Y2 Module 12 - Forensic Psychology

Question 1

Describe two problems with defining crime - refer to examples in your answer.

Answer 1

Crime is culture specific e.g. in N. Korea the internet is illegal, but in the UK it is not. Crime is also time specific e.g. smacking your child used to be accepted but now it is illegal.

Question 2

Name 3 ways of measuring crime.

Answer 2

Official Statistics. Victim Surveys. Offender Surveys.

Question 3

Choose two ways of measuring crime - describe what they are and why they are used.

Answer 3

Official Statistics. Records of reported and recorded crimes published by the home office. Useful for providing snapshots of crime across the country; prevention and policing strategies.
Victim Surveys. People record experiences of crime over a given time period e.g. British crime Survey.
Offender Surveys. Offender disclose details about the crimes they have committed. Also looks at the role of repeat offending, victim-offender relationship, drug and alcohol use etc.

Question 4

Briefly evaluate the use of official statistics to measure crime.

Answer 4

Some crimes may not get reported - 75% - ‘dark figure’. Farrington and Dowds (1983?): Nottinghamshire police are less likely to report thefts of under £10 than those in other regions. Inconsistency leads to inaccurate statistics.

Question 5

Briefly evaluate the use of Offender surveys to measure crime.

Answer 5

Reporting may be inaccurate. Offenders may over or under exaggerate crimes due to social desirability bias.

Question 6

Briefly evaluate the use of victim survey to measure crime.

Answer 6

More crimes are reported than in official statistics. In the 2006/7 season, official statistics reported a 2% decrease in crime whereas the British Crime Survey found a 3% increase. Reporting may be inaccurate. Telescoping is where a crime still affects someone despite it having occurred a longer time ago, so they may think that it happened more recently than it did.

Question 7

What is meant by profiling?

Answer 7

An investigative tool used to narrow down a list of potential suspects.

Question 8

Explain the top down approach to profiling.

Answer 8

American approach. Arose due to work done by FBI’s Behavioural Science Unit in 1970s. In-depth interviews with 36 sexually motivated killers including Ted Bundy and Charles Manson. Offenders are matched to a template compiled by professional profilers. Crime scenes are classified as organised or disorganised.

Question 9

Describe the difference between organised and disorganised offenders.

Answer 9

Organised: Evidence of planning; Offender has a type; High levels of control and precision & little evidence; High IQ, skilled, socially and sexually competent. Disorganised is the opposite.

Question 10

One criticism of the top-down approach is that it only applies to particular crimes. Explain this.

Answer 10

The approach is best suited to crimes scenes that reveal important facts about the suspect (rape, arson, cult killings, sadistic torture etc.). Common crimes (burglary, destruction of proper, assault) do not result in crime scenes that real much about the offender. Limited approach to identifying a criminal.

Question 11

Critics have also suggested that the model is based on outdated models of personality. Why is this?

Answer 11

The model assumes that offenders have patterns of behaviour that remain consistent over situations and contexts. Critics have suggested the model is informed by outdated models of personality that see behaviour being driven by dispositional factors. The model is therefore based on static models rather than assuming that behaviour could be influenced by external factors.

Question 12

Outline 3 other limitations of the top-down approach.

Answer 12

Evidence does not support the ‘disorganised offender’. Canter et al (2004) analysed 100 murders in the USA. Detailed were examined with reference to characteristics to organised and disorganised. Found evidence for a distinct organised type, but not for a disorganised type → undermines the systems.
The classification is too simplistic. Other sub-types, e.g. four types of serial killer - visionary, mission, hedonistic and power/control (Holmes). Motive may be more important than type (Keppel & Walter).
The original sample is unrepresentative. Small and unrepresentative sample (36 sexually motivated serial killers). Also, killers are deceptive so self-report evidence is not sensible.

Question 13

Outline the main difference between the top-down approach and the bottom-up approach.

Answer 13

The top-down approach begins with set typologies and offenders are then put into those typologies. The bottom-up approach is data driven and the profile emerges as the investigator engages in deeper scrutiny of the crime.

Question 14

Describe what is meant by investigative psychology.

