Tutorials and textbook Flashcards
What is family violence?
Threats, physical/sexual abuse, emotional/psychological abuse, economic abuse, damage to property, injury to animals. Threatening, coercive, controlling and dominating behaviour that makes a family member fear for their safety, or for that of another family member.
In respect to children, family violence can also include a child hearing, witnessing or otherwise being exposed to any of these features outlined above.
what are some child custody issues?
Child custody issues when there are allegations of intimate partner violence or child abuse: Ethical issues and common pitfalls made by many custody evaluators
what is trauma in families compared to single event trauma?
More likely to be chronic rather than a single event; result is less likely to be PTSD, more likely complex trauma.
Further complication that the child must retain an on-going, and often dependent relationship on the abuser.
Witnessing violence has the same effects as being the direct recipient of it.
Closest situations to family violence are hostage situations.
Children are particularly vulnerable to cumulative harm and multiple adverse circumstances.
Cumulative harm has a profound impact on children and diminishes their sense of safety and wellbeing (Bromfield & Miller, 2007)
Children are not resilient; children are malleable (Siegel)
What are resulting harms (impact on the child)
Physical (body) – bruising, fractures, internal injuries, burns
Emotional (feelings and ability to express emotions) – hypervigilance, poor self esteem, self harm
Psychological (mind and cognitive processes) – disorganised attachment, learning and developmental delays, impaired self-image
What is the Risk-need responsibility model?
The risk-need-responsivity (RNR) model is widely regarded as the leading model for guiding offender assessment and treatment. It’s recognised as an effective intervention for reducing recidivism and focuses on the following principles to inform rehabilitation
What are the risks in RNR?
Whom to target? Assessments must determine an offender’s level of risk of recidivism. Higher levels of service should be provided to those assessed as high risk, and low risk offenders should be assigned lower levels of service.
What are needs in RNR?
What to target? Assessments need to measure an individual’s criminogenic needs and the risks associated with their offending to inform risk management strategies and effectively target intervention.
What is responsivity in RNR?
Any barriers? It’s important to identify factors that may pose as a barrier to rehabilitation and one’s ability to engage with the recommendations made by a Probation and Parole Officer. These may include motivation, mental illness, poor social skills, or cognitive impairments/learning difficulties among others.
How does Risks, Needs and Responsivity influence interventions?
Though they tend not to influence offending behaviour directly, they may undermine intervention and successful rehabilitation.
Probation and Parole Case Managers conduct offender assessments, exploring a range of factors. What are these factors?
employment, education & training, accommodation, general health, substance abuse, gambling/financial issues, relationships (including availability of social supports, pro-criminal associates or involvement as perpetrator or victim of domestic violence), and criminal attitudes.
What is the assessment process of Parole Managers guided by?
The assessment process is guided by the RNR model and seeks to determine an offender’s criminogenic needs and protective factors to inform a plan for the individual’s supervision.
what are protective factors in treatment?
Protective factors are those considered to prevent offenders getting into trouble and believed to mitigate their risk of reoffending, such as stable housing, employment/education, and positive role models or social supports.
What are criminogenic needs?
Criminogenic Needs (aka dynamic risk factors) are the factors that can be addressed through intervention believed to have lead to criminal behaviour, such as pro-criminal attitudes, antisocial/pro-criminal associates, substance abuse, anger, or impulsivity etc.
What were the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study results?
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study – results were devastating:
Over 17000 participants
Looked at exposure to ACE and outcomes in adults
Children didn’t “outgrow” the impacts – pervaded their lives
More adverse experiences in childhood linked to higher rates of mental illness, drug/alcohol use, suicide attempts, financial problems, health problems (smoking, obesity, unintended pregnancy, cancer, emphysema)
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4fBdHHsj5A
What is elimination lineup?
lineup procedure for children that first asks them to pick out the person who looks most like the culprit from the photos displayed. Next, the children are asked whether the most similar person selected is in fact the culprit
what are the two judgement theory of identification proposed by Pozullo and Lindsay (1999) that reaches an accurate identification decision?
relative and absolute
relative - choose similar looking culprit - relative to judgement
Absolute - compare most similar lineup members to their memory of culprit and decide if it is the culprit (this is where children struggle and thus make false-positive identifications)
What is competency inquiry?
Questions posed to child witnesses under age of 14 to determine whether they are able to communicate the evidence and understand the difference between the truth and the lie, and, in the circumstances of testifying, to see if they feel compelled to tell the truth
What must children under the age of 14 be able to do before testifying in court according to the Canada Evidence Act s 16?
