Week 8 Flashcards
Willie Horton
Murder & robbery
-> life in prison w/o parole
Weekend furlough
- > didn’t return
- > caught year later (committed awful crimes)
- -> sentenced to consecutive terms
Lead to politicians “tough on crime”
Risk assessment
Assessing dangerousness
- third party protection
- involuntary commitment
- denial of bail
- hospitalization following NGRI
- death penalty
Barefoot v. Estelle (1983)
Barefoot
- convicted for murder of police officer
- sentenced to death
- based on testimony from psychiatrists on ‘future dangerousness’ saying absolute chance
- > neither had actually EXAMINED HIM!
APA
~2/3 predictions were wrong
-prediction of violence deemed unreliable by field
Supreme Court
-went against science
Predicting dangerousness
Low base rates (many have same characteristic, but not all with that characteristic do X)
Hospitals/prisons vs. communities
Long-term risk vs. short-term risk (few years better)
General research procedures
Study a group
Develop list of risk factors to predict which ones (upon release) commit act of violence
Study patients post-release
Develop predictors of future dangerous, violent behavior
Risk assessments
Actuarial (completely structured) vs. clinical (based on intuition; completely unstructured) prediction [DICHOTOMY]
Structured vs. unstructured [CONTINUUM]
Structured risk assessment (VRAG)
Criteria and rule for assessment are SAME for all cases
Determine criteria and apply CONSISTENTLY to all cases
More structured, better at predicting Mathematical process (cut off score)
Unstructured risk assessment (clinical)
Treat each case INDIVIDUALLY
Based on theoretical background and clinical experience
How should psychologists assess risk? (Monahan, 2007)
VRAG- 75% accuracy
-completely structured w/ no clinical review
His view- COVR (structured with clinical review in final assessment)
HCR-20: Webster et al. (1997)
Historical (all stable factors)
Clinical (more dynamic)
Risk management
Use of strutted violence risk assessments
Dip. of Board more likely to use structured tools than general practitioners of clinical psych (tend to use for Freudian techniques e.g., Rorschach)
Jurors’ reactions to risk assessment evidence
Test. from clinical assess. (more understandable and directly relevant) greater impact than actuarial assessment (more abstract, harder to understand, and less directly relevant)
Mental illness and dangerousness
Long held belief that NO relationship
Monahan
- re-eval position
- -> violence among disordered (higher for schiz., major depression, mania/bi-polar, alcohol or drug abuse/dependence)
- -> disorder among violent (prison higher rate of mental health problems than those in jail or general pop)
Rodney Alcala
Accused of rape
-> charged for lesser crime
Later found guilty of many murders (suspected in additional cases)
Doc. psych disorder
History of violent sexual assault
Paroled twice after short sentences
Sex Offender Law
1994: Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offenders Registration Act
Philip Albert
Reg sex offender, FL
Dist. child porn (pic of ex)
Had just turned 18
Frank Rodriguez
Reg sex offender, TX
19 w/ 16 gf (probation and reg.)
Married her and has children
Juan Matamoros
Reg. sex offender, FL
Public urination
Expanding definition of sex crimes
Prostitution Public exposure Sexting Public urination Consensual sex (teens)
Over 700,000 reg. sex offenders in US
Sexually violent predators (SVP)
At end of sentence, state hearing to determine if continued risk
-mental abnormality or personality disorder
If still risk
- involuntary civil commitment
- -> potentially indefinitely
- -> constitutional (Kansas v. Hendricks)
- —- deemed civil vs. criminal matter
Kansas v. Hendricks (1997)
Ruled that involuntary civil commitment for SVP is constitutional b/c civil vs. criminal matter
Greatest concern about SVP and habitual offenders
86% sexual assaults committed by known person
-classmate, friend, ex/current, acquaintance
Child, 90% known to victim
87% arrested had no prior convictions for sexual offenses
Recidivism rates of sex offenders
Public: 75% reoffend
Relaity: 14% after 5-6 yrs.; 25% after 15 yrs
Likely to be very low est. b/c only reported crimes, etc.