Answer 14

Attempts to apply statistical procedures alongside psychological theory to the analysis of the crime scene. Attempt to establish patterns of behaviour that are likely to exist across crime scenes → Baseline → Statistical database. Specific detail can be matched against the database to reveal details and it can be established whether or not certain crimes are linked. Interpersonal coherence: Behaviour at scene reflect everyday behaviour. Time and place: May suggest dwelling place. Forensic awareness: Suggests previous crimes.

Question 15

Describe what is meant by geographical profiling.

Answer 15

Crime mapping - gathering information to do with the location of linked crime scenes to establish a likely home/base. Can be used together with investigative psychology to make assumptions about how the offender is thinking and their MO. Assumes offenders will stick to places they are familiar with → can also help predict the next strike → jeopardy surface.
The marauder → close proximity.
The communter → Travels to the jeopardy surface.
The pattern of offending is likely to form a circle - can provide crucial information on the offender.

Question 16

Outline evidence for investigative psychology and geographical profiling.

Answer 16

Canter & Heritage identified features of a ‘typical’ rape that may be of use to investigators. Examined data using smallest space analysis (identifies correlations across patterns of behaviour). These included the use of impersonal language and the lack of reaction to the victim. Same characteristics but different patterns → help to understand how behaviour changes → can establish multiple crimes by the same person.
Lundrigan & Canter reviewed information from 120 murder cases. Smallest space analysis revealed spatial consistency in behaviour. Each body disposal site was in a different direction to the previous → centre of gravity. The effect was more noticeable for marauders.

Question 17

What advantage does the bottom-up approach have over the top-down approach?

Answer 17

It can be applied to a wide range of offences. Smallest space analysis/spatial consistency → burglary and theft + murder & rape. The top down approach is more useful for such as murder and violent crimes, which include sadistic assaults, murders, rapes, paedophilia, satanic and ritualistic crime.

Question 18

Evaluate the effectiveness of the bottom-up approach.

Answer 18

Mixed results. Copson (1995) found in 48 police forces profilers were judged to be useful in 83% of cases - only in 3% of cases did it lead to accurate identification. Kocsis et al. (2002) → chemistry student provide more accurate profile than experienced detectives.

Question 19

Outline the Atavistic form - refer to research in your answer.

Answer 19

A historical approach to offending. Lombroso (1876): Criminals are genetic throwbacks who cannot cope with the demands of civilised society. Characteristics include: Strong jaw, high cheekbones, asymmetric face. Also dark skin and extra toes. Examined over 4000 convicts, 40% of criminal acts related to the atavistic form.

Question 20

Outline Lombroso’s contribution to criminology.

Answer 20

Lombroso has been hailed as the father of modern criminology. Shifted emphasis from moralistic discourse towards a scientific realm. Tried to describe how particular types of people are likely to commit particular types of crimes → beginning of criminal profiling.

Question 21

Outline why Lombroso’s work has been criticised for being scientifically racist.

Answer 21

Many of the features he identified were associated with people of black African origin. His description of them being uncivilised would have leant support to eugenics philosophies. Whether it was intended or not - it still overshadows criminology.

Question 22

Outline some contradictory research to the Atavistic form.

Answer 22

Goring (1913). Set out to establish if there were any physical or mental abnormalities among criminal classes. Could find no evidence to support all of Lombroso’s claims - offenders did seem to have lower than average intelligence. Research offers some support in terms of IQ being an issue, however not in terms of physical attributes.

Question 23

Outline the issue of causation associated with Lombroso’s research.

Answer 23

The criminals in the study did have some of the atavistic elements in their appearance. This does not have to be the cause of their offending. Could be due to poor nutrition or poverty, rather than delayed evolutionary development. In his later work Lombroso acknowledges that criminals can be made as well as born -
environmental factor taken into account.

Question 24

Outline genetic explanations for criminality.

Answer 24

Twin studies. Christianson: 33% concordance rate for MZ twins and 12% for DZ twins. Suggests some form of genetic link.
Candidate genes. A combination of MAOA (linked to dopamine and serotonin) and CDH13 (linked to ADD and substance abuse) have been implicated as the genetic basis of criminality in a study in Finland (Tihonen et al.).
Diathesis-Stress Model. A genetic predisposition to crime is triggered by a social psychological stressor e.g. dysfunctional environment.