- Be able to communicate the evidence
- Understand the difference between the truth and a lie, and,
- in the circumstances of testifying, feel compelled to tell the truth
What are some alternative in-court testimonies used in the Canadian and US system for witnesses under the age of 18 and to vulnerable witnesses upon application?
- A shield/screen to separate child from defendant and so child does not see D’s face
- close-circuit television monitor - Child and lawyer in separate room where D can be in touch with law via phone
- child has support person with him/her whist providing testimony
- child may be video-recorded while being interviewed and recording admitted to evidence
- Judge may allow statements of child made previously during initial disclosure of the abuser into evidence (which is not usually the case in other cases)
- Judge may close courtroom to public and/or media to protect privacy of child
What is physical abuse
deliberate application of force to any part of a child’s body that results or may result in a nonaccidental injury
Sexual abuse
when adult or youth uses child for sexual purposes
Neglect/failure to provide
occurs when a child’s caregivers do not provide the requisite attention to the child’s emotional, psychological or physical development
R v Poulin
18 YO - Poulin - religious leader given responsibility to look after children in commune whilst their parents worked. P used wooden paddle when disciplining the children resulting in assault charges in 2002
Many children testified that she often beat them.
Found guilty of assaulting 5 children and sentenced 8 months jail and ordered to not live with or care for children under age of 14 for three years following release
Case led to the abolishment of s 43 of Canadian Criminal Code (that allowed physical punishment).
however parents and teachers still allowed to use in case of threat of harm to person or property.Parents not permitted to use any corporal punishment on children under than 2 or older than 12. 3-12 is permitted but not in face or head under any circumstances
Emotional maltreatment
Acts or omu]issions by caregivers that cause or could cause serious behavioural, cognitive, emotional or mental disorders
“in need of protection”
A term used to describe a child’s needs to be separated from his or her caregivers because of maltreatment
Define incidence?
number of new child-maltreatment cases in a specific population occurring in a given time period, usually a year
Prevalence
In the study of child abuse, the proportion of a population at a specific point in time that was maltreated during childhood
What are risk factors?
a factor that increases the likelihood for emotional and/or behavioural problems
what is related to the likelihood of substantiated physical abuse compared to unsubstantiated physical abuse cases?
domestic violence, parental drug and alcohol use, prior child abuse and neglect, being on public assistance, and child behaviour problems
what are common effects of sexual abuse?
lowered self-esteem, behaviour problems, inappropriate sexuality and symptoms consistent with PTSD. Within two years of abuse, children report an umber of physical difficulties such as sleep disturbances, eating disorders, stomach problems and headaches
what are the three categories of outcomes of adults with a history of child sexual abuse?
- psychiatric disorder
- major depression - dysfnctional behaviours
- sexualised behaviour - neurobiological dysregulation
- MRI studies found reduced hippocampal volume (similar to those of war veterans experiencing PTSD
R v Smymes
S = 36 YO former church pastor from Ontario. BEtween April and august 2005, S began a series of internet chats with two girls whom he thought were 12-13 years of age. the girls however were undercover investigators. The chat exchange between S and the girls was sexually exploit and left no doubt that he wanted to have sexual relations with both girls. S agrranged to meet one of the girls and when he attended meeting, poice arrested him.
S pleaded guilty of two counts of internet luring and sentenced to 12 months in prison, which was reduced to 2 after double credit was given for time served
what is the accuracy of children’s reporting?
highly dependent on how they are asked to report. When asked to recall memories using free-narrative method, children’s recall is as accurate as adults.
A number of procedures and protocols to increase the accuracy of child’s responses having been investigated through statement validity analysis, step-wise interview and narrative elaoration
Juries Act
Provincial and territorial legislation that outlines the eligibility criteria for jury service and how prospective jurors msut be selected
Jury Summons
A court order that states a time an place to go for jury duty
What are the two fundamental characteristics of juries according to the Supreme Court of Canada in R v Sherratt
- A composition that representes the community in which the crime occurred. This is know has representativeness
- A lack of bias on the part of jurors, known as impartiality
what must “represenativeness” allow?
must allow any possible eligible person from the community the opportunity to be part of the juror. This is achieved through randomnes
Representativeness
A jury composition that represents the community whre the crime occurred
Imprtiality
A characteristic of jurors who are unbiased
R v Brown
2001 - two while men charged for sexually assaulting 12 yo aboriginal girl. Of approz 100 jurors who showed up for jury duty, only one was visible aborigial. Not surprisingly, the jury was composed, all those sitting on the jury where caucasion. During trial, D admitted to picking the girl up giving her five beers to drink and engaging in sexual activity outside a truck belonging to a third man. The jury heard evidence and then deliberated to reach verdicts of not guilty for both defendants.
