1
Q
What is meant by offender profiling?
Offender profiling: the top-down approach
A
A behavioural and analytical tool to help investigators to create a profile when the suspect is unknown. Narrows field of enquiry
2
Q
Briefly describe the background of the top down approach.
Offender profiling: the top-down approach
A
- Originated in the US in the 1970s
- Adopted by FBI to investigate unusual and extreme murder cases
- Based on interviews by the behavioural science unit with 36 sexually motivated killers
3
Q
Who developed the idea of typologies?
Offender profiling: the top-down approach
A
Hazelwood and Douglas
4
Q
What are the two typologies?
Offender profiling: the top-down approach
A
Organised and disorganised
5
Q
What are the typologies based on?
Offender profiling: the top-down approach
A
Offenders have certain signature ways of working (modus operandi) which correlate with social and psychological characteristics
6
Q
Describe characteristics of organised offenders.
Offender profiling: the top-down approach
A
- Planned and controlled
- victim targeted
- little evidence left
7
Q
Briefly describe characteristics of disorganised offenders.
Offender profiling: the top-down approach
A
- Little sign of planning
- Victim random
- Evidence left at crime scene
8
Q
Briefly state the stages of profile construction.
Offender profiling: the top-down approach
A
- Data assimilation (review of evidence)
- Crime scene classification (typologies)
- Crime reconstruction (sequence of events)
- Profile generation (hypothesis related to killer)
9
Q
What are the 3 psychological principles of investigative psychology?
Bottom up approach.
A
Interpersonal coherence
Time and place significance
Forensic awareness
10
Q
Describe what is meant by interpersonal coherence
Bottom up approach.
A
How the offender behaves or interacts with their victim, this indicates how they deal with people in everyday life
11
Q
Describe time and place significance
Bottom up approach.
A
May represent the way in which the offender views their surroundings as well as their personal schedule.
12
Q
What is forensic awareness?
Bottom up approach.
A
Offenders may have knowledge of police techniques and procedures relating to evidence collection
13
Q
What is geographical profiling?
Bottom up approach.
A
Uses information about the location of linked crime scenes to make inferences about the likely home or operational base of an offender
Consists of spatial consistency and crime mapping
14
Q
What is the basis of Canter’s theory?
Bottom up approach.
A
Circle theory
The pattern of offending forms a circle around the offender’s home base.
15
Q
What does the distribution of offences lead us to describe an offender as?
Bottom up approach.
A
Marauder= close proximity to home base
Commuter= travels long distances
16
Q
What did Lombroso write a book about?
Biological exp: a historical approach
A
- criminals were genetic throwbacks
- a primitive subspecies who were biologically different from non-criminals
17
Q
Explain lombroso’s biological approach in relation to offenders
Biological exp: a historical approach
A
- offenders lacked evolutionary development
- savage and untamed nature led them to crime
- natural tendency rooted in the genes
- since it is innate, the offender isn’t to blame
18
Q
What is meant by atavistic form?
Biological exp: a historical approach
A
there were particular physiological characteristics that evidenced their lack of evolutionary development
19
Q
What did the atavistic form include/ describe?
Biological exp: a historical approach
A
- narrow sloping brow
- strong prominent jaw
- high cheekbones and facial asymmetry
- dark skin
- extra toes/ nipples
20
Q
What were non-physical atavistic traits according to Lombroso?
Biological exp: a historical approach
A
- insensitivity to pain
- use of slang
- tattoos and unemployment
21
Q
How are murderers and sexual deviants and fraudsters described to look?
Biological exp: a historical approach
A
- Murderers= bloodshot eyes, curly hair, long ears
- Sexual deviants= glinting eyes, swollen fleshy lips, projecting ears
- Fraudsters= lips are thin and reedy
22
Q
Describe Lombroso’s research.
Biological exp: a historical approach
A
- examined facial and cranial features of hundreds of italian convicts living and dead
- 383 dead, 3839 living
- 40% of criminal acts are committed by those with atavistic characteristics
23
Q
Who conducted a twin study regarding genetics?
