Interrogation
a process whereby the interview a suspect for the purpose of gathering evidence and obtaining confessions
Mr.Big Technique
involves undercover officers posing as members of a criminal organization who attempt to lure the suspect
Interrogation
obtain a confession
Interview
location of evidence, co-conspirators, exact details of crime
Reid Interrogation Model
9 step model used frequently in North America to extract confessions from suspect
Minimization Techniques
“soft” tactics used in interrogations to provide the weakening suspect with moral justification and face-saving excuses for the crime in question
Maximization Techniques
“scare” tactics that convey the interrogator’s belief that the suspect is guilty and denies failure
Investigator Bias
bias that can result when police officers enter an interrogation setting already believing the suspect is guilty
Police Investigations
- one of the most vital components
- no physical evidence and must prove intent
- allows investigators to fill in missing details, collect additional evidence and obtain confessions
1900s
third degree - whipping, rubber hoses, phone books
1970s-80s
torture tactics used in Chicago and NYPD use of stun gun
R. v. Oickle (2000)
confessed to 7 counts of arson - tactics included: minimizing seriousness, exaggerating the infallibility of polygraph
R. v. Singh (2013)
struck him in head, kneed him in ribs, prolonged beating
False Confession
a confession that is either intentionally fabricated or is not based on actual knowledge of the facts that form its content
Retracted Confessions
a confession that the confessor later declares to be false
Disputed Confessions
a confession that is later disputed at trial
Voluntary False Confessions
- no promoting by the police
- can be the result of: an attempt to protect the real offender, a desire for notoriety, need to be punished, inability to distinguish fact from fantasy - (ex. lindbergh baby, jonbenet ramsey, lance armstrong)
Coerced- Compliant False Confessions
- confessor knows they did not commit the crime and caused by coercive interrogation tactics
- caused by interrogation tactics: escape further interrogation, gain a promised reward/benefit, avoid threatened punishment
- (ex. gerry conlon and the guilford 4, central park five)
Coerced-Internalized False Confessions
- confessor believes they committed the crime
- more susceptible: substance abuse, suggestions from interviewer, severe anxiety, confusion/guilty, low IQ, and sleep deprived
- (ex. amanda knox and marty tankleff)
Compliance
tendency to agree with person in authority
Suggestibility
tendency to internalize information
Internalization
the acceptance of guilt for act, whether or not it was actually committed
Confabulation
reporting events that never actually occurred
Interview Factors
false evidence, minimization, promising leniency, accusatory interviewing practices
Interviewee Factors
mental health, substance use, negative life events, compliance, suggestibility and youth
Evaluating a False Confession
- was there transparency in the interrogation process?
- what methods were used?
- analyze the confession itself
a. independent knowledge b. any new evidence - was the defendant vulnerable to police coercion?
What are the two rights people facing police interviews have?
- right to remain silent
- right to legal counsel
Right 1 (interviewee)
- retain/hire a lawyer or counsel
- talk to or instruct a lawyer or counsel
Right 2 (interviewee)
- talk to government lawyer/get legal advice
- government legal service is free
Right 3 (interviewee)
- number available to call to talk to free lawyer
Right 4 (interviewee)
- can apply legal aid
- application for legal aid for dependent on person being charged
Youth Interrogation Rights
- right to remain silent and legal counsel
- right to extra legal protection (counsel appropriate adult)
- delivered their legal rights through a waiver form
Criminal Profiling
investigative techniques for identifying the major personality and behavioural characteristics upon an analysis of the crimes they have committed
Linkage Blindness
an inability on the part of the police to link geographically dispersed serial crimes committed by the same offender because of a lack of information sharing among police agencies
Deductive Profiling
profiling the background characteristics of an unknown offender based on evidence left at the crime scenes by that particular offender
Inductive Profiling
profiling the background characteristics of an unknown offender based on what we know about other solved cases
Organized-Disorganized Model
a profiling model used by the FBI that assumes the crime scenes and backgrounds of serial offenders can be categorized as organized or disorganized
Classic Trait Model
a personality model that assumes the primary determinants of behaviour are stable/internal traits
Geographic Profiling
investigative technique that uses crime scene locations to predict the most likely area where an offender resides
Geographic Profiling Systems
computer systems that use mathematical models of offender spatial behaviour to make predictions about where unknown serial offenders are likely to reside
Late 1800s
- jack the ripper investigation
- 1888, series of murders were committed in east London (whitechapel)
1950s
- New York mad bomber investigation
1970s
- criminal profiling program at FBI
- RCMP behavioural science unit and violent crime linkage analysis system
Circle Hypothesis
the residence of the offender will be within a circle drawn with its diameter as the two offences further from each other
Range Hypothesis
- distance between criminals offences will correlate with distance those offences are from his home
- evidence of safe area