Trial of third defendant, found guilty with all-caucasian jury as the complainant testified more fully but reluctant agaisnt first two.
On appeal, acquittals set aside and new trial ordered for first two defendant. Appeal not based on racial composition of jury, rather the jjudge’s instruction to the jury.
What are the three issues of impartiality?
- for juror to be impartial, he or she must set aside any pre-existing biases, prejudices or attitudes and judge the case based solely on admissible evidence.
- To be impartial means that the juror must ignore any information that is not part of the admissible evidence..
- It also is important that the juror have no connection to the D so that the juror does not view the evidence subjectively or unduly influence the other jurors
R v Guess
Guess and juror entered into sexual relationship. Both charged with obstruction of justice
change of venue
moving trial to a community other than the one in which crime occurred
adjournment
delaying the trial until sometime in the future
challenge for cause
an option to reject bias juror
how to enhance impartiality of jury?
change of venue
adjounment
challenge for cause
jury nullification
occurrs when a jury ignores the law and the evidence, rendering a verdict based on some other criteria
chos theory
the theory that when jurors are guided by their emotions, and personal biases rather than by the law, chaos judgements result
deliberation
when jury members discuss the evidence privately among themselves to reach a verdict that is then provided to the court
polarization
when individuals tend to become more extreme in their initial position following a group discussion
Leniency bias
when jurors move toward greater leniency following deliberation
hung jury
a jury that cannot reach a unanimous verdict
racial bias
the disparate treatment of racial out-groups
black sheep effect
when evidence is strong, similarity between defendant and jury leads to punitiveness
actus reus
a wrongful deed
mens rea
criminal intent
unfit to stand trial
refers to an inability to conduct a defence at any stage of the proceedings on account of a person’s mental disorder
R v Prichard
considered key case for fitness standard
3 criteria delineated in Prichard case for fitness to stand trial
- whether D is mute of malice (i.e. intentionality)
- whether D can plead to the indictment
- Whether the D has sufficient cognitive capacity to understand the trial proceedings
what are fitness screening instruments?
Competency Screening test
Interdisciplinary Fitness interview
Competency to stand trial assessment instrument
Macarthur competence Assessment tool - criminal adjudication
prima facie case
case in which the Crown prosecutor must prove there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial
insanity
impairment of mental or emotional functioning that affects perceptions, beliefs and motivations at the time of the offence
what are the three elements that emerged from the McNaughton verdict that are specific to the defence of insanity today?
- D must be found to be suffering from a defect of reason/disease of the mind
- D must not know the nature and quality of the act he or she is performing
- the D must not kno that what he or she is doing is wrong
review boards
legal bodies mandated to oversee the care and disposition of Ds found unfit and/or not criminally responsibly on account of a mental disorder
what are the 5 scales in the R-CRAS instrument?
- patient reliability
- Organicity
- Psychopathology
- Cognitive control.
- Behavioural control
absolute discharge
the D is released into the community without restrictions to his or her behaviour
Conditional discharger
A D is released; however, release carries certain conditions (e.g. not to possess firearms) that the D must meet. Failure to meet the conditions imposed with a conditional discharge may result in the d being incarcerated or sent to a psychiatric facility
Capping
Notion introduced through Bill C-30 where there is a maximum period of time a person with a mental illness could be affected by his or her disposition
automatism
unconscious, involuntary behaviour such that the person committing the act not aware of what he or she is doing
community treatment order
sentence that allows the mentally ill offender to lvie in the community, with the stipulation that the person will agree to treatment or detention in the event that his or her condition deteriorates
Diversion
A decision not to prosecute but rathe have him or her undergo an educational or community-service program. Also an option for courts dealing with offenders with mental illnesses who are facing minor charges. The court can divert the offender directly into a treatment program rather than have him or her go through the court process
what are the 4 main objectives of mental health courts?