Bio exp: genetic and neural
A
- Karl christiansen
24
Q
Describe a twin study for genetic explanation
Bio exp: genetic and neural
A
- Christiansen
- 3500 twins in Denmark
- 35% for MZ males, 13% for DZ males
- Females slightly lower
- checked against police records
- proposes that underlying predisposing traits are inherited
25
Name and describe an adoption study regarding genetics and criminal offences
| Bio exp: genetic and neural
- Crowe
- Adopted children whose mother had a criminal record had a 50% risk of having a record by 18
- bio mum didn't have a record= 5%
26
Who investigated candidate genes and how?
| Bio exp: genetic and neural
- Tiihonen
- 800 Finnish offenders
- MAOA 'warrior gene' (aggression)
- CDH13 (substance abuse and ADHD
- Analysis found that 5-10% of all severe violent crime in Finland is attributable
27
What else (apart from genetics alone) may influence criminal behaviour?
| Bio exp: genetic and neural
DIATHESIS STRESS MODEL
Environmental stress
28
What did Raine's research show?
| Bio exp: genetic and NEURAL
- MRI= 11% reduction in the vol of grey matter in PFC of people with APD
- PET= reduced PFC activity
- Abnormal symmetries in the amygdala
- 4x more likely to commit a violent crimes 3 years upon release
29
What does the prefrontal cortex do?
| Bio exp: genetic and NEURAL
Regulates the emotional responses driven by the amygdala
30
Describe what Seo's serotonin research found.
| Bio exp: genetic and NEURAL
- Consistent link between serotonin and hypofunction (low) and impulsive aggressive responses
- low levels inhibit the PFC's ability to regulate the emotional responses of the amygdala and to modify own behaviour
31
What did Virkkhunen discover about serotonin and offending behaviour?
| Bio exp: genetic and NEURAL
- Impulsive violent offenders were found to have lower measures of the serotonin metabolite 5-HIAA in their cerebrospinal fluid
32
How do mirror neurons tie into offending behaviour?
| Bio exp: genetic and NEURAL
KEYSERS!!!!!!!!!!
- Special brain cells distributed in several areas of the brain
- They fire in response to own actions and others actions
- only when criminals with apd were ASKED to empathise did their mirror neurons activate
33
What are 3 important neural factors of offending behaviour and who proposed them?
| Bio exp: genetic and NEURAL
1. PFC (amygdala also, RAINE)
2. Serotonin (seo and Virkkhunen)
3. Mirror neurons (keysers)
34
What did Eysenck propose about measuring personality?
| Eysenck
Behaviour could be represented using 2 dimensions= introversion-extraversion (E), neuroticisim-stability (N)
Later added a 3rd= psychoticism-stability (P)
35
What do all personality types have in common?
| Eysenck
They all have a biological innate basis
36
What are the 3 types of personality, briefly descibr features of them.
| Eysenck
Extraverts= underactive NS, seek excitement, likely to take part in high risk, dont learn from mistakes
Neurotic= high reactivity in the sympathetic NS, respond quickly to threat (fight or flight), nervous, jumpy, unpredictable
Psychotic= higher testosterone, inemotional, prone to aggression
37
What is the criminal personality type?
| Eysenck
N-E-P
38
How does socialisation have a role in personality type?
| Eysenck
Socialisation teaches children delayed gratification and social orientation
E+N= hard to condition, act antisocially as they dont learn anxiety responses to antisocial impulses
39
What did Eysenck say about offending behaviour?
| Eysenck
It is developmentally immature, selfish and concerned with immediate gratification
40
How did Eysenck assess personality types?
| Eysenck
Using the Eysenck personality questionnaire (EPQ)
41
What did Kohlberg propose?
| Cognitive: Kohlberg
People's decisions and judgements on issues of right and wrong can be summarised in a stage theory of moral reasoning
42
What does the level of reasoning indicate?
| Cognitive: Kohlberg
Higher stage= more sophisticated reasoning
Lower stage= considered to be childlike, gain rewards, avoid punishment
43
How did Kohlberg assess moral reasoning?
| Cognitive: Kohlberg
By using moral dilemmas such as the Heinz dilemma
44
What did Kohlberg's youth group find?
| Cognitive: Kohlberg
The violent youths were at a significantly lower level of moral development than non-violent youths
45
Describe the preconventional stage.
| Cognitive: Kohlberg
Stage 1= punishment orientation
Stage 2= Instrumental orientation/ personal gain
| need to avoid punishment, gain rewards, childlike reasoning
46
Describe the conventional stage.
| Cognitive: Kohlberg
Stage 3= approval orientation
Stage 4= maintenance of social order
47
Describe the post-conventional stage.
| Cognitive: Kohlberg
Stage 5= morality of contract/ individual rights
- rules are challenged if they infringe the rights of others
Stage 6= morality of conscience
- personal set of ethical principles
48
What are cognitive distortions?
| Cognitive: distortions
Cognitive distortions are faulty, biased or irrational ways of thinking making people perceive reality in an inaccurate way.