Question 25

Outline Neural Explanations for criminality.

Answer 25

Neural differences in the brains of people diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder - linked with a lack of empathy and reduced emotional responses → many convicts have these traits. Prefrontal Cortex. Reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex - regulation of emotional behaviour. Raine et al.: 11% less grey matter in the prefrontal cortex of criminals. Mirror Neurons. Recent research suggests people with APD can experience empathy, but do so more sporadically than others. Keyser et al.: found that only when criminals were asked to empathise did their empathy reaction (controlled by mirror neurons) activate. Suggests that people with APD can empathise but have a neural switch, unlike the normal brain where empathy is always on.

Question 26

Describe problems with twin and adoption studies. (Forensic)

Answer 26

Twin: Poor control & Zygosity was based on appearance rather than DNA. Small samples / unusual samples. Raised in the same environment is a confounding variable.
Adoption: Late adoption (children may have spent a lot of time with their parents before getting adopted) and contact with biological parents after adoption are confounding variables.

Question 27

Provide support for the diathesis stress model. (Forensic)

Answer 27

Mednick et al: 20% if biological parents were criminals and 24.5% if both biological and adoptive parents. 13.5% if neither biological nor adoptive parents were. Genetics play an important role, but environment cannot be ignored.

Question 28

Evaluate these explanations in terms of determinism and reductionism. (Forensic)

Answer 28

Biological reductionism: Explanations that reduce offending to a genetic or neural level may be overly simplistic.
Biological Determinism: The discovery of a criminal gene presents an ethical dilemma: What do we do with people who have it?

Question 29

Outline Eysenck’s general personality theory.

Answer 29

Personality can be represented along two dimensions. Extraversion / Introversion (E) & Neuroticism / Stability (N). Eysenck later added a third dimension - Psychoticism (P).

Question 30

Outline the biological basis of personality and how it relates to criminality.

Answer 30

Personality is innate and based on the activity of the nervous system. Extraverts have an underactive N/S → constantly seek excitement and stimulation, engage in risky behaviour and don’t learn from mistakes. Neurotics are nervous and jumpy and over anxious → difficult to predict. Criminal personality = extravert-neurotic + psychotic (cold, unemotional & prone to aggression).

Question 31

Outline the role of socialisation in personality.

Answer 31

Criminal behaviour is developmentally immature - concerned with immediate gratification. Children are usually taught to delay that need - criminal personalities and difficult to condition → they would not easily learn to respond to antisocial impulses with anxiety. Are more likely to act antisocially when the situation presents itself.

Question 32

What is the EPI?

Answer 32

Eysenck Personality Inventory. A form of psychological test which locates respondents along the E and N dimensions to determine their personality types. Later a scale was introduced to measure psychoticism.

Question 33

Outline evidence supporting Eysenck’s theory.

Answer 33

Eysenck & Eysenck - compared 2010 prisoner EPI scores to control group. Measures of N, E and P were higher than the controls. Contradictory research: Farrington - offenders had higher scores on P but not E and N. Also very little difference in EEG between N and E.

Question 34

Why has Eysenck’s theory been criticised for being simplistic?

Answer 34

The idea is that there is 1 personality type to explain all behaviour. Moffitt - several types based on timing of first offence and how long the offending persists. The theory is also out of sync with modern theories e.g. Digman: suggests there are additional dimensions (agreeableness & conscientiousness). This suggests that multiple combinations are possible and high E & N do not have to mean criminality.

Question 35

Evaluate the generalisability of Eysenck’s theory.

Answer 35

Bartol & Holanchock: Cultural differences. A sample of African and Hispanic offenders - all were less extravert than non-criminal controls. Suggests that cultural differences to Eysenck’s original theory were the reason why → generalisability is questioned.

Question 36

Explain why Eysenck’s theory is guilty of a form of biological determinism and why this is problematic when it comes to explaining crime.

Answer 36

He suggests criminal behaviour is not chosen but caused by factors outside an individual’s control, namely their biology. The inherited nervous system governs the personality type a person has and, in some cases, is the cause of their criminal behaviour. This is problematic, when it comes to explaining crime, because individuals cannot be expected to have free will, i.e. no ability to take control of their behaviour.

