A01 Forensics

Question 1

Offender Profiling: Top down approach

Answer 1

American - used by FBI
FbI’s behavioural science unit interviewed 36 sexually motivated murderers w ted bundy as one of them. used this to form organised and disorganised categories.
they collect data about a murder and then decide which category fits best.

organised - has a type of victim, usually married and have children, maintains a high level of control, high IQ, sexual competency.

disorganised - uses rape, spontanous kill, normally leaves bodies/ weapons at crime scene. sexual and social incompetancy.

constructing an FBI profile:
1) Data assimilation
profilier reviews evidence
2) crime scene classification - organised/ disorganised
3) crime reconstruction - hypotheses in terms of sequence of events, behaviour of victim.
4) profile generation - hypotheses related to the likely offender

Question 2

Offender Profiling: Bottom down approach

Answer 2

investigative psychology - attempt to apply statistical procedures. to establish patterns of behaviour that are likely to occur. this develops a statistical database which then acts a baseline for comparision.
interpersonal coherence - the way an offender behaves at a crime scene may reflect their behaviour in everyday life. significance of time and place.
forensic awareness - offenders who have done this before and know what how to not leave tracks behind.

geographical profiling - location of linked crime scenes to make inferences about likely home or operational base of an offender.
spatial consistency - people commit crimes within a limitied geographical space.
modus operandi.
circle theory - pattern of offending forms a circle around the offenders home base. leads to:
Marauder - operates in a close proximity to their home base
Commuter - likely to have travelled a distance away from their usual residence.
can reveal their mental maps.

Question 3

Biological explanations: Historical approach

Answer 3

Lombroso saw offenders to be lacking evolutionary development, they had savage nature which means they couldnt adjust to the demands of civilised society.
rooted in their genes.
offending behaviours are innate - and they arent to blame for their actions.

Atavistic characteristics:
strong jaw, high cheekbones, extra toes, nipples/ fingers, tattoos.

murderers: bloodshot eyes, curly hair, long ears
sexual deviants: swollen lips, glinting eyes

Lombroso’s research: studied 383 dead convitcs and 3839 living ones. concluded that 40% of criminal acts are committed by people w atavistic characteristics.

Question 4

Biological explanations: Genetic and Neural

Answer 4

Genetic:
Twin studies:
Christiansen studied over 3500 twin pairs in Denmark and found concordance rates for offender behaviour of 35% for MZ twins and 13% for DZ males.
Candidate genes:
MAOA gene - linked to more aggressive behaviours
CDH 13- linked to ADHD and substance abuse. 5-10% of all violent serious crimes are due to both these genes in Finland.
Diathesis stress model:
eg applied to sz. offending behaviour may be due to a genetic predisposition and a biological or psychological trigger.

Neural explanations:
prefrontal cortex - reduced activity in prefrontal cortex which regulates emotional behaviour - due to brain imaging studies by Raine. and 11% reduction in volume of grey matter in prefrontal cortex of people with APD (antisocial personality disorder).

Question 5

Psychological explanations: Eysneck’s theory

Answer 5

Those who score high on neurotism, extraversion and psychotism are most likely to engage in offending behaviour.

extraverts: have underactive nervous system therefore they seek excitement and fulfillment and more likely to engage in risk taking behaviours.

Neurotic - high levels of reactivity in sympathetic nervous system therefore respond quickly to situations. unstable behaviour - unpredictable

psychotic- high levels of testosterone makes them prone to aggression and unemotional

offender behaviour is developmentally immature - its selfish and stems from instant gratification

personality measured using
eysnecks personality questionairre.

Question 6

Psychological explanations: Cognitive theory

Answer 6

Level of moral reasoning:
Kohlberg suggested that criminals have a pre conventional level. characterised by the need to avoid punishment and gain rewards. may commit crimes if they can get away with it or gain rewards.
offenders have a lower level of moral reasoning than non offenders. 2-4 years
offenders are more egocentric and display poorer social perspective. individuals at higher level tend to sympathise more w others + exhibit more conventional behaviours.

Cognitive distortions:
Faulty irrational ways of the way we perceive ourselves, the world and people around us.

Hostile attribution bias:
misinterpreting the actions of other people. eg assuming people are being confrontational when theyre not.
offenders misread non aggressive cues, which may lead to a violent response.
Aiste presented 55 offenders with images of emotionally ambigious facial expressions. when compared to the non aggressive matched control group - found that violent offenders were more likely to percieve the images as angry and hostile.

Minimalisation:
Tend to downplay the seriousness of an offence. Bandura called it the ‘euphemistic label’.
eg robbers may describe themselves as doing a job for their family, as a way of minimising the seriousness of offences.