49
Name 2 examples of cognitive distortions.
| Cognitive: distortions
- Hostile attribution bias
- Minimalisation
50
What is meant by hostile attribution bias?
| Cognitive: distortions
A tendency to misinterpret the actions of other people and to assume that they are being hostile when they are not. This can lead to people responding to non-aggressive cues with a disproportionate, violent response.
51
What did Dodge and Frame's study of hostile attribution find?
| Cognitive: distortions
Children identfied as aggressie prior to the study were more likely to interpret videos of ambiguous situations as hostile rather than non aggressive
52
What is meant by minimalisation?
| Cognitive: distortions
An attempt to downplay the seriousness of an offence and its impact on the victim/society.
53
In relation to minimalisation, what does self deception allow the offenders to do?
| Cognitive: distortions
Self deception helps offenders to rationalise what they have done and deal with any guilt which enables reoffending.
54
What does Barbaree discover about minimalisation?
| Cognitive: distortions
Among 26 incarcerated rapists, 54% denied that they had committed the offence and a further 40% minimised harm
55
What is the differential association approach?
| DAT
Proposes that individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques and motives for offending behaviour through association and interaction with different people
56
What is the differential association theory designed to do?
| DAT
Sutherland developed a set of scientific principles, theory is designed to discriminate between individuals who become offenders and those who don't regardless of social class and ethnicity
57
How might offending behaviour be learnt?
| DAT
May be learnt through interactions with significant others who children values the most
58
How are we able to know the likelihood of an individual committing an offence?
| DAT
Should be mathematically possible to know likelihood of an individual committing as long as we know the frequency, intensity, duration of exposure to deviant norms and values
59
What are 2 factors that offending arises from?
| DAT
Learning attitudes
Learning techniques
60
Describe learning attitudes
| DAT
Learning attitudes= pro-crime, anti-crime, socialised into a group which has such values towards the law, if pro criminal attitudes outweigh anti criminal they will go on to offend
61
Describe learning techniques
| DAT
Learning techniques= may also learn particular techniques for committing offences
62
How does prison have an effect on committing crimes?
| DAT
Reoffend= in prison inmates will learn specific techniques from other experienced offenders that they may put into practice upon release, learning may occur through observational learning and imitation/ direct tuition
63
What is the purpose of the supergo?
| Psychodynamic explanation
- Develops at the end of the phallic stage to resolve the oedipus and electra complex
64
What are the three types of inadequate superego according to Blackburn?
| Psychodynamic explanation
1. Weak superego= absence of a parent means that internalisation cannot happen as there is no op for identification, makes immoral behaviour likely.
2. Deviant superego= internalising immoral or deviant values leads to offending behaviour
3. Over harsh superego= punitive or harsh parenting leads to an over harsh superego, crippled by guilt and anxiety, drives individual to perform criminal acts to satisfy need for punishment
65
How is Bowlby's maternal theory supported?
| Psychodynamic approach
- his own investigation of 44 thieves
- 14 of the sample showed personality and behavioural chars classed as AP
- effects of mat dep caused affectionless and delinquent behaviour among the juvenile thieves
66
How does affectionless psychopathy develop?
| Psychodynamic approach
Failure to establish such a relationship to the mother during the first 2 and a half years of life according to Bowlby
67
What are the 4 aims of custodial sentencing?
| Custodial sentencing
1. Deterrence= put off individuals from engaging in offending behaviour
2. Incapacitation= taken out of society, protecting the public
3. Retribution= enacting revenge by making the offender suffer
4. Rehabilitation= reform prisoners, mend their ways
68
What are the 3 main effects of serving time in prison?
| Custodial sentencing
1. Stress and depression
2. Institutionalisation
3. Prisonisation
69
What is the relationship between stress/depression and custodial sentencing?
| Custodial sentencing
- suicide reates, mutilation/ self harm rates are high
- stress increases the risk of developing psychological disorders following release
70
What is meant by institutionalisation regarding the effects of custodial sentencing?
| Custodial sentencing
- adapting to prison life
- becoming accustomed
- no longer function on the outside
71
Describe prisonisation
| Custodial sentencing
- Way in which prisoners are socialised into adopting an inmate code
- behaviour considered unacceptable in outside world may be encouraged and rewarded in prison
72
What is recidivism?
| Custodial sentencing
Reoffending
73
What does recidivism rates tell us?