- to divert the accused who have been charged with minor to moderately serious criminal offences and offer them an alternative
- to facilitate evaluation of the D’s fitness to stand trial
- to ensure treatment fo a D’s mental disorders
- To decrease the cycle that mentally disordered offenders experience by becoming repeat offenders
what does NCRMD stand for?
not criminally responsibly on account of mental disorder
terms of predicting violent acts but could be used fo any specific outcome
true positive
true negative
false positive
false negative
true positive
a correct prediction that occurs when a person who is predicted to engage in some typical behaviour (e.g. a violent act) does so
true negative
A correct prediction that occurs when a person who is predicted not to engage in some type of behaviour (e.g. a violent act) does not
false positive
An incorrect prediction that occurs when a person is predicted to engage in some type of behaviour but does not
False negative
An incorrect prediction that occurs when a person is predicted not to engage in some type of behaviour (e.g. a violent act) but does
base rate
represents the percentage of people within a given population who commit a criminal or violent act
illusionary correlation
belief that a correlation exists between two events that in reality are either not correlated or correlated to a much lesser degree
unstructured clinical judgement
decisions characterised by a substance amount of professional discretion and lack of guidelines
structured professional judgement
decisions are guided by a predetermined list of risk factors that have been selected from the research and professional literature. Judgement of risk level is based on the evaluator’s professional judgement
static risk factor
risk factor that does not fluctuate over time and is not changed by treatment (e.g. age at first arrest). Also known as historical risk factor
Dynamic risk factor
risk factors that fluctuate over time and are amenable to change
historical risk factor
risk factors that refer to events that have been experienced in the past (age at first arrest) also known as risk factors
dispositional risk factors
risk factors that reflect the individual’s traits, tendencies or styles (e.g. negative attitudes)
Clinical risk factors
types and symptoms of mental disorders (e.g. substance abuse)
contextual risk factors
risk factors that refer to aspects of the current environment (e.g. access to victims or weapons). Sometimes called situational risk factors
situational risk factors
risk factors that refer to aspects of the current environment (e.g. access to victims or weapons). Sometimes called contextual risk factors
what are some dispositional risk factors?
demographics, personality characteristics (impulsiveness and psychopathy)
what are the identified risk factors for politically motivated violence
age gender marital status social class prior crime suicidality major mental illness substance abuse psychopathy
what are potential risk factors of terrorism?
ideology
affiliations
grievances
moral emotions
what are some historical factors
past behaviour
age of onset
childhood history of maltreatment
what are some clinical factors
substance use
mental disorder
what are some contextual risk factors
lack of social support
access to weapons or victims
protective factors
factors that mitigate or reduce the likelihood of a negative outcome (e.g. delinquency, aggression)
Desistance
the process of ceasing to engage in criminal behaviour
two components required for the of assessment of risk
- an analysis of the likelihood of future criminal or violent acts
- the development of strategies to manage or reduce the level of risk
what do risk assessments in civil contexts include?
civil commitments, child protection, immigration an duty to warn
what do risk assessments in civil contexts include?
assessment of risk occurs at pretrial, sentencing and release stages
what do false positive errors affect
offender
where to false negative errors affect
society and the victim
hare psychopathy checklist-revised?
the most popular method of assessing psychopathy in adults
psychopathic personality inventory-revised and self-report psychopathy scale
a self-report measure of psychopathic traits. two of the most widely used self-report scales
antisocial personality disorder
a personality disorder characterised by a history of behaviour in which the rights of others are violated
symptoms of antisocial personality disorder
failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviours
deceitfulness
impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
irritability and aggressiveness
reckless disregard for safety of self or other
consistent irresponsibility
lack of remorse
sociopathy
a label used to describe a person whose psychopathic traits are assumed to be due to environmental factors
adversarial allegiance
the tendency for forensic experts to be biased toward the side (defence or prosecution) that hired them
sexual homicide
homicides that have sexual component
antisocial process screening device
observer rating scale to assess psychopathic traits in children
Hare psychopathy checklist: Youth version
scale designed to measure psychopathic traits in adolescents
response modulation deficit theory
A theory that suggests that psychopaths fail to use contextual cues that are peripheral to a dominant response set to modulate their behaviour
psychopathy
a personality disorder defined by a cluster of interpersonal, affective and behavioural issues. Psychopathy, sociopathy and antisocial personality disorder are overlapping but distinct construct
what is the characteristic of psychopaths criminal career
earlier, persist longer and are more violent and versatile than other offenders. Most of the murders committed by psychopaths are instrumental
why is it difficult to change psychopath’s behaviours?