Question 37

Outline cognitive explanations for criminal behaviour.

Answer 37

Kohlberg’s Levels of moral reasoning. Decisions and judgements on issues of right and wrong are summarized in a stage model → the higher the level the more sophisticated the reasoning. Studies have shown that criminals tend to show lower levels of moral reasoning (1973). Criminals - Preventional level (stage 1&2). Characterised by the need to avoid punishment and gain rewards. Less mature and child like. Supported by studies suggesting that offenders are often more egocentric and display poor social perspective-taking skills (Chandler, 1973).
Cognitive distortions. Errors or biases in the way we explain our own and others behaviour. Hostile attribution bias. Tendency to see other people’s behaviour as confrontational and threatening. Schönenberg Justye - found that violent offenders were significantly more likely to judge emotionally ambiguous facial expressions to be aggressive. Roots in childhood.
Minimalisation. Downplaying the seriousness of an offence. Euphemistic labels - e.g. doing a job / supporting the family. Particularly the case amongst sexual offenders.

Question 38

Evaluate levels of moral reasoning.

Answer 38

Evidence. Hollin and Palmer support Kohlberg’s predictions that delinquents show less moral reasoning. Blackburn (1993) suggests this may be due to lack of role-playing opportunities in childhood.
Alternative theories. Gibbs: Two levels of reasoning - Mature-immature reasoning is better. Mature is the avoidance of punishment and gain of rewards. Immature involves moral decisions based on empathy, social justice and conscience. Less cultural bias.
Individual differences. Reasoning may vary due to type of offence and level of intelligence. Thornton & Reid - crimes for financial gain (where people thought they could avoid punishment) were associated with low moral reasoning when compared to impulsive crimes. Langdon et al. - low levels of intelligence = less likely to commit crime, despite lower moral reasoning.

Question 39

Outline 1 strength and 1 weakness of cognitive distortions.

Answer 39

Application. Dominant approach to rehabilitation of sex offenders is CBT. CBT encourages offenders to ‘face up’ to their crimes develop a less distorted view of their actions. Strong correlation with a reduction of re-offending.
Descriptive not explanatory. Cognitive theories are ‘after the fact’. No insight into origins of criminality. Could be use in predicting re-offending, however do not tell us much about why. This is something other theories e.g. Eysenck are better at.

Question 40

Why is Differential Association Theory known as the SLT of offending?

Answer 40

Individual learn attitudes, values, techniques and motives for criminal behaviour. Learned through association and interaction with different people.

Question 41

Outline Differential Association Theory.

Answer 41

Sutherland: set of principles to explain all types of offending. Crime seen as a learned behaviour acquired from significant others that the child associates with. If pro-criminal attitudes exceed anti-criminal, the person will offend - should be possible to mathematically predict the likelihood of offending if the extend of exposure is known. Offender learns techniques of offending through imitation or direct tuition. The theory also accounts for why released convicts go on to reoffend.

Question 42

Outline 2 strengths of Differential Association Theory.

Answer 42

Explanatory Power. Can account for crime within all sectors of society including ‘white collar crime’. Working class - burglary; middle class, white collar crimes. Comes down to sharing values and norms. Shift of Focus. Draws attention to dysfunctional environments as a cause of crime. Shifts the focus away from early biological accounts and those focussing on immorality and weakness. More desirable as it offers realistic solutions instead of eugenics or punishment.

Question 43

Explain the issue of individual differences in relation to this theory.

Answer 43

Not everyone who is exposed to crime, will go on to commit crime. May lead to stereotyping of people from poorer, crime-riddled backgrounds. Environmental determinism - criminal behaviour through associating with other criminals and being exposed to pro-criminal attitudes and adopting these values as our own.

Question 44

Explain the Psychodynamic approach of offending.

Answer 44

The inadequate superego. Blackburn identified 3 types: Weak, deviant and over-harsh. The maternal deprivation hypothesis - Bowlby: Lack of a continuous relationship with mother figure leads to delinquency. 44 thieves study - of the 14 thieves classified as affectionless psychopaths, 12 had maternal deprivation.