Risk factors of reoffending
General:
Antisocial orientation
-antisocial traits, unstable, substance abuse, hostility, history of rule violation
Sexual recidivism: Antisocial orientation Sexual deviancy -ruminates on acts, children, rape, pararphilias Deviant sexual attitudes -emotional identification with children
Does treatment for sex offenders work?
General vs. sexual recidivism (no sign. diff.)
Hanson et al. (2004) 12 yr follow up
No difference in treated vs. untreated sexual, violent or general
First criminal profile
1888
Bond formed profile for Jack the Ripper
Criminal profiling
Inferences about behavior, personality, motivation, and demographic characteristics based on crime scene and other evidence
What (was at the crime), Why (the crime was committed) -> who
Emphasize signatures
Methods may change, but signatures are constant (have to do with why the crime is committed)
Assumption of reason or motivation
Types of criminal profiling
Traditional (racial profiling)
Geographic profiling
Psychological autopsies
Reliance on intuition and judgement
Clinical unstructured type approach
Psychopathy characteristics
Superficial charm, glibness Grandiose sense of self-worth Deceitful ness Impulsivity Unlawfulness; recklessness Need for stimulation;prone to boredom (lower base rate of psych arousal) Manipulative Lack of remorse or guilt Callousness, lack empathy Early behavior problems (fires, animal cruelty, stealing, etc.) Failure to accept responsibility
Psychopathy- biological and genetic influences
Various brain abnormalities
-prefrontal cortex (impulse control, future, considering morals, inhibition)
Psychopaths- prevalence
At higher risk of committing crimes
Child molesters (10-15%)
Rapists (40-50%)
Serial murderers (~90%)
Psycho. reoffend and violate parole sooner and commit more institutional violence
Psycho. adolescents more likely to reoffend, escape custody, violate probation
Difficulties with treatment
Rarely seek treatment (unless court mandated)
May fake compliance (clinicians should stay wary)
Will only change behavior IF realize actions wrong (May be effective to make them feel worse as therapy)
-> not really successful (usually personality disorder)
Characteristics of serial killers
White Avg intell. Injury that impairs rational thinking Experienced childhood abuse History of cruelty to animals Use alcohol or drugs before killing Victims selected of particular type Obsessive interest in violent porn Highly sexualized behavior in killing
Organized taxonomy
Crime scene
- planned
- controlled
- premeditated
Inferred characteristics
- avg Intell
- interpersonally comp
- prefers skilled work
- sexually competent
- controlled mood during
- stress prior to
- follows media accounts
- high geographic mobility
Disorganized taxonomy
Crime scene
- spontaneous
- random/sloppy
Inferred characteristic
- bellow avg intell
- unskilled work
- sexually incomp
- harsh childhood discipline
- anxious mood during
- minimal situational stress
- minimal interest in media
- lives/works near crime scene
Characteristics of serial killers
Visionary types (e.g., psychotic)
-hallucinations, delusions
Mission-oriented types (Eric Rudolph)
-motivated by their regard for evil or unworthy
Hedonistic
-for the thrill and sadistic sexual pleasure in torturing
Power-oriented
-satisfaction from capturing and controlling victim before killing
Racial profiling
Potential for harassment and wrongful accusation
Must have additional evidence to pull someone over (4th amend)
Research: criminal profiling
Profilers slightly better than other groups at guessing physical attributes
Less accurate than others at inferring social habits, thought processes, and personal history
Overall accuracy of profilers: less than 50%
Lack of association between characteristics of crime and perpetrator
Problems with profiling
Little research (usually describe what is and what should be done)
Crime scenes are a mix between organized and disorganized
Crime scene characteristics aren’t reliably associated with criminal personality types
Assumes personality is more powerful than situation
May rely too much on intuition
Profiles are vague or ambiguous
Geographic profiling
Relies on multiple crime
Has direct implications
Limitations
- rely on multiple crimes to be useful
- only considers spatial info
- May be multiple offenders who perform similar crimes
Psychological autopsies
Dissect psychological state of person prior to death
NASH Natural Accident Suicide Homicide
Rely on sources left behind by the deceased (limitation: available evidence)
Checklist
- whether death maybe self-inflicted
- whether clear indications of an intention to die
92% accuracy to distinguish between accidental and suicidal deaths
More commonly admitted for civil rather than criminal
