FORENSIC studies

Question 1

Farrington

Answer 1

LIMITATION TO EYSNECK’S CRIMINAL PERSONALITY THEORY

• 16 studies reviewed
• offenders were scored on extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism
• They scored high on psychoticism and neuroticism but NOT on extraversion

Question 2

Gudjonsson + Sigurdsson

Answer 2

• 128 juvenile offenders asked about whether they thought they would be caught for the crime they committed
• 36% were confident they wouldn’t get caught
• 38% did not consider the consequences

Question 3

Schonenberg & Justye

Answer 3

SUPPORT FOR HOSTILE ATTRIBUTION BIAS

• Presented 55 violent offenders with images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions.
• When compared with a matched control group of non-aggressive participants, the violent offenders were significantly more likely to perceive the images as angry and hostile.

Question 4

Barbaree

Answer 4

SUPPORT FOR MINIMILISATION

• 26 convicted rapists
• 54% denied they’d committed an offence at all
• 40% minimised the harm they had caused to the victim.

Question 5

Hasmall

Answer 5

SUPPORT FOR MINIMILISATION

• 35% of a sample of child molesters argued that the crime they had committed was non-sexual (‘they were just being affectionate’)
• 36% stated the victim had consented

Question 6

Osborne and West

Answer 6

SUPPORT FOR DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION THEORY

• Conviction rates of sons of fathers with criminal records vs fathers of no criminal records compared
• 40% of sons of fathers with a criminal conviction had committed a crime by 18
• 13% of sons of non-crime fathers had.