Question 45

Outline the gender bias in the psychodynamic approach.

Answer 45

Assumption - girls have weaker superegos than boys - therefore sense of morality is less realised → should be more prone to criminality. Evidence doesn’t show males more moral: little girls are better at resisting temptation.

Question 46

Evaluate the maternal deprivation hypothesis.

Answer 46

Methodological Issues. Bowlby didn’t distinguish between deprivation (losing an attachment) and privation (never having had an attachment). Also possible investigator issues - preconceptions may have influenced responses of interviewees.
Correlation not causation. Lewis found that maternal deprivation was a poor predictor of criminality. Even if children have experienced separations and then go on to offend, doesn’t mean the two are linked. There are plenty of third variables that could have been involved.

Question 47

Psychodynamic explanations in general suffer from a lack of falsifiability - what does this mean?

Answer 47

The concepts are not open to empirical testing. Concepts have to be taken on face value rather than scientific value - pseudoscientific. May provide little to our understanding of crime or how to prevent it. Even studies suffer from methodological issues.

Question 48

What is meant by custodial sentencing?

Answer 48

A convicted offender spending time in prison or another closed institution.

Question 49

Describe the 4 main reasons for custodial sentencing.

Answer 49

Deterrence (general & individual). Incapacitation. Retribution. Rehabilitation.

Question 50

Outline the psychological effects of custodial sentencing.

Answer 50

Stress & Depression - suicide, self harm and psychological disturbance are higher in prison. Institutionalisation - people become less able to function on the outside. Prisonisation - adopting an inmate code - unacceptable behaviour on the outside may be rewarded and encouraged on the inside.

Question 51

Describe the problem of recidivism.

Answer 51

Reoffending. 70% in 2007. Much higher in the UK and USA than in other places e.g. Norway, where emphasis is more on rehabilitation.

Question 52

Outline one argument for and one against the effects of custodial sentencing.

Answer 52

Evidence. High rates of suicide (15x higher in prison) and psychosis (25% of women and 15% of men) suggest that prison is brutal, demeaning and generally devastating. (Bartol).
Individual Differences. Time in prison is undoubtedly psychologically challenging, however not everyone will react the same. Type of prison, Length of sentence, previous experience and pre-existing disorders affect offender’s reaction to prison. Pre-existing psychological and emotional difficulties will also play a role.

Question 53

Modern day prisons are great opportunities for training and gaining skills. Discuss the statement.

Answer 53

Rehabilitation model - offenders may become better people in prison. Many prisoners access education and training whilst in prison → employment. Anger management schemes and social skills training → prison may be a worthwhile experience if such programmes receive the needed funding. Alongside the legitamate skills, inmates may learn some ‘tricks of the trade’ from more hardened criminals. This may undermine the attempts to rehabilitate and make reoffending more likely. This lends support to the differential association theory of crime.

Question 54

Briefly explain the principles underlying behaviour modification.

Answer 54

Behaviourist principles. Maladaptive behaviour can be unlearned by positively reinforcing obedient behaviours.

Question 55

What are token economy systems and how do these lead to behaviour change?

Answer 55

Based on operant conditioning - reinforce desirable behaviour with a token that can be exchanged for a reward. Token are secondary reinforcers - derive values from their association with reward. Non-compliance and disobedience can result in withholding or removal of tokens. Desirable behaviour is identified, broken into small steps and a baseline measure is identified. Once the behaviours to be reinforced have been decided all members of staff must follow the regime.

Question 56

Outline research into a token economy programme.

Answer 56

Hobbs & Holt - group of young delinquents. A significant difference in positive behaviour was observed compared to the control.

Question 57

Outline a strength of Token Economy Systems.

Answer 57

The ease with which it can be implemented (no need for expertise or professionals). Cost effective and easy to follow once workable methods have been established. However, systems depend on a consistent approach from staff - benefits are lots otherwise.

Question 58

Evaluate the value of token economies in terms of rehabilitation.

Answer 58

Blackburn (1993) - has little rehabilitative value. Any positive behaviour change that occurs whilst in prison may quickly be lost when they are released. The system works best when establishing conduct within the prison, within a very specific set of behaviours → is unlikely to extend beyond that setting.