| Custodial sentencing
To what extent prison acts as an effective deterrent
74
Why is it difficult to obtain clear figures for recidivism?
| Custodial sentencing
- depends whether u are looking at reoffending within a year of release or a longer period
75
Name the recidivism figures for countries.
| Custodial sentencing
UK= 45%
US= 77%
Norway= 20%
76
What are token economies based on and how do they work?
| Behaviour modification
- Based on operant conditioning where behaviour is maintained and reinforced based on consequences
- Works by awarding prisoners a token each time they perform a desirable behaviour
77
What are secondary reinforcers?
| Behaviour modification
It's an unconditioned, or neutral, stimulus. A secondary reinforcer must be learned. Secondary reinforcers are a type of positive reinforcement
value derives from primary reinforcers
78
What are primary reinforcers?
| Behaviour modification
Refers to certain rewards/ priviliges that may be exchanged at the cost of a token. They are directly rewarding
79
What does it mean to operationalise target behaviours?
| Behaviour modification
- To break down behaviours into component parts and clearly define appropriate and inappropriate behaviours.
- Should be objective and measurable + agreed with prison staff and inmates
80
How does the scoring system work?
| Behaviour modification
- Behaviours are hierarchical in the sense that some are regarded as more demanding than others so receive greater rewards
- may award tokens directly or may award points which can be converted into tokens
- recommendation is the reinforcements should outweigh punishments by a ratio of 4:1
81
Why is it important to train staff?
| Behaviour modification
## Footnote
Briefly describe training)
- In order to implement the token economy system successfully
- training may involve several hours
- Aim to standardise procedures so that all staff are rewarding the same behaviours in the same way
- must record when tokens awarded
82
What is restorative justice?
| Restorative justice
- A system for dealing with offending behaviour
- it focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims
- enables offenders to see the impact of their crime and empowers survivors
83
Wha are the key focuses of the process?
| Restorative justice
- the victim of the crime and their recovery
- the offender and their recovery/ rehabilitation process
84
What did Braithwaite say about RJ?
| Restorative justice
- crime hurts, justice should heal
- RJ is less about retribution and more about reparation
85
What different forms can restorative justice take?
| Restorative justice
Individual= a trained mediator faciliates the initial meeting to establish the victim's needs/ goals over a conference which can be face to face or virtual with the offender
Community= peace circles in many high violence and crime communities come together to resolve issues and build understanding (conflict resolution)
86
What is restitution?
| Restorative justice
- Often seen as a monetary payment by an offender to the survivor for the harm resulting from the offence
87
What is the RJC and what does it do?
| Restorative justice
- It is an independent body whose role is to establish clear standards for the use of restorative justice and to support survivors with the help of specialist professionals in the field
88
What are the stages of anger management?
| Anger management
Calm people Should avoid Angry people
Cognitive preparation
Skills acquisition
Application practice
89
Describe cognitive preparation
| Anger management
- Reflects on past experiences and identifies triggers and patterns of response
- therapist identifies irrational responses and disputes using Ellis' ABC(D)
90
Describe skills acquisition
| Anger management
- aims to acquire skills to deal with anger provoking situations
- such as positive self talk (cog), relaxation technqiues (psych), communication (beh)
91
Describe application practice
| Anger management
- practice acquired skills through role play scenarios with therapist
- requires committment and a brave therapist
- success in role play rewarded by positive reinforcement
92
How did Keen study progress with young offenders in anger management?
| Anger management
- 17 and 21, took part in a nationally recgonised anger management programmed
- the national anger management package comprised of eight 2 hour sessions, the first 7 over a three week period and the last session a month after
- outcomes generally positive despite some offenders not taking it seriously
- offenders reported increased awareness of their AM difficulties and increased capacity to exercise self control
psychology
flashcards
Decks in class (23)
# Cards
-
Exam techniques2
-
Attachment AO181
-
Attachment AO349
-
Memory AO157
-
Memory AO333
-
Approaches in psychology AO170
-
Approaches in psychology AO326
-
Psychopathology AO148
-
Psychopathology AO340
-
Social influence AO152
-
Social influence AO345
-
Research methods AO158
-
Research methods AO324
-
Research methods Y257
-
Gender AO171
-
Gender AO343
-
Forensics AO192
-
Forensics AO356
-
Schizophrenia AO152
-
Schizophrenia AO341
-
Biopsychology AO150
-
Biopsychology AO320
-
Issues and debates AO158