Question 7

Psychological explanations: Differential association theory

Answer 7

Sutherland’s theory
Explains that due to association with our environment thats why offenders offend.
Learnt techniques - eg learning how to steal a car.
Learnt attitudes - pro crime attitudes outweigh the anticrime attitudes.
socialisation - when prisoners often reoffend due to the tricks they’ve learnt by association in jail. this can be directly observed or indirectly.

Question 8

Psychological explanations: Psychodynamic explanation

Answer 8

Blackburn - said that id is given free reign and not controlled properly due to superego being deficient . By three types of superego:

1) WEAK superego - if same gender parent is absent during phalllic stage, child cant internalise a fully- formed superego as there is no opportunity for identification- makes offender behaviour more likely as dont deep moral stuff
LACK GUILT/ SHAME

2) DEVIANT superego - child internalises a moral code that is socially abnormal, due to parent eg being a criminal
ENCOURAGES CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND IMMORAL AND ILLEGAL ACTS ARE DESIRABLE.

3) OVER HARSH superego - overly harsh parenting style leads to a child who is crippled with guilt and needs to commit a crime to feel punishment. - to satisfy the superegos overwhelming need for punishment.

Bowlby’s maternal deprivation:

critical period: first 2 years if child doesnt make a relationship with mother then will lead to irreversible consequences.
one of these consequences is affectionless psychopathy.
44 thieves study:
14/44 showed affectionless psychopathy.
12/ of the 14 had prolonged separation from their mothers during infancy. in non offender group only 2 had experienced similar early separation.

Question 9

Dealing with offending behaviour: Custodial sentencing

Answer 9

Aims of custodial sentencing:
1) Deterrence - unpleasant prison experience is designed to put off the individual from engaging in offending behaviour. general deterrence - aims to send broad mssg to society that crime isnt okay
and individual deterrence, prevents individual from repeating same offences. based on vicarious reinforcement.

2) Incapacitation - offender taken out of society to prevent them from reoffending and to protect society. all depends on the seriousness of the offence

3) Retribution - society is enacting revenge for the offence by making the offender suffer, level of suffering should be proportionate to the seriousness of offence. eye for an eye. offender should pay for their actions

4) Rehabilitation - main objective is not just to punish but to reform. offenders should leave prison better adjusted and ready to take their place back in society.

Psychological effects associated with serving time in prison:
- stress and depression - suicide rates are higher in prison than the population.

-institutionalisation - inmates may not be able to function on the outside world as they have adapted to the norms of prison life

-prisonisation - prisoners may have socialised differently on the inside than outside, behaviours may be socially unacceptable.

Recidivism - reoffending
45% in UK. it varies with offence, age of offender. Norway - 20%. US 60%

Question 10

Dealing with offending behaviour: Behaviour modification in custody

Answer 10

Token economy:
based on operant conditioning.
positive reinforcement - token given everytime a desried behaviour is done. rewards will be made clear before they start.
punishment - token is taken away when undesirable behaviour is committed eg talking back to a guard.
primary reinforcers - rewards such as cigarettes, TV
secondary reinforcers - token

designing a token economy:
- operationalise target behaviours
eg improving inmate interactions, do this by breaking it down into units/ categories of behaviour to make it objective - eg. tally up how many times they touch another prisoner or shout at them.

scoring system:
some behaviours should be seen as better than others - put on a hierachy. eg. working collabiratively should be better than no swearing.

train staff:
to make it standardised procedures. so that people can account for the tokens given as well.

Question 11

Dealing with offending behaviour: Anger management

Answer 11

Its a form of CBT
Novaco suggested 3 stages called the stress inoculation approach:
1) Cognitive preparation - clients learn about anger and analyse their own pattern of anger.
2) Skill aquisition - clients are taught skills to help manage their anger:
Cognitive - + self talk to encourage calmness.
Behavioural - assertiveness training in how to communicate more effectively - can become automatic
Physiological - deal with physical reaction to anger such as relaxation training or mediation
3) application training - clients apply the skills in controlled situations such as role plays and receive feedback and +ve reinforcement.

Question 12

Dealing with offending behaviour: Restorative Justice

Answer 12

Less about retribution (giving the offender harm) and more about reparation (repairing the harm they’ve caused)
focuses on 2 things:
- the survivor and their recovery
- the offender and their recovery process

Key features of the programme:
- trained mediator is in the room
-non courtroom setting where offender meets with survivor
-can be ftf or on video call
- survivor given opportunity to express their hurt and this gets offender to comprehend their effect of their actions
- focus is on positive outcomes for both offender and survivor
- active not passive is important
- other relevant community members can also chip in

restititution occours which can be in a form of payment eg by money or emotional support. or even offenders having to pay for damage themselves eg in a break in.
Restorative Justice council:
Independant body who support survivors and establish clear standards of restorative justice.
Can be used beyond dealing with crime, eg. in preventing managing conflict in workplaces, hospitals.