Question 59

Discuss the ethical issues of Token economies.

Answer 59

Manipulative and dehumanising (Moya & Achtenburg, 1974). Participation in the scheme is mandatory - the offender can decide whether or not to follow the rules. A programme that involves withdrawal of ‘privileges’ is ethically questionable.

Question 60

How can token economies be made more effective?

Answer 60

Field et al. (2004). Token economies are generally effective, but people still don’t respond. Programmes where rewards were more immediate and more frequent showed more positive results. Suggests that for maximum effectiveness the programmes should be designed so that the rewards and frequency of rewards should suit each individual.

Question 61

Outline CBT / Anger management for aggressive acts.

Answer 61

Novaco: Cognitive factors trigger emotional arousal which precedes aggressive acts. Becoming angry in reinforced by feeling in control. Individual in taught to recognise when they are losing control and encouraged to develop techniques which bring about conflict resolution without violence. Cognitive preparation; skill acquisition; Application practice. Keen reported positive outcomes from the National Anger Management Package.

Question 62

A strength of anger management is that it is an eclectic approach. What does this mean?

Answer 62

It includes cognitive, behavioural and social elements. It is a multidisciplinary approach. Acknowledges that offending is a complex social and psychological activity.

Question 63

How does anger management compare to behaviour modification?

Answer 63

Anger management tries to tackle a cause of offending, rather than focussing on surface behaviour. Addresses thought processes underlying offending behaviour → can give offenders insight into the cause of their criminality → self-discovery. Is more likely to lead to permanent behaviour change and lower rates of recidivism.

Question 64

Evaluate the effectiveness of Anger management.

Answer 64

Blackburn (1993) - short term effects on behaviours are positive. Very little evidence that it reduces recidivism in the long term. May be because the application phase relies on artificial role play that can’t reflect all possible triggers.

Question 65

What is the problem with causation and anger-management?

Answer 65

Assumption is that anger leads to criminality. Loza & Loza-Fanous found no difference in anger levels between violent and nonviolent offenders. The programme could furthermore provide offenders what an excuse for their behaviour. Many crimes are not motivated by anger e.g. financial crimes & not all violent crimes are motivated by anger e.g. organised offenders.

Question 66

Outline the basics of restorative justice.

Answer 66

Restorative justice changes the emphasis of justice by focussing on the needs of the individual victim (to come to terms with the crime and move on) rather than the needs of the state to punish. It is based on the principles of healing and empowerment through a supervised meeting between offender and survivor. The victim is given the chance to confront the offender → the offender gets to see the consequences of his/her actions.

Question 67

Outline the principle of restorative justice.

Answer 67

It focuses on positive change (e.g. through acceptance of responsibility), active involvement beyond the courtroom, and positive outcomes for all parties. Variations of the process involve financial compensation or repairing of property - it could function as an add on to community service or alongside prison.

Question 68

Outline 1 strength of restorative justice.

Answer 68

There is a degree of flexibility in the programmes - it is not a one size fits all approach. The term covered a wide range of applications (schools, hospitals etc.). Good, as the scheme can be adapted and tailored to individual situations → downside is that general statements about effectiveness can’t easily be made.

Question 69

The process of restorative justice relies heavily on the offender - why is this?

Answer 69

Relies on the offender showing remorse. There is a danger that people may sign up to avoid prison, rather than because they feel a need to put things right. Victims may also agree to take part for some ulterior motive. The programme will not work if the participants do not agree to take part with the best of intentions.

Question 70

Evaluate the cost-effectiveness of restorative justice.

Answer 70

Shapland et al. (2007) concluded that every £1 spent would save the justice system £8. However, meetings between victim and offender are likely to be very emotionally charged and may require professional mediators → expensive. Also victims / offenders may lose their nerve and back out before a meeting → cost-effectiveness is questionable.

Question 71

Restorative justice has received critique from feminist commentators. Why is this?

Answer 71

They argue that its widespread use may be inappropriate for certain offences. Women’s Aid have called for a ban of restorative justice in domestic violence cases. This is due to the power imbalance between abuser and abused - and the fact that the wider community could end up blaming the victim.