they are not motivated to change their behaviour, and some research has shown that after treatment psychopaths were more likely to violently reoffend. However, some recent research has obtained more promising treatment outcome effects, especially with adolescent offenders with many psychopathic features
voyager (sexual offender)
someone who obtains sexual gratification by observing unsuspecting people, usually strangers, who are naked, in the process of undressing or engaging in sexual activity
exhibitionist (sexual offender)
someone who obtains sexual gratification by exposing his or her genitals to strangers
rapist (sexual offender)
person who sexually assaults victims over 16 years of age
Pedophile (sexual offender)
PErson whose primary sexual orientation is toward children
child molester (sexual offender)
someone who has actually sexually molested a child
Intra-familial child molester (sexual offender)
someone who sexually abuses his or her own biological children or children for whom he or she assumes a parental role, such as a stepfather or live-in boyfiend. Also known as incest offenders
Incest offender (sexual offender)
someone who sexually abuses his or her own biological children or children for whom he or she assumes a parental role, such as a stepfather or live-in boyfriend. Also known as intra-familial child molester
Extra-familial child molester (sexual offender)
someone who sexually abuses children not related to him or her
Anger rapist (sexual offender)
a rapist as defined by Groth, who uses more force than necessary to obtain compliance from the victim and who engages in a variety of sexual acts to degrade the victim
power rapist (sexual offender)
a rapist as defined by Groth, who seeks to establish dominance and control over the victim
sadistic rapist
a rapist, as defined by Groth, who obtains sexual gratification by hurting the victim
fixated child moleste
A child molester as defined by Groth, who has a long-standing, exclusive sexual preference for children
Regressed child molester
a child molester defined by Groth, whose primary sexual orientation is toward adults but whose sexual interests revert to children after a stressful event or because of feelings of inadequcy
cognitive distortions
deviant cognitions, values, or beliefs that are used to justify or minimise deviant behaviours
penile phallometry
a measurement device placed around the penis to measure changes in sexual arousal
aversion therapy
the pairing of an aversive stimuli with a deviant fantasy for the purpose of reducing the attractiveness of these deviant fantasies
relapse prevention
a method of treatment designed to prevent the occurrence of an undesired behaviour (e.g. sexual assault)
reactive (affective) aggression
aggression that is impulsive, unplanned, immediate, driven by negative emotions and occurring in response to some perceived provocation
instrumental (predatory) aggression
aggression that is premeditated, calculated and motivated by some goal (e.g. to obtain money)
filicide
the killing of children by their biological parents or step-parents; includes neonaticide (killing a baby within 24 hours of birth) and infanticide (killing a baby within the first year of life)
familiccide
the killing of a spouse and children
femicide
the killing of women
androcide
the killing of men
serial murder
the killing of a minimum of three people over time. The time interval between the murders varies and has been called a cooling off period. Subsequent murders occur at different times, have no apparent connection to the initial murder, and are usually committed in different locations
visionary serial murderer
a murderer who kills in response to vioces or visions telling him or her to kill
mission-oriented serial murderer
A murderer who targets individuals from a group that he or she considers to be “undesireable”
Hedonistic serial murderer
A murderer who is motivated by self-gratification. This type of killer is divided into three subtypes: lust, thrill and comfort
Power/control serial murderer
A murderer who is motivated not by sexual gratification but by wanting to have absolute dominance over the victim
Lust serial murderer
a murderer who is motivated by sexual gratification
thrill serial murderer
a murderer who is motivated by excitement associated with the act of killing
comfort serial murderer
a murderer who is motivated by material or financial gain
mass murderer
the killing of four or more victims at a single locations during one event with no cooling-off period
what theories guide homicidal aggression
general theories of aggression despite theories have been proposed to explain specific forms of aggression. Social learning theories suggest that aggressive behaciour is learned in the same way non-aggressive behaviour is learned, by being reinforced (or seeing others being reinforced) for such behaviour. Evolutionary theories view homicide as adaptive behaviour, inherited from our ancestors, which develops as an approach to best competitors when competing for limited resources. The General Aggression Model suggests that aggression occurs when factors in the immediate social situation trigger cognitions and emotions that increase aggressive behavioural responses.
what is the treatment of sexual offenders
compared with studies that have examined the effectiveness of sexual offender treatment programs, less research has been conducted to examine the effectiveness of treatment programs for other violent offenders, such as individuals who commit homciide. However recent meta-analytic studies suggest that existing programs may have a small but significant impact on these offenders, such that they are less likely to reoffend violently after taking part in treatment
